LABOUR ABSENTEES

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 177, 22 February 1933, Page 5

LABOUR ABSENTEES

"New Leaders" of Party LAWYERS HAVE A TURN Wellington, Today,—Owing to the absence of an unusually large number of members, the Opposition benches in the House of Representatives wore a strange appearance for several hours last evening. Five Labour members, including the leader of the party, Mr. H. E. Holland, and his'deputy, Mr. M. J. Savage, were fulfilling an engagement to address a 'protest meeting" in the city, two others, Messrs. W. J. Jordan and R. McKeen have obtained leave of absence for the rest of the session on the ground of illness and one of the whips, Mr. D. G. Sullivan, has not returned from a week-end visit to Christch-urch.

"Ah, the new leaders," remarked a Government member, when, on resumption of the Sales Tax Bill debate at 7.30 p.m., it was noticed that Messrs. F. W. Schramm and W. K. Barnard had come forward from their back bench to Jill the. places of Mr. Holland and M-iv Savage. As' it happened, the debate -was ..largely con-, cerried with- the legal/ constructions which might be placed on the. clauses of the Sales Tax Bill relating to-evi-dence, so that Messrs. Schramm and Barnard,' who are lawyers, gained further prominence by their frequent speeches from the front benches. Mr H. G. R. Mason, the third lawyer in the party, also took a prominent part in that phase of the debate. Considerable amusement was caused, not least on the Labour benches, when the three legal members, in turn, gave different interpretations of one knotty clause. Indeed, the debate was remarkable for the fact that it brought to light a rare occasion when Labour members openly expressed a difference of opinion among themselves.