NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1586, 1 November 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

. The. petition to the Minister of Marine fforri master mariners in command of vessels trading to our portsj who ask that the proposed new lighthouse in Cook Strait should be erected at Tongue Point; is ft very, convincing one. A proposal has been pAifc forward that the figliteveryone now admits is badly needed—should be erected at Cape Terawhiti.' This no doubt Would be a; very good site for a light, ■ particularly for'vessels entering, the Straits from a westerly direction; but it so happens that the chief servioo of a light sosituated is .already well fulfilled by The Brothers' iliglif some 18 miles to the '" north-west. Moreover, the Tongue Point light,, it is contended, would better'serve the urgent needs' of navigators who have to bring their vessels' through or across the Straits at night. In the. petition to which CaptAiN■'.-.o'. M'iiEAN has obtained.so formidable an. array of signatures, a very strong —it is safe, we think, iri the circumstances to say, an unanswerable.— case has been made put. in favour of Tongue Point.. It is .not necessary to traverse the ground sq well covered by the .petitioners, in (supporting their request, .The outstanding fact :aiid the one '•which lyill rib doubt appeal to thb Ministh , , a ; s it will to everyone else,, is, 'that ibr men who. have: piit their ."names., to the petition, aro the rhen who : have "been there" and who kn6w the difficulties and dangers which those in charge of Vessels trading in the vicinity- of Cook, Straits' are faced with. -They one and all have been 'through tho. Straits, on dirty, nights and.under practically- all conditions of weather—some of them ha,ve"b.ee.h trading there for very many years— aiid they all-agree that the best position for tho light'isat Tongue Point. They,, as'the men' whb carry the: responsibility for the safety of their vessels, and who. have ihe' 'the , lives , of ,pas.senger> and crew,, cannot be ignored in such'a matter; .and they have, .made their; opinion ikriown with such clearness and force that the Government will be acting very unwisely if it fails to give heed to them. :' . ; '■;■ ~ '..-....

The .House','pf has bornei "yei'y : patiB l nj;ly with .the ' miucheric .of the meiriber fo_f Grey Lynn'.. .'His ireqilerj.t. lecturing of the House j his \ smng-eomplacenoy; his ridicuJbus assumption of su.porr ior virtues; his running fire 6f iriterjectionS spmetihaes of a kind ttiore suitable. to a wharf;gatlicrirjg..thaii to the ot the epuntry, have been endured with a good' nature that has bordered at-times o.h weakness. Yestcirday, however,, he went even further than usual and was-guilty of a most offensive personal attack, on a brother member which brought him under the censui'e of the Chair. Tho tendency is, ;*ith .a ■ member of Mr. Payne's stamp, to treat his-behaviour as, Unworthy of seribliß attcntiorl: . his wild theories aiid extravagant ppliticarl ideas,, being mainly responsible for this, .But Parliament owes sonjethipg to itself., -Me. Payne may be , a joke politically' to his brotlier members; but there h such a thing as permitting a joke to go too far. It is quite time that members realised that these things-have a serious side and that the dignity of Parliament inay demartdthai severe measures shall be taken to prevent the lowerihgof the standal'd of conduct \n the . We are ploased to note that Jlr. Speakei' dropped a hint oil this subject yesterday*

While .the late Sir William Steward was never a,very forceful ■figure-in New. Zealand politics he at different times played a not unimportant part in the New Zealand' Parliament He was always a man obsessed with some Outstanding.idea in the form of a legislative' proposal' Usually unacceptable, to the House, but wjiich he invariably persisted with in the face pf all opposition* His.record of successes in the matter of legislative achievement—Which was really• quite reinarkablc for a private , meinber—was due mainly to his unyielding persistency backed by ■'an untiring zcal_ •as "whip" ■or —'lobbyist" for his pet ineasHi'es. Many a vote did he'wring from his fellow members by his constant canvassing, and many a vote also Was recorded in favoiir of his Bills out of sheer admiration for his refusal; to bo discouraged by . the rebuffs which so constantly fall to the lot of the private member who seeks of his own initiative to swell frlto statutes of the country. As one of the old school .Sir William Steward trover failed to act up to a very high conception of what was due to' Parliament from members in tho matter of dignity and' decorum. He was, perhaps, the last b/f the old members in tire House of Boprcscntatives who maintained punctiliously the forms of address which began vto go out of date after the early 'nineties, and the departure of which has robbed Parliamentary debate of much of its dignity unci h\y pressiveiicss.' He always spoke, as it were, Ihfbur/h Mr. Speaker;' and he invariably 'inferred to a brother member as "Iny friend the' iionotvrilblis member for so-.itnd-sb": it was finite a plcasui'c in those days of blunt manners audvsharp speeeh to note his careful regard for , these forms of Parliamentary debate Avhicli are nowadays more honoured in the breach than* in the observance. There would be fewer "scenes" and "breezes ,, and oilier unpleasantness in Parliament if members \you.ld. follow thu example set them in this re-, spent by the old' Parliatnentariaii svhp has jiitt paesepi away. • '■ '