THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 63, 13 August 1874, Page 3

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

[From a correspondent of " The Press,"] Wellington, August 10. The political atmosphere was terribly disturbed for two or three days last week. The speech with which the Premier wound up the debate on the Conservation of Forests Bill set everyone by the ears, because the proposal to abolish the provinces in this island, though much talked about, was not intended to have been brought down this session. It was to have been the trump card to go the country with next year. But Mr Fitzherbert was so severe a few nights before that Mr Vogel appears to have thought it necessary to expose his hand. Many of his friends blame him for his precipitancy, and now that it is known he will test the feeling of the House upon the matter, it is difficult to say how sides will shape. The centralists, led by Mr Vogel, the whilom champion of the provincial party, proves how soon people's views are changed when they take office. For a day or two, while the intention of the Government was kept secret, there was no end of lobbying, and caucuses became the order of the day. Auckland held a meeting ; Wellington the same ; and last of all Otago. The last mentioned meeting is the only one whose proceedings have been made public. It was called by Mr Macandrew himself, and attended by some twelve or thirteen members. A number of resolutions were submitted and discussed, but no definite action taken, because no one knew what was going to be done, or who was to move in the matter under notice. There was, however, a pretty unanimous feeling in favor of opposing any legislation that would tend now or hereafter to deprive the South Island of its land fund. Though things at that caucus appeared to go just as Mr Macandrew desired, there is ground for believing that all the Otago members do not hold the same views on the subject as their Superintendent, and there are more improbable things than the Otago members dividing on it, and to a serious extent. It is, however, rumored this morning that the Government will this week bring down their resolutions affirming the desirability of abolishing provincialism in the North Island, and confirming by legislating the land compact of 185 G, in which case we shall have a grand row, and goodbye to a short session. But if they confine themselves to the business on the order paper, there is nothing to prevent the prorogation taking place on the 21st, which is said to have been already selected fo'r that purpose. The mountain has been in labor, and has brought forth a mouse. After deliberating for three days, examining sundry witnesses, and interrupting the proceedings of both Houses for a good half-day, the great privilege case lias ended in smoke. Most sensible people iu the House and out of it agree

with Mr Sheehan that the whole thing was supremely ridiculous. Everyone knew the telegram in the "Cross" came from Mr Luckie, and it did not require powers of discrimination to tell where he got his information from. Instead of going into the matter in a business-like way, the committee tried in a roundabout way to give importance to it by calling witnesses', who knew as much about it as your ' ; man in the street." At the eleventh hour they sent for Mr Luckie, and he made a very clean breast of it. The telegram was the reproductive of Judge Ward's actual words, and Judge Ward authorised hitn to say so unreservedly. Then it took the committee some hours to arrive at conclusion that a breach of privilege had been committed, and having determined that such had been done, was contented with Mr Lnckie's assurance that he would not do so again. What a farce were the subsequent proceedings. It had been carefully bruited about that for the sake of effect the committee would not report until the evening sitting, and of course full galleries was the result. I don't think Mr Luckie was at all pleased with the importance with which he was surrounded for a couple of hours, or relished the suspense Mr Speaker, by a kind of refined cruelty, kept him in, when, if it had so pleased, he could have the execution carried out within five minutes after the House assembled, for had he not the report of the committee in the folds of his gown ? However the hour came at last, and Sir Francis, with becoming gravity, proceeded to read the deliverance of the committee. Then Mr Luckie was called upon to plead " extenuating circumstances," and staggering under the weight of "the respect due to the forms, rights, and privileges of Parliament," he stumbled out an apology. I never saw the member for Nwlson City so nervous ; he almost shook with terror, and must have had troubled thoughts, in which Dr Greenwood occupied a prominent place, for he actually forgot half the speech he intended to make. He had proposed to tell the House that his action had resulted from his separating the two characters of members of Parliament and a witness before a committee, and that he would never have thought of divulging information obtained from a member, but never dreamed that a witness was under a formal obligation to maintain silence respecting his own evidence. Mr Luckie having withdrawn, Mr O'Rorke tabled a resolution accepting as satisfactory Mr Luckie's apology for having published the evidence, and Mr Ward's regret for having divulged it, and resolving to proceed no further with the matter. The opportunity was too good a one for Mr Sheehan to let pass, and in a pleasant style of banter he expressed his opinion (which, judging by the numerous " hears " many of his remarks evoked, is shared in by a good many members) that the whole business had been a sham ; that the forms relating to breaches of privilege were useless and absurd, and the sooner they wore done away with the better, and that committees' proceedings should, in the public interest, be as open as those of our law courts, which dealt with far weightier matters. The reform suggested by Mr Sheehan will commend itself to most sensible people ; but there is no hope of this Parliament taking any action in that direction. The papers treat the whole affair as.a capital joke ; but the " Post" comes to Mr Luckie's rescue, and says the proceedings in the House on Friday night were a more serious violation of the privileges of Parliament than the offence nominally Inquired into :—" It is, we believe, utterly unprecedented that any gentleman occupying a seat in the Legislature should be subjected to the public indignity last night iuliicted upon the member for Nelson city. It was most improper that he should have been called on for an explanation in the presence of crowded galleries, and that he should have then been ordered to leave the Chamber, while the general public were permitted to listen to the deliberations of the House regarding the action to be taken in regard to him. A very slight knowledge of Parliamentary practice, and a little regard foi the dignity of the House and the feelings of the member whose conduct was under review, would have led the Speaker to clear the galleries rather than make a public spectacle of the matter.' Apropos of the cognate matter—the WardChapman enquiry—the committee still have Judge Ward under examination. Mr Daniel Campbell of the "Daily Times" is here ; and Judge Chapman and Mr Macassey arc on their way up. The committee will therefore have to ask for a further extension of time ; and rumor, anticipating their report, says it will take the form of severely censuring Judge Ward. The telegraphic intimation received on Saturday, of the Defence Minister being created a K.C.M.G., was received with thorough satisfaction here by all shades of opinion. The best compliment that can be paid to the new Knight is to say his political friends and opponents recognise that this additional mark of his Sovereign's approval of his official acts was well deserved.

On Thursday, Mr Rolleston in a short speech moved the second reading of the Bill he has brought in to give effect to the wishes of the thirty-two factory girls of Christchurch, who want the hours of labor altered from nine to six under Mr Bradshaw's Bill of last year to eight to five, so as to obviate the necessity of their working by gaslight, which they say is hurtful to their eyes. Mr Bradshaw was agreeable to the alteration and intended to have supported it, but between the introduction of the Bill and the second reading he received telegrams from the proprietors of factories in Dunedin, who say that the altered hours will not suit their businesses. Mr Vogcl opposes the Bill as it now stands, because it goes in the direction of making legislation too stringent. He is reported in " Hansard " to have said : "Whilst ho thought legislation to protect females from being overworked in workshops and factories very necessary, the House should take care not to make that legislation too stringent. It seemed to him that the difficulty in the case might be met by stipulating that the hours of labor should be between the hours of from eight to six, and that the eight hours should be taken within that limit. Some proprietors of workshops might not care to open at eight o'clock, and if they provided that the legral hours of work should be from eight o'clock to five, leaving out an hour for lunch or dinner, there would be only seven hours for those shops to do business, the proprietors of which did not open till nine o'clock. In legislating upon such a subject, it did not do to be too generous. Last year they passed an Act which enabled females to work between nine and six, and if it were the case that some houses preferred to open at eight o'clock, there should be no objection to altering the time to an hour earlier, at the same lime

leaving it to those who chose to adopt the hour of nine o'clock to do so. The amendmerit he would suggest was this—to alter the hours from eight o'clock in the morning to six in the afternoon, providing that there should not be more than eight hours work in each day. That would, he thought, meet the difficulty. It might be said that this would leave a margin for extending the hours, but employes would be able to make the authorities aware of any infringement of the Act, and punishment would follow." Mr Eolleston did not approve of the Premier's suggestion, and threatened to abandon the Bill if it is pressed, but on reflection I think he is convinced it is not at all unreasonable, because Mr Bradshaw will 'propose to adopt the hours named by Mr Vogel, leaving to the employers to select ei|ht hours between these limits, during which their employes shall labor, aud so electing, the magistrate of the district will issue a certificate, which must be placed in a conspicuous part of the factory. The principal discussion on Friday was on the proposal to go into eommittee on the State Forests Bill. The amended Bill had only been circulated a few hours before the evening sitting, and Mr Eolleston and others urged delay to enable them to master the effect of the alterations; but Mr Vogel insisted on going on with the discussion. Mr Rolleston, Mr Buckland, and, later in the evening, Sir Francis, could not see what necessity there was for urgency when the Bill being discussed was a mere skeleton of the measure originally brought down; and the Speaker spoke in such thorough opposition, while professing to support the Bill, that Mr Vogel could not help administering a rebuke. Sir Francis had proposed to strike out the provision for the appointment of deputyconservators, whereupon ensued a little disagreement, which is thus reported in the " Tribune" (the " Post" only referring to it in the briefest terms, and the " Times " declining to notice it): —

" Visitors at the House last night were amused by a ' tiff' between the Premier and the Speaker, in which the latter hardly maintained his dignity to the extent that is desirable. Mr Vogel thought Sir Francis was somewhat prone to take ' the huff' and Sir Francis took the ' huff' all the more. Sir Francis was giving rather back-handed kind of support to the State Forests Bill, comparing it to a gutted house, &c. He might have hit upon a better ligure of speech—that, for example, of the hog in the flower-bed, and its vindication to the gardener— See there untouched your flowers strewn, For I've devoured the roots alone. It wasn't Mr Vogel's fault that the Bill became mutilated, and he reasonably enough defended the parts of it that remained, whereupon the hon the Speaker would insist upon it that the Premier was treating him as an Opposition member, although he averred he was entirely in favour of the principle of the Bill, as a statesmanlike measure. After a lull, Mr Vogel had occasion again to refer to opposition members generally, remarking that it was the same cry on all occasions, " delay, delay, anything for delay," and the Premier unguardedly accompanied the words with a wave of his hand. Thig was not lost on Sir Francis ; to him, at least, the gesture was sufficiently significant. There could be no doubt, in his mind, that this wave of the hand was meant as marked discourtesy to him, besides, was it not done in a contemptuous manner ? The hon gentleman uprose and said so, expressing his regret at ever having said a single word upon the Bill. Mr Vogel, apparently in sheer astonishment at this turn of affairs, said he had not even had the Speaker in his mind when he used the peccant words or made the peccant gesture, but really, he continued quietly, if the hon"gentlemau opposed the Bill, he must expect the Government to answer his objections as they would those of any other hon member." There was little else in the debate worth noticing. Mr Reid, backed by Mr Fitzherbert and Mr liollestou, wanted the Bill referred to the Waste Lands committee, because, as they held, it materially affected the Waste Lands of the Crown ; but Sir Francis, as member for Mataura, gave in committee such an indication of what Mr Speaker's ruling would be, that the idea was abandoned, and the Bill was reported.

The long expected debate on the Licensing Bill came ©IT last night, and so far as it has gone has disappointed everyone—the hon member for liangiteiki himself. The various galleries were crowded to excess—the ladies' one half-au-hour before the House met—by persons who expected an oratorical treat, but the House itself was only fairly filled. Mr Fox commenced his remarks by disclaiming aDy intention of making a sensational speech, but straightways did so. Widows and orphans, broken down colonists' and ruined homes, the results of strong drink were set against millioniare brewers, and distillers who rode in golden carriages and were buried in golden coffins ; we were told every criminal was a drunkard ; and three lunatics out of every four were the victims of intemperance ; yet there was nothing sensational, nothing overstrained, and above all nothing untrue in what he said. Mr Fox did not speak, he raved and shrieked. His speech did not contain a single fact, and was wholly devoid of argument. He even forgot what was due to his position and descended to a personal attack on Mr Wakehe] d, and wanted to argue with him until Mr Speaker called him to order. It was an utter failure, and although there was a faint attempt at applause when he sat down, it is generally admitted that it was about the worst he has ever made. Mr Vogel, who followed, having little to answer, spoke very moderately indeed. He at once went to the bottom of the question. The permissive principle, without fair compensation, meant confiscation, and would never be tolerated. The men of the people, not only here, but in every part of the world, were opposed to repressive legislation, which was the proper name for " permissive" legislation. Nothing but an unworkable Act could be expected from a man who hated drink, and all the Government was doing was to render the Act of last year practical ; to dot the eyes, and cross the t's of that measure, although MrVogel's own opinion was in favor of repealing it altogether. The debate only lasted a couple of hours, and the House went into committee, where Mr Fox and his supporters fought the Bill clause by clause. On section i, Mr Conor was the first to test the feeling of the House by proposing a postponement to enable an amendment to be brought in to place the power of electing licensing benches in the hands of the people. "The division showed how strong was the party that was supporting the Government—42 against 20. Mr Fox, however, was not at all

daunted. He spoke on every subsequent clause, and his followers attempted to divide the House on many, but the majority were not to be persuaded. They were impatient enough, and were nearly going on with the Bill against the wish of the Government. Up to midnight the Premier was firm, and determined to go through with the Bill; but Mr Fox kept on appealing, and at last appealed not in vain, and when clause 25 was reached, Mr Vogel, out of consideration for his colleague, agreed to progress being reported. A good many members opposed, and Sir J. 0. Wilson wanted the House to sit till they entirely polished off Mr Fox, because another dose would be insufferable. As far as the Bill has gone, there has not been a single amendment made, except what the Government have themselves proposed, and it is not at all likely any alteration will be made in the Bill. The barmaid discussion is reserved for another night; but Mr Fox sees that he has not the ghost of a chance of carrying ;it, and it is doubtful now whether he will press it. The two amendments in the Bill carried by the Government are the substitution of 21 for 14 days in clause 15 ; and an addition to clause 17 that "the Act relating to bottle licenses shall only apply and be in force in such provinces as have provided or shall hereafter provide for granting the issue of such licenses." This is relegating to the Provincial Councils the decision whether bottle licenses shall be issued or not. Mr Creighton wanted the Government to at once declare that no bottle licenses should be allowed, saying that such a course would be supported by three-fourths of the population of Otago, but Mr Reynolds and Mr Wales immediately expressed an opposite view. Mr J. E. Brown also approved of abolishing bottle licenses, stating that they were the cause of much harm in the country districts of your province. Mr Vogel, however, refused to move further in the matter, saying that the Government had done all that could be reasonably expected of them. I had almost omitted to mention that the member for Hokitika occupied a good deal of the attention of the House when in committee, and made a series of characteristic and indescribable speeches. The committee to whom was referred the honorarium question are disposed to recommend an increase, so as to bring the amount up to £175. A few desired to fix the amount at £2OO.