A POLITICAL ABSURDITY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11847, 21 July 1893, Page 1

A POLITICAL ABSURDITY.

-♦ Wliy will New Plymouth make a Laughing Stock of Itself. The Premier's determination to allow no questions to be answered has caused much trouble. On Wednesday last when the announcement was made, Mr Seobie MacKenssie rose to object to private members day being taken for the Financial Debate, (we are quoting the special reporter of the Christchurch Truth), when there was no Amendment of wnut of conlidcnce to the motion for Committee of Supply. Kcobie is always ready with this sort of thing, raising questions of order of procedure with innocent nud insinuating style. He often irritates the labour members by this, but this time he had their covert sympathy, as some of them believed that the Government was keeping off the Awkward Direct Veto MIL The Speaker, however, said that the House by a vote on the previous evening had already settled the question that tbo Financial Debate should take precedence. Nrl'isner, with selemn mien, procee-led to quote precedents, but was pulled up. Then Mr Ironsand Smith, always ready to oblige, shot up. •• Sir," he said, •■ in order to settle the question;' 1 but here, amid universal roars of laughter, he was pulled up short by the Speaker snapping out, " There i 3 nothing to settle," The amazement of Poor Ironsand At the miscarriage of his diplomacy was so comic _ that the Ministers fairly shrieked on their benches with laughter. However, ho came up smiling a few minutes afterwards with a raranaki camelia in his button-hole to continue the Financial Debate, and kept a few members in the House amused by hiis inexpressibly cooky style, a queer mixture of bad English and good sense. Last year le issued a wonderful manifesto detailing his views. •• Sir," he said, ■• I sent a copy of my manifesto to the Premier, and told him, ' Here, take your policy out of that,' and he did sir. There it is in the Financial .Statement," and the little man waved A blue covered Statement Aloft. Needless to say he thought the statement a good statement. Soon he cot into his Taranaki minerals. " Why sir there's minerals enough in that track of land to pay Ike National Debt. Why sir there's 30,000 tons of coal to the acre hp my way and I'm going to England to see them capitalists." He had a good word for the irunk Hailway Committee "as the most punctualist " committee of the House At four o'clock he was still letting oft' his services to the country and the marvellous beauty of Taranaki, when one of the Whips was sent over to suggest a close, so at once he came to the peroration, "Why, sir, this House must send me Home To Them Capitalists; Look at this here Imperial Institute, Why sir, the Marquis of Lome lie's bitten with ironsand, too. Why, sir, they toll me in the lobbies I have been communicatinwith him, for this here Marquis he's been" writing poetry he has, and read it at this Institute, and what do you think it snid sir? Why, it talked of the isles of beauty and the coral and such, and then it wound up, "True as her native steel in-wrou"ht from Taranaki ironsand." This was too much for the self-possession of the House, and there was a Perfect Storm of Applause And laughter as the little man sat down looking pertly around with a gratified smile at the eftect ho, had produced