The Dominion. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1909. PARLIAMENTARY MANNERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 659, 9 November 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1909. PARLIAMENTARY MANNERS.

. In the present little intermission of ] Parliamentary, business one might do worse , than give some attention to what has seemed .the most notable feature of the current session'to those who.have had to watch the House of- Representatives' at all closely. There are a number of things thata public-with some excuse for feeling disappointed, may think we refer to: ,quite. ■ a -number of eccentric characteristics, have appeared, in the House. Many of them, no doubt, will be parts of the whole that we have in mind, which-is, a general; deterioration, of Parliamentary manners,,; arid a ■ lowering,. therefore, ■ not only.of. the tone of .'the Assembly, but of this morality of its practice. "What is even worse, the levity, and undignified behaviour of a- section of' the House cannot fail .to. work towards that worst'of all injuries to tho public good: ! the development of a Parliament, for which neither the'serious nor the -frivolous citizen can have any respect. For this result, we Had better, say iit.once.'tho- Speaker, the. Prime Minister, and'the Leader of the /Opposition ; are' almost equally , responsible. ■• One may enter the House almost at any hour now with the' fullest confidence that! one : will be shocked ;by some .striking' evidence of the disappearance .of the old standard of -Parliamentary;, conduct. - , A: little observation will show that , the unpleasant interjec..tions, interruptions,; and disprderliness corao mainly from a certain back.-.bench' group of, Ministerialists, but they are hot entirely confined;to this- , quarter of the Chamber, v Wo do not expect any brilliant display of wit nowadays from' the M.P., but we hayea, right to resent that particular sort, of and. that .mannerof. interjection or repartee, which ;we are 'accustomed to. associate with ; 'the "pit" atia music-hall or the younger men at a sports smoking' concert. ''■■; >. •'. ■;. One or. two bad examples may-be quoted < on this point. ■ Tho , other day a shrewd ■ and capable .member of the Opposition was delivering a serious speech. One of the.back, bench: group suddenly relieved ;hishigh spirits by a ludicrously v inane .interjection, :"What ' about Bobrikoff.?'■'. 1 The significant feature -of the, incident was; that nobody, appeared .to' consider \ .that the interjection was devoid of wit, . sense, , or'propriety. A member can with • -impunity. roar across the Chamber' "I'll settle you.-' A,Minister can give the lie in; thinly-veiled ; language ; half a dozen ' times to an opponent, not only without calling forth a protest, but actually without causing anybody to/ see 'anything either improper or unusual in his be- ■ hayiour. 'The . deterioration , has. been progressive: it began when; Me. Seddon's place fell vacant, and it has continued in ;the ■ present Parliament, despite the fact 1 that it'has'better material than the. pro-; ceding Parliament, partly through ' tho failure of the Leaderof the House, partly, through. Miti, Massey's neglect to take a i. stand/against the bad of.- the noisiest.inter jectors,' and partly through the.wide tolerance of the Speaker. Me. ' Seddon was one of the most wilful and persistent 'trespassers against the strict , laws; of'precedent, but he had an instinctjve feeling for the'preservation 6f order. With all his faults, he was a 'good Leader ;■ of the House; he could always be relied :■ upon to defend law and order in the con.duct,'of business—a state of things which, as a shrewd - politician; ho realised he must preserve. Anarchy, he know, might ultimately bo prejudicial to his own iu:j, terests as a- party leader. Although, therc- ' r fore, many of the political canons set,up ... during his reign wore: anything but' adI. mirablc, , the Parliamentary, canons that - ho received from the past sufforcdno in- '».: jury. In.his.clay, and of course in the days of all his predecessors, the House was a well-conducted Assembly. Since his' ,time..the. House has lapsed, and • shows • signs of becoming ,a disorderly gathering. • t - '■; The?platitude that the New Zealand House of Eopresentatives ""compares/ fayourably,',with.the. Assemblies . of other countries is not often heard nowadays. No doubt some people may repeat it when they read of violent scenes in foreign Parliaments. Ho':is 'a very shallow r, thinker, however, iwho would say that - an .Assembly of > cultured men: in which! 1- tumult and physical conflicts take place is "lower" than the' House in--which'mem--bers may shout inane interjections and vulgar.personalities without provoking a. " breach of tho peace, or even a'retort or a ""•■ protest. The stormy scenes that have been . witnessed in the Reichsrath, the' French Chamber of Deputies, and ..even in; the' House of Commons have been directly duo - to political zeal on great issues; the sig- ; nificance in'them has been'the significance ,;- of-a. division.; But bad manners are;ex--30 tremely rare in nny of these Assemblies; 30 and breaches? of Parliamentary etiquette G. Jare treated very seriously by the leading jo men. > ;THo \. blame that- rests upon tliu x ;PRI3JE'/M|NisfEn;for the dotcrioration of obvious! enough,. Thfl':S|«afer 'iß;.oqually blameworthy, .He,

indeed, should take tho initiative in enforcing right conduct. But Me. Massey, as Leader of the Opposition, is almost ,W a worthy of blame as the PniiiE Minister. 1' No one can object to an occasional inter; £ jection bearing on the matter under dis- e cussion, and free and vigorous speech is *! desirable and necessary; but.all parties \ should, cbmbine to insist on a discontinu-: ' .:ancc of tlicbad habits v;hich- arc growing n .up.iiri ■connection .with debates' , in the; J .House .of It is" , riot ; a.' t ■party:..matter;at .all, but the dignity of ■]■, . Parliairierit; arid, the proper conducfof the "r ■business; , of ..the House are at;.stake.. * .Slovcnliness.arid slackness,inParliamcn-, .> I'.tary progressive evils;:'and; ■ \ ■the.time has , arrived when, if tne.Parlia- o Ajjent'fpf this.-country ia to'command tho Respect' , which it should, a blow should .be ' \ struck , 'in, the,House for. the decencies; , of .. iParHament;. ":. ' ;. ; . ■'':,;.'.,; ■. :./■: : .v, j -.■.' :i:?.%- ':■: ::■■ ■ . ■ -■,:■'■''. ■•-'■ ■'.<- i