POLITICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 9645, 2 July 1892, Page 2

POLITICAL NOTES.

In the afternoon Mr Hogg makes his first demonstration of the session. The House starts at the familiar rolling * Sir-r-r,’ and before it recovers finds itself plunged into a long account of the evil practices of the particular members of the Book-Fiend family who are connected with the Picturesque Atlas Company. Mr Bucklaiid moves the adjournment of the debate, and then he and Inangahua have a lively little skirmish, during which Inangahua succeeds in getting Manakau into a trap. * The hon member ought to be ash—' and he stops abruptly. Manakau rushes with uplifted tomahawk, as it were. The Speaker drops a grave word between the combatants, Inangahua admits he tried to say ashamed and declared with studied and demonstrative politeness that he withdraws the attempt—and then he smiles wickedly, as one who has given example, bv withdrawing a fragment of a word. The Book-Fiend family gets to no practical result by the discussion. The afternoon is farther enlivened by an episode concerning the famous Rangitikei letter. It begins with a light play of badinage between Mr Seddon and Mr George Hutchison, The Minister cannot for the life of him discover which bridge of two Waitotara thinks the right one. * Consult Waitotara and you will put up one ; consult Rangitikei you will put up tha other.’ In the midst of the Opposition applause at this thrust, the Minister retorts about the changes pending in these electorates, and his people give him encouragement.

Then Mr Wilson moves the adjournment of the debate, to defend his triend Mr Simpson from the Minister's attacks, which he reads from a newspaper report, in that careful, quiet manner we all know so well. His case is that after receiving the letter intended for another Mr Simpson, his friend has done all that could he required of a man of honour by notifying the writer of the fact. He admits that he informed one friend of the contents ‘ in strictest confidence,’ He says that the publisher of the letter was Mr Stevens, who, to save his cause from the damage caused by reports circulating through the district, asked the Minister for a copy, and gave it to a reporter at his meeting to publish. A sharp fire of suggestions accompanies the explanation. ‘ Why didn't he return the letter at once?’ ‘Why didn’t he send it on to the man for whom it was intended ?’ 1 Why didn’t he take it to the post office?’ These exclamations Mr Wilson meets with scorn, in which the Opposition joins. Mr Seddon will not withdraw a syllable. The man who got the letter ought at least to have returned it, without waiting for it to be asked for. The other side jeer him with quips and cranks, but he will not budge. Why did he ask for it ? Simply because many letters reached him complaining of the use made of the contents as to the publication. Mr Stevens’ copy of the letter contained the date of the letter to which it was an answer—‘Your’a of seventeenth inst.’—Mr Stevens certainly never took out that date. How did the "papers come to publish the letter with a blank for this date ? The effect, however, he holds to be perfectly plain—it is that the impression has been produced that the whole question was raised after the death of Mr Macarthur for political purposes. To this no remarks are made on the Opposition side, but there are many Ministerial 1 Hear, hears. 1 Mr Seddon devotes himself to the question of the date of the letter. May 26th Mr Wilson had said; two days after the death of Mr Macarthur. He explains the matter clearly. Received the letter May 19th, decided what answer to send on 22nd, instructed his secretary accordingly same day, pressure of business prevented the secretary from attending to the matter till 26th. The explanation takes some time to get out; so many are the questions, interruptions, jeers, sidewinds. Mr Speaker interferes once to preserve order; the heckling is kept up vigorously and with great good humour ; the Minister laughs and smiles; keeps his temper and gets his explanation out clear. Then there is a brisk attack upon it, which runs np and down the Opposition line. 1 Did he dictate the answer ?’ * Do Ministers usually work on Sunday ?’ ‘ls it not true that a request came from Marton on the 25th to help opposition to Bruce ?’ Mr Seddon puts down his foot, and raises his voice, till it rings. ‘Do hon members doubt his word ?’ He offers to show the letter of 17th to Mr Speaker or the Leader of the Opposition. They will see the minutes at the back with their dates, the last of which minutes will show the instructions dated 22nd, on which day the letter was ordered to be written. As to the delay, no one is to blame; ho will say that to save the feelings of his secretary from being hurt by unjust criticism. There is always a press of work, and on this occasion it was intensified by the mining examinations with which his secretary had much to do. There is a digression about requisitions! the Minister having said that the letter only pointed out the course which people who wanted Ministerial speeches ought properly to follow. Members on both sides exchange a good deal of chaff about the Bruce election, and the subject finally gets back to the letter, and once more the Minister takes his stand, appealing to the leaders opposite whether it is not the oa-e that every decision minuted by Ministers dates from the date of the minute, and he renews his offer to show the document. Of course ho will not print the correspondence, as it is a private correspondence. Both sides say ‘ hear, bear ’to that, and then Mount Ida thinks the whole matter ought to be dropped, and dropped it is. The rest of the afternoon sitting is given up to complaints about the composition of the Standing Committees. The Opposition leaders are bitter in their denunciation, Ministers defend. Mr Fish and others say a few words, and the afternoon is gone.

EVENING SITTING,

True to announcement the Electoral Bill comes first oh the Order Paper, and in ten minutes is explained and laid before the House in hie blandest, nicest way as befits a gentleman who is doing so great a favour to the gentler sex. Mr Kolleston is, on the whole, friendly, but rouses up against the Woman’s Franchise. When Mr Fish gets up armed with notes, a vision of all night sitting rises with him, but is speedily and agreeably dispelled. Mr Fish is not in fighting mood; he postpones his onslaught on the Woman’s Franchise, and for the rest of the Bill be is demonstratively generous in support. Mr Scobie Mackenzie (woman suffrage apart) speaks in his beat form of the Bill approvingly, and gets ‘ hear, hear ’ handsomely from the other side, and he denounces the city electorate system vigorously. Mr Dnthie says a few words after thanking the Government for considering the commercial travellers. Mr Taylor goes through ten minutes accompanied by roars of laughter. The ‘ poor and needy ’ he illustrates with his favourite gesture—he puts himself into defiant attitudes and sends warnings out of each of his five extended fingers to Clutha and Manakau, who receive them boisterously, while the House roars with delight. In one of these bursts he waves his spectacles and crams himself at ‘ eleemosynary aid,> and safely negotiates the obstacle, not without a momentary hesitation, the House applauding the feat with great amusement, 1 I’m not agoing to change my ideas,’ says Mr Taylor, and the House says ‘ Don’t 1 ; much more goes on, till the amusing interlude of ten minutes is over, and Mr Taylor sits down flushed with his exertions.

Clutha is virtuously indignant for a while over the case of the Civil Service, 1 every member of which knew at the Wellington election ’ that they voted against the Govern ment candidate at their peril. He has seen it all in a southern paper. In this way he illustrates bis objection to the present system of polling. Denials fall from the Government benches, bnt the debate goes on. Before be sits down Clntha, who waxes warm, says the returning officer of Brnoe has been dismissed ; he was an Allenite, it seems. Mr McLean makes his maiden debating effort—very fluent, very ready, very self-pos-sessed, and very full of his subject. He turns on Clutha for his references to Wellington, where he says his opponent and his friends

spent LGOOO on their canvass. Half a dozen * noes * assail him, but be reiterates, and then he denies the assertion of Clutha about the Civil Service fair and square. He never canvassed any Civil servant, he knows many voted against him, ns the Drillshed voting proved, and he will not allow a soul to suffer for voting for him. ’Hear, hear,* comes thick about him, and he says that friends of his in the service have assured him they never heard of any such order. The southern paper is wrong. The Ministeriali-ts cheer the statement, and Mr McLean develops it at length with great vigour, and the other aide leaves off interrupting. After that Mr McLean comes out as an earnest champion of woman’s electoral rights. In which quality he has a passage-at-arms with Mr Duthie about a former speech, and though compelled to withdraw by Mr Speaker, carries off the honours with the cheers of his friends.

As he goes along thus encouraged he makes a neat division of representation for his own electorate. Commerce, which is Conservatism, Mr Duthie ; the Middle Party, Mr Fisher ; the rest, viz., the large majority, Mr McLean. Mr Duthie says No - Mr Fisher not being there says nothing. The House is quite lively while Hr McLean is speaking. Mr Hogg follows with a slashing speech. He approves the Bill hugely, boisterously, with a faith depending on details. Tbe feature of his speech, which vastly amuses the House, is a passage he has with Clutha. * Jerrymaundering ’ thunders Maaterton. ‘ What is Jerrymaundering? * says Clutha. * I shall very soon prove you to be a Jerryraaunder,’ retorts Masterton, who seems under the impression that Clutha is five miles away from the Chamber. The startled House goes off into a guffaw as soon as it recovers. Clutha had, continues Masterton, demanded the amalgamation of city electorates. He opens a Hansard and he explains that all the Conservatives in the House voted for the retention of the amalgamation clause. He reads — 1 Allen, Buchanan, Fisher, Sir J. Hall, Harkness, T. Mackenzie * —there is a great crackle of laughter as this name is rolled out by the big voice, and Clutha is observed to be plunging into Hansard with a dozen volumes on the table before him. The names of ‘ Newman and Valentine * having concluded the reading, Masterton shouts out with great emphasis, that these gentlemen, having voted for this for Tory purposes, have sinced experienced that the city electorates have done their duty by the Democracy, and they therefore want a change. 1 What is that,' he soys, getting up to full blast power, 1 but Jerrymaundering?’ and the Government people shout with delight. Sir John Hall has an exchange of thrusts with the Premier over the Hare system. Leonard, Courtney, Lubbock, he quotes among other names.

‘ Not Liberals,* says the Premier. ’Sir John Lubbock not a Liberal T says Sir John Hall in great astonishment, ’ There’s pot a Liberal in New Zealand, not even excepting the Prime Minister, fit to untie his shoe.* There is a buzz of comment, and Sir John Hall passes to other things.

He meets Mr Fish and crushes him about those pensions. We don’t get up petitions at so much a day for canvassing, and so much a signature; and we don’t get them up in public houses. Mr Fish being out of the Chamber there is not any fun. 3ir John goes on with the subject warmly, hopes no party considerations will stand in its way, and ends by announcing that there is no reason at all for dissolving when the Female Franchise passes. The Prime Minister has assured a number of the supporters of this franchise to that effect, and is understood to be ready to accept a proposal to fix a date as was done last year, for the purpose of enabling the women to prepare themselves for the change. Sir John’s earnest, vigorous speech is hailed with applause as he sits down. After supper we have Mr B. M. Smith, Mr Sandford, Mr Barnshaw, Mr Pinkerton, Mr Buiok, who all have a thin House, which being wearied, does not appear to listen, and makes very little sign of its existence ; with the exception of the Labour members and those in their immediate neighbourhood—vkho are, as ever, lively. Mr Houston is followed by Mr Kelly, of Invercargill, and then Captain Russell rouses the House with a breezy, clear speech, in which he advocates the extension of the franchise to the Maoris, especially as their lands are about to be taxed. Mr Kelly, of the East Coast, carries on the theme with spirit. An addition of five members to the North Island it will give, ho urges. The Premier replies at two o’clock with great vigour, beginning with Captain Russell, whom he informs that the Maoris do not want ths franchise, preferring to cling to their special franchise. He goes through all the points of criticism, warming up particularly over the franchise of the inmates of poor houses and such like institutions, which he defends with vigour and wide reaching sentiment. He denounces the change pi the Conservatives regarding the city electorates, twits Sir John Hall with ever advocating changes in the Electoral Law for the benefit of his party, predicts that the Woman Franchise will disappoint him by increasing the Democratic majority. As for minorities, they ars represented now. At Home, the most aristocratic country in the world, there is the see-saw of power, the same franchise changing the Ministries regularly. So it will bo here. He advises the other side to think no more of Hare systems and other schemes for giving them power, but to rely on the present system, and work it out loyally. After a brief peroration he finishes ; the House which has heard his vigorous speech attentively applauds; the Bill is read a second time, and the long-looked for adjournment comes at halfpast two.