QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XL, Issue 13220, 31 October 1913, Page 4

QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT.

(From our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The leader of the Opposition, as a matter of urgency,- called • the l attention of the Government last night to a serious development m connection with the measures taken that day ostensibly to preserve order a-jid security.' He said his attention had been drawn by responsible citizens of Wellington not connected with the strikers, and who saw the circumstances which occurred that afternoon. It was of such a nature that he felt it his duty to bring the matter publically before the notice of the Premier, so that .steps should be taken to prevent a recurrence of what appeared to be an extraordinary and regrettable incident. The statement made to him was that that afternoon at the Post Office Square, there was a large assemblage of people, a great many of them not strikers, but citizens of Wellington, who had gone there m consequence of the excitement arid difficulty attending the position, and found themselves being galloped over. The Premier: By whom? Sir J. Ward:, By a number of mounted constables from the country. Xow many of these people had nothing to do with the strike. These mounted men have proceeded down with their batons displayed and their revolvers displayed. The Premier: What? Sir J. Ward : I am told by responsible ; people who are prepared to verify "what they told mo that these mounted men, after proceeding a certain distance, turned round and come out fully seventy feet, and galloped through the crowd* There were well dressed women among others, and I believe the people were knocked down, and that some were seriously injured. I want to say' this, that while I am always on. the aide of law and order, as every public man ought to be, if men are engaged as special constables and lose their heads, and are responsible for such incidents j as that brought before my notice by several responsible people, all. I ■can, aay is that it is going to provoke a very much more serious condition of affairs, than exists at "the moment. "It ought to be possible,"" went on the leader of the Opposition, "to find out whot was responsible for the- action to which I have just referred.;- I was assured by a man who is president -of one of. the unions connected with the waterside workers that until this display of batons lie was able to keep peace among the members of the union. This display, however, .acted on the temper of the men m ah ' extraordinary way. The citizen who spoke to me this evening assured me that what -he saw he did not think possible m this country. it acted merely as an incentive to the men engaged m this unfortunate strike, and was, he said, riot calculated' to smooth over the differences. RESENTMENT AMftNCt CITIZENS. The man. is a leading citizen of Wellington, not connected with t .any union. I say that every reasonable "effort ought to b*e made to end this strike, but if we are going m for incidents of this kind there will be bloodshed as certain a« that I am speaking to the Prime Minister. I am not exaggerating what I was told/ but am assured this incident has caused a feeling of resentment ' among the people of Wellington who are anxious to see the thing honorably ended. INQUIRY PROMISED. The Prime .Minister, m repjy, said : "All I can say is this, I have only heard of this incident' in the last few' minutes. All I can do is to propose to- make inquiries, and if the statement made by the lion, gentleman is correct, then the Government will take steps to prevent any recurrence of the incident referred to." I was pleased to hear the hoii. gentleman say that he would assist to bring about a settlement,, and to preserve law and order. The Government have been doing everything possible to . arrive at a settlement of the : dispute. Unfortunately, up to the present, we have not been succesful m negotiating for the end of the strike, and what "is likely to result is impossible *to say. But our duty is perfectly clear. The j Government .have no sympathy with 6uch incidents, as the. lion, gentleman referred to, but we are determined to do all we possibly can to keep the port open to help our farmers and our industries. We are going to put down lawlessness . and to, maintain law and order. Members: (Hear, hear.) I Want the support of' the hon. gentleman as leader of His .Majesty's Opposition, thfc support of members ; of the : other side of the House, and of all right-thinking men throughout the country. (Hear, hear.) If tins support is given us this state of affairs will soon be ended. I Applause.) . > . •" t ■„,■ ■ ■ TOYING TO SMOOTH THINGS. «sir Joseph Ward said that with scenes of the kind he had referred to "he was not going to be a party to anything of the kind. On the contrary x he would ore every occasion call the attention of the Prime Minister to it m the House, because he felt it his duty to do so. He had done nothing m his capacity as a public man and a citizen other, than to try to smooth things and help to prevent a continuance of tile strike, j He wa# of the opinion that before they got to the present point every reasonable effort should be made to prevent these breache* developing into a position m which the strongest, after a continuous effort, won the day by sheer force. He was anxious^ to see the industries ot the country proceed, and he was not at the moment going to discuss the merits of the dispute. > * CONSTABLE SERIOUSLY INJURED. When Sir Joseph Ward had concluded, the Hon. Mr Massey stated that he had ■ just received information that a nartv of mounted constables, partly Special s«Jen and partly ordinary constables la charge roT an experienced officer Sergeant O'^alloran, received .extreme provocation ; that they, were pelted with stones And pieces 61 vion, an<iit was only after another unfortunate incident toot place that a constable was so seriously injured that it was just possible he might not^ recover. He was <t6ing to inquire into -the statements, ,^although* he did iiiot douW, what. : the leader .of, the OpposiWi {•d.WWH: . he had, of course, repeated hea W -tf " it turned out to be correct, .then til? Government would take the . steps to prevent anything of .the sort \ 'wSS Imi CHILDREN RIDDEN DOWBTi . •/'I can only assure the Vnme Minister." replied Sir; Joseph Ward, that the "man who informed me declared tnu the w-bole provocation . arose W*>vm those nten riding through the people. If stones s were thrown it ■ would have been perfects proper for the constables to use their bstonn m self-defence. 1 am told, however,, that it ™"»/"** the riding through thexCTowd and the use of batons that the v atones were thrown. These wen, lam informed, deliberately galloped through d nut** of people where there were women* ftWJ men, and I am also told some childreti, who had nothing whatever to do with the T e^ ppßAL „„,« grey. i Following upon Sir Joseph Wards ■', ' question, Mr Webb rose and 'Mkedtawe \ to put an inquiry to the i*r»r»e , Minister. \ A number of Government supporters cried "No," but as the : member»<of the Treasury benches said " Yes,'\. they£ de- • sisted, upon which the member'; for Grey \ asked the ?rime Minister and/Mimster rtf Justice if, m view of the? situation »a .Wellington, and the fact that the city was .on the verge of a riot, would they withdraw these special constables, , who, he said, were causing the, trouble T <Government laughter and fries of "Will the\l'rime Minister and Mini» : ter at Justice cay that these special constable* who charged the streets v this evening shall be -withdrawn UntU fluch time as a public inquiry be held to investigate this business\fo-iught, .wd not allow people to be batoned, agairi^/e---peated Mr Webb, iimid -derisive interjections froqi tne GoVernroent^ide. J MOBE^Tp BE E^IWLLE^- ,• declaim the Ho«. Mr Herdman. "The Government will not vithdTaw any special constables.* 1 Mr W«bb: Well, the murdei" will res* on* you. (Shouts of "Order ! Qrderr from Ministeri»Ji.?ts^

The Hon. Air Herdman : Not only that, but probably further special constables will be enrolled for the purpose cf preserving order and to protect property and to enable business; people to go about their business m the ordinary way