POLITICAL PALAVER

NZ Truth, Issue 474, 18 July 1914, Page 5

POLITICAL PALAVER

II Paragraphs Pertaining to Parliamentarians)! \ ( B y "X.M.P.")

Sir Joe's "want of confidence" motion has come and gone. "It was, of course, foredoomed to failur&but it had its effect m "shaking up\the dry bones" and affording a preliminary canter for the more strenuous -Itruggle to come. What the Opposition leader's idea was m thus early throwing down the gauge of battle ishbd to conceive, as the wily "Dreadnought Barrow-nite" has assumed a ro\e of inscrutability, "a la" his late chief, Dick Seddon, so that even his most trusted henchmen are not wise to^the position. One thing it did do wasjjto draw a broad line of demarkation fcjetween' Reaction and Progress, and put such political "rats" as Vernon ReM and Toby Rhodes, shivering and shakY ing m their shoes as to next general election results, m their proper places! and has left them not a loop-hole of ' escape from the "volte-face" which they executed at the beginning of the present Parliament. Their constituents n6w find them coralled m the Plute stock-yard, and if they returnthem to power again the blame must rest on their own shoulders. They have had warnings enough. Grey Lynn's Payne is a damned good fellow privately, but, as a politician, his fondness for the lime-light, bis playing to the gallery, his want of sense of responsibility, take much from his usefulness as a representative of a large . and important constituency. What he expected to gain by his sorry exhibition last . week, ' the Gods only know! What useful purpose was served by being shut out for 24 hours from the Council of the nation is a mystery! Even as an advertisement for Payne— the ego— it was a bad move. He had transgressed the rules of the House and nad called down upon himself strong condemnation,from Mr." Speaker, for the nonce an unbiassed official, and all' will agree that Speaker Lang— Tory as he is — has exercised his functions m a most impartial manner. Payne was simply "kicking against the pricks'^ and was serving no useful purposed Even his exit lacked dignity. , His proper course, ,as an elected of the people,: when he found that his tongue had run away' with him,, was to withdraw, the offending words, and say the same thing m a better way. Go to, Payne! Do riot misunderstand/ me, "X.M.P." is not annoyed at Mr. Payne for outraging, the "forms of the Haouse." What "X.M.P" does regret is that he should go to, such trouble over.nothing. ;If the pngnacious Payne anil his confreres want to kick up anelofarow m Parliament, let them do so over something worthy— something that will 'appeal to the popular imagination. What of taking up the cudgels on behalf of Harry Holland for a start? During the past few weeks, several deputations, have appealed to. the Minister of Justice. and the Premier to -have Harry's sentence remitted, ' but, each'- and all haye 1 received tho deaf ear. It is pointed out that recently m the Empire City, a certain, individual, who had committed a grossly criminal act, had his sentence considerably reduced, although there had bedn no public movement made on his behalf. Further, area* Messrs. Webb and Payne aware , of the treatment that, it is alleged, is now being meted out to Harry Holland m his Terrace home? It is well known that.ho is not m the best of health. The Judge, m sentencing him, noted this fact, and gave it as a reason for his not inflicting hard labor. Shortly after his incarceration, the hapless Holland made application., to be treated as a hard labor prisoner, and this request, the newspapers at the time stated, had been granted. A person Who visited and spoke to Holland tho other day, informs "X.M.P." that ho is looking far from well. He also states that Harry! la kept m a little square by himself," and is not allowed to otther see or spoak to any of the "other prisoners. On our informant bidding him goodbye, Holland said, "Don't forget to let my friends know that I am bcii g kept at what is practically solitary confinement." If this statement iB true, and ••X.M.P." believes, it to be the truth, some one m authority ought to be brought to book, and that with all possible speed. Here, Payne, Webb, Hindmarsh, if you want a scrap and a really good and righteous reason for fracturing tho rules of tho best rich man's club m God's Own, hero sure Is one at hand ready for the lifting Come, now, make sure of your ground, and then hit out, hit all round, and hit damn nard. ' Let tho rules of tho Haouse bo b-b-blowed. (Indignation nnd the crazo for alliteration nearly betrayed "X.M.P." into tho use of a bad swear word.) • • • There Is one direction In which tho Defence Act requires immodlato amendment. When drafted it was supposed to bo a. democratic "cuss" through whose Instrumentality any son of Now Zealand might rise from a prlvato m a cadot corps to bo tho pos-

far from realising this objective. One grave defect, which is causing much dissatisfaction amongst the rank and file, is the fact that no one can sit for a commissioned officer's examination who is over the age of 25. This prevents many clever fellows, • keen enthusiasts m military matters, who have been volunteers for ten or fifteen years, but who happen to be just be- : yond the allotted age, from ever being anything else except sergeant-majors. A. good many senior cadets, mere boys, are busy, at present, "swatting" for the j lieutenants' exams., and very soon, ! sergeant-major veterans, who have borne the brunt and burden of military ! duty, will have to tremblingly salute these fledgling school-boys, who are scarcely out of their "teens." Why should these men, who have devoted years of ungrudging service to their .country, even though they are 35, Ibe barred from rising m the service? \ ' • '■■ - •"'■'■ '■■" ■'"" •'• ■ ■'■■ * \'TEticketty" Russell's assumption of virtue is enough to make the proverbial cat laugh. In discussing M, P. Payne's Workers' Right ? to Work BUI this wefek, he appealed to Qhristianity and humanity to sustain the duty of providing work for those who stand' m the market place idle because no man hires^them. He reverted to the 3s 6d a dai and the soup-kitchens of 25 years Wo, and reviewed the great resourced of the country, as latent with the possibility of employment— the mines, the forests, the water powers, all of which might employ ten or twenty times more people than they do now. Hif urged pressure of the times, measuring it by the increasing preponderance ol the urban population and acknowledged the^effect by hinting at an extension of State and municipal functions, i^Jmphm! "Mines, forests, water powers", sound well. It was good to hear,. "Bicketty" rolling it off his chest. But "X.M.P." marks the fact that the pertinent word "lands" is wanting. He 'believes that"Ricketty" himself owns a good slice, which, m non-speculative hands, would find an outlet for much|labor. 1 t ■'•".■■■ -■•■■>• . •• .-. This week saw, a duel between two Maori members-lin the House — Tare Parata and Dr. 'Poniare — which,' to some extent, was highly diverting. Nobody, of course, \gives Charley credit for any large amount of brains, but he certainly has had a large experience m Native land affairs. He has. been through the mill m the Native Department, and has the facts and figures at his finger ends. . i>r. Pomare, on the other hand, stands m a very different position. 'Educated, as a youth, at the expense of his people, I he was sent to other lands', to obtain a knowledge of medical science, so that he might devote that knowledge to curing the ills and ailmentsWhlch the Maori has acquired from contact with the Pakeha. Much to the disappointment, of thos^^jiO themselves .for the^gdtid.'" of their Vace, the debtor. cp'nvenVejitly. forgot thp object for which 'he was' sent away, and, on his return, chose the field of as an outlet J for his energy, "y. As a politician, he is a delusion and a'; snare. He is seen m the House only when duty compels him to be there. During the so-called" small-pox scare, instead, of being out on the field, strenuously combating the 'dread disease, he lolled and loafed about the lobbies and Parliamentary benches. > • • ■ • Hon. "Darn" Fisher some time ago rejuvenated the hackneyed saying, that "consistency is the. refuge of fools." It would seem as if he ; was .out now to revivify the . immoral' assertion that "A lie is not a lie till it^s found out." In,speaklng oh the question of a Trades Union's right to^ dispose of its funds as ; the majority of 'its members decide, "Darn" sald:W All the Opposition's case came down to this: The Osborno judgment had not been repealed at Homo by a Liberal Government which had for its majority m tho House of Commons the Labor Party. - Not 6ne member, not oven of the hybrid/Labor Party m the House gave him the He direct as of a surety he had fully earned. The Labor Party m the House of Commons neither maintain nor make up the Liberal majority m tho Mother o' Parliaments. On moro than one occasion, during the past three years, the Labor Party's vote has been cast solidly against the Government — thla has*n't *been done 1 as often as "X.M.TV could have wished, but still It had been done— and the Liberal vote never at any time, fell boiow a good working majority. Can't somo one bo sufficiently ulivo to nail theao false coins to tho counter Immediately the "Rainbow" Minister seeks to put them Jnto circulation? What Is "Darn" Fisher's new gumeV This week he has been mixing it properly with tho wowseristlc push, under the leadership of Dr. Gibb, "X.M.P." thought that "Darn's" sheet-anchor us the representative for Wellington Ceiir trul was to bo found m the Church and the Prohibition votes, and that he was prepared to do anything to placate both | sections. Certainly, "X.M.P." admired tho frankness which "Darn" displayed when interviewed by a Bifolo-in-Schools deputation the other day, but ho bus twisted and turned so often — In fact, has ho thoroughly earned tho sobriquet ""Rainbow"— t hut the question asked übovc forces llsrlf on the mind. Tlkv interview produced some charming "naivete" on the part of the members of tho deputation "-nd ruvealcd the lengths the faddists win go to secure tho particular bigoted objective uppermost In their minds. For Instance, W. A. Allen, v Scotsbyterian of tho "bluest" type,' wave the show awuy whon he appealed to Mr. Fisher on the ground that he was thnir voice m Parliament, "»'l they thought they hnd a r»K»t i" look to him for assistance. Again. A. KlehurdH took off tho gloves find tokl "Darn" plainly and plumply whul hl» position an v j>olitlclan was. •• * . McCoombcH, M.P.. »ot Into trouble with hl« collar-buttou during hl« first speech, but showed how Impossible It will be to put him out of his stride. NothluK upsets a nmn's temper like n refractory button, and one who can talk on and on whllm his collar performs a «ort of ''Jig" under bin chin must by an angel.

ing hi« wife or kiddles. In fact, he seemed to bo quite attached to the youngsters whom the wltneiwhad on several oecuHions looked after whilst their ma had bc<»n away from homo for Ihe day. i'robably she had been away working. The S.M. reekoued h« wasn't mitl.slled that William had done enough evil to eurn a uoparaiion order. Philadelphia consequently left tho Court m no better linancial auue than that In which she entered and blew tho gaff to the whole of Sow Zealand concernIng tho mess-up she hud made of matrimony.