The Stonewalling Continued.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 160, 26 July 1889, Page 3

The Stonewalling Continued.

Amusing Scenes. i The Member for MotueJca I Caught Napping. j (By Telegraph.) J r- - - Wellington, July 25. J „) ' _ Tits Bbpbbsentation Dikfio-olty. I \. .-_.. .-.-.. j A Pbotkacted Sitting. j The sitting of the House, which commenced I at 7*30 last night, has continued almost I witbont interruption, the country members, I backed up by the Government, even refusing I to grant a-balf hour's adjournment for lunoh. At the time of writing the chances of a compromise teem as far distant as when the , House met last night. The representatives of ! (he town and suburban electorates are in great form, and profess their preparedness to continue the struggle for-several days, despite the great disparity in numbers as contrasted With the forces opposed to them. Their only dread is that the Speaker may summarily stop the diecuesion on the ground that the time bf Ihe House is being trifled with. Should a non-intervention polioy be pursued they will continue the debate on the motion raised by Mr Scobie Mackenzie, viz., " That the question be now put, " till to-morrow morning, by whioh time all the opponents of the Representation Bill will probably have exhausted their right to speak, and in order to give them a fresh innings, the adjournment of the House will then be moved. Their little band of 20 odd men is being rooruited bj members from the other side. First Mr Marchant the member for Taranaki, disapproving of the tactics of the country party, and es- . peoially resenting their conduct in refusing to allow Mr Jones to continue his speech after the deputy Speaker had in error ruled him oni? of order, offered his services by expressing his willingness to take a hand for half an hour whenever he might be required, and then Sydney Taiwhanga, in grateful recognition of the assistance lent him by "Sydenham " Taylor on. the Native Bills last session, volunteered his aid, a' most weldame aid,' for this native member has proved himself a stonewaller of the very first order. As ah arch stonewaller of the previous session, Mr R. H. Reeves showed sympathy with the town party at an early stage of the* present debate. At last he determined that he would join in the fray, and addressed the following letter to Mr Seymour, the chief of the country party's executive Committee :— " My Dear Sir— l write to request that you will not consider me as being one of the supporters of the Representation Bill now before the House. My reasons for deolining to support the Bill are mainly based upon its avowed character ua a -Tory measure. It is openly admitted ' by the Bill's leading advocates that its chief intent is to weaken the Liberal party in the j large towns, and to throw the political power, into the hands of the squatters and large land holders. It is admitted that the ; chief supporters of the Bill were also the '..steongest enemies of the Liberal party in past years, to which I have always belonged. A very objeotipnahle feature in the measure is the proposal to treat towns of 2000 people and upwards as part of the country districts, Vj_afl t<> Tgiye' them the advantage of the l^opun^Vjtuota, to which on no principle "-•whatever are they entitled. I wish also to -enter my strong protest against the tyrannical and •unjustifiable haste with which the Bill /.was , introd-aced and debated before the ink. was dry on the' copies circulated, and with whioh it is now being forced through by main strength, before the constituencies have any chance given them of fairly •understanding its provisions — I am, __c.,~Richard H. J. Reeves." The support of such an experienced stonewaller <as Mr - Beeves is a tower of strength to the town I»rty. Coercing the Minority. It was thong bt that the nsual dinner «d---jouenment would be granted at 5.30, but probably with tbe idea of starving ouo the minority, and coercing thtm in tv submission -the Premie** refused to grant the reques when made. The Speaker expressed the . opinion th. t the dinner adjournment ought ' to be allows-, hut pointed out that under the i Standing Orders the matter was one for the House to determine. Representations were made by Mr Turnbull and others that tbe Chamber required ventilation, and eventually ■Sir H, Atkinson coascxued to half an hoar'B - adjournment, bat merely fpr the purpose of ' allowing the atmosphere in the Parliament •-' tary Chamber to be oleared. In the course of • the discussion whioh took place, Mr Fish said that whilst he bad personally need evory ___Eoit to bring about a compromise, even to the extent' of sacrificing his own feelings, with a view to shortening the debate, be was now .determined, in consequenoa of the •Premier's brutal conduct in respect to the request for an adjournment, to fight him inch by inobj .•"■ BsMoviNa the Bedding Accommodation. .-'. . Tha bedding, &o„ whiob was thougnsfully provided by the Government whip this afternoon to furnish a temporary domitory for .'*'- the Government oombatantß in tbe stonewall was not brought into use after all. It was plaoed under look and key in the Government whip's room, hut soon afterwards a party of -Opposition wags got on its track and. deter- < mined to secure comfort for themselves, and, . headed by the member lor Kumara, they •obtained access to the room by one of the . windows, and were in the aot of removing the goods to their own whip's room when .**. tbe Government whip, in walking along the I passage) was first made awate of what was going on -by receiving a blow from a bolster heaved out by the marauders. Trouble anaued, the Oppositionists deolining to give ap their plunder, and ultimately the Government emissary was obliged to consent to a oompromise while all the material was sent -• - baok to the upholsterer who bad furnished it, Dunedin Sympathy. The Wellington members are encouraged in their Btonewalling endeavors by the know* ,-. ledge that a public meeting has been convened for to-morrow night to protest against the passage of the Representation Bill. Until -, to«day, howev«, no indication of feeling bad been received fropa the other centres. This afternoon Mr James Allen received a telegram from the Chairman ot his Eleotion Committee approving of the aotion being pursued. One telegraphed :— " The Bill muet 'be delayed. Do your utmost. Don't he afraid to stick out.'". The other wired: *• Satisfied with your aotion, aud hope that the -redaotion of members will not be endangered." During the day Mr Fish telegraphed j to Sir R. Stout for an indication of the feeling in Dunedin on the matter, and enquiring whttUar the Btonewalling tactics were being reprobated* The ex-Premier replied to the *•• effect that the vast majority of the Dunedin people approved of the action being taken, and intimqted that the question would probably be considered at tbe meeting re the ,= Oiago Central Ruilway, to be oalled for Monday next. Sir Robert adds that the Government are losing support in Dunedin ' ' by their action on the Bill, • ■*■ ••-■»■ As You Were." ■* ■!.:;■• The movement to revert to the condition *- 4^f i^_Cai_. prior to the passage of tho Repre- - mentation Aot of 1887, reducing the number ' of members to 70, is growing in strength, •' jfcnd many now incline to the belief that tbe 'outcome of the present disoussion will be a : Vie Version to che status quo, and the re- ; "pealing of the Reduction of Members Bill, and again fixing the numbor of European representatives at 91. When the Government measure gets into committee*. Mr Lurnach intenda tci move a clau.ee repealing -.ho Aot of 1885 with the objeot, no doubt, of killing -the Bill now under consideration. Mr Lar- I - naofc vofyd two sessions ago for a reduced j ,_yLouae, but like many other hon. members, I

tiBB sinoe changed his views on tho question. Very little interest is attaohed to the ballot; initiated by Mr Ballance in conn ec ion with this .Sutter, as Beveral hon. numbers do not ; intend taking the trouble of casting their ballot paper**. Gathering Strength. The town members are receiving every encouragement in the war thus is raging. A publio int-e'iDg to back up theii* efforts is beir.g arranged in Auckland, and tho following iionomble m* tubers h-ivo joined their j ranks in r.ddi'ion to those previously men- | tsooed: — Messrs Hatch-eon, Lar:-auh, Blake, j and Feldwiok. The Small Boroughs. Tho oountry m.mbers deelar. in the J lobbies thar, they had to buy the support of j the small br -roughs to insure tho passage of the Represent .tion Bill, hence it is that j Timsru, Oamaru, N^-lsan, Napier, New Plymouth, Hokitika, and Greymoutb boroughs, whh f» population of over 2000, whioh received exceptional treatment nnder the Aot of 1881, aru now reckoned as oountry dis» tr.'eis with _25 per cent allowance. The city men report that though sho_ supporters of tho Biil have a mjorit*. , its passage J through Commiti'-'o will nev*<r bs accomplished, for amenc-rams after amendment WiU be proposed, and tbe measure will be so delayed "cs to tire out. and dishearten its stauuohesf- friohds. Tiio proposal is to movo separately that every town distriot and borough in the colony be added tc the clause of the Biil dealing with tho four chief oent<*es, and to divide the House on eaoh occasion. • Stifling the Discussion, It is reported this evening that the Speaker has discovered a precedent whioh will enable him to summarily stop the discussion and put tho Bill imo Committee. Tne town members _r ; * jubilant at the suooess that has so far attended tbeir effort?, and point with pride to the fact that oo protracted a stonewall preparatory to getting a measure into Couxu-u.tee is unprecedented in tho rarliamoutary annals of tbe colony. July 26. The discussion has been carried on since last night by the following members of the town party: — Messrs Fish, Blake, Barron, Fisher, and Menteath. At 5 o'olock Mr Joyce took up the running and spoke till 8, when half an hour's adjournment was granted for the purpose of allowing the ventilation of the chamber. On resuming Mr Joyce continued hia discourse , and promises to establish a record. He will be followed by Mr R. Beeves, who is a veteran stonewaller and will keep the ball going till eight to-night, when Mr Hutchison takes up the parable. The only incident worth recording was when Mr Kerr was snoring, and Mr Seddon called attention to his unseemly conduct. The Speaker sent a messenger to awake the member for Motueka, who, however, soon relapsed into his former state again. Mr Kerr was aroused, and Sir M. O'Borke warned bim that if his sonorous habits were to be continued he must retire into the lobbies. Sir M. O'Rorke and Major Hamlin are relieving each other in the Speaker's chair every six hours. Mr A. R. W. Fulton, engineer for the Manawatu railway, and eldest eon of the member for Taieri, died at six this morning < from typhoid fever. The announcement was . made to the House by the Defence Minister. The Government whips, to meet the exigencies of the situation, are arranging their men so that, one half are on at a time. The Opposition declare they are fighting not so much for the quota question, which is of minor importance, but against the principle of the four centres being considered different to the rest of the colony. It has been suggested that if the stonewall continues the Speaker or Chairman may take some action as in 1881, when Mr Gisborne was fined for obstructing the chair during the representation stonewall. The opponents of the measure are unanimous in their determination to keep themselves within the olear lines of deb te, but if interfered with, every one of them will render himself liable to the fine and take his chance of being committed to the custody of the Sergeant at Arms. It would be a queer state of affairs if the Bil 1 should have to be passed in the enforced absence of its opponents. Education Franchise Bin. For the sixth successive time the Legislative Oounoil has rejeoted Mr Steward's Bduoational Franchise Bill, which has as many times passed the Lower Chamber. The main feature of the Bill was the abolition of the cumulative vote in Sohool Committee elections. The opposition -waß led off by Mr Oliver, who said the objections to the existing Aot were based merely on ignorant clamour, and it was an insult to the Chamber to repeatedly introduce thiß measure. Captain Baillie moved that the BUI be read a seoond time that day six months, because it would only prove a burden to the statue book. The other objections urged to the Bill were that it was a fad whioh members of the Lower House did not like to reject out of consideration for the feelings of its author. The second reading was ultimately rejected by 18 to 10. Thames School oir Mines. Mr A. Mackay, the assistant Geologist for the colony, has been appointed Director of the Sohool of Mines at the Thames in succession to Mr Montgomery who haß reoeived an appointment in Victoria, 3*30 p.m. The position is unchanged. 'Mr Joyce spoke till 12-15 p.m., when Mr Taylor took up the running. To the surprise of the town members the speaker announced that would leave the ohair for an hour, the Government having instructed him to do sa without being approached by the stonewallers. Mr Taylor resumed his address at t 2 o'clock. Great regret is expressed here at Judge Gillies' death. The opinion is that Mr Edward Hesketh of Auckland will he appointed his sucoessor.