END OF THE SESSION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14930, 1 March 1912, Page 8

END OF THE SESSION.

PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.

GN SIR J. WARD'S MOTION. MR. MASSEY PROTESTS. MOVES FOR ADJOURNMENT. LABOUR VOTES WITH GOVERNMENT. ■|bT- TFi-EGRATII. —SPECXiX CORRESPONDENT.^ Welungtos, Thursday. The prorogation of Parliament was proposed by the. Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) this afternon. . A vigorous protest was made by the Leader of the Opposition to tho suggestion that this action j should bo taken before the promised rej construction of the Cabinet had been efI fected, and the "new Ministry had presented itself to the House. Mr. Massey declared that the Government party had scented a majority only by the Prime Minister's pledge that the present Ministry would resign. At 4.50 p.m. tile Prime Minister said that he desired to move that the House should adjourn. The business on the Order Paper was completed. Mr. Massey : I would like to ask the right hon. gentleman what is intended? j When will he : ask the House to meet again? . this afternoon, to-morrow morning, or when? The Prime Minister said he intended to ask the Governor to prorogue Parliament from now. for a month, and then in tho ordinary way till June. >■' Mr. Massey: Then you are now proposing prorogation. Sir Joseph Ward assented: A Clear Statement Wanted. Mr. Massey : It is just as well we should understand that fact, but I think the Prime Minister should have told us when ho moved the motion—the House is entitled to know—whether he, proposes to make any Ministerial statement in regard to reconstruction of tho Ministry as indicated during the debate on the Address-in-Reply. I think the House is entitled to a reply to this question, and the country is entitled to a clear statement as to what the Prime Minister intends. The Prime. Minister: I am not going to be controlled by the antiquated notions of a Conservative newspaper. I am going to carry out what L havo said. My responsibility is to the country and not to the Leader of the Opposition or to his party. When Parliament meets there will be a Ministry which has" already received the affirmation ,oL the confidence of': Parliament. ..'■' (Dissent.) >• . ••' "'• Mr. Massey: No. Mr Fisher: On r condition that you.re-? sign. J ~' * ' Sir Joseph WardX Scheme. . '"' Tile - Prime Minister: nd" yon aro still over there, and we are over here. Ho repeated that he was not going to- take the-Leader of the Opposition into his confidence. pis': duty was ' to the country, to the party, and, to . all sections of that party which supported * the Government. He would take ; the earliest opportunity of meeting;, them, and. within a short; period from now,' a week, maybe, or two,; or mayba more, he would make a recommendation to His Excellency '. the Governor as to' the alteration that was to bo T made, and , the new Ministry would meet the House in June next. 'He ':'■' believed it- would be strong enough ' to deal ] with any matters that might come up. He hoped he had made himself ' clear? When he , found those* people (the Opposition) who were in a minority, in respect of the combined votes behind them, of 100,000, • suggesting ■ that he. should -be advised by; them, he it was an insult to the. people of the country, and the party; and the House. He was going to carry out the constitutional course absolutely, «and later on he , Fould give his reason publicly, and carry it out the right and proper way. „ *. r-. An Unprecedented Course. Mr. Massey said he did not think that the Prime Minister proposed to carry out the : proper and constitutional course, which was, in the case,of a Government which had : been able to secure a majority only on the casting vote of the Speaker, to hand in its resignation to the Governor. Ministerial laughter.) Members might laugh, but they had never before heard of a Government carrying on with the casting vote of the -Speaker, except *n New South Wales, where the Government had now secured a majority of one vote. • Messrs. Forbes and Witty: What about Mr. Wilford? •' , Mr. Massey continued that over and over again- Governments had resigned when they had majorities of four or five or six, simply because they had" not a sufficient majority, get their legislative proposals through Parliament.; • • The Prime' Minister: We came here to test that point. Mr. Massey: The purpose for which we came hero" was vto place "a Government upon the Treasury benches. , ; - Sir Joseph Ward: And • that cannot get there. '~}--:\: " Mr. Massey: And that was able to command the confidence of the majority in the House of Representatives. What has happened is that - the Prime Minister secured victory upon the casting vote of • the Speaker. '.'" .'. * '';'■'.'• ■■"\<J> : -:. : "v 1 ■"■'■ Hon. R. McKenzie : Is the Speaker not a, member?. ' ' ■• ''" . How the " Victory" Was Won. Mr. Massey : Certainly, and how wag victory secured? Was it not stated in the debate over and over again that the Prime Minister intended to resign? It was. stated 'by Sir J. Ward himself! The Prime Minister: Can that debate be referred to. ' " ' \ Mr. Massey : Surely the things go together. "f.ti,/, •■■ ,'. '■. ~.•'■' Mr. Speaker ruled the reference out of order. • '

' Mr. Massey said that it had been so stated in every newspaper in the Dominion, and upon the best possible authority. Had ' that' statement not been made the Government would not have been able to secure a majority, even upon the casting, vote'of the Speaker. {Ministerial dissent). ; -'v; J -.""'.-' l . ..; ' ; vv :, ;;,. ' '.....'... Sir Joseph Ward : The course I decided to take I took of my own volition, and freely and without request or suggestion from any member of the party, or from anybody else. " (Mr. Payne: Hear, hear.) I made that statement freely and openly, and I gave my reasons for it before the division took place. : j Mr. Massey declared that the House and the country were quite satisfied that the Government did not- command tho confidence of the House. ': Sir Joseph Ward We had a majority of the votes of the people. Sir Joseph Ward's Pledge. Mr. Massey asked whether the Prime Minister ' would deny that he had given pledges to members that no matter what happened he would resign, and his resignation would be accompanied by those of hi« colleagues. ' . Sir Joseph Ward : I stated it publicly —my resignation and the resignation of the - whole Ministry. .. , Mr. Massey : We are going to get into the most extraordinary position that has ever happened in this country. I presume the Prime Minister will keep his proraise. Then what will happen' ' '' Hon. R.McKenzie : The Governor will not send for you. ■ -Mr. Maisey : Ho will send for me in due course. I am quite satisfied to stop on the Opposition benches until I eet a majority of members who will keep their I Pledges and place mo.-on the Treasury

benches .in an honourable, manner. Mr;' Massey said that members had responsibilities to the people, and it .was., their duty to see that the men who were placed on the Treasury benches were men in whom members had confidence. (Hear, hear.) How were members to know that unless the new Ministry presented" itself before Parliament was prorogued ? A Humiliating Position. ,'.".

'Mr. Massey referred to the change of Government upon the defeat of Sir Harry Atkinson, and an interjection was made that Mr. Ballanco had a majority of six. "Has this Government a majority of six?" he retorted. My honest opinion is that the present Government is in a minority, in spite of the vote, and that is proved by the fact that it was necessary to give pledges that if the no-confidence motion was negatived the Ministry would bo reconstructed. That proves to my way of thinking that the Government would not otherwise have been on the Treasury benches mow. It is a humiliating position for them, I admit, but. I do not want to mako capital out of that. " Parliament will not be doing its duty," Mr. Massey said, "if it allows a prorogation without seeing on the Treasury benches the men who are to administer the affairs of this country during the next four months. There are many important matters to be dealt with during that time. A High Commissioner and a Trade Commissioner havo to be appointed, directors of the Bank of New Zealand have to be appointed, and I understand that a number of appointments to the Legislative Council are to be made."

The Prime Minister: Let us have your motion. We know all about it. The member for Bruce is hugging it there ready to move it directly you finish. Mr. Massey: That is hardly fair. The Prime Minister has got an idea that I am going to move an amendment. I cannot do that until he moves his motion. He added that the position should bo made plain. It had been stated that five Ministers had to resign because the party would not tolerate them any longer.

What Will Be the Ministry's Policy?

Mr. Massev said they wero all anxious to go back to their homes, but they had not yet concluded the business which they had boen sent there for. If tho Prime Minister wanted a week in which to consult his party, or sufficient tinio for the purpose, ho was quite willing to give it to him. He would support an adjournment for a week. That would ho a proper solution of the difficulty. Afterwards the Government could come back and show the House the men who were going to take charge of the country during the recess. (Loud "hear, hears.") There were very important matters in connection with the finance to be dealt with, and they could not shut their eyes to the fact that there was a certain amount of trouble in the financial world at the present time. Surely the House was not going to adjourn without knowing who was going to manage the financial affairs of the country at the present time. When Sir Joseph Ward retired someone with •no experience of finance whatever might take his place, and have the handling and the administration of millions of public, money between now and the ordinary meeting of Parliament in June. It was not "fair to hon. members to let them go home without telling them who was going to control their finances during 'the next four mouths. (Hon-members, No.) Then there was the policy of the new Ministry. Was it to be the policy'"in the Speech from the Throne? Were they to go home without having some idea of the policy of the next Administration ? He did hot suggest that they should be asked to bring down a Governor's Speech, but they should at least know who the members of the Ministry were to be. (Hear, hear.) 'The Prime Minister should give them a full and fair explanation. .-

... v." Doing the Eight Thing." , Sir Joseph Ward said ho was taking the constitutional course. Mr. Ivlassev wanted to get the men wL voted the other night to keep him out of office to reverse their votes on a hypothetical motion suggested by the Conservative press, who wore behind the landowners. (Cries of " Oh," and laughter from the Opposition benches, mingled with -'hear, hears" from the Government following.) : When Mr. Gladstone retired in favour of Lord Koseberry, and the Federal Premier retired they did not take tho course advocated by Mr. Massey. This suggestion to adjourn for a week was made with a view to allowing a minority in the House, backed by a minority in the country, to dictate. . . An Hon Member: Nonsense. ... Sir Joseph Ward said he was doing the right thing in preserving tho mass of the people from the. Tory Administration coming into power. (Laughter.) An Hon. Member: Talk sense. Sir J. Ward, in answer to another interjection, asked who was interrupting. Mr. Payne: The member for Parnell. Sir Joseph Ward: He ought to be ordered out, if he docs not know how to behave himself. (Cries of " Oh, oh.") An Hon. Member: Keep cool, and don't lose your temper. Sir Joseph Ward: "I never lose my temper. (Laughter.) He went on to say that there was a widespread feeling of joy at the. defeat of i tho Tory party tho other night. ' ,;'■ Mr. Herdman: Let's have another election. (Loud "hear, hears" from the , Opposition benches.) . i Sir Joseph' Ward : We would wipe you out of sight if we had another election. (Opposition laughter.) Mr. Mas3ey: - Well, I am quite willing to go to the country. (" Hear, hears," from the Opposition benches.) < - - Sir Joseph Ward continued that he was entitled to recommend to tho Governor one of tho members of tho majority who carried the resolution .the , other, night against the Leader of the Opposition. The Opposition knew tho voice of the people was against them. (Opposition laughter.) They never looked so unhappy in their lives.' (Loud laughter from tho Opposition, and cried of "Go to the country; go to the country.") .... Sir Joseph Ward said ho thought the country had trusted him. in connection with .very difficult matters in tho past, and thoy might trust him with what was admitted to bo a crisis in tho political history of the country. He added that the House had confirmed by vote that a progressive policy was to be carried out, such as the acquisition and tho bursting up of, large landed estates, helping the workers of4Jio country, helping the farmers, and helping tho ordinary trade industries. . In the face of this they must keep Mr. Massey where ho could do no harm on an appeal to the people. Next time they would wipe out the old Tory party. ' 'An Hon. Member: We've heard that before. Mr. Massey Moves Amendment. Mr. Massey said he wished to move to add the following words to tho Premier's motion for' adjournment: —"Until Monday next at 10.30 a.m., in order that the House may be informed of the changes proposed to be made in His Excellency's advisors."

Sir Josoph Ward: Can that bo moved as an amendment? I suggest that it cannot.

The Speaker: The only part I can accept is "Until Monday next at 10.30 a.m." Mr. Massey: Very well; then I will move to add, the words: " Until Monday next," and in moving this I will say that I do so as an indication that the House should, bo informed of the changes proposed to be made in' connection with His Excellency's advisers. .. . _.. ;.. ~ Mr. G. W. Russell (Riccarton) raised a point of order. .The hon. gentleman had delivered a long speech since the motion was moved.

The Speaker . said no motion . had yet been put from tho chair. ■ The Prime Minister had been interrupted, unci there had been explanations from both sides. Mr. Massey, said ho thought there should be no objection to the amendment. Personally he was- very strongly of opinion that it should be unanimously agreed to, and that it would be approved by the great majority of the people of the country for the reason he had mentioned. His proposal would give an opportunity for the new Ministry to be formed, and for them to como down to the representatives of the people and show them who they were. The Prime Minister had made a suggestion that the majority of the people were not against the Opposition. The Prime Minister objected, as a point of order, that Mr. Massey could not discuss now matters that were raised before the adjournment was moved....' "".

Mr. Massey: The right hon. gentleman made a fairly long speech, and at the conclusion of it he moved his motion. I submit that I am- justified in referring to any matter expressed by him in that speech. . _ *■, ■ _ The Speaker : The position is not exactly as stated by the Leader of the Opposition. The Prime Minister (eagerly) : Hear, hoar. The Speaker (continuing) : Nor as stated by the IU. Hon. the Prime Minister. (Laughter.) The Speaker added that both speeches were made by the indulgence ot the House, and were not a portion of any debate. A member was therefore quite in order in referring to either of them. . .Willing to Give a Fortnight. Mr.• MassGy said ho did not admit for one moment that the voice of the people was against the Opposition. If the voice of Parliament was nob going to be against the now Ministry, why wero they afraid to show themselves? Why would they not agree, Lake a reasonable time, and come before Parliament before its prorogation? Ho would bo quite willing to give thorn more . time than until Monday. If they wanted a fortnight, let them say so, and then most of the members would have time to go to their homes. Mr. Masfiey had begun to reply to what had been said of largo landowners, when the Hon. R. McKenzio rose to a point of order. The Speaker agreed that great latitude must bo allowed on a question of adjournment,, but hon. members must keep as close as possiblo to the subject of adjournment, and matters related thereto. The Prime Minister rose to make a personal explanation, but was ruled out of order, on the ground that he would have another opportunity of speaking in the debate. Ho then urged that the Leader of the Opposition was out of order, but the Speaker merely repeated his previous ruling, and allowed Mr. Massey to proceed. What is a Liberal? Mr. Massey said a Liberal was one who was exceedingly anxious to guard the rights and liberties and privileges of the people. Was the Prime Minister doing that.? The people, through their representatives, wanted to be sure that the new Ministry would possess the confidence of those representatives. That was fair argument, and he did not think the Prime Minister would bo ablo to pick a flaw in it, When the House resumed at 7.30 p.m., tho Prime Minister' moved to suspend Standing Order 92, so that the debate which had been interrupted might continue. Mr. Massey agreed to the suspension. What the Proposal Meant. After tho motion to suspend Standing Order 92 was carried on the voices, and the interrupted debate on the question of adjournment was resumed, Mr. Massey said that at tho risk of being accused of reiteration, he wanted to make the position clear in a very few words. Tho Prime Minister had moved tho adjournment of the House, after making it perfectly clear, in answer to a question by him, that the adjournment of the House meant practically the prorogation of Parliament. This, in spite of tho fact that within the last few days they had been told repeatedly and emphatically that probably in a few days, and certainly within a week or two some of tho present Ministers would retire, and give place to others. The Prime Minister himself, who was also Minister for Finance, Postmaster-General, Minister for Lands, and Minister for Defence, was one of those who were to retire. Practically it meant a new Ministry. He and his party said, as representatives of the people, that they should not be asked to go to their homes, to give up their Parliamentary duties, so to speak, until they knew who the new Ministers were, and had a chance of saying whether they approved of them or not. It was not a question of waiting ' until to-morrow or Monday, or for a week or fortnight or three weeks. Ho was quite willing to give the new Ministry any reasonable time they might ask for. ,It was- not a' question of precedent, it was a question of.common-sense. "It is i a question," said Mr. Massey, "of whether we are going to do our duty to our constituents or not. For myself I should bo ashamed to face my constituents if I could only tell them that I had left Parliament Buildings without my emphatic protest,* both by voice and vote against this very undemocratic proposal."' Mr. Massey then referred l to the wealth of the members of the Government party, which, ho said, was greater than that of Opposition members. " During the time I have been at tho head of the party," he i continued, "wo have, never had £1000 in the party fund's. I am mot a wealthy man. I am not whining. Probably if I retired from politics tomorrow I should have enough to live on, but I have had to pay my own expenses during the last six years." Strength of the Opposition. As to the voico of the people, Mr. Massey said that at tho general election 41 members wero returned to tho House pledged to oppose the present Government. The Hon. T. Mackenzie : But not to support you. -" Mr. Massey said that 41 members wore pledged to assist thd Leader of the Opposition in turning out the Ward Government, * Sir Joseph Ward : But they would not agree to put you in. - • Mr. Massey: No, but they pledged themselves to put you out. Some of of them have broken their pledges, and, according to telegrams that I have received, some of their electors are waiting for them with very tight-fitting suits. Opposition Will Not Be Consulted. The Hon. R. McKenzie said that he was surprised at tho Leader of the Opposition not taking his defeat like a. man. It was perfectly well known that Mr. Massey wanted to force a dissolution. Mr. Massuy had said that his party had no fighting fund, yet rumour had it that the party had spent £50,000 at the last election. Tho Opposition wero not going to be. consulted in the re-election and appointment of a new Ministry. That was a question entirely for the majority of Parliament. A Comatose Ministry. Mr. F. M. B. Fisher (Wellington Central) said that members wero asked to go away leaving on the Treasury benches a comatose Ministry, which could not carry out any Administration Act. ' Sir Joseph Ward said that the authorities of had been given for carrying on everything in this country tintil the end of June next. The House had expressed confidence in. the Government. Mr. Henries: On condition that you resigned. Sir Joseph Ward: I made no compact with you or anybody else. lam not entitled to considor tho Opposition for one single moment. While lam upon this subject, let me say what a vacillating lot of men they are., Mr. G. M. Thomson: You are entitled to keep your own pledges, surely. • Sir Joseph Ward: .Well, I keep them as a rule. I admit that. Bargain and Challenge. Tho Prime Minister referred to the question of party funds, and offered to exchange balance with the Opposition. Mr. Massey: I sincerely hope our treasurer will accept that offer. (Laughter.) I would recommend' him to do it. ..Sir. Joseph-Ward: - I hope he will, too, and I'll undertake to transfer a very good, overdraft in return. Mr. Fraser: You have spent your money. . Sir Joseph Ward: I suppose that is the treasurer speaking. (Laughter.) He added that he would give the, Opposition a list of all the sources from which they could • obtain assistance for their party funds. Mr. Buchanan : I would recommend the Prime Minister to be silent. (Laughter.) Sir Joseph Ward: Than you. Then perhaps, you are the treasurer. (Laughter.) • Mr. Fraser: I am tho treasurer if you want to know, and this is the challenge. I will accept. If you will state tho total amount of money that has passed through your account during tho last- six months, I'll do the earned

Mr. Massey: The right hon. gentleman made a fairly long speech, and at the conclusion of it he moved his motion. I submit that I am- justified in referring to any matter expressed by him in that speech. _ _ ... .. The Speaker": The position is not exactly as stated by the Leader of the Opposition. The Prime Minister (eagerly) : Hear, hoar.

. Sir Joseph Ward: I accept the challenge now, and I'll publish it from the housetops if you'll do tho same. •, Mr. Fraser: Very well. Sir Joseph Ward: Will you give the amounts distributed in the different electorates outside of the fund? , Mr. Fraser: I don't know. I have nothing to do with that. I only know tho sums distributed out of the party funds during the years I have acted as treasurer. Resuming, Sir Joseph Ward went on to cito various precedents in other countries for acting as he proposed to. . A Conditional Victory ,-„, Mr. A. Harris (Waitemata) said that while tho Prime Minister's attitude might bo constitutionally right it appeared to him that it was morally wrong. Tho Ministerial, party had gained oidy a conditional victory. The House should insist upon the presentation of tho now Ministry before it was prorogued. It appeared to him that members were being treated as babies by an autocratic Ministry. The trouble was that the House was controlled by one man. While ho was a member he. was going to have some Ay in the national business. (Hear, hear.) Ho would not sit still and allow oho man to predominate the wholo show. Mr. Allen quoted from Dod to tho effect that a Governor had power to prorogue Parliament without tho new Ministry meeting the Houso, but ho could only do so on the understanding that Parliament would meet again as soon as possible. Otherwise ho could have no assurance that Ministers possessed the confidence, of Parliament, and- further tho new Ministry must only transact routine business. The Taupo Land Transaction. Mr. G. W. Russell (Avon) said that it was quite truo that somo 12 months ago he purchased a large block of somewhat despised land near Lake Taupo. That action, was in no way inconsistent with his attitude towards the tenure of .State lands. His constituents were fully aware of tho matter and had demonstrated their confidence in him. Ho had bought that property not for occupation by. himself, but in tho interests of settlement by assisting setters who took up sections in.the block.. A New Member . Explains Mr. J. H. Bradncy (Auckland West) supported the amendment. Ho said he was not an owner of any land or of a single sheep. The only live stock ho had was a Shetland pony and a bullpup. Hon. Members : What his name '! Mr. Bradney : Massey. (Much laughter). Wo called him Massey because he camo of a good breed. His father cost something like £90. Ho hoped that if tje amendment was not carried tho Itrime Minister would give an assurance t/iat no new appointments would be made to the Legislative Council pending the reform of tho,method of constituting it. Hanging on to Office. Mr. J. A. Young (Waikato) said that it was evident that tho Government party was concerned only with its desire to hang on to office- ■■■"■.'■ Mr. F. W. Lang (Mannkau) said he felt j that he must now enter his protest against j the attitude taken up by the Government. Tho Government was endeavouring in a most improper manner to cling to the . Treasury benches. If tho Prime Minister' had not promised to resign the attitude of the Government would havo been correct enough, but in view of that promise it was j indefensible. Mr. J. IT. Escott (Pahiatua) declared that the breaking of pledges by Labour members had cast such a slur upon the Labour movement that would take at least ; a generation to live down. At midnight the Speaker put the amendment, which was lost on the voices. Tho reason for this course on tho part 1 of the Opposition was explained by Mr. G. M. Thomson (Dunedin North), who moved as a further amendment, " That the i Houso adjourn until Thursday, March 14." Ho said that if this course was adopted, tho Prime Minister would have reasonable time to carry out any change ho proposed to make, and it would enable him to submit proposals before Parliament was prorogued. ..... Tho amendment was seconded by Mr. E. Newman (Rangitikei). End of the Session. The House divided at 1.50 a.m. The amendment was defeated by 40 votes to 38. Tho Labour members all voted for- the Government. Tho session lias ended. THE RECENT DIVISION. RECEIVED WITH DIGNITY. I [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] ' CußisrcKUßcn. Thursday. In an editorial note, the Christchurch Press says that "probably for the first time- in tho history. of this or any other Parliament, the result of a division on which hung the fate of a Ministry was received in almost a' dead silence. Had tho same division occurred in one of the Australian Parliaments, it is probable there would have been a freo fight on tho floor of the House. The speeches of Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward after the division wore both in excellent taste, whatever may be said of certain preliminaries to tho division. There is no doubt that the manner in which the result was received on both sides will add to. the deservedly high character which the New Zealand Parliament already possesses for dignity and self-respect."