THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10916, 4 November 1913, Page 2

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

[From a. Oobhespckdrnt.] WELLINGTON, November 1. THE STRIKE AND POLITICS. Throughout tho week no email measure of interest has been diverted from tho progress of legislation to tho personal observation of strike matters. Whips, Government and Opposition, must have found it difficult to maintain that steady attendance at the Housa that renders thom confident in the faee of «nap divisions. The close proximity of the wharves to tho Parliament Buildings was a constant temptation to members to slip away for an hour, just to see how things wero going on. Every day, indeed nearly every hour, brought a crop of rumours more or less startling. As tho trouble developed tho temptation became greater, and as Albert Edward of the Queen City of the North puts it: "More and more honourable members were conspicuous by their absence." During the last two days tho police and press have complainod of the number of irresponsible citizens who have embarrassed tho authorities by thronging the Post Office Square. This escems hardly fair to tho citizens, in view of the fact that sinco the strike commenced the Square has boen the accepted rendezvous of all who wished to obtain information on tho subject. Day after day the waterside workers' band—a very good band—has discoursed sweet music to appreciative hearers of all shades of opinion on labour matters, while fervid orators have sought to justify their position to such as would listen to them, and naturally the man-in-tlie-streot concluded that no objection or danger attached to his doing what everyone else did. If tho authorities wished to keep citizens away, or inform them that their presence involved danger to themselves, or was likely to embarrass the police, they surely should havo posted a few notices to this effect, or at least have got the Mayor to issue an official notice asking citizens to keep away. Neither of these means was adopted, however, and Thursday s donouraent was all tho more blameworthy by reason of tho false confidence and sense of security into which the citizens had been betrayed,. THE PANIC CHARGE.

On Thursday evening Sir Joseph Ward ventured a mild protest against an excess of seal and lack of wisdom on the part of the police, as exemplified by a very foolish and dangerous charge made by them oil Thursday afternoon through thifl Square, a charge that bowled over and injured two innocent men, and one whioh might easily have resulted in the death of men and women who had no sympathy with the strikers and no idea that they had no right to be where they were. The incident occurred about 5.30. Folk were thronging in hundreds from office and warehouse, and naturally paused to eeo what was going on audio gather the more recent news. Absolute peace prevailed, and a traffic way was left for passing vehicles. Suddenly a cry wa? raised that 'the scabs' were eomins and advancing at a waiK ST about thirty mounted police with about twenty of the newly-sworn special constables. These men. hMnot slung their batons; they all earned them in "their hands, and some of them waved them ,in a very suggestive and provocative fashion. The strikers were quick to accept the challenge. They fined up shrieking taunts and curses, and by the time the troop, wereiialfway through the square, stones began to fly, from twelve to twenty crackers were flung under the horses feet, and matters began to look ugly. To the relief of all right-thinking people the police got through the. crowd without any serious damage being done. At least seventy yards wcre botween them and the crowd, and all they had to do was to quicken ..into a trot to shake off a few of the strikers who were following them up, picking up stones as they ran To the amazement of everyone, the'whole force suddenly wheeled and made a mad charge back to the Police Court. By this time the People in the Square had left the sidewalks. and were scattered over the whole road in excited groups talking over the scene they had witnessed, and before they knew it the horses were on them, going at so wild a gallop that the conclusion many came to was that their riders had lost all control. The hairbreadth escapes were numerous, and how so little injury resulted was as marvellous as it wis fortunate. THE STRIKE AND PARTY GOVERNMENT. .

This protest on Sir Joseph Ward s part was wholly and solely agamrtsuch ill-advised action on the part of the police, and he was careful when makU it to'state that he was prepared to stand firmly for the mainbenance of law and order. Instantly his action was seized upon by Y ment partisans as a declaration by Sir Joseph of sympathy with the strikers and hostility to the Government, and it is now being worked for all it is worth as evidence that the Opposition is" not in favour of violence being checked and free labouxprotectedfrom intimidation and assault. How bitter and unscrupulous a falsehood this is 18 manifest from the fact that there are not five members of the House out of the whole eighty—l do not think that there are five m both branches of the' Legislature, the Upper and House—who are not determined that at all costs order trust be maintained and the liberty and safety of every citiaon, be he striker or free labourer, equally protected. The fact of the matter is that the Reform Party know that their onlv chance of remaining m officers to force all New Zealand into two extreme camps, that of the Red Feds on the one nde and the Reformers en the other. If w» can manage th«t, »y fchwr, tha moderate men amenj the Liberals will be forced t» join us, and with their haip we shall gam years of office. _ UNSCRUPULOUS! METHODS.

And to this end any means and misrcpresentation, however evil, are' able. When at the last election Mr Maesey by letter, by wire and personal instruction informed , R e^9 rm vote f ß that at the second ballot they were to vote lor Labour candidates against Liberals, when he intrigued with a pronounced Red Fed like Mr Payne as against the Hon G. Fowlds that fair and right party warfare. When the Liberals —their own candidate d&feated—voted for Mj Webb, that was cure and certain evidence that the lAberals are at heart all Red Feds and prepared for a policy of syndicalism Ld spoliation. This dodgeg may avail to deceive simple and fallow people, but it will not carry weight with those that think. Sir Joseph Ward holds that order must be maintained, but he j deprecated any action on the part of , the police needlessly irritative and : likely to provoke trouble, and the wisdom of his protest was manifest in the fact that on Friday tlio special constables were not paraded through the Square, with the result that the whole day passed without trouble of any kind. But the leader ot tho Opposition and his supporters are as determined as any Reformer that if when free labour is used violence 16 attempted that violence must be met by armed force and in that fact is the allsufficient answer to the lies that are being so industriously circulated. Of" course the capitalistic' forces behind Mr Massey are anxious to wipe Liberalism off the slat©. It is their one and only ehanoe of maintaining the land ana ether monopolies that enrich, them ana imporrriah the many. Hsnc* if th«y ean deprir# level-headed peopl® ef all opportunity of supporting reasonable, ean«, progressiva legislation, if thev can hold a political pistol to the hoad of the voter, saving Cho<»e Conservatism or syndicalism, our yoke or tho Red Fod heel," their purpose is served. It will need stronger evidence, however, than the fact that Sir Joseph .Ward protested on Thursday, evening

against tho needless endangering of the lives of innocent citizens to convince the people of Now Zoalarul that the inn-n tho Massey crowd 1 only yesterday doclarqd to be not evon a _ Liberal, but at heart an aristocrat, ft titlocl Tory, is to-day a Red Fed, a syndicalist in disguise. Truly tlie Reform methods oF depreciation aro kaleidoscopic. They aro never hampered by so small a matter as consistency in their charges against their foes. THE INCREASE OF THE BEER TAX.

Tho Beer Duty Amendment Bill has bften responsible in its pnssngo through itfi tAvions «t«£o« for eomo vivid talk. Ita introduction by the lion F. M. B. Fisher was seieed upon by Mr Pearce, the member for Pa tea, as an opportunity for warning tho libuse that when in committee ho would move an amendment to the Bill u> don bio the beer tax, to make it sixpence instead of threeponco a gallon. Now no member of the House can mova for any increase of taxation, that is tho prerogative of the Government, so, as 0110 member put it. Mr. Pearce had to go to the Bluff to get to Auckland, i.e., he moved to reduce the boor tax from 3d to Id as an indication that tho Government should double it. Mr Pearce is a wealthy landowner and becomes specially eloquent in his opposition to any increase of land taxation, consequently honourable members were swift to point out the inconsistency of Mr Pearce's suggestion to tax one monopoly while championing another, and the battle waxed warm. Moreover y other membens taunted tho Government with themselves neglecting to insert a clause in ; the Bill increasing the tax instead of leaving Mr Pearce to fly a kite to ascertain -which way the wind was blowing. Tho wind blew strongly in favour of an increased tax, but speaker after speaker stated that he would not expose himself to misunderstanding by voting for the reduction of a tax he wanted to increase, and go tho vote was a poor one. The debate, however, enabled Mr Isitt to point out that the Government was never tired of taunting the Opposition with tho fact that it had two brewers in its ranks and deducing from that fact that the brewers stood behind the Opposition and the Opposition was prepared to champion them, whereon a Reformer cried "It's true, too." "Very well," paid Christchurch North, "Mr Massey has heard nearly every man on this side of the House, including Mr Brown, one of the brewers, say that they will support an increase of the beer tax. I ask him will lie movo to increase the tax before the 6e6sion closes?" The question' was repeated several times, but tlja Primo Minister made no ro Ply- 'w'

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND. The report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Bank of New Zealand Bill was the subject of some interesting speeches on the banking question. Notable amongst these was Sir* Joseph. Ward's straight-out announcement that lie was of opinion that the time had come when the State should take oyer the shareholders' interests in the bank and run it as a Government bank _ entirely, thereby completing the chain of State financial institutions, commencing at the Post Office Savings Bank, passing on to the Advances to Settlers' and Workers' Departments, and with the acquisition of the Bank of New Zealand completing a. system which would then be able to mpet the financial wants of all classes in the community, workers, traders and settlers, and to do the State's own very large banking business. The member for Timaru and the member for Christchurch South moved to refer, the question of the relations between the bank and the State to a Royal Commission or a committee of the House, but in both cases the House was not sympathetic. DISORGANISATION OF LEGISLA- . •■ • TION. The effect of the strike is being felt in the work being done by Parliament. The order paper on Friday had to undergo considerable alteration owing to the absence from the Chamber of the Ministers in charge of the Bills set down in their names and the absence of the Hon James Allen through indisposition left the Public Revenues Bill m charge of the Minister of Public Works. That Minister, in moving the second reading of that Bill, adhered closely to the official explanation supplied by the Treasury, and when interrogated as to further interpretations to be placed on clauses in the Bill he declined to .venture into depths lie had not plumbed. , The leader of the Opposition showed his capable grasp of the intricacies of State finance in his of the Bill. His handlings of the subject left Public Works so nonplussed that he did not rise when given the opportunity by the Speaker to reply and the Bui passed its second reading with much left unanswered. „, _ SUNNYSIDE MENTAL HOSPITAL INQUIRY REPORT. The motion by the Minister in charge, the Hon. R. H. Rhodes, that "the report do lie on the table of the House," gave Mr T. H. Davey the opportunity of voicing the feeling of dissatisfaction with the working of the State institution left in the minds of thpse who have followed the reports of the . inquiry as they appeared in the newspapers at the time. There _ was no doubt of the earnestness and sinoerity of the member for Christchuroh East as he told the tale of the sad happenings brought to light by that inquiry. The granting him of an extension of time when the bell had rung him down showed that the House had time to hear a man who could tell them 6ome thing worth while. The Minister recognised the seriousness of the subject by agreeing to the suggestion < of the member for Avon that a special day oihould be #et aside for its discussion.