POLITICAL NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11197, 20 August 1898, Page 4

POLITICAL NOTES.

During the first half of the eighteenth century—and, indeed, later—the task of the parliamentary reporter was beset with aimost insuperable obstacles, and a common way of satisfying the curiosity of the reading public who desired to know what the legislators at Westminster were saying was for some smart literary hack to compose j speeches, allocate them to different orators, ! and publish them with all appearance of verisimilitude. The method was doubtless ; open to criticism, and when Dr Johnson j came to die he said " that the Parliamentary j Debates were the only part of his writings which then gave him any compunction: but that at the time he wrote them he had no conception he was imposing upon the world, though they were frequently written from very slender materials, and often from none : at all, —the. mere coinage of his own mv j agination." A century and a-half later,

' looking through the pages of the New Zealand Hansard of 1898, we could almost long for a trial of the old plan and suggest that the compilation of these twopenny numbers, following fast and following faster, might bo handed over to some imaginative scribe. Moreover, we are constrained to wonder whether certain of our present legislators, when the dumb hour clothed in black brings , the dreams about their beds, will feel "any • compunction" in respect of their share in "the Parliamentary Debates." There is Mr Monk, for instance. We wish the member for Waitemata no evil, but are not his last hours likely to be haunted by the memory : of his speech on the Little Rivei Domain ; Board Empowering Bill?

There was something elee underlying the proposition of this measure, and he desired to warn the House against entertaining it for a- momeii;. And while he might feel disposed, out oi his native generosity, to do his utmost to help the honourable member to carry through a measure of this kind, suspecting that its. purposes were in the matrimonial interests ot liie Little River community, yet at the same time he felt the House would not be justified in passing the measure as it stood. . .' In fact, ho believed that thiß bill was but the reflection of a desire on the part of the lotus-eating bachelors of Ellesmere to lead the Little River belles, in the language of the poet, slightly altered, "to a palace lifting to eternal summer, its .marble walls, from out a glossy bower of coolest foliagej musical, with ..birds' whose songs'should cyllable their names. At noon thJey'd sit beneath the archißg vines and wonder why earth could be nnhapiiy while Heaven still left them youth and love. They'd have no friends that were not lovers, no ambition but to excel them all in love. They'd read no books that were not tales of love, that they might smile to think how poorly eloquence of words translated the poetry of hearts like theirs. "When niglrt came, amidst the breathless heavens, they'd sit and choose what star should be their home when love became immortal, while the perfumed light would steal through mists of alabaster lamps, and every air be laden with, me sighs ot orange groves and music from sweet lutes and murmurs of low fountains that gushed forth i' the midst of roses." . ...

Mr SPEAKER, said the honourable member must sit down when the Speaker rises. If he was to continue to speak he must address himself to the bill: At present, he^egrettcd to say, that he appeared to' be making a burlesque of their proceedings.

Mr Speaker had just previously been obliged to call upon Mr Monk to withdraw the word " impudence," as applied to Mr Montgomery. The offensive epithet was withdrawn with the remark that " he had known seme saucy girls to use that expression in a playful sense, and he did not consider it objactionable." And this, forsooth, is the High Court of Parliament!

Money is often enough wasted—so some people are inclined' to think—in reporting the speeches of pubsy members when the business of the country is really being dealt •with ; but it is the height of absurdity that the Hansard staff should be called upon: to give a.verbatim.-. report. l pf the twaddle talked when the House lias devoted itself to the,.congenial task of-playing the fooL The debate on that Little River affair was a mere piece of stonewalling,—to delay the discussion of another bill. There have been quite a number of these irresponsible picnics during the present , Session, —and O the wretched, irredeemable rubbish that Hansard is forced to enshrine! The curious searcher, will find plenty of stuff quite %as bad as Mr Monk's. In a recently published novel mention is made of a certain " club " doctor who was in the habit of serving out a drug distinguished by a label unknown to the pharmacopoeia— "A.D.T." Asked for an interpretation of the mysterious initials, the doctor replied, "Oh, that's the most popular medicine I dispense." "But what is it? What does ' A.D.T.' stand for? " " Any d thing," was the placid answer. "A.D.T." was good enough for the club patients, and when our representatives want to block, a bill and set themselves to: speak against time, "A.D.T." is good eiiough for Parliament and. the country. We cannot say whether this is " the most popular medicine" dispensed in the House, but we know that the country has to pay for its conveyance to Hansard. Let us add one1 more specimen of recent wisdom: Mr Stevens, member for Manawatu, is the philosopher,—his subject the Removal of Women's Disabilities Bill: Sir, it is ray intention, .from a broad principle, to give my support-to •the''measure which'is .now before ihe House..- Now, Sir,-it is a-■^iie.Mion ?.s to whether-we as men.should dictate that which we believe .to be be3t in the interests of. women. No, Sir;it strikes itfe; from a verse,of poetry which a friend of ijiine once composed, that the differences' between.the ideas of men and the ideas of'women as/tQ',that wliich-is b.esfr for women are very Wide'l^'deed. '.'We hav.e'n6 right to arrogate to ourselves tho tiosition of saying and dictating as to what is best for women. My friend's poetry^ran thus:— . :.'-:.- ' ;-'■ i ■ "Where shall- we spend;our honeymoon?"- ;. Thus Cupid spake to Psycho; "The nicest place %. krioWjirny love," .-- Said she, "is R&ngitaeke." --.-,... Sir, there is no place in- the world more tin-, suitable.for tho purpose of nuptial" bliss than Rtuigitaeke; Therefore we ought not to-nic-tate.

We are not-joking: it is from Hansard— every crazy word of it. !

This Removal of Women's Disabilities Bill is hardly likelyito become law, though the House tead it. aS second time without a division,^ —a piece of.. misplaced indulgence. Mr Taylor fathers .the. proposal, and his speech was -singularly weak. Fancy a man pointing out that the gaols and lunatic asylums of the colony contained far more men than women and advancing this fact as a reason for admitting women to Parliament! ■- " That ■ should weigh very heavily with hon. members." Mr Taylor dragged,in George Eliot, Elizabeth Butler, Rosa, 3onheur, " and others against whom men pit themselves in vain. They cannot compete with them " (sic: Mr Taylor has said'it).. .What on earth has :'A this got~to do with the question whether women should sit in Parliament ? What sort of a figure would Rosa Bonheur make (in competition with Mr Monk) on the Little River Domain Board Empowering Bill? It is not a question so-much of genius and' intellect as of physical strength and temperament. Mr Scobie Mackenzie observed (by no means irrelevantly): The experience of others may be different from: mine, but I have never in the course of my life known a wdman who did not jump upon a table or a chair 7 when a mouse appeared upon the scone. 'Honourable members may laugli, but it is true. . I never could understand it. A mouse is a perfectly harmless and rather engaging little, animal, and that fact, trifling as H is, seems to indicate the essential difference between men and women. j Mr LA WRY: What, about rais? . Mr M. J. S. MACKENZIE: The rats are all on that side of the House, sir. We must add, however, that Mr Mackenzie supported the bill, basing his j>osition upon what we have always" regarded as the utterly fallacious argument of the " logical outcome.'' The battle, he urges, was really decided when women were enfranchised. " From any logical standpoint the question does not admit of conflict against it, as the logical outcome of what we did then." We venture to say that the eligibility of women for seats in Parliament no more follows as the logical outcome of. the enfranchisement than does the desirability of enrolling them as soldiers and sailors. Mr Hogg, of all men in iha House, spoke effectively on this i point, though he eventually came down to ; what we may call the Little River note: •as I for instance: "I congratulate the honour- ! able member on looking on the bright side ' of things; he has never yet had his hair I combed with a three-legged stool. Some | day, if he lives long enough and comes across a good masculine woman of 14 or 15 stone who can handle a moderate-sized man, he may live to ropent Ms temerity." There is just a suspicion of reminiscent, feeling, in those words. " . ' ;"', ■ ■'; '

The Legislative Cdunoil yesterday declined to request the Petitions Committee to take the evidence of Mr Yaile, of Auckland, regarding his stage system of railway charges. The debate on the Banking Bill was continued, but not concluded.

In, the House of Representatives yesterday the Speaker rulpd that there was no breach of privilege in a matter1 brought forward by Mr T. Taylor, who complained that portion of the evidence taken by the Police Commission had been laid before the Petitions Committee. The debate on the Financial Statement was continued, and seems likely to last the .whole of next week.

I privilege in a matter Drougnt lorwara oy lvtr T. Taylor, who complained that portion of the evidence taken by the Police Commission had been laid before the Petitions Committee. The debate on the Financial Statement was continued, and seems likely to last the .whole of next week. In the leading article of our yesterday's issue the sentence occurs: •" Is a mortgagee seeking to redeem to have no assistance from the court?" The word "mortgagee" ia printed in error for ■' mortgagor." The specimen of the rare takahe (Notornis mantelli), recently killed on the shore of Lake Te Anau, has beon stuffed by the museum taxidermist, Mr E. Jennings, and will be on view at the University Museum during the coming week. Professor Benham will, howevor, permit numbers of the Olago Institute to see £he bird to-day' (Saturday).

] A number of agents resident in the colony for mercantile houses, etc., have signed a petition to Parliament respecting the operation ' of the section of the Land and Income Assessmont Act, which they ask Parliament to repeal. It is pointed out that nine-tenths of principals are subject to' the provisions relating to the income tax in Great Britain, and they complain that non-resident agents can [ now visit the colony and sell or dispose of goods and merchandise without such agents i or principals being liable to income tax on J the income resulting therefrom, whereas the , principals of resident agents, and the agents • themselves, have to pay the tax. The result | is to place resident agents in a less advari- ■ tageous position, and several of . the petitioners have received intimation from their principals that, to avoid such taxation, it will be necessary to withdraw agents in New Zealand and to establish them in the other Australian colonies, from whence, by means of periodical visits or correspondence, they will continue to do business with New Zealand j without being liable to such taxation. If by I reason of such action resident agents have to break up their homes and,' with their wives arid families, leave the colony, it will be a j great hardship.'' The petitioners say they are ! all liable to pay income tax on their own mii comes. Many of 'the principals they repre- ; sent spend on an average in New Zealand : £1000 per annum' in salaries, travelling 'expenses, etc. There are about 100 resident i agents in New Zealand, and, apart altogether from the hardship to Buch agents if they are I withdrawn, the petitioners believe that the j interests of trade will be prejudicially ; affected. ;

; The New South Wales Postmaster-general j has found it necessary, owing to the gossiping j tendencies of the ladies, who. have telephones j to their homes, to establish a time limit for the use of the 'instrument, so as. to prevent a I monopoly of lines by a single, Jperson. Women j have been known to keep up a conversation j for an hour, and' Mr Cook thinks that if he I cuts their time down to 10 minutes he will be ■ dealing fairly with them. . . - • * j The Clutha Free Press, referring to the enj croachments of the sea, says:—What is going ! on at St. Clair is nothing out of the common, | and is only what,is happening all along the j coast, to a more or less extent, from Preservation Inlet to Canterbury. It is very pronounced between Port Molyheux and the Nuggets, as well as between Oamaru and the Waitaki River. Some portions of New Zealand are known to be sinking, and other portions rising. It has generally been accepted that the whole of the west.const of New Zealand on both islands is oh the down grade, and on the ejist coast on "the-up grade, but,; .apparently, Otago has; taken to going down on both coasts of late years. 'Wellington has risen considerably during'the'last 50 years,, whereas TaranqKi has gone down.' A drop of a few inches will cause the ocean to eat into the banks very considerably. In proof of the assertion that Otago is sinking, one has only to go to Kaitangata, and watch the bank of the river at low tide, where the stumps of an old forest will be observed, standing exactly as they grew, with all,their roots intact, well below high-water mark. There is no gainsaying the fact that these trees did not grow below high-water mark, hence high water now ia higher than when trt'ese trees (totara, black ' pine, etc.) were growing—in other words, the land, is lower. . •-..'■. . '

i Messrs P. G. Pryde .and J./Hazlett, J.P.s, j presided at the sitting of- the .City Police ; Court yesterday morning, whep Elizabeth j Raekley and Charles Price, both qld offenders, were fined 10s each, or 48 hours' imprisonment, for drunkenness. This completed the business. '.*■'. ' .

The remains of the. late Mrs James Gore were interred yesterday at the Southern Cemetery. The funeral procession was formed outside the deceased lady's residence, Hope street,^ and among the numerous train of sympathisers and friends who followed were his Worship the Mayor (Mr E. B. CargillK'Crs.Chisholm.' Carroll, Denniston, Haynes, and Park, Messrs Gourley, S. C. Phillips,' A;. Mercer," J. Reid, J. Wain, J..8. Th6mson,'R.. Wilson,' R. T. Wheeler, sen., JV Watson,.S, James, J. Liston,' Dr Reimer, Mr W B. Taylor (town clerk), and a number of the officials of the City .Corporation, of which body the late lady's-ihus-band is a councillor. The service for the dead was conducted at the grave by the Rev. W. Ourzon-Siggers. Ab ■a, mark of respect the flag at the Town Hall was hoisted half-mast 'during the day.' ;! !' ' ' , ' '

One of the most striking.points about this year's exhibition of the National Rose Society, at the Crystal Palace; 'London (says the Daily Telegraph), was the extraordinary number of successes won by the new hybrid tea rose

"MrS\W. J. Grant," a compactly-shaped flower of rich warm'pink, shading to slightly lighter tones on the edges of the petals. It is the most fashionable rose of the moment, and has temporarily eclipsed the old favourites of more familiar designation. To. its professional exhibitors it secured several important awards, and a single superb specimen won for Messrs Paul the silver medal for the best individual of its order in the .show..

The Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times report a new invention or improvement of mechanical sheep-shearing. The chief feature of the invention is what is called a Parker steam motor, consisting of the application of a direct jet: of steam to a small Pelton wheel, which gives the necessary motion to a system of flexible rods, joints, and Wolseley shears. There is thus no need for a steam engine, shafting, plilleys, or belts, and the result is vast economy in the co3t of installation1, more especially in the case of small stations requiring six or.fewer shearing machines. All that is needed is a.small portable boiler and one of Parker's motors for each machine, fixpd on a bracket on a shelf above the : shearer's head, and within his ■ready control! Mr Parker is negotiating with the1 owners, of the Wolseley. patent, with."a view to making, a joint, arrangement for the combination motor and shears. The motor is a compact little contrivance that can. be carried in one hand, and for the purpose of driving light machinery is a triumph of mechanical skill. ... . '

The comedy of " Enoch Arden Up-to-dato " has lately been acted in Rome (writes . the Pall Mall Gazette). About 5 o'clock one evening a funeral procession of the third 1 class was seen passing down tho Via Cavour. iOn the funeral car ii:wreath of flowers, and pendant"1 from the wreath the ceremonial rib--1 bon, with inscription:—" To my regretted and adored husband." Behind the hearse a lady in deep mourning, weeping profusely, two lady supporters on either side, and thereafter some SO assistants. Suddenly, however, a Jupiter Tonans, a middle-aged Roman citi- ' zen of imposing proportions, approached the i widow, and addressed her with winged words, j " Tell me, madam, how long have. I been i dead?" The widow, says 'the report, stood petrified, and on©, figures to oneself the surprise of the assistants. The deceased husband, who was so very much alive, was relr.cved by the sergeants, and the sad procession went its way. The simple explanation was, of course, tho usual one. The-legiti-mate" husband, disagreement and divorce, and then the " husband in the sight of heaven," now deceased, and referred to by the ribbon on the wreath. -But-spouse No:' 1 had seen what was " in the sight of heaven his own i funeral," and the situation had been too I swell for him.

Arrangements are going forward in connection with the Young People's Monster Missionary Demonstration to bo held in the Agricultural Hall on Tuesday week. A number of the societies, bands, and schools are busily engaged in making banners, emblazoned with the name of a missionary of their own denomination, with which to decorate the hall. The General Arrangements Committee and a large Hall Committee are at work, and a very large gathering is anticipated. It has been arranged that the schools and societies will occupy the area of the hall, and the gallery will bo thrown open to the public. The collection, after defraying expenses, will be divided among the various missionary organisations. The Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Baptist, and Congregational Missionary Societies will all be represented on.the,screen.