THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1898.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11089, 16 April 1898, Page 4

THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1898.

• . : » ' ' Thbbe ' w.as nothing,' in ' what" " tlve' Minister for .Lands said ■in; hisvoration of two and a- quarter hours ,at\lnyev r cargill deserving of comment,'.;1 exdeptr his incidental but rnostVaudaeious denial, of the charge that the Governmenthad been in the habit pi refusing returns asked.'for by the Opposition.' Inthe • j course of the Minister's, speech; some i dissentient among the audience inter- ' jected that " returns 'asked for by ;theOpposition had been "refused byAithe .Government." Mr M|Kts2TZle's reply was characteristic. " When.asked.for partial returns," he said," which their opponents thought could be used to the detriment of the Government they had been refused or given ;f or > a longer extended period..than asked for, but no honest returns had ever been refused. -Pull returns for full periods were always given." Now, if-anyone wants to understand the trijjp.;•■ character of 'this subterfuge he has only to. look at the Hansards of 1894-5-6; Especially in the year 1895 ■ does Hansarfl.bristle o with ' demands for explanation 'why r: certain returns had been, opposed by the. Government, for at; that-time the Government were glorying ?;in the calamitously servile and .unthinking body of followers who -were ready ; to endorse. their every word and action. - The nuisance abated somewhat, -but . not very much, in 1896 when the general election was looming ahead, j J3ut before we enter into particulars it may be as well to explain what the *> position is in the matter of return's: as between the Government,', the. House,' and the country. Demands for returns are never directly and flatly refused by the Government, for the,simple, .reason that of themselves they have no. such power. The matter" rests with the House; and when the House, orders" a return the order must be sooner or later complied with. But the Governin ' ment have a very effective means of practically refusing returns, arid the T , discredit of bringing the weapon into i, use belongs solely to the ■ Seddon I regime. All demands for' returns must i V. brought forward by motion, and the

i time allotted to such motions is practi- ■ cally only an hour: or so in "the afternoon. Lf. a .motion is not dealt with before half-past - 5 in the evening it becomes hea/yily .. overlaid with other business, and .ai the end of a fortnight is struck off the Order Paper. Motions are therefore divided into "opposed" and ''unopposed," with a] view -of allowing -the unopposed' to be dealt with at once. ■' An unopposed motion has been recognised throughout i theipast history of Parliament to be one ' which simply asks for-statistical infor- j matkm —- for returns; ,in short. A.n ' opposed motion is one which embodies an abstract proposition, and" is therefore a fit subject for debate. It must await its chance., If a .member moves for a return of the amounts spent on, i say, public buildings within any series ! of years, that is an unopposed motion,-; and is, or rather always has been, taken at orice. The. information -is assumed to-be of generate interest • and not.;; ■debatable. . If, on' tlife tither; hand, a ■'!' member .moves that.fjt.;i.s; desirable tp\i introduce tiYeWferendum.rihto. our-coit-4 Btitution,.that is an." opposed* motion '•■ because it demands' :debate. It may possibly come on in time, but me&u : ; while it gives place' to. the merely ■■■■ technical motions for returns. Here j then:- to come to- 'the kernel of I the 'wrongdoing. Whenever a raera-1 ber asks for an-inconvenient; re-i turn;-the ' Gbve^fe^ntT; pronounces | it "opposed," it is.,no more heard: of, and at the' eiidi of a fortnight disappears from the list of the House's business^ Hence Hansard of late years t is full oi que^tioris;asked by aggrieved members, as to : why' such and such .a return is.'treated as opposed. It .must not be supposed that Ministers treat complaints contemptuously, though as a rule they have been, jaunty enough over such matters;. They do not say "We'll never allow the iweturn to be given." Kefei'ence to. Hansard will show that they are usually pro fuse in expressions of desire to furnish full information', but—-the motion is treated as opposed : and it never cqmes - onr;| Messrs'. S^o^iVi'KEfzrfe; "arjci''MH^'hayfe been.the;sinne^^^ or:another they have denied;.any; inyr' vformatiori that- sdugHt' to .throws-light on their own- departmental-'-transac- ■"' tiphs. Seldom does Mr M'KEy.zjrE in Parliament .make the excuse with \ which . he/endeavoured to delude his j hearers in InvercargiU'—that the ■ returns asked for iiwere " partial;" I There is no meaning .in'" the. term. ! A member asks for ; such returns as suit j his purpose. He ask 3 for details of 5 (some sort of expenditure for five years/j He doesn't want \it ( -: for 50 'years— to ! make what Mr M'lCejtzie'would call a I "■•full return." ..The,.cost would break] the system down in a month; and give ' the inquirer what heidid not want. It J is sheer nonsense^-'tcfflrflake-it aground j oil refusal that the return " wouUV.be i used to the •detriment "of the Govern-.! merit. . That is, veryrlikeiy' -what it is :j asked for; .it is the "constitutional right ■• of a member to use,it for such, a pur-.,; pbse.; If it is truthful return —and i that is a. matter.■which^inust -rest Avith | the.Minister and his'department—and | it injures" thei Government, it is right thep shoflld vbe injared. If arty ■•ext~ j .pianation is reqiuredi'mth^ interests of ~:the Goyernm^enfe the\?departraent,~can ?append"the information 'to the return, it must be obvious~:_to the meanest understanding ttistt if^-Grovernra'etit, aVj is claimed by Mr M^KEsrzfE, have the | right to refuse, ,-a return on the. score ! -that the infai"matiori J may.be " useS to ! thpir : ■ detrimSnty" cpi;ruption of :Sthe'] grossest character might remain nnde- \ tected for years. The crude notion in | the head of Mr M'Kenzib is clearly that parliamentary government exists for the benefit of' 'himself and his colleagues^ not for the .colony. " They j want information to ii(se against us, and"; we won't give it,"'is what he says to ; hiraself. Arid'at Irivel'cargill he gravely j brought this out asfa: valid defence, ' though it does appeai'Ho have occiiri'ed to him that the defejiice ;woul<i sound better it he said ibhat: the returns asked ! for were of a "partial".character. i As a matter of fact Ministers are too waiyto commit themselves to the "partial.''' excuse in Parliament, for ■ they know full well that the ; might alter the • return to make it ci full," and thus get out the informa- i tion after all. , This is the-sort of thing | to be found in Hansard:—On July 23, ] 1895. Sir K. Stout asks whyi'eturns ! relative'to.: the amounts .of securities j sent to England, and., the dates, have j been opposed. Mr Seihdon replies that 1 " he thought the Treasurer had .given the' information in his speech.'''' '...\.Qii' July' 3, 18$5j yI)Di:HiE,y JjAips!! t AllbNj and EtrcnA.NAN!asfcwhyall,thekvi motions ■ for retnrns-have been-opposed.. Tifr SEDBbN curtly replies that Government wanted to debate. them." j Of course they never were debated, j and as an obvious. .mal;te.r : of fact the ] returns were necessary before they; could be debated. Mr Geobge Hutchi-. J .son" on August 21, 1895, asks why his motion for details as to ,£509 of " incidental expenses " in connection | ,with the purchase of the Blind River ] estate is. .'opposed. ■'.'Mr" M'Kenzie ; "did not wish to oppose the return " j &c, but, he might say generally that \ the money had been swallowed up in , legal expenses and advertising—which, '• of course, was no return.; 'But a typical \ case is that of Mr Geo. Hutchison's"j tariff return.' It will^be remembered j that in 1895 a new tariff was intro-! diiced. The' Premier declared it would not increase the revenue by more i than .£IO,OOO ; it was to ■■■" remove ] anomalies." We at the. time declared that it would take at least .£IOO,OOO out of the pockets of the taxpayers,! and 'that. •. largely ' on. >articles...: 'oi■}■ : comnionest" consumption.'- { That:1 has; proved to be the, case.• ; .When the tariff liad been; an .ogeraticm":l:a full; , year Gkobge Hutchisok, early in ; I the session 0i'1896, asks 'fora return; ' showing the amounts received for !,each of the four quarters of the year under the various specified articles Under the increased tariff, with j the duty nn each. On August 16 of the same session he has to ask why the return is opposed. Mr Seddon replies • briefly that " it is because the Grovernj ment have something to.say on it." On ; August 19 Mr Haa'CHisbJr asks if the .Premier would suggest "how the motion .could be amended so as to overcome the Government opposition to it "• —a rather . pathetic request, surely, in a free Parj liament. The Premier jauntily replied . that " it was not for him (Mr Seddon) !to suggest how the hpn. gentleman's returns should be drawn up." On 4th September poor Mr Hutchison was driven to ask " why continued opposition is made to his renewed ' motion for returns" !Mr Seddon replied that he wanted to "fully explain matters in connection therewith." On 27th Sep-. i tember Mr-^UTCHisoir; asked";''.when^

the opportunity,. w.culd,'.be given "for V debating the return." The Premier1 would recommend hira>to "renew the j question later oh." G:ri 7tlrofetdber the persistent Rctchjsox asks if the Premier would " arrange, an •^opportunity of * discussing tlie/op^ppsec]- return." The ! Premier replies*'by-asking:jocularly if [ it "would do after. the Appropria-■ tion Bill "->— a t :' which;, there was no doubt a. Ministerial laugh, for | the Appropriation" -Bill- winds up j the session ! - r The .inforraation was i ; never given,' but the Premier has been ;; dribbling out enough of it to suit his ! own purposes^ ever sinoe.- jAnd this is Liberalism-!- The, course .so smugly pursued by Ministers lias been a pro- ■ longed public SGaridat;.but it-is' coming ) ito a close nowv --Mr,: Rot;t j eston' de- ; | clared that " it sadde'hecl :him to return.-! ito a muzzled Pafliaifient'.^ Nil'-Scobie '■ Mackexzik poured.;inyective on the ; . Government for.-the»refu3.ar.-0f returns,,] |; declaring it to fe-^' a 'monstrosity^, a ; | lihel on a free^Parli/rnentVto sayv.tha.t ! we. are hot to have information ■because, orgpoth,. we might■ wse-vi-j; Oagainsfc.:the" ' Government." Bftt tp re'ffect aciire we . must look not to the' criticisms, of Mr ; KoT/r/ESXo-N- or to" the invective: of. the' :- senior, member: ,<The j electors worked the' mischigf'.by return- | ing a huge' -unthinking1 Grovernment | majority. . TJie^eyil is;parUally reme- \ died now. ' ButV.tne/'ta^k'v'.bf-' cleansing ; the Augean i; stable- yet /remains to be j ■ done. -. -■;;■; ■■-. : ; '-:"'■.. - ; ';..'. '-.. / -i