PARLIAMENTARY BRAWLS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 282, 17 August 1918, Page 7

PARLIAMENTARY BRAWLS

HISTORIC,"PASSAGES" IN AUSTRALIA DISORDERLY STRANGERS Brisbane has established a record ii Parliamentary disorder sufficient t< arouse the envy of our own Macciuarh . . Street (says the Sydney "Sim"). Fo' Sydney has never attained to the pre eminence of organised interruption fron the galleries. ,r Tr %.ji- u '"! g the'stronumis period who Mr. \Vilhs directed the destinies of tin Assembly, the ladies' gallery often bub bled over with mild excitement. Some times the women spectators -procluimei their partisanship by ladylike applause Hut these interferences were mere child'' play as compared with the well-organise ( intrusion on the Queensland Parliamcn' by a determined gang 0 f women, who demanded G o'clock closing without ; minute's delay. • Tho occasion recalls those striking tunes through which the British Parliament passed before the war provided a diversion for the suffragettes. The womenrightors of Britain understood tho busi- - ness more thoroughly than their Brisbane sisters; and by chaining themselves to the gallery fixtures and by other de- • vices gave the/attendants a l'oi of additional and well-thought-out trouble in their efforts to rid the House of tho dis- : orderly element. Usually the uproar in the New South Wales Assembly has been' confined to members. A few years ago the London "Daily Mail" said that it "shared' with the Poplar Council the honour of being the most disorderly public body in tho British Empire!" Even, in the 'far-away days of supposedly intellectual gianfs members sometimes descended to violence of language, and epithets that never disfigured the decorous pages of Hansard were hurled promiscuously across tho chamber. • r .Partes, the greatest of sticklers for constitutionalism and Parliamentary dignity, found it not beneath his dignity to . taunt his' opponents' beyond human endurance and gloat over,tho uproar that followed, y Less Brains, More Noise, Undoubtedly the most violent scenes fiave occurred since Federation'has robbed the State Parliaments of most of their glory and nearly all of their brains. Occasionally there have been ' scenes of physical violence in the Chamber. Pugilistic encounters have, however, been more frequent in the Generally the duels have- proved bloodv less, for the" "honour"' of a- well-condi-tioned politician--is easily satisfied, and his environment .does not tend to improve his wind. Mr. Arthur Griffith used to be regarded as the most finished, artist in the line . of self-defence, always in the jfyik of ; condition, and there were not many who cared to invite him to "come, outside." A Black Eye. .Once a Ministerial• supporter, finding jimself outclassed in the exchange of compliments with an oppositionist, determined to administer a more lasting re- . ,buke. leaving his seat on the Treasury benches, he crossed swiftly to the Speaker's left, walked straight up to his adversary, and.landed a beautiful punch in the ,eye. With remarkable calm he . recrossed. the Chamber and resumed his Beat as if nothing ! hatf happened. It was Jill so sudden that no one had time to . interfere,. The assaulted member, taken completely .by surprise, made "no attempt to defend himself. A'speedily- . developing black.eye was eloquent of the •precision and force of the blow; The nouse ..satisfied its honour by suspending the.striker for the sitting. Speaker Willis and Water Bottle. Tho water bottle incident of recent years is still fresh in the minds of most ■members. Mr.. Willis,.in his capacity as Speaker, had been exercising his normal control over the Opposition, which was rapidly working itself into a condition of impotent frenzy. One of Mr. Wade'ssupporters, who had failed to move tho adamant Speaker,.>ficemedto realise that .something was going to happen, and calculating that the sooner it happened the better, seized. the water bottle from tne •table. It-was quite likely that his intention was merely' to moisten, his parched lips, but willing hands sprang to the rescue of the water bottle. Blue Metal From Gallery. Tho most exciting incident that ever happened in the Assonibly was the throwing of a stone from the public,gallery. Some of the more timid members'imag-ined'that-it-was. a diabolic plot to assassinate Parliament as a whole, and they waited in suspense for the "bomb" to explode. The fact was that a well-known Domain agitator had conceived, the,idea of himself bearding the political lion in his den. Armed with a piece of blue metal, he secured admission to the gailery, rose in his scat, and, uttering some incoherent sentences, flung the stone, to which was-attached a letter of some kind, down among the members. As soon as the officials recovered from their 'surprise,, the offender was bundled out. Tho galleries were cleared of all strangers, and for about six weeks no visitors were admitted to tho public 'gallery. Ont for Justice. ■■ One other occasion is -within the.recollection of many members of Parliament. A woman who bore no outward sign of eccentricty, seated herself in the-last chair, in the ladies' gallery, as near the speaker as oircumstances would permit. -As soon as the formal business had been disposed of,- she commenced. to harangue members about some fancied injustice she had suffered. "Give mo justice" she cried, and the House for awhile sat listening spellbound. At last the bpeaker got back to normal, and in an even and brutally unsympathetic voice, ordered the woman's removal. One of the attendants endeavoured to persuade her to leave, but she paid no heed to mm. Give ine justice," she pleaded »S»in and again. Mr. Larry Harnett was - sergeant-at-errns, and it took him soino minutes to Ret from his place in \the Chamber to the ladies' gallery. AH this time , he woman was babbling on. The sergeant tried his persuasive powers, and he had a mighty-gallant way with women, but he failed to impress this lady. Then in parliamentary usage, using no more force than was necessary, he removed the misguided being. Placing his arm around her waist, he literally carried her out ot the gallery, still pleading for the ins-1 tico that had been denied her. One interruption that startled the bouth Australian Parliament many years "go was a proposition mado in a loud voice by a visitor to the Press gallery, J- movo that this House adjourn for a hundred and fifty blooming years" the man submitted. The Speaker pfomptly raled him out of order, and the sergeant completed the task by ruling him out of the gallery. It is only a few weeks since an enthusitic vocalist arose in the Federal Parliament and succeeded in singing one verse of "Australia Will Be There"" before the officials smothered his science.