The Victorian Parliament.

Cromwell Argus, Volume II, Issue 104, 7 November 1871, Page 2

Th e Victorian Parliament.

Victorians pay their legislators £33) a year, and this is tho way the legislators earn their money “Tho idea seemed to have gib adeat in the early part Of the evening th it Mr Gillies had a little game, and ibis ban lied about from member to member, half in joke and half in earnest. When Mr Langtoh rose to speak, a further, idea was engrafted upon it that he was playing the little game of Mr Gillies for him. A voice came from behind him accordingly, “Ah, now the little game is coming outat the same time Mr W. G. Smith nodded to Mr Gillies. This was the signal for the scrimmage. Mr Langton—“ Really, Mr Davies, I must ask you,” turning round to identify the guilty Smith. Mr Smith (jumping up)—“ I rise to a point of order. The hon, member is not stating facts.” Mr Gillies—“l rise to a point of order. It’s a piece of presumption on the part of the hon. member for Ballarat West to ” Mr Vale—“ I rise to a point of order, Mr Davies. The pert member for Maryborough has no right to attribute presumption to—” Mr Langton, who had sat down in a desponding way,—“ I submit, Mr Davies, an hou. member has no right to interrupt me to lecture another hon. member on a point of order.” More interruptions from behind, and cries of “Oh! oh!” in the midst of which was heard— Mr Vale—“ The hon. member for Maryborough is unseemly and out of order.” Mr Gillies—“ Order ! order ! Really it’s very unseemly.” Mr Smith (bobbing up and down in a state of galvanic excitement) —“The most unruly member in the House.” ■ Ami this is what happens, gentle reader, in the Parliament of your country when the hiatus in the Parliamentary reports is filled in with tho reporter’s euphemism : —“ After some little discussion on the point of order, Mr Jones proceeded to say,” &c. Possibly the gentle reader may enquire how it is that the chairman does not cut short the b ’oilers at once; but the fact is, he is very much more dependent upon their mercy than they are on his judgment. He cries “ Order ! order!” on the impulse of the moment, with a great show of real or affected indignation ; and the disorderly member replies as Mr Smith did, “I shall always bow to your ruling, Sir, whether it is right or wrong, but—” and forthwith proceeds to break his word. The House sits quiet under the consciousness that it can do nothing to help him, and that if it interposes it may make matters worse, just as—- “ He who in quest of quiet silence hoots Is apt to make the hubbub it imputes.”

In fast the House is really a, very cowardly tiling, and is very soon overawed bv the sound of its own voice. For instance, in the early part of this very Wednesday evening, it attempted to suppress Mr Whiteman, who was wasting its time on the subject of Lieut, fur ier being appointed to navigate the Nelson, with its prec ous freight of legislators, down the bay. At first it went into the attempt with hearty goodwill, and by dint of screams, and coughs, and catcalls, roared Mr Whiteman back into his seat for a moment. But only for a moment. It got frightened in the act of triumph, and the member for Emerald-lull, seeing his opportunity, rose again with renewed corn-age,—though the author of the Vision of Judjmnt, who had a little Parliamentary experience in his day, has left his opinion that “ Few will twice Lift up their when fairly over-crow’d.” What is really wanted is that the House should ascertain its exact strength, and how far it may use it, and then decide upon some settled plan of defence upon which the aggressors may be met and extinguished on the spot, with or without the aid of the Chair man. In a recent case (Ferguson v. M'Cormick) in the Supreme Court in Auckland, before Sir G. A. Arney, a definition of the term “Yankee Grab” was given, which caused some amusement. The following is an extract from the report The plaintiff, in cross-examination, said that himself, the defendant, and another man were original holders of the ground called the ‘ Clyde,’ for which eacli of them got thirty-three shares in the Alburnia Gold Mining Company.—ln answer t > the query of what was to be done with the hundredth share, the plaintiff said that Mr Hannafnrd told them they were to have ‘Yankee Grab’ for it.—His Honor: ‘“Yankee Grab!”—(Laughter.) What is that V —Mr Hesketh : ‘I do not know, your Honor. I believe it is shaking something in the hat.’—(Loud laughter.) Practically, Mr Hesketh said, he knew nothing of ‘ Yankee Grab,’but he had boon informed upon reliable authority that it was a speculative pastime, invented to arrive at a result; as, for instance, where two persons were in doubt as to which of them should pay for a bottle of wine, or the like ; or, as in the matter before the Court, to determine who should become the owner of the odd share. Some persons had opined that this method of deciding things had not a moral tendency ; but this he could not say of his own knowledge.—Mr llees stated from belief, not experience, that the game referred to would be known in after years as. “ rattling the bones.” It was dn appeal to decide certain issues by ascertaining the aggregate number of spots upon dice thrown in triplicate in an agreed-upon succession of throws or casts.—His Honor bowed his Acknowledgment for tic information:”