PAYMENT TO SAVINGS BANK TRUSTEES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13305, 11 October 1906, Page 5

PAYMENT TO SAVINGS BANK TRUSTEES.

, A QUESTION OF PECUNIARY INTEREST. .1. - FARCICAL PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT. fBT TELEGRAPH.— SPECIAL CORBESrOKDENT. e s : Wellington, Wednesday. In- the House c* Representatives to-night .. the Savings Banks Profits Bill led- to some . farcical proceedings. Matters assumed a . more serious phase when a division was r taken on a motion by Mr. Barclay that 3 the trustees of such private savings banks 8 be allowed £1 a day for each meeting they attended, the payments not to exceed £12 t a year to any member. The motion was carried by 34 votes to 33. i Mr. Wilford then raised the question of 1 whether, under the Standing Orders, memi bers who were pecuniarily interested could 1 vote on such a clause. t, The Chairman (Mr. Flatman) said he'aid . not know that anyone had so voted, and Mr. Wilford named Messrs. Arnold and , Barclay as two members who had voted for the clause, and who were pecuniarily interested, seeing that they were trustees of the Dunedin Savings Bank. The. Chairman: How do you know? Mr. Wilford: Because thev told me so. Tin? Chairman asked Mr. Arnold to state whether he was interested, and Mr. Arnold said he did not know that the proposal made it compulsory that any amount of money should be voted to the trustees, it only made it permissible to vote the money, and it might never be voted. Mr. McNub argued - that the members referred to were not directly interested pecuniarily. While Mr. McNab was speaking, the Chamber fairly - bristled with points of order, and Mr. Wilford's voice could bo heard above the din calling, "Mr. Flatman! Mr. Flatman! Mr. Flatman!'' The Chairman: What is the matter? (Loud laughter.) What are you waiting for? (More laughter.) Mr. Wilford: I am waiting for you to name somebody to speak. Mr. McNab rose again, and the Chairman addressing Mr. Wilford, again ordered him to sit down. Messrs. Gray and McLachlan followed with other points of order, and the House became a Babel, the proceedings being farcical in the extreme. Sir Joseph Ward, who was in charge of the Bill, said the House was really trifling with it, and the practice of half-a-dozen members continually raising points of order was frivolous. . Mr. Wilford once more interposed. The Chairman: Will you please resume your seat? (Laughter.) Mr. Wilford (sitting down): Yes.' The Chairman: Now, sir, I will hear what you have got to say. (Peals of laughter.) ■ , -<; ■.; ■■'_. .-*, , Mr. Wilford said the matter was a very simple one. The members could state whether they were interested or not; then the Chairman could rule/ The Chairman then asked Mr. Arnold to continue his statement. Mr. Arnold said unless.the Chairman defined what was meant by the term "interested," it would be impossible for him to answer the question. Mr. Barclay, on being called on to state whether or not he was interested, said that the member for Hutt had, as usual, discovered a mare*s nest. Miv Wilford: A trustees' nest. (Laughter.)?.-"' " : ' *"" .'"rf" ..' Mr. Barclay: Ido not know why at the dictation of the member for Hutt the Chairman should ask— (Cries of Chair! Chair!;) . Mr. Barclay said that if there was any question about his being interested another remedy could be taken, and not the one sought to be used by Mr. Wilford. v, Mr. Kidd said that he had voted against the Bill, and he asked the Chairman what Ins (Mr. Kidd's) position was. He added that he was a trustee of the Auckland Savings Bank, and he and his co-trustees were against payment to trustees. Sir Wm. ' Steward argued that Messrs. Arnold and Barclay were . not interested, and could vote. Afteij further discussion, Mr. J. Allen said he assumed that Messrs. Arnold and Barclay had not quite understood what they were doing. > Mr. Arnold: I know exactly what I was doing. \ ' ' Mr. Barclay said he would neither deny nor admit- that he was a trustee. Eventually the Chairman ruled that Messrs. Arnold and Barclay were justified in voting, that the clause providing for the allowance of a,fee be read a second time, and that they 1 - had no pecuniary direct interest as trustees in the.;.vote. -**r Mr. Wilford: But .they have not said they were trustees} sir. Mr. Massey called for a division, and the clause was inserted-in the Bill, but the division was close, 39 s to 32. 'Messrs. Arnold and Barclay voted with the ayes. %••: .' ':.