CLOSING SCENES IN THE HOUSE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 11

CLOSING SCENES IN THE HOUSE.

AN ANGRY DEBATE ON THE

ESTIMATES.

(Fboji Our Own Correspondent )

Wellington, D.c inber 21

The dying houra of the session are more stormy thau usual, and we have had several scenes. The, Sappl msutary Ei&icn&tes are being keenly criticised, and Mr Seddon, with no one to back him up, is not at all happy. At the item £500 for special telegrams sent by Ileuter'd Agency, Mr George Hu'cbiaon drew attention to the soit of telegrams that were sf nfc with the sanction of the (iovernmen*-, and for which the colony was paying. The Premier had admitted that the Wellington agent, Mr Harrison, had submitted the telegrams to the Government before they were despatched. As an example of what had been fen*-, Mr Hutchison lead, nnrcUt peals of laughter, an exceedingly laudatory telegram, tho langiuge of which was somewhat high-flown, regarding the landing of the Premier en his return from England. Thar, he taid, was the sort of thing the colony paid £500 a year for. Mr Tauner : " Oh, that's che*p "— (Laughter.) MrHutchi-, sou said it was very cheap for the Premier, bub it was self-laudation with a vengeance and indulged in aS the expense of tho c 1 ny. He gave as another specimen the account of the «x-\mination in bankruptcy of the Hon. J. G. Ward. He went on to s?«y (hat it was prostituting the position of the G ivernment that public money should be epent in circulating such news throughout Grfat Britain.

A CHAtXENGE

At this stage Mr Wi son, member for Wellington Suburb", interposed, and an angry fceue ecsued. He referred to the detail of a certain case at New Plymouth iii regard to which a widow had complained that she had been "robbed of- £700 by a certain lawyer in this colony," and charged Mr Hutchison with attacking Mr Ward in his absence. The Premier i\se, and objected to any unseemly wrangling in the closing days of the session. Mr Hutchison s'u'k to his point. He was not attacking Mr Ward ; he was simply showing the House the sort ot telegrams the colony had to pay for* and he maintained he was perfectly justified in doing so. As to what Mr Wilson had said about robbing a woman afc ftetv Plymouth, he challenged that gentleman to put those words in print or to say (he words oufc-iie that Chamber. He ■would then have an opportunity for justifying them, but let him not cay them there. " A miserable, wretched member," continued the speaker, with slow emphasis and a pause between each word. These remarks were sufficiently etroDg to 1 ring the Premier promptly to his feet with a demand for their withdrawal. Mr Hutchiscu, as cool as a cucumber, said he bad used the words "miserable" and "wretched," and then had paused for a substitute, but as he could see none before him he went on to say " member." As to the member for the Suburbs, he was taking advantage of saying in that House what he dared not say outside the House. Let him cay such a ihirg outside, and he would at once have a writ served upon him. Mr Wilson : " Oh, no ; you have a longer purse than I hare." Mr Hutchison: "Well, I'll meet the hon. member in that, and I'll give £50 to anyone he names to be applied in defending the action I shall take against him." — (Applause.)

Some further debate of a less acrimonious nature followed, and then the matter wai allowed to drop. Mr Pirani then raised the question of a bonus of £500 for establishing j TllE FELT INDUSTRY. ! He said it was in the interests of two needy gentlemen in Wellii'gton, who boasted that they had tho iuflueuce of tho membsr for the Suburbs behind them. The Premier defended the vote, whicb, be said, would es'ablish tho industry and was much less than the expense of establishing the match industry, which cost us £7000 a year. Hon. members : "Why don't you repeal it, then ? " Next we had another dose of HOROWHENUA. It was* rumoured during the adjournment that Mr Seddon bad promised Mr Pirani that the Government would pay Sir W. Buller's costs if the judgment of the court was ia his favour, but that he had added significantly, "You know how I'm situated." Mr Pirani now asked if the Premier would give a pledge that? the coeta would be paid. Mr Seddon replied that they were awaiting the decision of the court, but that he would not allow anything to happen that wuuld injure the colony. Mr Pirani was not satisfied with this, and moved to report progress ; bat Mr Stevens interposed with a letter from Alexander M 'Donald objecting to Mr Pirani'a recent remarks in the House that five of the witnesses in the Horowheeua case* had committed deliberate p< rjury. The letter commented in revere terms on Mr Pirani, and was, of course, ruled out of order. Mr Piran?, amid several futile protests from the Premier, proceeded to read the evidence of the witnesses, who admitted on oath in the Appellate Court at Levin that they had arranged to commit perjury and had done so ; and these men, Mr Piraui said, swere that they had committed pei j ay at the insttnee of the writer of the letter (Alexander M'Douald) read by Mr Slev,-ns. Mr Seddon got very wrath at the reading of this evidence, and lepeatedly tried to prevent Mr Piiani's exphwialious. He said that the Ohairmin should have stopped him. Mr Guinness*, who was iv the chair, said that was an incorrect statement, and the Premier would have to withdraw it. Mr Seddon, being foiled in his attempts, and now very much irritated, walked out of the 'chamber, rftvnrking as he went that he would not take any Further notice of that sort of thing. Nothing resulted from the discussion, and we passed on to increa es in the salaries of magistrates, all of whom, except Judge K^ttld. the especial bete noir of the Min'ißter for Lands, got increases. Mr Pirani renewed his attack, and in a heated speech referred to the Government's treatment of Judge Kettle as being actuated by revenge This brought the Premier to his fee 1 ;. He denied that either he or his colleagues had any feeling of spite against Judge Kettle, who had been offered a ri*e in saUry to come to Wellington, bub for some inscrutable reason he refused the offor, being seemingly infatuated with Wanganui. He (the Premier) didn't know why. Ho expressed himself tired of hparing Judge K»t'lc'jf name in (hat Houie, and thought that ffficer's friend? were very badly advised in dragging it in time after time. They had also offered him the position of judge of the Validation Gourt at Gisbotne. Mr Pirani absolutely denied that statement and tho Premier repeated it time after time, b-ing met e^ch tince with a pointblauk denial from the member for Falmerston, who challenged proof iv writing. The Premier said he could produce telegrama in support of his assertion tha'j Judge Kettle had been offered a £200 iise to go to Gisborne, bat as the understanding was that if Judge Kettle took the position Judge Barton would have to go, the former had absolutely refuf cfl the offer. He (the Premier) admitted that Judge Ktttle bad b en actuated by high motives in his i\fasal. He o'^j-cted to Judge Kettle's being made a political" shuttlecock, however, and if the Minister for Justice took bis advice he would offer him the Wellington position, and if he re r used he would say, " Ycu can go." This agitation was illadvised on the part of friends of Ju^g-3 Kettle. Several ofEcars in the Gjvernment service had been chnmjm n n .d by the member for P«tlmerston Nortb, and it had done them no good. He had done Judge Kettle more harm that day than he would be able ti undo if he lived to the age of Methulselab. Further argument of a tv quoque character took place, and the Premier announced that they did not intend to lay the Kettle corresponrknee on the table of the House, but the Cabinet had decided that au irqairy should be held in accordance with the wishes of Judge Kettle, The matter was eventually talked out without au> thing very definite being done. The next question is " Who are to constitute the Koyal Commi-siou ?"

SHIPPING MASTERS

At a later stage the Premier had to submit to a very warm hilf hour at the instance of one of his own followers, Mr Jobn llufcchesoD, who objected to Sir Arthur Douglas, I7nder-3c-oretary for Defence, being made shipping mastei" at Wellington at an increase of £50 on h'"s ordinary salary. This, he e&ici, was one of the •'bowlingest satires " that had ever been perpetrated. He said the present state of affairs was a dt-grace, as vessels were allowed to leave this port only half-manned. The Aorangi, onher last trip to Vancouver, had seven firemen short in her stokehole, which was a serious mttter, both in the iuterests of the men and of tho travelling public. -.Sailing vessels, too, were allowed to leave absolutely without inspection of either their loading, crewi", stores, or equipment. This propoial was, be declared, an insult to the men, and th&Governmenfc of this colony would lyar from the seamen about it. The Premier, speaking with some heat, «aid he was not going to be governed by those who wanted undue expenditure. The hon. member wanted four officers at the different ports, which would cost the colony £1200 a year. He would not hare such remarks us those ap-

plied either to himself or the Government,, ha did not care who they came from. He defended Sir Arthur Douglas, who was just the man for tho position. He was not a soldier, as Mr Hu'eheson had tried to (make-out, but had beeu'a lieutenant iv the navy. Mr Hutcheson charged (he Prenrer with misrepresentation, and said the Premier had given the whole swindle away when he *aid he in* tended to iucrease this officer's salary. The Premier objected to the word " swindle,-'- and asked for its withdrawal, He wanted to know whether the Chairmac was going to do h ; s duty. Mr Guinness ordered the Premier to sit down. He wonld do his duty, but would not have any reflection such as this made upon him. Mr Seddon thereupon subsided, and Mr Hutoheson, at the instance of the Chairman, withdrew the term swindle. There was a very close division on the item, Mr Hutcheson pressing the matter to a division, and the Premier, with the assistance of some of the Opposition, only won by the narrow margin of two votes.