THE TARIFF DEBATE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 20

THE TARIFF DEBATE.

Aq I bt\tod in my la-<t; ni'S'ogrj would probably he the cns<\ tho GiVcrnwicjit bjiVfi imt'e £oo<l use of th'i timo i>!".t«.cl ?.$ theic disposal by the* jitljourr.mi'iit a'-lor tho fiasco of Saturday night, aud have fuccreded by moiins of. a weak compromise in saving th ".msttlves from an almost certain defeat upon the boot duties. A meeting of GiviTiinieut supporters was held this morning, at which it wjwi u«ciiled to split the diftJrret co by reducing the duties from 25 per cent, to 22£ per cint. it stead of 20 per cent. Several ardent iVliiiistcmHitJistoutl; denie.l that ther<} ha<l bten any official cuiicus, and Mr M'Lachlan quiintly ogauied the House that " it was the most informal thing in the world." He explained that a number o£ Government supporters were talking -over the* occurrences of Saturday night, when ho strolled in and remarked, " Ob, let us m Wre ifc 2.U pec ceiit , ami g<it ou with the busmepu oi the country." The suggestion waa immediately taken up and agreed to. Captain Rrtßnell interjected, " Split the difference." " Yes," replied Mr M'Laehlftn, "split the difference — that ia what is often done in bnsinej*." The Treasurer informed tho House th»t he could noft :»ccepfi so material a reduction as that propirsvcl by Mr Mas ] ey (20 p<r c. n^.), lu!> he would give way to soms extent and accent 22£ per cent. " Geh on with the bueinesi," orieci tne Preniior, »s the discuf sion proceeded, wh'ch brought on him the retort from Mr Crowtfcer : " We were ready to get on .with the bnsiuof s en Saturday ntght but the Premier would not let us." Mr Crowther did not think the country should bo governed by expediency. Members should rather govern expediency and not let expediency govern them. Expediency would bo a tame story to go home with, and he preferred to stick to his guns. Ab to splitting the difference, it would be quite as logical to make another split and fix the duty at 21^ per cent. Mr Meredith offered another opportunity of " apiitting" the difference by stating tbat; he waa quite prepared to support an amen.irn*-nt reducing tho boot duty to 15 per cent., while oth^ri grumMedthafi the Premier had deceived them whi-n ho promised the House a " go-as-you-pleafle " on thia question. Mr T. Mackenzie complained that the Premier seemed determined to have a second vote on any proposal carried ag»insb bis wishes. At last the boob duties were brought to a vote, and 25 per eenfr. was struck out by 49 to 17. Then came the critical division aa to whether 20 per cent. Bhould be sub&tituted. The wLip, the delay, and the compi omise proved equal to the emergency, and 20 per cent, was rejected in order to insert 22£ per cent. The following ia the division list :— Ayes (27).— Messrs Allen, Bell, Buchanan, Buick, Button, Carucrosa, Crowther, Dutbie, Fraser, Graham, Green. Hall-Jones, Heke, Lanff, T. Mackenzie, M»»lin, Massey, M'Gowan, M'Guire, Meredith, Mitchelaon, Newman, O'Regan, W. R« Russell, R. Thompson, Willia, Wilson. Noes (39).— Measra Buddo, Cadman, Ca>nell f Carroll, Collins, Duncan, Earmhaw, Flatiu«L| Hall, Harris, Hogg, W. Hutchison, Joyce, Si Wi

Kelly, W. Kelly, Larnach, Lawry, Mackintosh, J. M'Kenzie, R. M'KonEie, M'Lachlan, MNab, Millar, Mills, Montgomery, Morrison, Parata, Pmkerton, Pirani, Reeves, G. W. Russell, Seddon, S. M. Smith, G. J. Smith, Stevens, Steward, Tanner, T. Thompson, Ward. nuns.— Ayes : Moesrs Te Ao and Sir R. Stout. Noes : Messrs Wi Pere and Houston.