WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 August 1920, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

A GOVERNMENT REBUFF

THE INDEPENDENT ELEMENT

(Our Special Correspondent)

WELLINGTON, Aug. 18

In its attempt yesterday to induce the House to accept the amendments made by the Legislative Council in the Gaming Amendment Bill the Government suffered its first rebuff of the session. It was not a very serious matter —not one imperilling Mr Massey’s occupancy of the Treasury Benches nor even weakening his hold upon his faithful majority—but it showed that the spirit of independence abroad in the new Parliament is able to express itself on occasions with some effect. The Council, it will be remembered, had added to the Bill clauses making tho telegraphing of investments to the totalizator and tho publication of tho amount of dividends legal and in the absence of the Minister of Internal Affairs, who had not yet fully recovered from his recent illness, his locum tenons, Sir William Kerries, proposed tho new clauses should be accepted by the House. MINISTERS’ PROPOSALS DEFEATED. There is reason to suspect that the Hon G. J. Anderson himself was not particularly'well disposed towards the amendments and that if he had been in the House when their acceptance was proposed lie would have made it quite clear their adoption was not to be regarded as a party question. But Sir William Hcrries, obviously with the concurrence of Mr Massey, left no doubt about a majority of the Cabinet being in agreement with the Legislative Council and desiring ths support of its friends in the House in the matter. But when, the division was taken, the two clauses just mentioned being the main points at issue, there was found to be a majority of six against the Council’s view, the voting being 30 to 24.

PARTY DIVISIONS. An examination of tho division list shows that while the Labour members and the recognised Independents voted unanimously against the Council’s amendments, the members of the old parties were rather strangely divided. Among tho Liberals Messrs Edie, Horn, Hnnan, Isitt, Ngata, Seddon and Sidev voted against the amendments, and Messrs Atmore, Forbes,, McCallmu, Poland, R. W. Smith and Wilfred for them. Among the Reformers, Messrs J. M, Dickson, J. R. Hamilton, Luke, Malcolm, E. Newman, Stewart, Sykes and Wright were against them, and Messrs Bollard, Coates, Field, Glen, Guthrie, Henare, Hockley, Lysnar, McLeod, Massey, Nash, Noswortliy, Parr, Pomaro, Reed, Rhodes, Sir William Herries and Sir R. Heaton Rhodes for them. Mr Anderson was the only Minister absent and the whole of his colleagues voted for the acceptance of the Council’s amendments, demonstrating plainly enough what they would ■have had their supporters do. ABSENT MEMBERS. The fact that there were 21 members absent from the House at the time of tho division, not counting the Hon A. M. Myers, who, of course, is away from the country just now, was a matter of very general comment in the galleries. A majority of the absentees had been counted as supporters of the Council’s amendments, so quite probably the character of the Bill was moulded, not so much by the members who voted as by those who stopped away. The new House is rapidly earning a not very creditable reputation in this respect. An unusually large number of members are extremely irregular in their attendance and frequently important business has been transacted with scarcely more than a bare quorum in the Chamber. Committee work is usually the excuse for this sort of thing, but it can deceive only people who are unacquainted with the requirements of the Honise.