WELLINGTON.

Evening Star, Issue 3916, 11 September 1875, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

[By Telegraph.]

(From our oioa Correspondent.) m ~ ri , r , W I ELLINGTON > September 11. , When Mr O Rorke vacated the chair at one o clock yesterday afternoon Mr Andrew quoted , May to show that the Chairman was usurping & most important privilege by leaving the chair at his own option. This power might be made very dangerous as the means of impeding business if the Chairman happened to be a strong political partisan. . The Chairman said he had only been acting m accordance with long-established usage in the House, but upon looking into the matter he found he was exceeding his powers. He wonMin future avoid any such infringment of the inles.

Fully three hours were occupied in discussing the positi u of the Bill after the Speaker had entered the House and taken the chair like a Jack-in-the-box.

Messrs Stout, Reid, Fitzhcrbert, Sheehan, and Bunny were on their feet with points of older, contending that by the Speaker’s entrance a fresh day’s business would begin, and there was no chairman of committees. Mr O’Rorke persistently maintained his position, and tried to get the opinion of the House on the subject, and to that end moved that the chairman do leave the chair. Mi Sheehan moved that progress should be reported for obtaining the Speaker’s opinion. Messrs Stafford and Bell supported that view.

***«■ a division, the Speaker maintained that the Chairman s ruling had been perfectly correct, and entreated the Com nittee to support it, but Mr Stout immediately rose and moved that the Obairman leave the chair, saying the Opposition were firm and could not bo moved from their present position for the next four months.

Mr Stafford informed the youngest member ot the House that the majority could not ha forced by the minority : they could not be coerced. The action of a minority could cause a little delay, but it would also cause irritation. There would certainly be a little personal inconvenience, but the majority would prevail in the end. He told the youngest member of the House fully to understand that it was pos--8 , er forms of the House that the will of the majority should have its sway. To the non. member’s warning he answered with a warning, and further told him that, were there the means for carrying out that will which he recommended, they should immediately be brought into force. Mr Keid snapped his fingers at the Bill, say- , y t'h© action that had been taken, all the previous proceedings had been rendered illegal. Major Atkinson came out with a very vigorous reply, and asked if a majority of two-thirds of the House represented nothing. He asked the member for the Taieri to recollect that the members for Dunedin and Christchurch were on the other side ol the House, (Mr Keid : “ But they don’t represent their constituents.”) No doubt the member tor the Taieri could dispose of them by a stroke of his pen, as he had already done with the law officers of the Crown, the Speaker of the House, and the Chairman of Committees. All their talk to the House and the country had been that the Bill should not advance a single stage, and that every stage would be resisted to the death; yet, in the course of a few days, notwithstanding the warnings of the Opposition, there was little doubt but that the Bill would go through committee aud in a few weeks pass its tliird reading, Facts were with the Government, boasting with the Opposition. When it came to going to the people it would be seen whether twenty-three members really represented the If the present course were persisted in the majority must take extraordinary measures to protect themselves, but he was satisfied that the good sense of the Opposition would induce them to see that such action was not constitutional, not for the good of the country, and did not redound to their credit.

Sir F. D. Bell intimated that he had determined not to be guided by the action of the New South Wales Parliament, which for three days and nights refused to” allow the ohairmau to leave the chair, but would sometime to■ei, * e sense of house on its position. 'lhe general impression seems that it would have been better that the sitting had been made continuous, as was done in New South « ’ * lOWeVL>r . understand that Sir F. D. Present course after consulting with Mr Richardson and Mr O’Rorke, Pk® aspect of the House on Thursday inimedmtely before the ten o’clock adjournment is well described by the • Tribune ’ :-An old party was on bis legs, muttering away to no one in particular, and certainly no one was listening. There were about twenty members m the House, generally stretched out in all sorts of easy but very undignified postures: some ot them asleep, most of them—like James BallanTi Ue t ß |i ttle Philosopher “thinkingof nothing.” 1 he Hansard’ reporters were striving to catch a sentence of the speaker now and again as he explained the rationale of athletic exctcises in general and Caledonian sports in particular. As tor the Press reporter, the less perhaps said about them the better, for they had fallen into the ways of the “heathen Chinee,” and were actually having a quiet game at euchre or some other wicked game at cards. As the night wore on, as many varieties of procrastinating eloquence were exhibited as there had been of botanical and feminine elegance at thelhorticultural show during the day, but. with little exception, silence was the only reply. Preparations were made on both sides for passing the night in a recumbent position—’possum rugs, form n°^ t8 ’ t * av . el I lin E caps of sleepy-looking ’ Bll PP erß of every possible rw C6 wi tluu . t ,J le landing orders forgetting through the night either asleep or awake gradually accumulated in various parts of the House and were luxuriously disposed by the possessors. Occasionally a little variety was afforded by the farce of asking the chairman to count committee.” Of course he followed tne usual custom of doing so, slowly enough to allow fair play to both sides—time for the ranks ot the Opposition to file out and those of the government to file in, and even if he failed to discover “aquorum” the ringing of the bell b

Invariably brought in enough workers in the Ministers’ room and loungers in the library, Bellamys, or the lobby, to make rip the necessary number. The last act this morning as day broke was one general snore from some fourteen or fifteen recumbent sleepers, who were being addressed by the member for the Clutha in an c ration which ming'ed the intonation of the pulpit with the carefully-drilled gesture of a juvenile! reciter on “breaking-un day.” His two eyes alone were open out of a score and a half or so in the House. But the ceasing of his monotonous speech indicated to the opening organs of first hearing and then sight—the rising of his successor, Mr Reeves. Then the weary Speaker entered and consulted with the yet more weary Chairman of Committees, after which the latter announced the result to be an adjournment at a quarter past six till two o’clock—time enough far a wash, breakfast, and a walk, in whatever order each might prefer. At ten o’clock the same programme was resumed and continued during the entire day, with an hour’s adjournment for lunch. The positions of Mr O’Eorke, who must keep the chair, and of the * Hansard 1 reporters, who by the express instructions of the House, twice declaied, must take down every word spoken, are worthy of the deepest sympathy—the one must be relieved, and the others assisted, or a calamity is certain to result to both. The sitting will be continued till midnight to-morrow, when rumor says the question will be raised whether the House cannot sit on Sundays. Alluding to tLe latter measure the ‘ Press ’ says -“The ingenuity of the Government has been equal to the emergency, and a scheme has been devised to keep the House sitting on Sundays without shocking the susceptibility of religious people. There are three clergymen in the House Messrs Andrew., Bluett, and M'Gillivrav, all on the Government side, and those gentlemen will, it is rumored, take up their time for twenty-four hours. If they should be unequal to this, the aid of Mr Buckland will be sought, Mr Reader Wood having certified his resemblance to one kind of parson at least.”

Mr Murray has given notice to move “ That it be an instruction to the Committee appointed to consider the questions relating to the disqualification of members to consider and report (1.) If the money paid out of loan or otherwise to or for Sir Julius Vogel, in 1871, 1872, or 1873, for his former excursion with his family to Europe, and called ‘ costs of raising loans, 1 did not come within the meaning of the Disqualification Acts. (2.) If a portion of the L 6,000 now drawn by Sir Julius Vogel in his present excursion to Europe with his family, in excess of his salary or lawful expenses, does not disqualify him under the said Acts. (3.) If Sir ,T. Vogel ceased to be Premier after the last Ministerial change, does his drawing the excess of Premier's salary over that of Post-master-General nut disqualify him. (4.) If he is not duly and properly a sworn Minister of the Crewn. does his receipt of public money not disqualify him.' 1 Mr Murray also has on the order paper a string of resolutions proposing a convention of members to be- elected by the Colony as one constituency to frame a Constitution.

1.35 p.m. The conference last night between the Ministers and the Opposition leaders lasted till nearly midnight, and this morning the Opposition has a caucus. That of the Ministerial supporters at Dr Pollen’s has lasted two hours, and is not yet over. The extreme members on both sides are very wroth at-the position of affairs, but the moderates consider that a compromise will Jo both sides credit. If no hitch occurs the session ought to be brought to a close iu less than five weens.