FROM THE LADIES GALLERY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 645, 23 October 1909, Page 11

FROM THE LADIES GALLERY.

"JENNY WREN"- IN PARLIAMENT. It is with tKo. keenest .interest that" one watches the. proceedings that take place in Parliament from the .viewpoint'- of .t'ho Ladies'Galler'y. That Viewpoint is obtained-.at .the direst peril of dis!ocati6ri of the neck some . times, because the space is narrow and circumscribed, and large ladies, large hats, and 6b-' strutting pillars make obstacles 'that .-require .considerable manoeuvring if. ouo. wishes'to see the- speakers as well as hear them. While sitting there;, the thought crosses the mind that probably an Englishwoman would be far more, appreciative of the. power- placed in her, hands than is tho average colonial woman, that she would rcalise.it moro and put it to.a.greater use. Because we have won it without storming our Prime ..Minister's residence (What would ho have done?) without "mobbing" our Cabinet.Ministers, and without being sent to.prison for-militant proceedings', we do not trouble to keep a watchful eye on the legislative measures that are constantly being, passed in this much-legisiated-for-country, unless they happen' to affect us in-some direct manner; or. unless' one or niore among these men, who are gathered from the north, the, south, the east,'and the west of this Dominion, happen to belong to as. Attainment does • indeed, so often, rob 'us of 'the value of a thing. : It is a- very pleasant place in which the members wrestle.with the complicated: problems that:beset' this country—the' walls;greentinted and cool looking, the canopied'dais from .which the Speaker/in his seat of state, surveys the House, having deep red' hangings, while curtains of the same shade cover 'the doorways. ..Almost the. first .thing to catch the wandering curious eye'of the visitor'is the glittering "banble," presented to Parliament by Sir. Joseph Ward and. his "colleagues, lying' on, the: table, at which sits the Clerk of the House-a.very handsome'emblemof Parliamentary authority. The Sergeant-atrArm's. must find his position a weighty one-when he has that to carry. -.' Apostrophising Mummies. If a man can possibly .feel nervous, after haying faced, time after time, the audiences which he addressed while electioneering, he surely must quickly rlose the- feeling : when speaking; in Parliament-at all events-in 'the afternoon. .It is almost like speaking' to empty air, except for the.. occupants of the Mho appear to be the only ones that-pay' him any attention, the memfiers themselves being apparently absorbed in writing, reading newspapers, conferring one with another, t>r.else lying ..back, in,their very comfortabfeJooking padded leather .seats• with shut eyes, and a tired expression on their, faces. r Small wonder, sometimes!;..That'this indifference is not always quite so real as it looks'ds shown by .the jeering remarks'that:break out.now and again, a scornful laugh, or cries of '!Ohl .oh!" In the evening things become much more vigorous,, everyone seems alert, and .keen onslaughts are delivered ironi- both sides, till-almost-one wonders whicsh; side it is that has the.greatest array of evil deeds. piled-up- against At.. \ Also' some, very wearisome pointless talking and recriminations, take, place. ... .. On Tuesday, when the House reopened'after its :week-end adjournment, the debate on the •Attdiess-.m-Keply, still dragged out- its weary length, and indeed lasted till, early on-Thurs-day morning-12,43 a.m., ;Many members hadmuch to say on divers ■ matters, and now, and again some sharp passages-at-arms took, place, particularly, on Tuesday evening. -It was rather interesting to learn thata railway conld ; be looked upon as an auxiliary or,an accessory, to a stone-crushing, plant, and considerable\discussion ,as to its cost and.other, matter took' place between the. member- for Taranaki',(Mr. Hmo), -who -raised the. poinV-and the: Prime Minister.,. ■.;.-.. :•../• -.' ..;-.: .', ','-.:.',, ,;..'.,..,.., .

Mr. - Davey, , the . member for Christchurch. ■ East, .with- a-,most 'grieved' and -reproachful air, complained bitterly of. the.'.misreprcsenta-' .pott that ,the-. Government suffered-at the hands of tho Opposition. 'Everything'thcy, didwas turned and twisted about,, and'. given a totally .different-aspect-from-what it should ■]ustly r , have. ; However,.^even- ho y.inanaged to misrepresent! Mr.'. : Masseyi in.. : conneotion' fWith,-;) speechmada some time ago, at Feilding, bringing the' latter.: to his' feet with a .vigorous denial.- One bears, so lrinch,of "misropreseritation"';from both sides, of thcHouseVit isi.like "Mesopotabiia," a.word much indemand. ~'.' Speakers who Catch the Attention,' !, ;■■' One of the noteworthy speeches ' mado (it rather sounds as though there'were manjO was that by Mr. Herdman,; dealing very much with finance, usually not ah enthralling subject with the feminine mind,'and the "fitful," elusive,' will-o'-the-wisp", policy; of the''Goverhmcnti'a speech which brought, him into sharp conflict with; the. Prime Minister, who',.contested'his financial 1 statements, Mr.' Herdman -is- a very clear, interesting, ' forcible' speaker, • who finds' his .hands-very' helpful when he' wishes,'to empha'siso-.'a, pointy and'there' is never any lack of attention when.he rises to speak,, for ho. is a formidable..thorn'- to,;the- Government .side. .The House appeared very interested in-hearing why, after mature''.deliberation;: he : had come: to the conclusion Government: would' never go out of office so' long; as thera'was a' large storehouse of' billets, a'copious supply of. bridges, an inexhaustible stack of roads, and borrowed money.could be got, and was'rushing into the country in a hugo stream, and could be applied to. buying votes, and so long as there wero ' men on the . Government .benches prepared to take advantage,of these things, the Government would remain .ill office." : . -. > ■•'' ■ ■

Mr. Baume,' ; tlie member.for 'Aubldahd-EaSt; .made a very iritercstirig:.speech' on Wednesday' night; dealt largely with the freehold, question;- of which lie ''thoroughly,'approved—not. unlimited freehold, however, later on in his speech he stated that, speaking with a due sense-of his rcsponsibility/he considered that no member of the'Jridicial'Bench should be paid a'single penny beyond his salary on or_ off the Bench, ah opinion that was shared evidently.by 'many in ths House.' Mr. Carroll actually managed to summon energy, enough to interject "No," in response,,to a part'of Mr. Baumo's speech,, but it was a severe effort, and ho'subsided with a, yawn. into,his wonted state of impassivity that is novel' disturbed, no matter how many petitions'flow in. And .'yet'lie suggests power. It.must.be rather interesting for..the Native .members' hearing'the frequent' discussions that take, place in connection''\rith, the. .disposal of their lands; and they havo'a vigorous'.'iighter in Dr. Buck, who r does not believe in putting the Maori on the, samo fool-' jug as the nakelia. .It simply means, that 'lie would soon become, landless,, as anyone knows who is at. all. acquainted with tho 'Maori.' ' " Origina,! if Brief. ; .' :■ Mr. Craigio, the. member for Timaru, produced some sensation when he was given the opportunity of continuing the. debate on the Audress-in-Reply.on -Wednesday. He merely remarked that he.had ;no..desire, to, speak, 1 -' as he considered .it a. waste of time, and 'with a word or two of .thanks for the .encouragement he had met with, he sat down acain .amidst loud applause.....lt simply, astounded all the. other members who had made. th,e most of their opportunities for .speaking about nearly everything''under the ■ sun,, necessary, 'or ■ unnecessary. ■ One would hardly think it aneasy thing to say, and it raises expectations of what Mr. Craigio.may. be.capable of. saying when ho thinks it .worth while. ' ' .

On Thursday a number of Bills were read and Mr, Sidey's Bill for saving daylight came in for a good deal of discussion, some considerable interest being centred in at. 'If; simply means that, the clock, or rather all ..clocks in: the Dominion, are put forward by. ah hour from September ;to March, ,and then, go back to the old 1 way for the rest of the,year. Prom September to March everyone begins, to.work an hour earlier and leaves off. an .-hour., sooner than now, learjng-more time-,for leisure.and recreation. It : does •-. 6eom. advantageous from many points of view (it is argued that.'about two-and a half millions will be saved, in artificial lighting evoryyear), but it would leave us with ;a heavy grudge and . air 1 undying protest." An hour longer, in, the, morning before rising is worth three' at the end of" thV day,..at least so one thinks ,at the. lime, Tho Prime Minister, speaking, in favour pf it, 'remarked, that tho benefit to' office, workers would bo,'great, hut-a. pessimistic voice was heard saying:' "Half of: them would get the sack—they would'not bo able to'got up in tiino." .'. ~'■' '.' '■ ■'.■'. "■ - -■■':■

As was only to be. expected/ somo \;er,ir whrm discussions took placo over the ; second •■ reading of the' Legislature Amendment" Bill, on Thursday night, many of the'.'members speaking ohdfolding very strong viows about it.'"'lt is intensely exciting'when attacks become so hot and so strong—tho whole.atmosphere feels disturbed.' In the ladies';'gallery the-occupants sit bolt upright, their eyes very'wide, open,' bright, with the: light of battle in' tliera,- sad to say, arid their checks very pink when someono . belonging to them is . attacked—not movin", hardly breathing,;-with.-a deep."sigh or ■ little, -nervous,- smothered laugh : breaking from .them -when a charge as. successfully repelled,' or, a good :hlow''struck for 'Uic-.tkuisit: It-:is ; ,entoriiig ; tho. lists with:-ia vengeance at times when 6no■'becomes.'n 'memb'er'of l'nrlia'-' 'ment, ; : ;V-:-.:■;:/.; ;-;'■;.' /;;; ■ •.-.;..■ V.';.--./.f- I '"'

Marrying arid Giving in Marriage. An old friend also made its reappearance once mure—the Marriage Act-Amendment Billone with which old members - are well acquainted, as it has been brought forward in sessions by Sir William-Steward. The object is to allow- a man to marry his\ deceased wife's niece, or- a woman her deceased husband's- nephew. As it now stands, he may not marry the niece, but he may marry her mother—the same way with a, woman. There are. indeed some . curiously contradictory and illogical things.to be found concerning laws. The Bill comes on again in November.'

'. On Iriday evening Mr. Buxton, tho membei fpi' Ge'raldirie, ..'referred to the matter of. free passes-being withdrawn from teachers in. his part of' the country—a matter that.'they were greatly; agitated 'over, and what a serious drawback to them.' Mr. : Fowlds stated -'that the passes for those- engaged in teaching agricultural •• subjects, and also' where those'' in authority l worts satisfied that a proper 'benefit was being derived from their use, would still be"allowed ns usual. In tho past the 1 system had" been -"greatly abused, teachers' taking up one subject, and making no'.headway: with 'it for: quarter after quarter. ,r" --. i.o.ik ■'.. .'■.''■.'.-' ;_'.•'.'.' ' :;■■' _ Tho financial statement for. the year, and information on tho'loan of one million recently obtained in London, was read by Sir Joseph V/nrd till one's head'fairly Teelod with thousands, and hundreds of thousands, and millions.' One'gathered that it-was necessary to borrow-in -order-to devolop the country,, that thetloan had been obtained without-brokerage or' discount and at the rate of 3 per cent., also that "a certain amount of privacy must be used in financial undertakings or-the country would not be ablo to obtain- such advantageous terras. -, Further, that New Zealand had. done better in its-iborrowing than Canada or some other place,- which, of course, was rather cheering to .hear. Nothing could be made public however. Nothing. One feels that Sir Joseph could speak for a very, long time without making anything ...public., : .. . > ■ . The speech made by Mr. Fowlds about the Charitable Aid and Hospital Bill helped one to recover from .the state of .stupor that the financial statement had thrown ono into. Onb was; greatly surprised to hear how much charitable aid was needed. Mr. Fowlds was of,the: opinion that the election v of responsible persons should be by electivo method instead of by nomination, and that tho two functions should come'under ono governing power, much that was interesting, was being said .about tho matter.

tattle'form tho sum of her conversation. Sho : cannot bo natural in tho presence of men,'and' is. jealous of her companions. Without having the remotest idea of how to dress, she thinks' ' a lot of her appearance. ■ : If tho German girl of twenty does not answer more or less to this description, she is probably of a totally different typo altogether-high-minded and; intellectual, studious, cultured and broad\in her ideas, she will stand outode the usual society, life of her companions, and the girl of this stamp generally travels or else has 6ome occupation to which she devotes most of.her time. She'is a sincere; reliable

friend; and an interesting*.companion*.but is somewhat ■;■ too serious, and. slightly. devoid:. oi that most blessed of gifts—a-sense of humour. One'of''tho most-pronounced features, in. thecharacter of a German girl,of .any, age is hei capacity for. "schwarming,",,and she is never free from this species of hero-worship,, which is almost inexplicable to the more prosaic temperament of her English sister. ■ As n "Backfisch" she will ■ "schwarm" for her .teachers, hor music master, some of her fellow-pupils-/ either -singly- or'all' ( at oucc—and. will over-' whelm them with ovci'y-proof, of. a-devoted and reverential affection, adopting' an atlitudo ,'of humblo abasement before the object'of adoration. •■-. According to her character, these "schwarms" will bo centred in tho same people for a considerable length of time, or elso will undergo frequent changes, .In.-tho "Jungo Danio" this capacity seems to be in no wise diminished, but in place of her teachers the', object of admiration will possibly be. an officer whose photograph.she has seen, an actor, or an', older woman.

Esprit de corps is a quality which is absolutely _ missing in tho German, girl's composition; it-is'never developed in her school life, and she has no idea of "playing the game." Sho is apt sto- be slovenly in her home. If you pay her. an unexpected call in the morning, you will piobablj find her in a more or less untidy state of deshabille, with her hair uubrushed. and dishevelled, and she never dreams of changing in, the evening, unless to discard, her, outdoor frock.for something older which is sloppy arid comfortable. Tho German girl is an excellent needlewoman, a capable housewife, and looks forward to a lifetime of cookiiig. without any dismay.-.. Tho Gorman girl is patriotic, to tho extent of /wilfully, blinding herself, and;sho worships tho army-, in all its officers.,. She is extremely musical, and has a genuine .appreciation of classical performances. .Her energy in improving her knowledge, of English with .ovcry person of that nationality whom she chances to meet is worthy of praise. .