MR. PYKEIN EXPLANATION,

Colonist, Volume XXII, Issue 2761, 25 September 1880, Page 3

MR. PYKEIN EXPLANATION,

To theEditorof'theColonish ; Sib,—Now that the publio havo bad time ro digest the elegant fiotions wbioh have been dished up to them under the title of " Extraordinary Soene in the House," I trust you will grant me space briefly to state my version of the facts. , Divested of all "padding," this „ii what occurred :—I was appointed " teller" of a diviiion in Committee. After I" had liaridecT in my list my attention was oalled ; to the ciroumstanbe that the member for Hokitika (Mr Seddon) had not voted. In1 -the-legithnate" performance of my duty as " teller," I reported the matter to the acting chairman'/MrKellv. Mr Kelly, took no notice of my report,- but-! proceeded to the next item on.the. Estimate. I again direoted his attention to^ tho fact that Mr Seddon hadnot votod. Then ..Me. Kellyoalled on Mr Seddon to reoord his vote, and Mr. Seddon ■ jocularly replied,' *• Oh'!"I- rote against Mr Pyke." Whereupon Mr Kelly ■Baidj^'l'shallrebora'theTote^withttie'iioM?''" I pointed out that there was no vote x before the Committee of "Mr Pyke," and I was proceeding to call Mr Kelly's'attention"tb tQe Standing Orders, which prescribe that Jnem- ■ bers must give their voices with tbe '« Aye«" or "Noes," when a violent plampp arose on my left amongst the supporters of the G-overn. ment, who tried .to. drown my voioe, andi did most effectually drown fche voice of the acting Chairman, with shouts of •'Sit down!" and discordant yells, acoompaniedbv the stampine of feet. To them I turned round and,said, " I will not sit down," and'l again essayed to address the Chair. I,may mention parenthetically that during this turbulent scene I resumed my seat four times, and only toss again when I found that Mr Kelly would not do his duty by calling; on Mr Heddou :'td>say how he gave his voioe on the division. Finding it then impossible to obtain either a* hearing from the Committee, or attention from Mr Kelly, I moved " That the Chairman do leave the ohair and report the matter to' the Speaker"; and Mr Kelly left the chair of his own accord for the purpose, as I supposed, of making such report. He did- not do so, however, but reported instead tbit I had refused to obey the Chair. Mr Kelly's voice is so extremely, ; weak, and thedin wasso great, that it is possible I may not have heard fcim, but lam disposed to think otherwise. However that may be, my amazemeqt wa.a great when I suddenly found my position changed from that qf plaintiff to that of defendant by the very tribunal whose judgment I had myself evoked. Under the circumstances I deolined to make any apology. I felt that £ had merely discharged my duty ai teller, in doiDg which I ought to have had the support of the acting Chairman. . ...<•,•..-.„,... , On the following morning I learned that Mr Kelly had taken* as, addressed to himielf, my refusal to sit down at the demand of the noisy members on my left. :T,hat being under* stood, the explanation was easy to me and satisfactory to the House; a large majority of the members of which were and are prepared to endorse my statement, As to the dramatised version of the soene in the gallery; I can only say that it has been very highly colored. ANo angry words passed between/myself and,the Sergeanfc'at-armi—im fact we were bothi imiling throufhout-£ndr| did he make any physical demonstration^, nor; use the ungentlemanly language which'has been attributed to .him. And it must be remembered that the conversation between us yWBB' carried on in undertones—quite inaudible 'in the House—and it therefore forms no part of the '" scene." ' Such are the facts. 1 make -no comment.; lam content1 io allow'"the public to, jud.ge wjio was to blame in the mat'ter.-^I1 am; 'oV6.J'.!' H ' ■'." [::' !.- # ;K ; ';' ■ ' :': :'':" VlNOßK^TxiEK^''" Dunedin, September sth/ '' ' ! *' '