TAMMANY TALK.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12318, 1 December 1910, Page 4

TAMMANY TALK.

ANOTHE-R. I/)NG DET3ATE.

MR KAiIHAU'S, DEFENCE.

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) '..' .-■■ WEkTJNGTOtf, this dayv V The debate on the Select Committee's finding in regard to the allegations qf the member for Stratford were continued last night. V. '■■.-. ; m Mr Russell said Mr Hine had been the monkey who pulled the chestnuts out of the fire. Be appeared as a bladder that had burst, and the party with which he was ' connected stood; discredited, inasmuch as Mr Hine< had failed; to justify his allegations of Tammanyism. He urged that Mr Kaihau, a man whose ancestors were eating' their fellows a few years ago, should be considered! in ;» more lenient manner than a 'European would be. Mr Russell ended by quoting a 'case of ITammanyism which was expqsed in 1893, and in which a member of, the Conservative party was directly concerned. , :, . v ;:-, ■&■,■;. Mr Vernon Reed said the result; of the inquiry into Mr Hide's allegation^ proy.:ed that there was not even: suspicion of: blame attaching -to the Government, The charges of Tammanyism had i failed ■absolutely. The committee of investiga-tion--had imaniftiously found that the ; operations of the : Irfrad ' Purchase Boardwere clean and above board, and^no XSfp'r „ vernment officer associated trtth - tland transactions*had been fpund ; guilty of^the lightest or- wrongdoing.! The Government had been magnanimous throughout, arid made no charges..'.; They had simply defended themselves- against the allegations of the member for Stratford. Mr Reed went on to say that the Select 'Committee had been attacked regardinjf the only direct ' charge againcst the Government. He explained^ this had reference to the Flaxboiirne valued at £400,000, and the ' charge against the administration involved the comparatively insignificant amount x>£ • £165, . It was on this one cKarjje that -M,r' Hine; had endeavored to condemn the } Gk>vernmeht -of ■ Tammariyiem. :i- '■-■•, -■■„•■' ;Mf 'Buchanan contended that the evjdence against the Hon v TviJjs« Ma^dprtara , had been even clearer' .than; it had' been : v against Messrs^-Syiia^s and Kaihau. , Wftjjri ;:■ therefore, had r a- different :recommendation been brought by the committee ih* quiring into the charge* against Mr Maof donald? ; . Mr Berries said he thought that the Premier's references to a dead man were ■• rather overdone, and it must be remenv: bored that no good 1 political work .could be done unless the public. actions 01 past politicians could be referred; to. ■' • Mt " Herries went otf to- say that; he 1 - 'did riot in digging up the 'faults "ofhH f brother . members \ If anything ■ wronir <. was found, the leader of the House should take proper steps to Xipupld the" dignity and honor of the' Hotiser' 1! Reg^diMg: t,he Te Akau> block, fhe'pbintfed otifc" the work that Mr Kaihau 1 had dbrte in 1 con- > nection with ■ the transaction. He 're? .marked that no doubt the Governmeht hftd ihe advantage of it ;by I ' being enabled tbpurchaee the land; ■'TheVgfavaman of, the' case seemed to be that the Government ffirsfc resisted itiei purchase; and then' came round and agreed to carry $ut ;;. ; the transaction. He believed- that the Tainui was not treated justly, and that the . transaction!. was. not to the credit for the Government. • AIR KAIHAp'S p'^FE^CE. Mr Kaihau declared that/ while he had. been a member of Parliament he had never done anything which any other -: member, could, tell him. was wrong. . .He was "the" independent member, of the, House, listening to what Was said and endeavoring to find out whiit was the right ■ thing to - do. He . had several times been, asked; for this vote/ and now he saw this was the treatment meted out to him for his fifteen years' 'service. This was the payment to an honest and straightforward man, to be held up to ridicule, andi he was; told that people had been paid to say that had been, told to do certain thingß for theni. Mir; Kaihau theri proceeded itp deal at length, with "•ihe charges . that 1 had r Tb>eeii ■ : made against him^ bn' : the'ljne% of ('the.' " evidence he gave before -the 'committee: Surely,, he said, the House ovight to recognise that Maoris • looked "at things from an entirely different standpoint from that of the Europeans. ' What, he' asked ', did the report mean? Had the committee found him guilty of something:, wrong, or d|d it know what it meant? :He mentioned that the report had hot found him guilty of , doing! anything tofrong.; He had appeared on behalf of his people and^ received; paynient, but^sb did^ lawyers.; - He was a jj^ensed agents entitled to appear in a Sf ative . Land Cjoiirt or Appellate- Court, faijd had so appeared on Several Occasions. - kyridei 4 what section of that Aotvhad he '' been found guilty?' Ab to Te Akaiij some rt>T fflfectiou had been cast > on ihs' Govern' mbnt. ; He was fiorryl Ifor/jbhai,' because the Government had . ■h^ftidtHing-. iSc> :'do . \ %ith that. It was , Blmply;f:a.v questioji Tbetween Maori and Maori. *-'H* s himself - had never had "more than one minute's conversation with thp teremijef. ; ;" -TheyVv . ought to uphold a, gentleman; occupying such a high position. '": .;;"•. . Mr Kaihau then proceeded to ask had the leader of the Opposition^^ never' receive fd a presentation of money ffom his constituents. " What had r Mb OMfts^y <tieceiyed that money for-?; Wa» it -not f<«r . political services rendered ? ;i(Ld.ughfer^)' There had, he urged,- been ho necessity for this inquiry, and he -was of. opinion ' that the whole of the proceedings should" be erased from the records of the- Ho'u»e. - ; "JSe did not aca-ee wiCh' the finding 0f ifee • committee in Jts recommendation" regatdr ing himself.- Al^ he cbulii! do w%B\>tt> leave the matter in the hands of mombers, but he was just as white* and clean as any member in the House. If . the^ desired to spend, money, over..- another ejection, well, he did' hot mind. (Merilbers: Oh, oh!). V .;. \v :!■';■■;' I)r .T. Rangihiroa said the term "Tammunywm" had gone out, and conveyed the idea of corrupt practices and legialation, but the result of Mr Hine's charges of Tamnmnyism 'could 'bo sumWed up in the one wprd,: "futility." Refemng to the recj>mnienda*aon of the committee in regafdi t3 Mi* -Kaihau, Br Te Rangihiroa said ' it was difficult for ' a Maori to at all timee undorstand the i^orking. of the European nkind. I llie 1 often did >i\o& it ithemselves. It was diffictilt. to "pick lout .the fine point between what was illegal and what was improper. The member .for'.. the. Western Afoori district had transgrossed no written law»i^ Jit , iwasa coee of Maori ethics,, {ipd. Mr Kaihau> had been acting up to the code of Maori ethics. It was surely reasonably [for the member for the Western 1 Maori district, to risk how he differed from the leader of the Oppoeition in thaJb he ;Mr Massey had ; received J3lCsQ' in public meeting, presumably for his services, as leader of the Opposition. : v •'; , *■'"■'• -"■■ MR- hineps' PLE 1 !: ; : ■;■■* ■ ;•■. - : Mr Hine said, ho onie b\it himself : hftd any hand in the franking of the charges/ It was a most . despicable ah d cowardly action on the p^,rt of anvone to say^that Ke had the la]te MV Seddon in his thoughts, and he cbnsidWred ■ that t^B recommendation of the committee, thai steps ' should be taken >to preyent ' Su'chV action in the future, was sufficient juifMficatipn for all he had dpn?. : ' ' ; ' •';Mr A. M, Myers said, he' thoughf, \M!r ■:.' ' Hine perhaps deserved so^iie credit fot? hiiving brought these char^ l^ fprw'arlj; but he cohsidered ' b« h«4l si failed in, his chnrj^e of Tamma^iyisfn\, and ;^p that extent he taQujfhV Ke should ext>rftss regret to the House; ' He wiint on 'to charge the Opposition with Hhe 'so}Je>' _ ii desi re to make ' political capital ; owt '. of . - the charges,^^ 'Other' wi?e, why. sljoulQ -they not .accept the evidehoe unless Jhey chose to say tha,t they absol«te)y- die^cr,* lieved it? Elver since jtKe session beg^n he had noticed a desire'iOn . the .parrot the Opposition t0 blacVen;^the. ; 'chataotflr. of a political or £9 j gaih^s^Tiie political ad vfl ntiige, and ' he' contended that that kind of action did,rinpt;tend.;,tp elevate public life, which^, in, N;e«;. 2ejtr: : land was, he .b,elieyec[, \a? pure. as jniAtyr ;, .; country in the world, j L(H®ar , vhear,) :'; . ? \ • nSir Joseph Ward moved : {.hat, in .tho ; ?>". opinion of the House^ Mr Kaihau, byvrVj'-u?' ceivinif commissions ,' from his constit^ ■.•»;) ehts in respect of the presentation'' "of- ■■■■■' petitions, had been guilty" of impropriety . in the execution of his office. ' .'■,.-■ The Speaker explained that Mr K«ihau could make any statement he saw fit be-; • fore the respl»tion r was dealt with.. ; . v

Mr Poland: What will be the result of passing such a resolution? The Speaker: The member for the Western Maori district will be recalled to hia place in the Chamber and informed of the decision of the House. . The motion was put without further discussion, and was carried unanimously upon, the voices. Ai further motion by the Prime Minister, that Mr Kaihaxi be summoned to return, to the Chamber forthwith and receive the reprimand of the House, was carried. On Mr Kaihau's return, the Speaker informed, him of the resolution carried, and said he need hardly remind him of the high position held as a member of Parliament. . He had been found guilty of impropriety He could quite Midoris stand how the hon. member had fallen > into this error. A member of the Native race, without a knowledge of the Eng- > lish language, it was reasonable to as-sume-that he would not be conversant -with the standing orders, and might not, therefore, have known he was commit- ■ ting an impropriety. He (Mr Speaker) thought that it would be with the approval of the House that he made these remarks. (Hear, hear.) Mr Kaihau: I have to thank ypu for the manner in which you have explained the position to me. (That is all I wish tft.aay.^s. „... . ...... ....1.,..,,,..,,. ■„.-. >„'...,; The Prime Minister then moved the adjournment, 'laiid th'e .: HxrtSse! » rose'fdtft 2 a.m.- : -^.- [ 2^- : 'M- ■.;• ■.'.' fe