THE BIG STONEWALL.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14833, 26 November 1913, Page 11

THE BIG STONEWALL.

HOW IT WAS BROKEN

OPPOSITION PARALYSED.

MEMORABLE INCIDENT

'special to ''tbk r-nsss. ' ' WELLINGTON. November 2-5. Tho drastic steps laken last evening by the Chairman of Committees (-Mr A. S. Malcolm) in regard t-o the stonewall •on the second hallo; repeal clause of the Legislature Act Amendment Hill have formed the general .subject of oommeiu in political circles t«-ri»y. The measures taken hy the chairman are being referred to as "tho guillotine/ , -What was applied, of course, was not really tho guillotine, but a very rigid enforeoraoni of the letter of the Standing Orders, which was even more severe in its effect than tho n>o of the guillotine, could possibly be. The stonewaliers were practically paralysed, and tho proceedings may be likened to a game of ninepins, speaker after speaker being rung down in close sue- i cession for '"tedious repetition." The incident was one that has had no parallel in the political history of New j Zealand, since the memorable stonewall , on the Representation Bill of ISSI, when tho Chairman of Committees, backed uy by the Speaker (Sir Maurice O'Rorke) took similar sU»p.s to put a stop to tiie waste of time that wns then proceeding. From -2.30 p.m. yesterday till 3.10 this morning Mr Malcolm remained in tho Chair, and did not follow tho usual courso of asking a deputy chairman t-o relieve him ior a space. Ho stuck relentlessly to tho determination announced by him in tho afternoon to insist upon the Standing Orders being complied vith in every detail. In this ho was supported ou appoal by Mr Speaker Lang, who spoke very plainly ugpn the 'wilful waste" of time that had been going on. Tho Opposition, whilst offering no resistance to the authority of tho Chair, uttered mild protests from timo to time, but tho chairman was inexorable, and deviated not a hair's breadth from tho attitude that he had marked out for himself. The the/big stonewall, which the Opposition had declared their in- j tention to keep up till Christmas if need bo, was thus brought about. This stonewall will always stand out as tho great stonewall "of a session that has been remarkable for obstruction of one kind and and the speedy and dramatic way in which it was brought to a close will long bo recalled as one of the. noteworthy events in New Zea- ■ land's. political annals. The Committee debato on the Bill came to an end at ton minutes past three. Tho two hundred or so amendments of which the Opposition had given notice met with short shrift, all being negatived after brief debate, with the exception of one moved hy Mr Ell, which was accepted by the Government. A division was taken on Mr Russell's amendment for a single transferable vote, which was defeated by 31 votes to. 21. Mr Hindmarsh moved an amendment providing for the signing of all articles during the period between tho issue of the write and the return thereof, but that was last by 37 votes to IC.' '' \ An amendment to make women eligible for tho Legislative Council was lost by 36 votes to Jβ. At 3 a.m. the amendments were disposed of, except ono by tho Minister providing for the Minister issuing .writs in elections in the event of the death of the Speaker. The "Dominion" newspaper strongly supports the action of tho ! Chairman of Committ<?es, and the I "New Zealand Times" (the Oppositipu organ) just as strongly denounces it. j TJie "Evening Post," an independent I newspaper, agrees that . the occasion justinea the severe 'form of treatment j adopted. It says in concluding its editorial comments on the subject:— "The Opposition had appealed to the letter of tho Standing Orders, and the Committee, through its chairman, re-j I torted in an unexpected but technically correct fashion. Tediousness and irrelevancy were suppressed with an unexampled severity, for which there was , nevertheless sufficient warrant in the I authority invoked hv the Opposition We trust that' so rigid and peremptory an interpretation of the Standing Orders may not be iveeded for many years, but until the House takes the matter into its own hands by amending its procedure, some such oxerciste of authority on the part of Speaker or chairman can alone save it from stu'tifioation b*- a large minority determined to block business."