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Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1953, 9 November 1874, Page 2

Mr Rees, formerly a resident solicitor on this Coast, and at one time a member of the County Council, during which period he distinguished himself by causing a great waste of valuable time, and more positively by involving the district of Westland, in an indirect manner, in a costly lawsuit respecting tramways, has recently issued a pamphlet in which he denounces the general character of the New Zealand House of Representatives. Now, Mr Rees lived some time in Victoria, but surely he would not have us compare the proceedings in the New Zealand House of Representatives with those of the sister Colony ? Certainly not if the following paragraph from the Melbourne " Argus " is to be relied upon as a truthful account of what took place in the Victorian Legislature upon the Tariff BillThis is what our Melbourne contemporary says of the occasion : — " The discussion in the Legislative Assembly yesterday upon ■the Customs Duties Alteration Bill served to show how . utterly demoralised the House has become. Members on both sides appear to be utterly careless even with regard to the maintenance of their own characters as members of a representative body, and scarcely an attempt is made to preserve the proprieties of debate. The Speaker endeavors impartially to fulfil the duties of his office, but he gets little support either from one side or the other Last night Mr G. P. Smith objected to the Minister of Lands talking to one" of his colleagues whilst he was addressing the House. Mr Casey elegantly replied that if the hon. member had not had such long ears he would not have heard him. Mr Casey was of course called to order by the Speaker, but Mr Purves innocently enough added fuel to the flames, and evoked roars of laughter by complaining that the Minister of Lands was calling attention to the peculiarities of the hon. member. Subsequently, Mr G. P. Smith created another angry recrimination by stating that the policy of the Government was to purchase the supporb of hon. members by any means whatever. . . . The conduct of the House last night was a disgrace to hon. members on both sides, and we would suggest that the Ministry and the leaders of the Opposition should make some little attempt to prevent the further degradation of the Chamber to which for the time they belong." Wecan say that such proceedings as those just related would be impossible in the New Zealand Assembly. Party, and personal feelings, may sometimes betray members into unusual warmth of language, but we never heard that anything ever occurred in our Colonial Legislature which could call forth such remarks as those we have quoted.