COVETED HONOUR

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 903, 24 August 1910, Page 6

COVETED HONOUR

CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES. MR. COLVIN ELECTED. . WAS IT A PARTY' QUESTION? In view' of the interest which had heen occasioned, in regard to the long-deferred election of Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives, it is wort by of. note that when tho matter came up for decision yesterday, there was an'exceptionally large atte'udanco of members, no fewer than To being present, including the Speaker, out of a total of SO,'whilst all the galleries were filled to overflowing.

The Prime Minister, in moving that Mr. Co'lvin be.appointed'to the position,' said(.Mr.' Colvin had been a member of the House of Bepresentntives for eleven years, and throughout the whole of that time he had commanded the respect of his' fellow members—(hear, hears)—and fulfilled his important duties with credit to himself and satisfaction to tlie country. Other positions which Mr. Colvin had filled were: Member of the Borough Council of Westport for ten years, and Maj-or for two years; member of tho Nelson Education Board for-six years;, member of the Westport Harbour Board for five years; a member of the Buller County Council for six years; also a member of the Buller Licensing Committee. In fact/Mr. Colvin had served upon every public body of any importance in the widespread (district of Buller. No one had ever heard a word against his capacity. .This .was eminent testimony to his tact, judgment and consideration o( others. As a Parliamentarian, Mr. C'olvin's record was equally fine. Whilst a member of the House, Mr. Colvin had been chairman of the Goldfields Committee for a considerable time, and also chairman, he thought, of. other committees. He (Sir Joseph) fully recognised that there were, a number of members on his side who were well' qualified to: fill the- position. Only ono member, however, could be nominated by the Government for the position. .If Mr. Colvin were elected, he would do. his utmost to preserve the high tone of wjiich'the'Parliament of New Zealand had always shown itself to ; be. possessed. ,

Surprised at' Having to Stand Aside. Sir William Steward .(Waitaki) said ho had been surprised that he had not been selected ill view of the fact that he was the oldest member, of the party and was seeking office. ..During,the past seventeen, years he had served as'a private/member, and had done his duty to!the best of his ability to his electorate, the country; and particularly to the party to which he belonged. His loyalty, had. never been questioned,: and he had ; had; to stand aside on several former occasions. Lastyear he arrived after the short Dreadnought session had closed, and so. was too | late. .At that time an impression i.gofc' abroad that he was; not willing to accept, the position. So, this-'-session he sent a note. to. members of both.'sides of the House ; stating- that he' would be willing to accept the position if.the House chose to confer it upon him. ' He had not asked any member for a pledge, and: lie had canvassed no member. • Ho now intended to place himself entirely -in the hands of tlie House..

A Test of Loyalty. He understood thatV the appointment was to be regarded irorn the party point of view. '■ ■ . ■, i ''•;"".. Sir .Joseph Ward: Not so far as I am concerned. ': - : . ■.■".' Sir William Steward: It is to be regarded as a defeat of the Government. Sir Joseph: Not so tar. as-1 am concerned. ' ' , " ' Sir William Steward said he under T stood, the feeling had been, that the question would bo made a, party one, and 'it was.his'duty.to show the same abnegation ■! as he had on previous occasions, If he couhf not be elected without depending on the votes of the opponents 'of the Government his party loyalty, would demand that lie should abstain from placing tlio Government„in a false position. He understood that a vote against the, Government would be regarded, even if carried by their own people, as show: ing that the Government did not possess the control of ; the' House that it should.' That being\tho case, he would entirely release, his supporters and "placo himself entirely in the of the House. He did not ask his proposer and seconder to proceed at all, but if the House chose to elect' him he would accept • the position.'' . .-■ '

Mr,-f-M.assey Proposes Mr. Fraser. ' Mr. Massey, the Leader Of tho Opposition; moved that Mr.. Colviu's' name be struck -gut- and Mr. Fraser's inserted, In doing so" he said he wished to'remarkthat he, had a very great deal of sympathy with the.reinarKs that had'fallen lrom the oldest raeiuber of the .House, Sir William Steward. . At the same time he did not in any way wish to interfere between. Sir William Steward and his political chief. He would leave them- to I settle their differences iu< their'own way. Everything, 'according, to; the old adage, came to him who waited, and the same might be said of Pnrliaiuehts. The House had waited for: a:long-time for the Leader, of the Government to do his duty in connection with the appointment of a Chairman of Committees. However, ho had at last faced; the music, and nominated Mr. Colvin for that important position. Against Mr. Colvin he (Mr. Massey) had not, a single word to say. He "was one'of the most popular members of the House; indeed, he had not a single enemy, and it was very likely, that it was on that account he had received the nomination of tile Government. He (Mr. Massey)', however,' had" never been able to see that an important - appointment such as this, should bo made, a party question. Ho had always thought that in, - the case of : a .Chairman ■of Committees the member' occupying that position' should be as respon- • siblc to . one side of the House as ■to the other. As a matter of fact, the Opposition side was more interested,than the members on ,the Government side of the Houso-, because one of the most important duties of the Chair was to protect the rights of the minority. In regard to Mr. Fraser he wished to point out that for many years .he! had occupied the chair in the-Vincent County Council, which position he had filled with satisfaction to the councillors and,with great credit to himself. He had also for some years acted as chairman of the Joint Library Committee. He was now comparatively speaking an old Parliamentarian, having seventeen years' experience, with a. thorough grasp and knowledge of the Standing Orders. In addition, he was possessed of all those qualities that it was necessary a Chairman should possess, including the qualities of firmness arid decision. Ho was a just man, and a generous, and if—after tho statement of the Prime Minister that the matter was not to be made a party one—Mr. Fraser was elected to the position, he felt sure he .would dri his duty without fear and without favour. (Applause.)

Need for Radical Changes. Mr. T.-.-E. Taylor (Christchurch'. North) said that ■ ho. thought that cither Mr.'Colvin or Mr/ f Eraser: would carry out the duties, of tho: position well. Having regard to what, had taken place. in connection with the election; ho thought it emphasised the fact that some radical changes in connection with tho political institutions in New Zealand were necessary. No member could disagree with bim when ho said that'the exercise of power in tho hands of the Ministry'had been so erratic and so unsatisfactory in connectioa with ■ many matters that the time. was dead ripe that there should a change to bring about a bettor state of things. The Liberal party had gradually degenerated, so t.liat its- majority was only useful to protect the Executive from its folly. The Liberal party—and lie claimed to be a Radical although ho did not attend caucuses—had no., power to initiate legislation, etc. Tinder the present system,' no error of the Ministry could be put right without. the risk of wrecking the Ministry. 1 Take, for instance, the land question. They, had no power to initiate legislation; and they did not know what would bo brough'; down in the name of. Liberalism. But whatever was brought down every membeil of tho party must support it or they would lay themselves open to a charge of treason. Mr. Taylor said that it was useless to say that tho clement of party had' not entered into the contest. Party had been used to try and exclude Sir William Steward from tho contest. His claims of long service and loyalty could . not be

questioned. He believed that there should exist in this country a system under which the. predominant party, and not the Executive,. should select those upon whom such honours should bo conferred.

Mr. Allen Opposed to Caucus Rule. Mr. Jas. Allen (Bruce) said he must raise his voice against tho establishment in this Parliament of the power of the caucus—that the caucus should dominate and rule everything, and throw the power into the hands of a minority. Party feeling should be abolished altogether with respect to the appointment of Chair■'nlan of Committees. The Leader of the Opposition .had certainly suggested a name, but this had not been done to raise party feeling, but because the Government had failed to bring down a name, and so as to give a lead to the Government and the House that no further delay should take place. Mr. Colvin would, he had no doubt, make a good Chairman of Committees, but he might later, on have to take the position of Speaker- of the House, and, for this position, he was siiro Mr. Colvin was not us well qualified as Mr. I'raser. He .would record his vote for Mr. Praser, not because that gentleman belonged to the Opposition party—(cries of "Oh!")—but because he was convinced that be was eminently qualified to hold the position.

"A Bad 'Blundering,"' Mr. Herries (Taurauga) said that apparently . the Premier thought he knew more about what was going" on among the Opposition members than they did themselves.- (Laughter.) The members on the Opposition side did not, as had been suggested, spend their time in conspiring against the Premier. All they did was to sit and laugh at: the. shilly-shallying on the Government side; in other words, they waited for the pear to get ripe and drop into their mouths. (Laughter.) A few more bad blunderings of.,the kind would, he ventured to say, discredit the Premier with the .country and with the House.' Ho would like to give an unqualified denial to the statement by tho Premier that canvassing- -hud- been done on the Opposition side. His own opinion was that the House should .select the member who was best qualified for tho position by a process of selection until the House got. tho right man. The Opposition were quite prepared to assist the Government to.secure' the election of the best man. If the vote had taken placo when Mr. Davey and Sir William Steward first intimated their intention •of standing, the Opposition vote would not have been a solid, one. It was the miserable exhibition of incompetence .that had made the Opposition sav that it was now time for a solid.body to take a hand in' the matter. The Prime Minister had said that owing to the delay there had been no inconvenience, but he surely did not know the Standing Orders for none of the priyate Bills had yet been dealt with. It was well known that cliques had been going round asking for support for different- members on' the Government side. That was;a .state of affairs that did not tend to an extension of that brotherly feeling which should exist.

Prime Minister Replies, to, Criticism. , Sir Joseph Ward said there was not a member of the Opposition partv who was not going to'vote for-Mr. Fraser, yet they wished to tell the House that it was clear of party. The Opposition had been moving heaven and earth, on this .matter during,the last week or two. Mr. llassey: That's not correct.

Sir Joseph Ward: Oh, .haven't they. I know a good many things that' 1 have been,going on. Mr. Rhodes:. You don't know that. ■ . Sir Joseph'continued that' Sir.'William Steward was, of. course,, quite entitled to aspire, to any position in the House, but while the lion, gentleman was evidently sore in regard 'to; .what had taken place, lie "must, recognise that they could' not always do, what they liked in this world, 'ami.:sometimes difficult matters cropped up. that- required solution; In - reference to Sir "William's remarks ns to what had occurred in- the past that hon. gentleman had mistaken the position,- and he could not- judge it without a full knowledge of the , surroundings, or. he would not: have assumed that he had been treated badly by him (Sir Joseph* Ward), If lie (Sir Joseph) were at liberty to speak'of.'the circumstances, he would be. able to'show quite a different position. "And, Jiv addition," added Sir Joseph Ward, "the hon. gentleman, I think,., himself knows it. At'all events, other ; members* 'of' the House do." As to'the-suggestion made by Mr. Taylor, that the influence of party should be exercised in the'proper, way, he had not suggested,that it should be.used in, an improper way. . He understood that Mr. Taylor. was prepared .to abide by the caucus. He (Sir -Joseph) ' wished to know . which was the ■ more .intolerable position—to\decide' the matter, in open daylight or. in caucus? There could not be a worse form l v 6f party domination than had been suggested by- the hon. gentleman. When he found the Opposition playing the game of party he'must see that, the Government party was not left in the lurch. . ■,

Views.of Other Members, '•'.. Mr. M'Laren (Wellington' East) : considered the most open way'to deal with the position was.to take.all' nominations openly. • Mr. G. M. Thomson (Dunedin North) said he had never been approached by any one in regard to this appointment. Members on the Opposition - side were voting absolutely freely and independently.

The Division, As a, result of the division, Mr. Colvin was elected by 45 votes to 27, the figures being: .-'*■-, . • , : ; For the Motion (45). Brown . ' Macdonald •■ Buddo -M'Kcnzie, Hon. R. Buxton Mackenzie, Hon.-T. Carroll ' Millar ■ .Clark ' Myers' Craigie . . . Ngata, -. ;'. Davey, Purata .- . Dillon : - Poland Duncan, Hon.- T. Poole - Ell Rangihiroa ' Field Reed Forbes ■- . Ross.'."' . , Fowlds . ' Russell Glover Seddon . ! . Greenslade Sidey Hall ' - Smith- ■". ' Hanari Stallworthy Hogan .. . ' Taylor, E. H. Jennings . Thomson, J. C. Kaihau . • Ward Laurenson Wilford ' Lnwry . ' Witty Luke ; - Against the Motion (27). Allen v Malcolm Anderson Mander. Bollard Massey Buchanan Newmau Buick Nosworthy ■ • Dive . Okey . - Duncan, J. ' Pearce Fisher ' PhiUipps Guthrie ' Rhodes Hardy Scott. ' . ' / Herrics Taylor, T. E. Hino , Thomson, G. M. Lang 'Wright--M'Laien , .. • Mr. Colvin Returns Thanks. Mr. : Colvin, upon being officially . informed, of his election, said that .he had to heartily thank members for the honour which they had Conferred upon him. Whatever position he had taken up as a partisan in the' post—and ho"had been a strong party man—he would uow, in his new position, discard all partisanship. His ivvery endeavour would be to act .straightforwardly and without parly feeling. He-hoped also to act with firmness and courtesy so that he might carry out , his ■ duties with honour to himself and credit to t.he House, and live up to the best traditions of his predecessors. (Loud applause.)