PAYNE, PATRIOT, IN PARLIAMENT

NZ Truth, Issue 569, 13 May 1916, Page 7

PAYNE, PATRIOT, IN PARLIAMENT

RATTLES OP M "DRY BONES i'

PRIME Ml

ISTER MASSEY'S COMPIACCNCY PERTURBED

The Reports of the Anti-German League Deputation; "A Tissue of Ues "

Mr. John Payne n^akes some Allegations

Tne Ron. Member (or Grey Lynn, Mr. John Payne, monopolised almost all of Thursday afternoon's sitting* m introducing the first batchof bills for the sessiqh. Mr. Payne not pnly bel ieves In ;himse|f, of which, fact he supplies tl*e ! House with ample prpoC as the days go by, but lie also believes m his work. As only the man who believes m his \ybrk ever can be a master craftsman, so none but the man who believes m himself is able to make, others believe In him also. To lose faith m Qneself is to court failure, and JoUn Payne shows no signs of sliding doiyn that path at easy dalliance. His sj?eeches m sjuppart of his proposals shflW npt P.nly care m construction, but evidence research and. investigation m pre.pa,ratip.n. On Thuraday afternQQW last he had ft self-set task to perform— the introduction pi Bevon bills^-whlch would have, over? whelmed any ordinary roan. Bu.t John Payne, whatever his/faults and foibles, IS NQ ORPINARY MAN. And so the seven bills. w ere duly introduced by seven speeches, not on,iy :d,i^rent, but d.istinctjy %O y crammed, | jammed and rammed with facts, figures : and fitting f elicitQUs, phrases. [ But his speech on the introduction of ;his \Var Exigencies and Ihn.pjre PTeservatlp^p 8411, was the speech; of flic b\%? !tin£. and th,e infprrn j atlp_n he disclosed oX the «Q- cabled Gernianisatio.n of pur Public Service and, Pefence Pepartmen.t must have taken many hours, of patient research, an 4 inquAify to collect a_nd collated He began % Pillorying, the MJ.Rfisher for Defence for app^ing Lleui tenant Alex. Pve^ Qjlerspn to. go. away iwfth the, laftt. pa.tch, o£ Reinforcements. | The country bqen put to the cxi pense of a.' I\pyal Commission tp see [whether Grlerson was a fit a.nd Proper ! person tp hq\d. a commission m his Majesty's forces. Th&V fribynal failed to cleaj the, ii\w. frona accusations of being partial tqi Germany, or -fo demo.n-: s.trftte'Ws fltries& as an p.ffl.cer. Mr., Payne would have, been the best pleased person m Parliament had these things been proved, bui they were not. were st&temehts nuxde that the m.an's forebears for generations' had been Scots ftnd English, but there was no absolute assurance that he Ttfas not of German blood. He had ,been employed m the German Consulate. He carried about with him cards which no true Britisher would carry, cards sold to strengthen the forces of Germany, and three weeks after the war began, he asked fox a letter of introduction m the German language, Those things should have been enough to show that Grierson was not a man who should be allowed to go with our trpops. Here the temerarious Tom Wilford put m his spoke. , ''That German Consul," he said, "has just been appointed agent for the British Antl-Sep.tic Company—^tha British Lyeol Company— in New, Zealand." "Ay, ay," said the GEfcMHUN JUI-JUTSUING JOHN, "and I want to say something; more star tyhg than that, I want to say tl\a.^ when the lad.les o^ the deputation whlph waited upon Mr. Massoy m regard to thia Qricraon Question, spoke of Mr. Focke as a Qann^n Consul, Mr. #tyss>y, indignan^y raplle,d; 'lie is a New Zealand. merchanV "■ So far, IXy. Mftss^y was attentively following the speaker, hia luce wreathed In a sunny smile. As the above yeference to himself ro,ng through the House/ the sunny fim'le scooted f ro,m hJs countenance, and "gpt'ierlns hta &rov»> like gathering' storm," he h-h© to his* feet and passionately declaimed.; "Gentlemen, it is not true. I deliberately say that the report that appeared m tue papers, was a tissue of falpehPods." Tho papers! Not the "XAberar papers, nw the "Labor" uapera; but just "tho papers"! This includes th.c Square Deal dope dlstri. butors too. "Truth" alone \vas not included. In the first place, very rightly, because it did not publish the "tissue of falsehoods," Secoudly, "Truth/" so far as. Parliament is concerned, has no "official" existence. "Truth" has not once been rightly accused ot puttlngr words m a member's mouth which, he did not utter, mucb> less m tho mouth of a Miniator, and that Minister the Prime Minister, as he reminded Mr. Wilford th<s other day. "Truth" still is refused entrance to. the Parliamentary Press Gallery uml the other privileges of pressmen attending tho House, but th.a representatives of "The papers" who PUBLISH TISSUES OF FALSEHOODS about the Dominion's chief executive officer aro not denlert any of vheao tilings. Verily, Massey must beHevo in' heaping ooula of firo upon tho bouds of. his Joiinuilistlc ciutiUcs, whtly those who would not wilfully vyrong hini or any other Minister or members, are left out m the cold. Horn the Jolting John Insinuated that Mr. Maasoy was most ujijjullant, as tils statement wnp fqual to an u«yfcrtlon that all tho ladles m the tl«pu-. tntion w«ro lovely little iLarsj! Som«! yf theH<# ladles wero wlvch tit big WqUttttenj und »uj>j>t>ri9r» of Mr. M^»aiioy'n party at the polls. Then takinjjr up the inroad of hla narrative. Mr. Payne foil foal of ono Fols, who had. been, ftllowed, to go away \yith our

forces. This particular piebald patriot was not the employee, but the son of a German Consul. - That man, too; held a commission. "Yet. that man's father," declared Mr. Payne, "on the fall of Antwerp, held with other Germans m Dunedin a" champagne banquet to celebrate tho fall of that city." He had gone to see the Minister for Defence about that matter, and a "Hansard" reporter had been ' called m hy the Minister to take down the conversation. He had stated the facts to the Minister and put the Question to him, ; 'Do you think that a thing to do for the good of the country?" And the Hon. Minister said, "I do.' l Mr. Payn« proceeded to read from his catalogue of Germans holding Government positions. One Vosseler, an estimable fellow, born m Germany, of German parents,' was made a captain m the Garrison Artillery, an.d when Captain Scantlebury went to the front, Yosselor- was made adjutant to the forces and was m possession of the plans of all our forts, and was Ordering about our men. "NEVER WAS BLACKER TREACHr . ERY PERPETRATED by a British. Minister of Defence m the history of • th.c Empire," said John Payne, the patriotic strength of his conviction causing his voice tp ascend m a Clear, resonant crescendo. Another Captain of the Garrison ArtU-: lery was Langguth, whose father was interned! Rpckstron wp on the board of examiners which! passed' or turned

Amid the wordy warfare Of the Arbitration Court, Friend Scott a placid course pursues; Composure, is his forte. He never deviates a.hair Wlja,tever may transpire; Though he Is just, he'll never bust Or set the Thames a-flre,

down New Zealand officers. Arthur Otto von Keisenburgr handled the secI'ftt correspondence relating to hospital *hipa, transports, etc. Letters marked "Extra Confidential" were opened by Otto von Kelaeuburp! Gerard Muitler, who had for years held a position In this country, which Germany would have paid him thousands a year to hold; since he had resigned, was draw. \ne a civil 1 la t pension of £400 a year, while bis nephew, Teuton Von. Teutonburg. now filled his old position. After touching' on the acceptance of th© Telefunken system of wireless by the Government m preference to a British tirm'a offer at one-third the coat and ot equal value, the mombcr for Grey Lynn declared that Parliament had to consider If they were not sending off too many men until they had dealt with THE DANGER IN THEIR MrDST —the Uungor represtmletl, for Instance, by the 10,000 Austrian* on the gum* fields up north. Many men up tnsre would not enlist until they wt-re as»Uire<i that their wives and fa.mUk>a were «*l?* from that aaJt*g<*r. Mr», Lpwry o< Hawko's Bay, huu\ dvclartHl that she and other, mothers would not tet their i*ons go to the front so long 1 aa thoro weru so many Austrhuui amj Clvrrnarm ut la rife m the country. Amis had bwsn found burldd m South Africa m praparatlon for a rlsluif. Arms had been found burlvd In the Unite<lfStai,os for an invasion of Canada, and he was not prepared to say that similar preparations had not been made m Now Zealand, so that they could rise when the time came. If a German fleoc camo those men mi&ht rise and capture the country for Germany m twenty- four hours. Mr. Payne, m concluding with a spirited perorsition. demanded that the Dt»fonoo !MliiJater bo deposed, and cullOil upon tho mernbora of the House to support his Bill. The txUrtotte JPuyno was listened to throughout with jan frarnoHtness as intenso aa thut munlfc'Stud by tho 6p<>uker hlm*wlf. und ninny points m hl« spoech were ptinctUHtuii with rwpoattul '•h<*nr«h<*urn." ! Almost cv<*ry mombcr In the House i tuUiiiUt-U thni | A VERY STRONO CASK ! hud ham made out aguiiiHl tho tu\miril»trat!oii, 80 far ax the employing j hi positions of truijt mom bora ot an | alk'ti t>nemy nationality. At tho same 1 time ibo Hon. Juimss Alton wan not ! without hbi d<?f endow, nnd aovurul | moinbt-rrt, both Chat nftcruuon :uj 1 I ham- In Urn ovonlmr. tulil ih<? Hous.^ 5 KOtTtcihini; nt (he good work that twtr- ; UeuUir Mini*u<r hurt tUmv. U v,v. t i j tibviouH that however culpable h« may j have bvon m re^ftrd lo tU-rmnns, null ' ih«j*o of Ceraaun <it»i<«m In ih«s Dt>fcoco Forces (and they did not oil

accuse, him of culpability) he. could not be blamed for their presence m other departments of the state's service. There ■was NO HARDER WORKED MINISTER m Parliament. His enemies called him a stubborn mail. Probably he was, but one had to be stubborn to be strong. Mr. Allen believed that the Germans m his department were men who preferred British rule to the rule of the Kaiser, and that they would be loyal tq their path of allegiance. In support of this view it has to be pointed put, that many men of (3erman name and n^ore'pf German blqod a^re fighting m the ranlyS of the In}- 1 perlal Army as they are also m the ranks of the draft.s sent from every British, colony. '. " ' Jq replying to Mr. Payne, Mr. Allen, said that he allowed Lieutenant afterson to go vfith i the farces because the tribunal set up to investigate had reported that that officer was British by birth and descent, Mr. "\ r ossoler v s loyalty, despite his German birth and parentage, was unquestioned. He was an able* officer, and held m high esteem by both his nien and his superiorsr: As to th 6 others, one man mentioned was a naturai-bprn British subject. He was on extended leave and ljad not been m the'' forts- "since Sep--temberi I^l4l Another was born m the Dominion and had served m the South African War. The military censor m Samoa was' bprn m New Zealand, and had' rendered particularly valuable, services to the department sin.cc the outbreak of the war." Another was British-born, like his parent^, and their parents back for generations. He, also, had served m South Africa. His father had RETIRED. FROM THE BRITISH ARMY before war broke out, having completed twenty-eight years' service, but had rejoined, gone to the front and had been killed fighting m defence of Britain's flag. Beside his father, his brother had died fighting the Huns— and this was. one of the men who was being hounded and was having' his name dragged m the dirt by this socalled Anti-German League. He would not say what he called it, but he would consider it beneath his dignity to place any man's record before such a body. The "New Zealand Times" of yesterday (Friday) morning, In referring to'the debate on the Address- in-Reply, said: A vigorous speech*- by Mr. G. Forbes (Hiirunui) was the feature of the evening's proceedings. Not a word for the speech of »\r. Guthrle, yrho moved the Address- inRenly. Not a word for any of the others who followed Forbes, who, togged up like a wajter m a second-class hotel, seconded the Address-in-Roply, Mr. Porhes's speech was "vigorous." a8 a physical effort— rthat's the best wo can say of it. We do not want to say our worst. The speech O.f Mr, Hjarris, Masseyite though he he, h^d a mttbh truer Radical ring. It'w'as a surprise coming from where it djd, and it was as welcome, wise and weighty as it was unwanted from such a quarter. It was not till Mr. Pp.o}e rose that the evening sitting learned what a real, vigorous speech consisted of. Truly \% was vigorous In all senses of the term. So vigorous was it Ihtkt one is at a lobb for superlatives Vo compliment the speaker. Let it be paid, that Poole "pooled" them all! His warning to the Cabinet to. be wary m the manner m/ which'they squgh-t to pass their proposed Conscription pill was timely and wise. While In favor of compulsion, be deplored the "big stick" policy, and he wanted to tell the Ministers that the workers were VERY SUSPICIOUS OF COMPULSION. They would anxiously watch out for the names of the gentlomon who were to sit on the Exemption Board, for there was an uneasy feeling abroad that certain influential persons would be "exempted" while the proletarian plugs would be put m %ho flrlpg line. Tho Prime Minister might resent his saying so, bqt it was, nevertheless, true.