NEWS AND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1557, 28 September 1912, Page 6

NEWS AND NOTES.

PRIVILEGE,

MR. ISITT AND "THE DOMINION." The member for Christchurch North (Mr. L. M. Isitt) raised a question of broach of privilege in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon on the usual grounds—lis claimed he tad been misrepresented in The Dominion. ■ Mr. L. M. Isitt said he wished to bring under the notice of the House' a gross misrepresentation by The Dominion newspaper of his statements regarding the Waihi strike. He read the following passage from a leader of yesterday morning's issue of the paper;— 'On "Wednesday the friends of tho Federation made another demonstration in the House. They were assisted this time by just the men whom we expected would assist them: Messrs. Laurenson and Isitt. To the member for Christchurch North tho attempt of Mr. Semplb's organisation to terrorise innocent and law-abiding unionists is a natural and proper enough incident in 'a struggle, fomented and engendered by Capital.' Whatever excuses may be advanced on Mr. Isitfs behalf— his inexperience and irresponsibility— will not serve the case of the member for Lyttelton,-. who is actually 'well satisfied' with the wretched trouble that has come to Waihi, and ready to condemn the police system because it happens to. do Mr. Massey who is in charge of the nation. Mr. Laurenson may not endorse, but should road with interest, tempered with the envy of a rival craftsman,- Mr.. Semplo's description of the police as. 'tho lowest, dirtiest creatures on the face of God's earth.'" He went on fo read from a paper which he said was his uncorrected Hansard proof a passage to the effect that he had not justified the action of the strikers in the later period of the struggle, and that he did not think the strikers were justified in following the engineers to their homes, and so intimidating them. Referring again to The Dominion article,., he strongly protested that his views had been misrepresented, and asked Mr. Speaker whether he could not be protected from such misrepresentation. Mr. Speaker advised him that his only remedy was to move that the statement contained in the newspaper was a breach of privilege, and Mr. Isitt moved accordingly. . Sir Joseph Ward advised tho member .for Christchurch North not to press tho. matter, as it would merely give gTeater prominence to those gentlemen with whom j he (Mr. Isitt) tad a quarrel. . Several Opposition members' attacked The Dominion on the usual lines, Mr.. Laurenson making an offensive personal reference to the Editor and Assistant Editor; and eventually Mr. Isitt accepted the advice of his friends, and withdrew his motion. '

WATITR POLLUTION BILL'. The Water Pollution Bill, which the Government intends to put through all its stages this session, is intended to meet a difficulty that has arisen in connection with a recent case at ,Palmerston North in which an injunction was obtained preventing flaxmillers from using streams in connection with the dressincr of fibre. Tho Hill is designed to give adequate protection to such industries as dairying, flaxmilling, sawmilling. etc. It is not, however, intended to allow sawdust to be discharged into trout streams.