“STRATFORD EVENING POSST” SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1930. MR VEITCH EIGHT AGAIN.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 38, 19 April 1930, Page 4

“STRATFORD EVENING POSST” SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1930. MR VEITCH EIGHT AGAIN.

IN a futile attempt to disprove the statements by the Hon. W. A. Veiteli on Tuesday evening l at the United candidate’s meeting in Parnell, that the indisposition of Sir Joseph Ward had been caused by the Eeformers stonewalling the Land and Income Tax Amendment Bill, Mr. W. W. IJ. Unclean (Eeform candL date) said last ni : <jht that ‘Sir Joseph W-.rd did not appear in the House after October 2 and the stonewalling did not commence until October 22.” That statement makes one admission —that Reform did stonewall the tl\e Bill—hut in other respects its inaccuracy can he proved by reference to Hansard. On looking up Hansard it can he found that the Second reading of the Land and Income Tax Bill (the measure ■'f inch dealt with the super lanA tax'! began on Wednesday, September 2b, last year in the afternoon and continued till 10.30 p,m, Unit night. All of the following afternoon and evening \fere "lOcenpied, in the same deh/tle. and on Friday, Septemhf/r 27, it was resumed at 10.30 a.tn., the House being wearied by long speeches by EeformenC who introduced various amendments and spoke at length on them, during which speeches Mr. Speakr found ii necssary on several occasions to remind members “flint the dehnt» op the ‘vnieudmeuf, must he sirießv eont'iped fo the amendipppt”, whvE at one stage while R : r Jos pub Ward was speaking Mr, Speaker said : ,

“Honourable members mujsl have observed by this time that the speech of the right honourable gentleman is being subjected to interjections utmost at the end of every sentence.! I know that theie i,s considerable feeling in the House. I do not want to be hard on honourable members; but if th e interjections continue 1 will, have to stop interjections altogether, and insist on every honourable member being heard without them. The injections that are being made by hoonurablc members are certainly not reasonable. I desire to give this final warning before taking more drastic step's.’’

The inferieetors to whom the Sneaker referred were members of the Reform Party, and v ; o do not recall any Prime Minister, not in the last thirty years, at any rate, who was so persistently pursued hy opponents in the House 'as Sir Joseph Ward was last session. Mr Endean may characterise Mr Veitch’s allegation as “not playing- cricket,” _ hut it was the plain unvarnished truth that certain Reform members used every opportunity to attack Sir Joseph Ward and to worry him hy what the Speaker termed unreasonable interjections. In veiw of tlie truth, as the Wanganui “Herald” points out, about Reform’s shocking tactics last session, its members and candidates should be the last to accuse anybody of not playing cricket. Nor was the complaint against Reform’s methods confined to the Government’s side, for Mr H. E. Holland said later that since lie had been in the House he had never listened to such wearisome and weak speeches ns those made hy the Reform Party on the Address-in-Reply. ’When it is remembered that Sir Joseph Ward was in duty bound to the Dominion compelled to endeavour to pass bis finance legislation, necessitating bis remaining in the bouse throughout the unreasonable stonewall on the Land and Income Tax Bill and that he was in his place as head of the Government from 10. MO a.m. on Friday, September 27- until 3.1 «.in. on Saturday, September 28. there is no room to rmestion the accuracy of W- WMi’s statement conocmiing the stonewall by- the Reform P-Gy v-Wh pndonb+edaffected Sir Joseph’s health.