Topics of The Times

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26176, 12 June 1946, Page 4

Topics of The Times

by Hydra

The approach of the Parliamentary session, which is due to begin towards the end of the month, brings to mind a couple of stories which we propose to retail in the hope that our members of Parliament will be suitably impressed by their moral—namely, that brevity, besides being the soul of wit, is also a virtue of no small order in a political speaker—or, for that matter, in any public speaker. When a member of Parliament gets up to speak and is fortunate enough to catch Mr Speaker’s eye, the first essential is, of course, that he should have something to say, which is not invariably the case, and then he should be brief and to the point in saying it. There are other points, such as grammar and delivery to be considered, but the ones we have mentioned are really necessary if a man expects to be listened to on the radio or reported in the press.

In the House of Representatives a few years ago the tail end of the Budget debate was in progress, and as speaker after speaker thrashed the outworn arguments and re-emphasised the already over-emphasised obvious, any intei’est the press gallery might have retained in the debate disappeared entirely. Since the Government had no legislation ready extensions of time were granted, so that as regularly as clockwork, when a member was almost at the end of his time, Mr Speaker’s bell would ring, and somebody else would get up and move “ that the honourable gentleman’s time be extended.” And extended it was, although one cry of “no” when the motion was put would have been enough to veto it. A member of the press gallery who had been slumbering quietly during all this, awoke suddenly to hear an extension of time proposed, and as Mr Speaker intoned. ‘‘ls it the pleasure of the House that the honourable gentleman’s time be extended? ” the pressman quietly breathed the word, “ no.” But it could not have been as quiet as he thought, for Mr Speaker heard it, and, thinking it came from the House, said, “There appears to be some objectionthe honourable gentleman’s time is not extended." So the honourable gentleman sat down, not altogether pleased, allhough both he and Mr Speaker enjoyed the joke when they found out later just what had happened

Then there was the occasion in one of the State parliaments in Australia, when what must have been , a somewhat similar debate was taking place at the end, as we recall, of a particlarly long session. Late one night, the somnolence of the legislative chamber was rudely disturbed by a figure which entered the press gallerv swaying slightlv. banged on the rail, and exclaimed in ]o”d and outraged tones. “T move that this house do now adjourn for forty thousand years.’ Excellent sentiments but. we fear, impracticable.