POLITICAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6593, 19 September 1899, Page 2

POLITICAL NOTES.

[From Otjr Correspondent.] WELLINGTON, Sept. 18. MR TAYLOR AND THE PREMIER. There are one or two points-in Mr T. E. Taylor's letter, regarding the sketch incident, published in the "Lyttelton Times" of Saturday last, which are <not touched on in the sub-leader of the same issue, and which call for some reply. Mr Taylor, referring to the sentence in the report which states that Mr Hutchison took the sketch out of the Premier's hand, and that Mr Seddon was careful to state that he regarded the-docu-ment as private, asserts that " your-corres-pondent is romanchig." My statement-was based on the Premier's deliberate utterances in the House, as anyone may prove by referring to page 75 of "Hansard," No. 22. Speaking of the sketch, the Premier said, " It was not-handed by me to the-member for Patea." Again, a little later, Mr Seddon said, " The honourable member. (Patea) took it out of my bands. I said, 'Do not take it away,' but the honourable member immediately gave it to the-jhonourable-member for Christchurch City, Mr Lewis." In the last paragraph of his letter, Mr Taylor asks»why Mr George. Hutchison is not censured "for doing exactly what I'did-with this precious document.'.' The answer is very, simple to one conversant with the circumstances. Mr • Hutchison's action in regard to the sketch was confined^to the sitting of Sept. 6, when the House was in committee in the small hours. Not a, word of discussion was then being reported by " Hansard " (only divisions recorded), and there was not a soul in the public galleries. Mr Taylor, however, not content with having ventilated on that occasion what -he- chose to-treat a&a grievance, deliberately returned to at in the early part of the evening sitting, on the third reading of the Bill, when-thcgalleries were full and the proceedings were being reported verbatim.