PAELIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2313, 2 September 1881, Page 3

PAELIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

The past week has been oelebrated for little but " stonewalling." That process has bsen conducted, on the whole, in a better spirit and. temper than it usually is. But, perhaps, that fact has robbed it of any possible interest or excitement that might have relieved the dreary monotony of the business to those who are not engaged in it. Left to themselves the Nelson members would have acted with, reason, but with such allies as Seddon and Speight there is no saying: how reckless the waste of time may bo. The leader of the Nelson members, Mr Pitt, is no great " stonewaller " himself, but he is a skilful tactician, and, so far, has completely out-generalled the Government. With such an overwhelming majority at their command it was clearly the policy of the Government to have kept on without intermission until the stonewallers were exhausted. It ia wonderful to see the effect that one night's loss of sleep has on the strongest men, and on Wednesday evening even Beddon could hardly be dragged back to the House at 8 p.m. If the Government had kept a firm upper lip through Wednesday night the contest would have been over, and the stonewallers would have surrendered at discretion. But they consent to a loose compromise on Wednesday evening—take private business on Thursday, and after giving the obstructors of the BUI two nights' rest, begin again on Friday, and after losing another day give their opponent* three nights in for certain, leaving them to begin again to-day as fresh as ever they were. Another macosuvre that was most successfully practised on the Government was one by which they were induced to accept on Wednesday evening an amendment proposed by Mr Moss, giving a leasehold qualification to electors. It was clearly a thing that bad no business in such a Bill in any case, and one that was sure to create a division amongst their supporters. It came too from the bitterest enemies of the Government, and its effeot on the after progress of the Bill was quickly seen by Mr Pitt, who brought up his sleepy followers to support the mischievous amendment. It is said that Sir George Grey prepared the clause for the purpose of getting the Government into a fix, but I believe that the clause was really as well as nominally prepared by Mr Sbeehan for the purpose of getting a large number of Maoris on the electoral roll, and that it waa secretly supported by Sir George Grey with the same view, Mr Moss being always ready to father anything for either of the Thames members. As soon as it was passed beyond recovery, Mr Jones came forward, and in his own wrathful and violent language declared that the Government by adopting the clause had_ proved themselves " Conservatives and Tories of the very worst description." In this onslaught he was backed up by a number of his own friends, and Mr Hall was not a little astonished to hear such 'terms applied to him for having good-naturedly accepted an amendfor ment prepared by the magnates of the great Liberal party. A free fight went on all round. Mr Lundon declared that it was all right, as it would enable him to get no end of Maoris on the roll, but most of his party declared that it was a villainous addition to the present power of plural voting, and would give three persons a vote on any little bit of property—a freeholder, a leaseholder, and a resident. Mr Moss looked thunderstruck to find himself accused so strongly by his friends, and Sir George was puzzled to know which side he ought to take as the " Liberal " leader. He had avoided committing himself by slipping out of the door just before it was locked for a division. The whole thing was very laughable, and brought out the weak points of many an actor in the scene. It will give a lot of trouble to the Government, as many men will not vote for the Bill with Sheehan's amendment left in, and the opponents of the Bill will not let it be struck out if they can help it. Sir George Grey looks delighted with the stone-walling, and evidently wishes himself free to take a part in it. Had he foreseen that the old friends of the Government were prepared to fight against them so sternly, he would not have committed himself to the Bill, but would have shaped some course that would have enabled him to profit by such sturdy assistance. If it lasts much longer he will not be able to resist the temptation, but will find a way to get a finger in the pie yet. Mr Hall's proposals to give a power to put down stone-walling, adopted from the rules of the House of Commons, will most likely be seized upon by Sir George to-night as a fine opportunity to go to work with his new allies. It was, I think, a mistake to bring them forward just now, as they will only furnish a fruitful topic upon which to continue the stone-walling with a certainty of getting plenty of assistance. But there can be no doubt that some such measures are necessary to proteot the reasonable members from such insuppressible windbags as Seddon and Co. There is a most logical (?) article in the " New Zealand Times" thia morning, condemning Mr Hall's motions as too stringent and interfering too much with the liberty of members, and then coolly proposing that the Speaker alone, without any law to guide or restrain him, should have the power to tell any member to "shut up." I would not give much for that Editor's ideas of liberty of speech. On Thursday evening the long fought for Fencing Bill was worked through committee by Mr Bryce with a great deal of opposition from Messrs Andrews and Seddon. The schedules one not yet passed. This Bill had a very narrow escape after seven hours' hard work on it. The committee had got less and less in number until 2.30 in the morning, when its opponents proposed that the Chairman report progress and ask leave to sit again, but seeing, after ringing the division bell, that there was not a quorum to be obtained in the House without their presence, they slipped out and expected the oommittee to be counted out, but Mr Hall, who was still leading on the support -rs of the Bill, instantly saw the danger, and, chosing the least of two evils, voted for the amendment instead of against it, and thus saved the Bill from being killed by a count out. It was the private members' night—the Bill was in charge of Mr Bryce, and Mr Hall ought to have taken his watch below, and left tho House for one night of the week. But there is no sleep or rest in his nature. He said it was a farmers' Bill, and he represented a farming constituency, and would not leave the House until every one else had left at a quarter to three o'clock on Friday morning, and then he was only driven away for want of a quorum. Whatever else may be thought of Mr Hall, no constituency ever had a more conscientious, assiduous representative. He looks worn to death, but still there is not the least sign of his taking things easy, or giving up any work to others that he can possibly do himself. Mr Speight's wonderful power of talking about nothing was put' to a severe test on Friday afternoon. He had intended to kill two birds with one stone, and whilst stone* walling the Bepresentation Bill, to be blackballing the Government over the Pollen pension. Afterjhe had gone on three-quarters of an hour on that head, and, aB he said, had nearly introduced the subject, a message came down from the Government introducing the Pension Validation Bill, upon which the Speaker ruled that Mr Speight could not, on a motion for adjournment of the House, talk on a subject that would come before it in due order. Without a moment's embarrassment Mr Speight went on talking about the Maori prisoners, and kept on for another two hours. The reason that the stonewallers took the adjournment of the House to talk about on Friday, instead of allowing the House to go into committee on the Bepresentation BUI, was, that if they had gone into oommittee on the Bill, they might have been kept at it until twelve o'clock on Saturday night; but, by taking the adjournment, they only had to talk until 12 30 Saturday morning, after which no new business can by the Standing Orders come on. To-night there will be a regular arrangement of watohss so that there will be always enough members in (he House to make a quorum, or to carry a division, and enough in bed to furnish a future supply of fresh wallers. Last Wednesday morn few members left the House before 2 a.m., and they had a messenger sent to their lodgings to fetch them again at daylight, to relievo those who had been on duty all night. It is much to be feared that no more business will really be attended to this session, as members are determined to go before long, and a small minority of the House will not allow any work to come on. Even the Corrupt Practices Prevention Bill stands a great chance of not being patted in time for the coming elections,