BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 985, 28 November 1910, Page 6

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

$ It is somewhat unfortunate that the minutes of the proceedings relating to the inquiry into the charges made by Mr. Hine, and reported on last Friday evening, have not yet been made public. From what was said when the findings were laid before the House, there would seem to have been considerable differences of opinion on the Committee as to the. nature of the findings. This is not at all surprising. Those who have followed the evidence adduced during the investigation will at once recognise that the findings were watered down to the finest possible, point. Instead of .a downright condemnation of the improprieties proved, the report of the Committee was almost apologetic in stating its verdict when to any of the persons found guilty of the offences charged.' It went out of its way on every possible occasion to insert some qualifying reference, as, for instance, "Although Me. Sxmes may havo considered he was entitled to chargo a commission for his services," etc., No one wishes to be. unduly severe on any offender'against law or propriety, but wo cannot condemn too strongly the maudlin sentimentality which prompts some, people to seek to minimise the faults of an offender against the interests of public morality on the grounds that he has been unlucky enough to be caught, where others doing_ the same thing Jiave escaped detection. We cannot say that this has been the reason that prompted the Committee to bring in its wishy-washy findings in the face of the glaring exposures made during tho investigations under discussion; but whatever the causo we cannot believe that Parliament will be willing to treat a matter so deeply affecting the honour of its members and the standard of our public life so lightly. One of tho first things that members should inquire into is the voting on the Committee on questions raised during the time its doors were closed to the press and to publicity. How did members entrusted with the task of impartially investigating and impartially deciding on their verdict vote when they were screened from the public gaze by the exclusion of tho press? It.will be found, we think, that on every occasion, with a, possible odd exception, that a division was called for, the six Government members voted on strictly party lines, and against -an emphatic condemnation of the offender concerned. .It would be absurd to pretend to think that this was a mere coincidence. Does it mean that tho standard of political, honour set by the Eeform party is higher than that set by tho Government 1 We do not think that Sir Joseph Ward would care to admit this, nor would his following. Yet in tho face of the evidence; in face of the findings; and in face of the voting on those findings, as hinted at on Friday evening, what is to bo believed 1 To the majority of members, whether they admit it publicly or not, it will be very clear that the Government has used its majority on the Committee as it uses it in the House to out-vote its opponents, irrespective of the merits of the matter being voted on. We trust that in the interests of clean politics a full exposure will be made in to-morrow's debate of ■ what transpired during the period in which the Committee sat behind closed doors. For ourselves we shall take care to discloso all that is revealed by the minutes of the proceedings, which for some reason are not yet available to the press.