NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1515, 10 August 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

We directed attention yesterday to the objectionable practice which has grown up in the House of Representatives of members making speeches, after they have already spoken to a question, under the pretext of making a personal explanation. Strangely enough, a glaring example of the extent to which this breach of the Standing Orders is persisted in was given the same afternoon. While discussing the question of borrowing from the Post Office Savings Bank yesterday, member after member rose again and again, and under the pretence of making a personal explanation, indulged on each occasion in a. fresh speech. Where is this sort of thing going to stop 1 If Mr. Speaker, out of his good nature, permits members on the front benches to exercise this privilege, how can he refuse the same right to everyone who may claim it? And if the privilege is freely claimed—as it will increasingly be—the debates will be endless and the possibilities and bickering and disputation, which the Standing Orders are specially designed to prevent, will be added to enormously.

The Buned'm records an important decision iipon a sore point with the Catholics of this country. Until 1910, the pupils of the Catholic primary schools were debarred from competing for Education Board Scholarships or Junior National Scholarships, but this injustice was happily removed by an Act passed in that year. _ The Catholics' had been contending, however, that scholarships won by scholars from a Catholic primary school should be tenable at Catholic • secondary schools. The main Act provides that the holder of a Scholarship must prosecute his studies at "a secondary school or its equivalent" approved by the Education Board or the Minister, as the case may be. Hitherto ' the Education Department has read "equivalent" as meaning constitutionally, and 'not merely educationally, equivalent. It appears that the Bishops some time ago asked the Mackenzie Government for an authoritative statement, and the Solicitor-General has given the opinion, which the Hon. James Allen has officially communicated to the hierarchy, that "the Education Boards in respect to Board Scholarships, and the Board and the Minister in respect to National Scholarships, have ample power to 'approve' Catholic secondary schools at which scholarships may be taken out." In either words "equivalent" does not mean "constitutionally" equivalent, but "educationally" equivalent.

The member .■ for Westland, Mr. T. Y. Seddon, blundered rather badly in the House yesterday afternoon and landed his party in a somewhat unhappy position. The Prime Minister had moved to give effect t,o the recommendation of tho Privilege Committee regarding the allegations made against the member for Wairau by one of his constituents. The committee had exonerated Mr. M'Callum from all blame, and Me. Massky's motion made this quite clear while it also censured tho person responsible for the allegations. The motion was quite acceptable to Mr. M'Callum, the member most concerned, and he promptly said so, but Me. Skddon thought he would imjrove on it, and at the same time give the Government a slap in the face. This little venture was productive of disastrous results. After a lively debate the slap .in tlie face was delivered all right, but not to the Government. When the division was taken the voting was 39 to 23— a majority of 16 for the Government on the first party division since it took its place on the Treasury Benches. The Opposition, naturally, did not appear to enjoy this finale to thoir try-on."