PARLIAMENT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1798, 10 July 1913, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

A DAILY SUMMARY. Yesterday wnsanunexciting day in Parliament,, the House of Representatives in particular being mainly engaged in the discussion of petty affairs. It is now thought probable that tho Addrcss-in-Reply debate in the House may last until Wednesday next. In tho Legislative Council, tho debate on tho Address-in-Reply was concluded at a sitting which lasted until 9.20 p.m. The Council then adjourned til} July . 22, for which dato the second reading of the Legislative Council Dill is set down. As usual, members of tlio House took full advantage of the opportunity to discuss Ministerial replies to questions for the space of two hours. Few of the subjects discussed were at all fresh, but a cohort of the Opposition members most activo in the party fight made much of the fact that Mr. Itoyd Garlick had been appointed Director of Physical Education without applications being called for the position by advertisement. Tho Minister responsible (the Hon. J. Allen) gave a full explanation of how this came about, accepting full responsibility for it, and maintaining stoutly that he had made tho test appointment possible. The Address-in-Reply debate was resumed late in tho afternoon by Mr. A. Harris, who whole-heartedly championcd the Government., and spoke very slightingly of its opponents. Mr. J. Colvin the mombcr for the district in whicn Westport, and with it tho Westport Harbour Board, is situate, was very far indeed from his usual good humour when ho attacked the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher for having two members of the board, and put others in their places. He charged the Minister with patronage, and a good many things besides. Tho Minister, having spoken already, could make no general reply, but he corrected one or two of the statements, and promised that the proposed inquiry into the affairs of the hoard should be conducted. by a Parliamentary Committee, and that not only the administration of tho board, but the board's actions and his actions should bo included within the committees order ot reference. • „ „ , , . _ _ One of the speeches of the debate ,was delivered by Mi<; C. K. Wilson, member for Taumarunni, who put forward an earnest plea for settlers, . particnl those who arc isolated in the back-blocks, and came off very well in occasional exchanges with the Opposition. The last speaker of the evening was Mr. A. E. Glover, who frankly expressed his distaste for non-political control of the Public Service. ' The House rose at 11.8 p.m.