NO INVITATION

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 37, 14 February 1933, Page 8

NO INVITATION

THREE MEMBERS EXCLUDED

"BAD BOYS OF THE PARTY"

Three of the members •of the Coalition Party who voted against the Government on the Banks Indemnity (Exchange) Bill—Messrs. A. Harris (Waitemata),:E. A. Wright (Wellington Suburbs), and- W. A. Veitch (Wanganui)—have incurred the- displeasure of the-' Prime Minister (the Eight Hon. G. W. Forbes), and no invitation was extended to them to be present at the caucus of the party today. The three members concerned do not Eeem to be perturbed over the treatment that has been meted out to them, but surprise is expressed that the four .other Coalition members who voted . against the Government —the Hon. W. Downie. Stewart (Dunedin West), Mr. P. McSkimming (Clutha), Mr. D. McDougall (Mataura), and Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Central Otago)—have not been treated similarly. One of the "disciplined" members expressed the opinion'today that the Prime Minister is not anxious to cause an open breach ■with, Mr. Stewart, and has contented himself with giving the cold shoulder to the'"recognised bad boys of the party." STATEMENT BY ME. HAEEIS. Mr. Harris today made the following statement:— "I have not received any invitation to atte id caucus. The first intimation I had that the confidence of the Coalition was to be withheld from me was ' lvhat appeared in today's Press. How- ■ ever, I can scarcely believe that this represents the opinions of the leaders of the party, since I have received no intimat'on of any kind frcm them. My attitude towards the high exchange policy of the Government has been quite, straightforward, and the leaders •were well aware of my attitude. This I made clear at the caucus immediately preceding the resumption of the session." No significance attache sto Mr. Stallworthy's failure to receive an' invitation, as Mr. Stallworthy has already indicated in plain ternu that he does not desire to be associated with the Government. • It is reported that Mr. McDougall •was. also excluded from the list of invitations to caucus, but it is not possible- to confirm this, as he is not in Wellington. He will return to Wellington tomorrow. Mr. A. M. Samuel, the member for Thames, received an invitation to the caucus but declined to accept it. The Prime Minister was interviewed today immediately prior to caucus, but declined to make any comment. A few days ago the Minister of Finance (the Bight Hon. J. G. Coates), who is co-leader of the Coalition, stated that as far as he personally was concerned he did not take a serious view of the action of the Coalitionists in voting against the Government. "Every member is entitled to his own opinion," said Mr. Coates, "and the policy of 'agreement to differ' is not unknown or unusual. As far as iam concerned there is no suggestion of disciplinary action."