A LABOUR STONEWALL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10122, 1 November 1917, Page 5

A LABOUR STONEWALL.

(Fnou Oor Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 31. Labour members a mild sort of stonewall on the Appropriation Bill in the House of Representatives this evening. Mr McCombs led off by attempting to introduce the conscription issue, but was pulled up by the Speaker. After making several vain attempts to get round the Standing Orders and tho rulings of previous speakers be gave up the enterprise and resumed his seat. Mr Payne immediately raised a protest against the attempt to gag the Labour members. Mr Payne suggested to his colleagues that they should take the Bill and read every line and word in it, and thereby hold the House up for a few r hours by way of protest, and in order to show "the country there were some members solicitous about the expenditure. He thereupon proceeded to leisurely deal with the measure clause by clause. Later in the evening Mr Webb took up the cudgels and discussed a great variety of subjects, addressing an almost empty House, his speech being punctuated by the ringing of the bell summoning a quorum. Finally when Mr Massey proposed to dispense with tho Hansard reporters, who had boon on duty for nearly fifteen hours, Mr McCombs entered a further protest against the alleged attempt to gag the Labour members, and alter Messrs Payne, Veitch and Webb had spoken the stonewall subsided and {lie measure passed its third reading half an hour after midnight.