PARLIAMENTARY SCENE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19452, 7 October 1926, Page 13

PARLIAMENTARY SCENE

SENSATION IN SYDNEY. alleged attempted bribery. PREMIER AND EX-MEMBER. [iROU OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] SYDNEY, Sept. 80. For several months there have been charges of attempted bribery by outside interests of members of the New South Wales Labour Party to bring about the deposition of Mr. Lang from the party leadership and also to effedt the defeat of the party, and hence the Government, in the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Lang s methods since he became Premier have not pleased all his supporters, because they recognise that his obstinacy will cost them many votes when the next appeal to the electors is made. The charges eventually led to disruption in the party, and there were two distinct sets—Mr. Lang's faction making the allegations of attempted bribery, but refusing further investigation, and the other, with Mr. Loughlin, deputy-Premier and Minister for Lands, urging that the charges should be thoroughly probed. The factions came to battle in caucus at the pre-sessional meeting of the party last week, when Mr. Lang, by the odd vote in 47, was sustained in the leadership although caucus decided partly against him by deposing his nominee for the chairmanship of the party, and by deciding to move for the appointment of a select committee of the Legislative Assembly to inquire into the attempted bribery charges. This carried the battle on to the floor of the Assembly. Dr. Evatt, one of Labour's bright young men in this State, and none too friendly towards Mr. Lang, moved for the appointment of the select committee. The leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bavin, supported the motion, as members of his party were involved in the accusations of attempts to bribe. He flayed the tactics of Mr. Lang and his party in a subsequent speech moving a motion of want of confidence in the Government, and the Assembly was worked up to a state of high excitement by the recriminations and protests that were flung back and forth. They paved the way to what was probably the most sensational statement made in this historic Parliamentary Chamber. Sensational Statement. Mr. Lang rose in his seat to yeply to Mr. Bavin's charges, and after a few preliminary words, said: " Sitting in this House, on the Government side of the House, is an honourable member who will tell the truth and take his oath that he was approached by a person known to the State of New South Wales as Voltaire Molesworth, who is managing editor of the Daily Guardian, which is bitterly opposed to the Labour Party and its leader, and which is a propaganda sheet which would destroy the Labour movement, and the Labour movement press. This man approached a member of the Labour Party and said: 'You can go to the Carrington Hotel at Katoomba, and you can take your wife and have a holiday for as long as you life, free of cost, and wc, shall pay you £3OO cash towards the cost of your election expenses, ii you will vote to depose Mr. Lang from the leadership.* " Uproar ensued. For several minutt? Mr. Lang's voice was drowned in a storm of comment. When that had died down, Mr. Lang, who makes a good speech when his back is to the wall, went on to answer Mr. Bavin's charges. He had just reached the climax of his address, and members were waiting for the adjournment when Mr, Molesworth entered the Chamber through a door to the left of the Speaker's chair, and shouted out: " The Premier made a statement here this afternoon. He is a coward and a liar." The Sergeant-at-Arms hurried towards the intruder, who turned and walked quickly out of the, Chamber almost before members had realised what had happened. Mr. Lang took practically no notice of the interruption, merely smiling, and proceeding with his speech. Actors in the Drama. Who are the actors in this political drama ? The member of the Labour Party, who, according to Mr. Lang, is ready to take his oath that Mr. Molesworth attempted to bribe him is Mr. William Ratcliffe, one of the members for a suburban industrial electorate. Mr. Molesworth is a journalist, who has been connected with the two newspapers founded by Sir Joynton Smith since the inception of Smith's Weekly, and is now, as Mr. Lang said, managing editor of the Daily Guardian, issued from the same office. He was for five years a Labour member of the Assembly, curiously enough for the same electorate as Mr. Lang, Cumberland. He did not seek re-election at the last election in May. 1925. The Carrington Hotel mentioned in Mr. Lang's charge is a fashionable hostelry at Katoomba, the famous Blue Mountains resort, and is owned by Sir Joynton Smith, or at least, he owns the greater portion of the shares in the company which conducts it, Mr. Molesworth states his own case in the columns of his paper denying categorically Mr. Lang's accusation, and adding: "If Mr. Lang will do the ons manly act of his life—that is, to make this statement openlythen I shall take the necessary steps to prove the untruthfulness of this allegation. Mr. Lang is, of course, protected by Parliamentary privilege, but Mr. Molesworth has issued a writ against Mr. Ratcliffe, claiming £IOOO for alleged i slander.