PARLIAMENT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1805, 18 July 1913, Page 7

PARLIAMENT.

A DAILY SUMMARY. The Address-in-Keply debate was con'oluded in tho House of Representatives last night, after taking up most of tho time available on ten sitting days. Formal business and minor affairs engaged the attention of' tho House for half an hour after it assembled. _ The Police Offences Amendment Bill, introduced by tho Hon. A. L. Herdman, was Tead a first time. It aims at conferring powers npon the police necessary to enable them to cope effectively with such industrial disturbances as occurred recently at Waihi. On tho motion of the Hon. Jas. Allen a special Defence Committee of ten members was set up to confer upon, the subject of military detention and other matters connected with the administration of the Defence Act. The Address-ia-Reply debate was roBurned at 3 p.m. by Mr. J. A. Young, member for Waikato, who dealt, amongst other things, with the State dentistry proposal, which ho strongly commends. Mr. J. Vigor Brown spoke next, and was followed by Mr. R. Scott, who devoted a good deal of attention to tho proposed railway construction in Ota»o Central, the district from which he liails. So far the current of debate had flowed Very smoothly, but it was quickly ruffled when Mr. .T. A. Hanan, the member for Invercargill, took the floor. He fiercely assailed tho. Government upon many points of its policy and pretensions, and made elaborate comparisons between the utterances ,of Ministers when they were in Oppteition and their present policy. Incidentally Mr. Hanan made u hearsay charge against one of tho Assistant Public Service Commissioners of having thrown a filo at the head of an officer in charge of one of the State Departments. The acouracy of the allegation was denied by the Prime Minister, and Mr. Hanan did not pwsovere with the charge. There was another comparatively qnlet tiffie while Mr. G. J. Anderson delivered a temperately-worded speech, partly _ in ■reply to Mr. Hanan, but interest quickened; again when, immediately after tho supper adjournment, Mr. C. A. Wilkinson toso to make the final speech of tho debate. The member for Egniont discharged ' his task most effectively, and the graver matter of his speech i was pleasantly lightened by a tinge of ironic tumour. He ably defended the Government, and found time to administer many knocks to tho Opnosition, individually and collectively. • Loading members of the Opposition ■ came !ofr badly in exchanges that occurred] and . Mr. Isitt listened almost in silence to a lecture on his inconsistency in associating with the party of the brewers. Tho Address-in-Rcply motion was feffirnTed on tho voices at 11.3 p.m.. and, after a brief, discussion which ended in a decision to postpone for a week the second Tending, pro forma, of the Premium Bonds Validation Bill, the House rose at 11.15 p.m.