OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 1814, 22 July 1891, Page 3

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

(From onr owu Correspondent.) THE FINANCIAL DEBATE. No one regrets that the battle royal over the Financial Statement has been duly brought to a close. It was, on the whole, a dull battle, a battle for the most part between pigmies. After the heavy mettled champions on both sides had stepped into the arena, and shown their quality the display, for ib was little more, should have ended. But it is one of the characteristics of a small House that every man must have his say, no matter at what suffering to his fellowmembers. In the old days, before" the House was reduced, a score of members might remain silent and be still unnoticed ; but now an hon. member seems to think that unless he fills half-a-dozen pasfes of "Hansard" on every debate, his constituents and the country and his fellow politicians are likely to be inquiring as to his whereabouts and, mayhaps, dub him an ignoramus. But what a delusion and what a fatal mistake ! There were only about half-a-dozen speeches that might be fairly said to have th£ remotest relevancy to the subject before the House. When I look back over the last few weeks and thiuk of the cataracts of twaddle that nothing but the most unyielding necessity corncelled me night after night to sit and listen to, I wonder how I managed to go through the ordeal as I did, and I congratulate myself in feeling so well after it. Had there been the ghost of a germ of insanity in any of my ancestors, it would certainly have shown itself in me during the past two or three weeks. This discovery, to some extent, helps to console one for the agony endured. THE GENIAL V.l\ Back once in his old familiar haunts. But how changed ! What ravages even the last few years have made in the appearance of the veteran ! But as gay a dog as ever, and every bit as happy. He met with an accident a day or two after his arrival by falling down a flight of stone steps leading up to his hotel, and appeared at the time to be very badly injured; but his recuperative powers are wonderful, and in a day or two he was again about, waylaying and interviewing Ministers and laying downthe law to the members of the Goldfields Committee. His mission is a purely business one, undertaken on be« half of a number of mining companies, and he has been successful in securing very good terms for them in the Mining Bill brought down by the Government, He speaks of the remission of the gold duty as a delusion and a snare, and vehemently asks " why the miner should continue to be the colony's beast of burden?" He is as hopeful as- ever of again coming back to the House, though there is no difficulty in seeing that his active connection with politics has ceased forever. His presence here gave rise to the old rumours of his appointment to the Upper House ; but I have it on first-rate authority that there js no intention of inolnding him in any appointment that the Government may eventually decide on making, Mr Pyke lefb'here to-day for the South. QUEER PHILOSOPHY. Mr Saunders has long posed both in the House and outside of it as the

i champion authority on economy. His i whole political existence may be summed 1 up in the one word " retrenchment." ; He is Lhe sworn foe of the civil servants, has all the details of our national debt at hiss fingers' end, and no matter what the subject may be on which he engages to address the House, he never fails to drift round to his favourite theme. The exodus and the depression and all the ills that afflict the colony proceed in some manner or other from the civil service. His firm belief is that if you expect to gefc good work out of a man you musfc give him a small salary. The old tradition is that if you look for good work you must pay a good price for it. But Mr Saunders will have none of this. This argument he always illustrates by trotting out Mr Domet'fc. " There, Sir, is an instance," he says - "Mr Domett once edited the ' Nelson Colonist ' at £100 ayear, and he did it remarkably well, Sir. Then he was made Commissioner of Crown Lands, and that he did not do so well, but still very fairly ; bub when they made him Premier of this colony of ours, Sir, at £1000 he did it in a very indifferent manner, indeed." Everybody, he maintains, is overpaid in- this colony, from, the premier down to the policeman. Mr Saunders is seldom on the wrong track; but his philosophy is occasionally I considerably mixed. A FEELER. As the Financial debate drew to a close, rumours got abroad that the Government Taxation Bills were not to be brought down this session. Nobody could tell from whence these rumours sprang, but it was observed thab they were seriously discussed in the lobbies by Ministerial followers iv such a mauner as to impress one they were something more than mere idle lobby gossip. This was more than confirmed when Mr Perceval at the fag end of the debate rose in his place, and, after a few prefatory remarks, asked for the uosfcponement of the Bills. He argued that the revenue derived from the new sources proposed will be in excess of the ievenue given up. He also condemned the graduated tax on improvements as a gross injustice, and counselled further time and reflection before the decisive step was taken. Members iutuitively felt that the little comedy had beeu carefully pre-arranged between Mr Perceval and the Government, and laughed at ie as a very clumsy feeler; while the Government followers sent a volley of " Noes," and Ministers themselves sat ominously still. It is now felt that Ministers have been quietly dupiug the House so far, and have not yet actually decided on the shape their much-dis-cussed " proposals " are to bake. What a difference between this cautious method '. of moving and the wild talk in the old days before they got the loaves and i fishes*! ( THE BAGJIAN OF THE MINISTRY. Mr Seddon is never lacking of words with which to fill in the time apportioned to him in a debate. In the old stonewalling days he was a host iv himself to his party. But to hear him at his best he must be heard in one of his demonstrative or aggressive moods. As a rule he is pretty good humoured in debate, and can take and give a thrust with most members in the House. But he ■ has become very pompous and conse- ' quencial since he became a " Minister of j the Crown, Sir," as he is accustomed . now to apostrophise himself, and is very [ susceptible to banter or ridicule. Sir John Hall's bye-play at his expense as I " the bagmanof the Ministry " — referring to the Hon. Richard's travels through ] the country — fired at him amid the \ convulsive laughter of the House, annoyed him very much. He tried to ■ laugh himself, but couldn't aud got so ' very red that his friends on each side : thought he was about to be seized with \ an appoplcctic fit. THE BAGMAN HETOIITS. '. After he got up to deliver his famous three-hours' speech, it was at once ! apparent that Mr Seddon was in capital fighting form. After a florid compliment ' or two to his "venerable friend," Sir George Gray, he hurried along over the ; ground until he came to that part of his criticism devoted to Sir John Hall. He first looked menacingly over towards j the member for Ellesmere, and while he i continued to hurl invective at him in his < loudest key he opened up a newspaper — an American one, by the way — and proceeded to read what the rules of the House prohibited him from saying direc- v tly to his opponent. The article, he said, •■ dealt with lies and liars of all classes and ' conditions in life — with a visible effort ! at emphasis on the latter part of tho sentence. Then he read : " Sometimes a gentleman has to make a mighty effort to speak the truth," and suddenly swerving round, amid cries of " oi'der! " he looked toward Mr Richardson, and yelled " that describes him accurately. Sir, I maintain it does !" Then facing the member for Ellesmere he asks in \x voice of thunder why he was described as the bagman of the Ministry ? Sir Johu at once rose and said it might have beeu said by some naughty little boy. " Naughty little boy !" exolaimed the I enraged Richard ; "it came from a wicked old man, Sir." And then he fairly gasped for breath, as the House roared. " I carried that bag, Sir, round the country, from Auckland to the Bluff, and in it I carried twenty-two votes of confidence in the Government." Everybody, friend and foe, laughed; aud singling out Mr Fergus, he added, "that's more than my predecessor has ever done." Whereupon the member for Wakitipu retorts that he never wanted to, and so the merriment progressed till the supper adjournment, The outcome of the Munioipal Conferenoe reoently. held here is that a Bill embodying most of the recommendations of the Conference has been prepared by the Government. One or two of the provisions possess features of apeoiaj interest, For instanoe, it proposes to abolish the system now in force of polling a majority of favourable votes before the raising or a loan can be undertaken. Instead of this the approval of twothirds of the aggregate votes will bo a sufficient authority. Another new feature is that one per cent, of the general rate is to be at the disposal of the Council for defraying the oost of public functions, little convivial parties, and all suoh purposes as the Auditor- General is in the habit of refusing to oertify for. Reforms such as these should be appreciated by local bodies, as I have no doubt they will be, THE LABOUR BUREAU. Colonel Bailey,of the Salvation Army, has been here for a few days in conneotion with the Labour Bureau scheme established by the Army. He has been interviewing the Hon. Mr Eeeves for the purpose of ascertaining how far the

i Government would be agreeable in help- . ing them to meet the unemployed diffiI culty. I had a talk with the Colonel on the nature of their latest philanthropic scheme for helping our "submerged tenth," and very soon drifted into the alleged larcency of their labour bureau scheme by the Minister for Education. "Well, you see," he said, " we applied to the Minister for help and were asked to furnish an outline of our scheme. All we can say now, is that the Government have somewhat taken the wind out of our sails — forestalled us, in a manner of speaking, by launching a scheme that would certainly pass for a twin brother of ours." Ho told me that both the Premier and the Hon. Mr Reeves had promised them all reasonable help, aud they should, therefore, bo satisfied. Another way of expressing their thanks for small mercies. THE PREMIER GETS UP. It was getting on for five o'clock last Wednesday evening when Mr Ballauce got up to wind up the debate on the Financial Statement. . No one expected such an event, and the House was consequently almost deserted. The galleries too, were as nearly empty as possible. The quietness, in fact, was depressing, and no demonsti'atiou of any kind attondsd his rising. After he had gone on in this dismal manner for a little time, Captain Russell suddenly jumped up, and looking round drearily but significantly moved the adjournment. In the evening there was , A RALLY from all quarters. Every member was in his place and the galleries were literally packed. Mr Ballauce is naturally a man of calm, equable temperament, and his oratory is pretty much the same. The full notes with which he had provided' himself plainly argued a long speech, and a long ouo it proved to be. He started off at a bewilderingly rapid | pace, chopping and cutting the air all j the while, as is his custom, and wheel- ' ing himself round from side to side of the House, as if to emphasise his points. , To Mr Macarthms the member for Ran- ' gitikei, he devoted a large amount of criticism, and then came along to Mr i Bryce aud Sir John Hall in turn. These ' gentlemen more than once attempted to correct some of his statements ; but he refused to give way, and raising his voice to an angry pitch, he answered them sharply, and passed on. "All the while he continues to accelerate his speed uu- I til the reporters in the gallery were almost in despair ; while some of the members repeatedly begged of him to slow down. He referred to the " member for Wellington " as an " illiterate," and immediately meeting Mr Fisher's eye glaring on him, aud loud cries of " which member," " Not my hon. friend," he says, amid the cheers aud laughter of the House. It was an exhaustive speech, and an able one, and ' was loudly cheered by his followers. ;