THROUGH WOMAN'S EYES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20307, 15 July 1929, Page 17

THROUGH WOMAN'S EYES.

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

NOT READY FOR BUSINESS.

[B2 TELEGRAPH. —OW~X COBBESPONDEXT.] VTELLDvGTOjr. Sunday.

j The time of Parliament for the past ! i week has been mainly taken np with the | j Address-in-Eeplv debate. There have j been fairly-filled galleries, quite good ' audiences, considering the poor entertain- J j ment and counter-attractions. The maiden speech cf the Postmaster-General was an interesting note in the proceedings. Natnra'iiy unemployment—its causes and remedies—was the main theme in the speeches. In Auckland the distress seems worst, and the Postmaster-General had a naive reason for this. He alleged that the heat and hospitality of the Queen City increased -unemployment, lien who finished their jobs in the country went to Auckland to get warm and a free meal from the charitable folk of the city. I'here seems to be an impression that the Government is not ready with its business. It is difficult to see how they could be when the Ministers have been running about the country almost to the opening of Parliament. On Wetlnes- ■ day afternoon there were evidences of this npreparednesß. Papers of little consequence were brought down and discussions were started, only to be cut short by the Speaker as beinj; cut of order. The Opposition sit silent —they were i I not going io be parties to any j ! waste of time—and from the Labour j I members—'rue to their leader's idea tha ! evening before—came no word. Only Mr. Howard, as the final stop took place, asked pertinently, "Why this stonewall j There vras a eiilmct sensation when the j Post master-General —a most personable j addition to Parliament —rose to speak, i He was vigorous in denunciation of written piedges, though, as Mr. Harris said later, a verbal promise should be as binding. The Minister would make it a misdemeanour to sign a pledge. Every man — or woman, he added hopefnlly—should come into the House unfettered. But, except for the Independents in Parliament, every man is tied and bound by pledges and promises, ami, -it times, a very res- j i tive captive. A Use for Hallways, j When the House of Representatives met j on Tuesday afternoon the commander c ; t ! the Emden and some cf his principal j officers in uniform srere present behind | the Speaker's chair. Five others were j on a bench at the back cf the | Chamber. All listened attentively, and j zraveiy watched the formalities. Ccm- ■ pared with their own Reichstag they must | have thought the proceedings very tame ! indeed. Mr. Black (George 'Charles j i Cecil) early caught Mr. Speaker's eye j I with notices cf questions that he wished j j the Government to answer about damage j !by the earthquake. He seemed none the | worse for the many shocks he mast have j received in his wanderings through his | wild and trembling constituency. Mr. ; Harry Reginald Jenkins resumed his spe&s ; Friday. "Mr. Jenkins made several state-, : ments that did not seem to be in accord j with Government policy, which led to in- | terjections, one opportunist telling him to < mind his step. Especially were members surprised when he indicated that be j was not a supporter of the Govern- ; ment's railway construction policy. The ; South Island railway was the only one |he said he would support, if any. It i might be necessary from a military aspect | —the carrying of ammunition for in- | stance, a statement that created sur- | prise, and of which no doubt, the Ger- ' man officers present took a mental note. When Ladies are Present. j Members who are sure of themselves, j t and desire to show off thetr oratory i generally, if it is possible, contrive to ; deliver their speeches in the evening, j : The crowded galleries, the feminine in- j | J •crest,, the bright lights and cheerier at- | mosphere add a stimulus to even com- 1 ; monplace remarks, and make a little j ' humour and very slight eloquence go j further than in the light of garish ' j day. There is one period an earnest speaker does well lo avoid- It is that ! hour in the afternoon when the evening ! papers arrive. It is most disconcerting j ;rr a fervid orator to see his audience j | disappearing behind newspaper, with con- j I tinual rustling of sheets, endeavouring to i find football results, or racing tips, or to j I sw: if the reporters have noted that the ! day before they had asked a question or : tabled a motion.

The Leader of the Labour Party spoke on Tuesday evening', fluently, logically, and with a quaintly _ intense emphasis thai arrests attention. His proposal was to rat. short, the debate and pet on with* the business. a most sensible suggestion when there is little or nothing to discuss. When he sat down it was expected, as a matter of courtesy, a Minister should follow him, but evidently Mr. Holland's idea of closing the debate found no favour with the Government, which is possibly welcoming The breathing space thus afforded. So we had a most extraordinary speech from Mr. McDonald, who represents Wairarapn. once Sir Walter Buchanan's stronghold. It, was the utterance of a victor whose triumph had made him _forget cood taste and it merited the quiet reproof administered later by Mr. McMillan. But perhaps it is easier to take a defeat with equanimity than a victory with humility. Mr. McDonald's delivery is distinctly canonical, with all the tone of '"Dearly Beloved Brethren," though not the tenor, for it was acrimonious and productive of much interjection. Feminine Disapproval.

j On Wednesday and Thursday a few members neglected their Parliamentary duties in the afternoons for more important, and, it is to be hoped, profitable business on the Trentham Racecourse. Though they may hare lost money at Trentham on Thursday afternoon they certainly lost nothing in so far as Parliament was concerned, because the proceedings in the House of Representatives were anything but exciting, Mr. de la Perrelle spoke well of his own department, with all its strange ramifications, and in praise of the officers who administered its affairs. ' It is difficult to ■write of Mr. MacDoncall's speech on Thursday evening. It was unique and one hopes it will remain so. Voiced in stentorian tones, t.oo loud almost to catch the meaning, vet dropping into whispers—it was full of strange wards and phrases, such as the walls of the Chamber have never heard. We had poetry and extracts —one, indeed, was quite unfit to be read in a British Parliament. Women in the galleries, where the laughter was not so hearty as among members, asked why the speaker was not pulled up, but it is little good to call attention to something that is said. It on.lv draws more attention to the matter, andi probably Mr. MacDou gall's leader, who never ens in this way, and Mr. Speaker himself felt far from comfortable. After the verbal thunder of the Scot, the Minister of Health roared as gently as a sucking dove. His quotations were welcome and were old friends. One which ended in " Heaven is not gained in a; single bound, you climb the ladder, round bv round,' 1 the Labour Leader neatly cap- ! ped by '* But you got there by a single j bbUiacD*.