The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1880. WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 96, 27 July 1880, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1880. WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES.

«- Since the opening of the session, there has been a great deal of talk upon retrenchment. Members have vied with each other in recoin- I mending reductions upon the salaries of officials, reductions in services, and in fact the Lower House has appeared to be perfectly unanimous as to the necessity of thorough, allround retrenchment. We therefore expected that the present session of J Parliament would have set an example of sincerity in this matter to which posterity could have pointed with pride, and which would have shown " the whole human race " that our legislators are noblehearted, self - sacrificing men, who think more of the good of their country than of personal profit, j and who would willingly possess an empty pocket, so that the State might have a full Treasury ! But alas ! they are " weighed in the ! balances, and found wanting." An American humorist has said, " Man < iz selphish. and nieen bekaws he iz a man," and we suppose that to expect so mixed a body of men as the Lower House of the Legislature to deliberately reduce their own stipend, would be to expect our representatives to attain a degree of the martyr spirit which is enjoyed by few in these days. To be serious, however, the House has acted on the honorarium question in a manner which indicates a thorough determination to resist anything like real earnest retrenchment in that direction. The representatives have proved themselves willing to cut down the salaries of others, but directly their honorarium was touched, they were revealed in the character of the Irishman who was willing to spill the last drop of his brother's blood for the defence of his country ! On Friday evening, the House came upon that section of the Estimates which shows the characters of members, — we refer to the Legislative Department. For this £89,851 was down on the Estimates, and on the item being called the Premier suggested that members of the House should submit to a reduction of 20 per cent. En passant, we may state the amount at present paid to mem* bers for each session is The House then went vigorously to work with the pruning knife, and lopped

off amounts from the estimates with ,& «£)s&■ ha,ad. The following reduc* Sons war© made: — £99 from Legis-' latiye Council Chairman of Commit* tees'; £50 for Chairman of Public Petitions Committee, struck out ; £100 from Clerk to the Council,; £50 from the assistant clerk ; £20 from the second assistant clerk. In the Estimates for the ' Lower House, £200 addition to permanent salary of the Speaker, who receives £600 per annum, was struck out ; also £100 each for Chairman of Public Petitions Committee, Native Affairs Committee, and Waste Lands Committee.. After hon. members had got through these reductions, they evidently became timid,, as the honorarium question was becoming unpleasantly close. A" proposal io reduce the item Clerk of Parliaments (who gets £700 . per annum) by £100 was lost, and another proposal to reduce the salary of the assistant clerk (who receives £500) by £100 was also lost, whereupon Mr Fulton said it seemed to him that " members were hardening now, because they were coming close to the honorarium vote." This appeared^ to touch Mr Eichard Reeves " on the' raw," and he retorted that Mr Fulton measured the corn of others by his own bushel. It is also noteworthy that at this point of the debate, when the House was on the threshhold of the honorarium question, Mr Eichard John Seddon, one of the Hokitika members, lecame "discouraged." He had divided the House twice, on the salary paid to the Clerk of Parliaments', and not having gained his point, threw up the sponge, and declared " he should not vote for any further reductions !" Of course we do not for one moment mean to insinuate that Mr Seddon became conveniently disheartened just before the honorarium came on for discussion. Still it would have looked better if he had kept his steam up until a few further items were disposed of, including the honorarium. Eventually, the assistant clerk's salary was reduced by £50, but there was a manifest " hardening," (as Mr Fulton remarked), as the House flatly refused to reduce the £400 paid to the second assistant clerk, and passed £750 for extra clerks without dissent, the only other reductions being £100 taken from the Sergeant-at-Arms, and £250 deducted from the item of "Members' Travelling Expenses."

The item, " Expenses of Members of both Houses, £21,575," was doubtless to many of the representatives the most important matter of the whole session, and the discussion appears to have evoked great interest, the division list showing that no less than 74 members out of 88 voted on the question. Mr Murray led off, by proposing, that only £10,000 should be voted. Then the Premier moved, that the honorarium should be reduced by 20 per cent. Mr Pitt moved that the honorarium of both Houses should not be voted at all, but the Chairman ruled this out of order. Then Mr M'Caughan moved, that the honorarium of the Lower flouse be reduced by 20 per cent., and of the Upper House by 50 per cent. This likewise could not be put. After a long, wordy fight, during which some personalities were indulged in, Mr Murray's motion to reduce the item was lost, there being — For, 1 5 ; against, 58. A motion for the 20 per cent, reduction was then put, and lost. Subjoined is the division list, which is instructive as showing that the " Great Liberal Party" were to a man opposed to so large a decrease in their salary for serving the country.

Ayes, 35. — Messrs. Adams, Allwright. Atkinson, Bain, Barron. Beetbam, Bowen, Brandon, Dick, Fox, Fulton, Hull. Hurst W. J.. Hurstbouse, Johnston, Kenny, Levin, Mason, Masters, M'Caug'haD, M'Donald, Murray, Oliver, Orniond, Pitt, Richmond, Richardson, Rolleston, Saunders, Shephard, Stevens, Studholme. Swanson, Whitaker, and Wright.

Noes, 89. — Messrs. Andrews, lialiance, Brown, Buunv, De Latour, Finn, Fisher J. 8., Fisher J. T., George, Gibbs, Gisborne, Hamlin, Hm-ris, Hirst, H., Ireland, Jones, Kelly, Lundon, Macandrew, Montgomery, Moorhouae. Moss, O'Rorke, Pyke, Reeve*, Reid, Seddon, Shanks, Sheehan, Shrimski, Stewart, Tainui, Tawahai, Te Wheoro, Thompson, Tole, Tonioana, Turnbull, and Wallia.

Mr Allwright then moved a reduction of 15 per cent., but this was lost on division. Ayes, 33 ; noes, 47. Then the 10 per cent, reduction (amounting to £2,157 10s) was put to the House, and carried by 49 to 20. We presume the 20 were opposed to all reduction, and as it is only right their names should be recorded we give th em.

Uoes, 20. — Messrs Ballanoe, Brown, De Lautour, Bunny, J. B. Fisher, Hatrlin, Irelaud, Jones (teller), Lundon, Moorhouse, Moss (teller), O'Korke, Pyke, shechan, Tainui, Tawhai, Te Wheoro, Thomsozn, Pomoana, and Wnllis.

After the division had been taken, Major Atkinson remarked with bitter sarcasm, " their work would be complete if they took off the 20 per cent, from the Upper House and put it on the Lower." The whole tone of the debate will convince the country that however anxious the majority of the members may be to retrench in other directions, they have shown a sad disinclination to decrease their own "expenses."