WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160733, 20 August 1920, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

A GdTEENMENT REMF* 1 THE INDEPENDENT ELEMENT. (Special Correspondent). Wellington, August, is. In its attempt yesterday to indued iße House to accept, the amendments ihsde by the Legislative Council iff the Gairiifig Amendment Bill the Government suffered its first rebuff of the session. It was ndt a very serious matter —not oiie imperillirig Mr Massey’s occupancy of the Treasury benches nor even weakening- his Bold upon his faithful majority—but it showed that the spirit of independence abroad in the new Parliament is able to er-press itself on occasions with some effect. 'The Cbtmcil, it will he remembered, had added to the Bill fclauses making the telegraphing tit investments to the totalisaior and the publication of the amount of dividends legal, and in the absence of the Minis ter of Internal Affairs, who had hot yet fully recovered from his recent illness; his locum tenen's, Sir William Berries, proposed the heW clauses should be accepted by the House. MINISTERS’ PROPOSALS DEFEATED. There is reason to suspect that the Hon. G. J. Anderson himself was not particularly well disposed towards the amendments, and that, if he had Been ih the House When their acceptance was proposed he would have made it quite clear their adoption was hot to be regarded as a party question. But Sir William Berries, obviously with the concurrence of Mr Massey, left no doubt about a majority of the Cabinet being in, agreement with the Legislative Colincil and desiring the support of its friends in the House in the matter. But when the division was taken, the two clauses just mentioned being the main points at issue, there was found to bo a majority of sis against the view, the voting being 30 to 24. PARTY DIVISIONS. An examination of the division list shows that while thi Labour members and the recognised Independents voted uanimously against the Council’s amendments, the members of the old parties were rather strangely divided. Among the Liberals Messrs Edie, Ha nan, Horn, Isitt, Ngata, Seddon, and S’dey voted against tbe amendments, and Messrs Atmcre, Forbes,, MeCallum, Poland, R. W. Smith, and Wilford for them. Among the Reformers, Messrs J. M. Dickson, J. R. Hamilton, Luke; Malcolm, E. Newman, Stewart, Sykes, and Wright were against, them, and Messrs Bollard, Coates, Field, Glen, Guthrie, Hen are, Hockley, Lystiar, McLeod, Massey, Nash, Nosworthy, Parr, Poinare, Reed; Rhodes, Sir Willidm Henries, and Sir R. Heaton Rhodes for them. Mr Anderson was the only Minister absent, and the whole of his colleagues voted for the acceptance of the Council’s amendments, demonstrating plainly enough what they would have had their supporters do. ABSENT MEMBERS., The fact that there were 21 members absent from the House at the time of the division, not counting the Hon. A M. Myers, who; of course, is away from the country just now, was a matter of very general comment in the galleries. A majority of the absentees had been' counted as supporters of the Council’s amendments, so quite probably the character of the Bill was moulded, not So much by the members who voted as by these Who stopped away. The new House is rapidly i airing a not very creditable reputation iii this respect; An unusually large number of Members are extremely irregular in their attend-; ance, and frequently important business has been transacted with scarcely more than a bare quorum in tiro Chamber. Committee work is usually the excuse for this sort of thing, but it can deceive only people who are unacquainted with the requirements of the House.