NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2196, 8 July 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

\ The pcnaUy jaflictcd by tho Houw of KcprcEcntdti\cb >cstcrdaj upoi 1 311. John P\inl, nicnly.-.for fJrrv L\nn. '\os little short of farcii il. The Auckland I'lcnibc: , s initial offencf v.is g'Ois, ard it was iij'gr; , - Aatcd ';,\ ii couisv of action "Inch practical';,- amoiinlcd to floating the Jio.iso and setting , :'t anthanty at dofia.icc On Friday night he :nado a particulailv offensive rcfcience to tho Priml Minister, using such words that they could onh he taken as being intended to ipp!v personnlly to Mn Massey, to -,hon. they w>re addicstcd. Such an appliration t as the Leadi' of the Opposition ivas forced tr admit no- honoiirablc menber of the Hoiisr would uphold. "E\en Mr. Payne flij not \eiiturc to uphold his words •ahen it came to the point, but ho rcitiwd to withdraw their., ard when the House proceeded to consider his case ho showed his unconcern for wn.it tne House ni'ght Jo 1 by going home, instetd of nwaiting the doci iion of :11s fpllow members, as it was his duty to do. Yesterday when 'hf> mattei again came up! Mn. P.HVE still refused tc withdraw the objectionable word' weed, and the lliiiisp apparently 'ihought so httlr of the iffiottl nlmd or it, ;ind lir.d mi httlt- i.-n.ird ffii it" ovn dipnil>,> tint it «.!«. content t.i impede no greater i) o ii.>lty trim file s'lspensioi 11! the offending im-mbci uiiMl 1 he rloso uf the -day'i «ittiiig t Ic was a light penalty in in\ tate, n.id to such a man a-- Mn. I'u'nc it piolv.hU would be m< pen<ilt\ at all. Mem licit air o\<M-fond ff't<-Riiig about th" d'.siut\ of Parlui.icnt and the newEstty foi the inaintonam.c of a piopor standard of conduct in dc-\ bate j but whoa the;- ire called oa cc ]

acl, their feebleness is pathetic. Mr. Pwne probably will hnd that his lun'-titiiontb liayc a sourdt-r conception of hhat is diie frem him as their ;cprescntatue in Parliament tuan na\c !ii<: fellca- members who treated his contempt jous flouting of 'Parliament so hgh"tly. T'-e City this morning has tho priMlegc of extending a very hearty welcome to the uelegutes >"ho hi»\e assciiibicd from all o\er tho Piovmee tc di;cuss the works most urgently required f-.-r the development of their '.iri'ous districts, in another of ih» special " supplements The Dominion Las made it its _poiic> to issae from tiire to time will be found «ome accoiint of tne more important of tho schemes to be consiuored. Thoro can U. no doubt that tho Province iris suffered in the past through lack of organised effort in directing at~ tentjon to its requirements. One of the chief works to be discussed is-tho too-!ong-de!aycd deviation of tho n>ii-vay over the 'Himutaka Eange. We understand that the bulk of 'the delegates have wisely decided •to lee\e the question of'ro'ito to the Government, and to concentrate their energies in urging the early abandonment of the costly and tiresome haulage on the present Incline. If this liappj spirit of compromise n'c\.nls throughout its deliberations the Conference cannot fail to ha%e vohulle results. Not only should it lead to the de/depment of a united poiicy, bi't it should enable Parliament and the public to get a better idea of fhe resources of Wellington'? big hinterland, and incidentally ile.-r the aii v,ith icgard to the merits of a number of ri\al schemes. Befoee he c-itered politics,.' Mr.. L. M. Ism , vas a popular lecturer, and s. popalar lecturer he remains. When he lsctures the Hous*, as he \z very for.d of doing, members iUtcr. and laugh. To that extent iln. IsiTT is frequently effecthe, however incapable he iray l>e of pro- , ducing a lasting effect upon the nurd of men and women capable of looking beneath tha surface of a glib man's chatter. Yesterday evening the member for Christehurch North was in his happiest vein, anil entertained the House for a pleasant hour, with a discursive*'discourse slightly tinged with politics. It vonld bs ungracious 33 well as tiresome to follow the honourable gentleman through all his ".merry wanderings, out one or two of his jests will bear a second telling. There was, for instance, '.iis description -of the firm solidarity of tha Reform Party" as abject submission to the will of the Leader of the Government. By a similar process of reasoning every strong political cunbin-'tion that ever existed would bee:: condemned on account of its strength, and e\ery dubious group such as that to "which Mr. Isitt bilorgs would have been exalted on Ecccunt of its weakness. But, of course, it would-bo quito unfair io stiackle a political comedian with any such logical and commonsense* considerations! When Mr.. Isitt has, raised a laugh he has fulfilled his appointed purpose, end there is no more to be said about it.' Ho excelled all his piavious efforts v/han he came to deal' with "Admiral" Allex and the nava , proposals of t.e Government, and was all the more f.inpy because of his quaint assumption. of portentous seriousness at this stage of his discourse. The application of a ludicrous nickname to a grave man -ftho is grappling with a 'sorious national problem 'would tc in questiorp.ble taste in oidinary political controversy, but it; is entirely appropriate in fhe field which Mr. Isitt occupies. He is a legitimate comedian, v hese contributions to the gaietv of Parliament will bo 'welcomed as long as the Houte of Representatives jus an hour or so to waste in listening to his pleasant, fooling. Mr. lain , will only endanger his popularity when he asks Parliament to take h;m seriousl;-. - The No-Confidence Debate now proceeding ic the of EcDiesentathes is as different as possible from tlie brisk encounter of parties that it ought to be. The heavy artillery of the Opposition, such as it is, remains "depressingly silent, and the attitude of ice p ank and file members cf the party inevitably suggest? a pathetic Lick of interest in the business .in hand. Yestsrday Sir.. Seddon drifted through abojt half an hour of talk before he appeared to remember anything about po-confidance, and even then his p.-ircipal contribution to the Debate was an appeal to Ministers to tako the iloor. Evidently he feels that the leajnrs on his own side arc not equal to the task of keeping things going. Mk Isitt tripped lightly over i number of subjects, but he left the Debate as he lound it. As for Mr. Webb, hts speech was *hat might hate been 'expected from the spokesman in Parliament of the Federation of Labour. Mr. Ell, :t is true, risicrilicd the Governor's iSpctch as "a wretched rag, ,, and made on; or tno similar remarks, h.it he dlsphncd ?t least equal enthusiasm on thii subject of the duty on candle , !. N>>l one of these uiter-r.iK-cs conla be falriy described as an' r/ffctivo fightini; spoech, .md the result was that the Government numbers i.ho spoke wore enabled to de>nost of treir time to enlarging oil i\f work thiL ha= bocn accomplishpci bi the Tieform Grvernmcrt. Continiicd on these l'"n;« the Drh->te will end e\en more tamely than was. expected