THE PRIME MINISTER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1812, 26 July 1913, Page 6

THE PRIME MINISTER.

TROUNCING A CRITIC. GREY ELECTION REVIEWED. Tlie Hon. \V. F. MASSEY (Prime Minister) replied to tho member lor Avon, and other critics. The member for Avon had, lie said, talked all rount the subject, seeking without success for something wnerewith. to had fault. He would like to see the honourable gentleman vote against the Bill! The fact was that the honourable gentleman found fault, with the Bill, but had not the courage to vote against it. It had been suggested that he had not sufficiently in his pre-election speech in Wellington emphasised the fact that ho was in favour of reducing tho pension age for women. But ho certainly had referred to the question, and made tlio promise. It was mentioned in lost year's Financial Statement, and it would have been made law last session, but for the unsatisfactory position m which tho nuances were lett. The finances had' scarcely recovered yet, but they were recovering. Now the promise was being kept, like every other promise that tho Government had made. Some mention had been made by the member for Avon of tho Urey election. "I don't'think," said Mrl Massey, "that his party has anything to bo proud of in tho Grey election. Where is tho Opposition candidate to-day ? Voices: AVhere is yours?

Mr. Payne: They are both together. Mr. Massey (answering his own question): Left at the bottom of the poll. Here are the figures: The total votes polled were 6073,. of which the Government candidate polled 2719, anil his opponent 3321. Mr. Michel, in polling that number of votes in. a district where wo have not had a candidate for twenty years, lias a right to be proud. It is a good record. I am proud of it as leader of tho party, and 1 am proud of Mr. Michel. The time is coming, I believe, when Mr. Michel will take his place in the councils of this country. The Coat-tails of the Reds. Mr. Massey said that he did not want to enlarge upon tho tactics employed at the Grey election. Ho would leave tho subject alone. Mr. Witty: For your own sake. The Prime- Minister went on to state that lie believed the member for Avon wuuld sell his political soul for office. Mr. Kttssell had mado predictions which were falsilied at last election, aud his predictions would be falsified again. As for the Grey election, ho had been in politics for many years, and had seen nothing moro humiliating than tho way in whicli the Liberal party and its members had endeavoured to hang on to the coat-tails of the "Red Feds."—(Opposition uproar)— with the "Red Feds." trying to shake them off. Mr. Payne: You tried to hang on to the coat-tails of Grey Lynn and slipped oIV badly! Mr. Fisher: On account of the grease. The Prime Minister continued that the member for Avon had predicted that the members of the Reform party would lose their seats at the last election. The best guarantee of the position of the Government was that the people of this country would never turn it out to put Mr. Russsll and • his associates in. There had been a good deal of digging up ancient history, and members of the Government had been accused of voting against a Pon.-.ioii Hill. Who ilnnied it? 'Was there iinvthiiiK wioii!; in voting against a Pension Bill? A (.invei'iimeiit member: Silence! The Prime Minister: J never denied a vote in my life. Ono of tho men who veiled agniiul; (he first Old Ago Pension Bill, lit , continued, afterwards became Piinso Minister of tho Liberal Party. Mr. K'issell: And you made him High Commi.-Mone.r. 'I'lin Priiiii! Mini.'ler raid that lie vcsU'd for the '•(■rand mailing nf the Old Ajji- Pension Bill. Hnil Opposition meinbeis anything to siy about that^ \"o answer. Ti'.<! Vriine Minister tni Uint he haA sat and listened time after time to mem-.

bers on Hie other side, accusing him of opposing the Bill. He had not thought it worth while to correct them until that night. The nieu who voted against the second rending of the first Old Ago Pension Bill were Messrs. Lawry, ll'Gowan, O'Eegan, Parata, T. Mackenzie, and R. M'Kenzie. The latter member put it on record that he had called for o division only in order to see how members who liiad spoken against the Bijl would vote. One of these men was afterwards Prime Minister of the Liberal party and another was a Minister of that party for many years. Mr. Russell said that thero was only one genuine voto against the Old Age Pension Bill on that occasion. Mr. Seddon's Boot.

The Prime Minister did not proceed with his quotations, although lie said that there wero ono or two other important divisions about which tho hon. member might like to hear. He went on to tell a story of an occasion when the lato Mr. iSediion, while in charge of a Bill, left the chair and wont outside for ■a, foiv minutes. In his absence Mr, Russell dipped into the chair. "1 shall never forget the look on Mr. Seddon's face when ho canio back and saw the member for Riccarton (then Mr. ltussell) in tho chair," said the Prime Minister, "and I shall never forget the rush that Mr. Russell, the member for Riccarton, made for his seat, because he quite expected that, in his rush, Mr. Seddon's boot might overtake him."

There was a roar of laughter from Government and other members, through which Mr. llussell was heard to declare that he remained in the chair until a division took place on a motion to report progress. Tne .Prime Minister recalled another division in which Mr. Kussell voted against a proposal to give the pension to women at the age of CO. The tactics employed by tho hon. gentleman during his political career could only be described as arrant political humuug and hypocrisy. Mr. Forbes: That is very tlioug language. Mr. Massey: I beliove in calling a spado a spade! Jlr. llussell: That Grey election has got on to your nerves! A Government member: He has got on to youir nerves! Mr. Massey said that in 1011 Mr. Russell had spoken of tho policy of the Reform party as a policy or shreds and patches, and had declared that if it got into power it would abolish old age pensions, manhood suffrage, cheap money, lands for settlement, and State lire insurance. Had the Government attempted to put an end to any one of theso things? Tho Prime Minister next recalled an utterance of Jlr. Russell's in which ho £aid that the Liberal party was quito capable of bringing down all the progressive legislation that the Dominion could stand, and that there was no need for the formation of a Labour party. Was ho of that opinion today?

Mr. Russell made no direct reply to the question, but presently was heard to remark through the mild uproar that ensued : "I will meet you on this little platform on another occasion and give you all you want." A Good Bill—Better in Prospect, Mr. Massey said that the Bill was a good one, but it was not perfect, and lie hoped that next session they would be able to take another step' forward. Ho held very strong opinions about the exemption of tho home. In many oases tho land itself upon which a pensioner's cottage stood was equal to the amount of tho exemption, so that the pension was Teduoeil by the value of the building. That was tho position, and it should be amended. He asked niembsra to recollect that tho Government's proposal for military pensions was tho first practical recognition of the services of the veterans of-the. war. And that was after the Liberal party, spelled with capital letters, hnd been in office for 21 years. He justified the rcdμctioll of the pension age for women, and said ho was sure it would be popular. The Hon. D. BUDDO (Kaiapoi) and Mr. W. B. S. MACDONALD (Bay of Plenty) carried on the debate. The Hon. F. M. B. FISHER rose to reply at 0.10 a.m. to a very thin House. His reply was little more thau an cspres:, sion of satisfaction with tho manner in which the Bill had been received. The Bill wi\s read a second time on the voices, and the Houso rose at 0.43 a.m.

SUPERANNUATION BOARD. Mr. T. M. Wilford, member for Hutt, has given notice to ask the Government whether it is proposed to issue an Order-in-Council by which the position of secretary to the Public Service Superannuation Board will be taken from the control of the Public Service Commissioners, and whether there is any conflict be-tween-the Chief Commissioner and the Government as to who is to be appointed to the position above referred to on the retirement of the present,secretary? A HUGE PETITION. ; What must be- almost a record petition was presented to tho House yesterday by Mr. J. H. Bnulney (Auckland West). Tho signatures totalled 10,000, and tho lists comprising them made a most fonuidablo pile. Tho subject involved in tho petition was the half-holiday question. Tho petition set forth that following on the change in the statutory half-holi-day from Wednesday to Saturday, great inconvenience had been caused to tLo public and shopkeepers of Auckland. The option of closing on either Wednesday or Saturday would remove- tho inconvenience, and obviate the loss, which was a serious matter for innny business people. The petitioners, therefore, prayed that tho .Shops and Offices Act might be amended to give tho option asked, or, alternatively, that all exemptions be extinguished, including publichouse tars, within a radius of ton miles from the Chief Post Office. A number of returns were ordered by the House of Representatives yesterday, amongst others one nsked for by llr. Witty giving particulars of applications for tho position of General Manager of Railways. It was stated in the Houso of Repressutatives yesterday by Mr. M'Callmn that Lord Beaconsficld made his first speech in the British Houso of Commons on a Copyright Bill.