PARLIAMENTARY SQUIBS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 89, 17 August 1878, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY SQUIBS.

:\[by oub pwN coEBESPONDBarr/j -v v >-^ j"~ Wbh^gtw, i'ricUp PJ -- ..: Ar jouJ are. doobtlesg; aware^ theier. :■' reverend member .. for Auckland -City "' " Wesfrhas come to the front ? in; tile c^usa^ of chiyalr^, imd has^aien his *tah3 on > the platform of Womian's E^hts a» their demoted eKampion^ lEthlwrto£ however,, iihe worthy. Doctor -has ; not been noted for his i Apolitical consiiteniby^ > and his recent query ;;a^ to whether th^j? law couldf prevent; a, man frpnv sellifag^. liisA " better * half 'f • fias^set Wsj^Pariiiumentary confreres wondering, as to tli» - drift of the question, and the elßect ; * ; negative or raffirmative answer ? .trpald . : have over his future* dpnaestio Arrange-. ■ merits. Jn backing ; up. Ms^arguments 4U Dr.S^VallisShasSa strong hobby for en, ? deayoring to prove itheir jstttrengtli hy ',■ similes, but most of them ar»,unfortun nately, more prbyoqative oft mir^h r thai\y In advocating that tha hgentler sex should i>e allowed m- seat m; ! the councils of thexeouniry, he assorted that depriving them of that iprivilpga wa« the same as if people wore to be\. j disqualified from voting or. legislating .:. ! according to the siae of their istancing Napoleon -S prqdil^tion -f6»i men, and Kis selection for generalsji'pf sdldiera with largo nosa#, ilfchooj^* the member for Auckland City TPr?bstv might not come up to?the Firsit Empe-i ror'B standard in^ the matter of prbtdds^ he evitJintly-ddes^s uttaost;to; iop«iiK:the fanlt pf nature, and iby -the ande-^ ; fatigabla? manner -:in , which^hVvint*o-i:' ; duces his nasal orgaivinfc&ail and oyery - matter makes a; ■'<^moro vformidablap ? weapon than; it Jbtherwise would liave?^ been. In of :the: Electoratci Bill,— the Ministerial^; not the/GFiposi^-^ tion one— Dr. Wallis. sneered v'as;?only<rr ' Dr. Wallis \ can sneer, and ; argued that women were wronged m three directions : first,; m respebt to oiriployment ;•; r ' secondly, m -respect to education jan4 thirdly, under .thq > inamage ~cpntr act. . He railed at the latterj which he charac^; terised as a cruel wrong to therweaker sex, ending m misery and loss of iib^rty»>and even going'tothe ektreme length-of:^ asserting that the bond of marriage, and consequent loss of libertyi-was iending - to opmpel women tovpreforjiUegitimato / to legitimate unions, winding up with tha logical cause f or the " < iiat;vaiw man's mistress remains he? mistress, but a man's wife is by-law Ms ?Liye,"v. Such statements coming from ia: man who was once, a minister^ ft^^ro^peji^ and as stichiniust haye > fopon ,the" ciausa of : welding jthe bounds :pf slayery, upoif thbsjs he vlovt, seeks to >: ehainpipn, v jß somewhat a| paradox^anUiwth^j^rapJj ■: of -Br. .'.. ? v^;-f ; -""' it-- burned child "dreads, the fire^i and the very wholesome lesson^ taught 'to worthy senators.by Mr George Jpnies, 1 : 3 jun.,ilias saSred to^ opuiitry wit. ;■ nessing another metim^ingjOfferedi'Tiß-;; ; upon\. the altar of "prlV3ege;''^ i ,That treasonable sheet, the "Timara Herald,'* lad published some remarks morexcapi-C did than complimentary upon tjienewlvw;. created I«ord, John' Martin, and -; tfie y member for iCanterbn^, the Jton. and gallant Colonel James I)eßenzie Brett* as in'duty bpund^^^ threw thb.^gis 1 of Jiia protection over his insulted brother, ani • drew the attpnfiqn of the House ta.tho insult, • • Another Hon. and gallant Colonel ■(Whitmpre), jfiowf yerjCiWas^rof ; "opinion; " that discretion was tHe'betfer part of valor," and itjbeing freely. ad«.,; mitted on all sides that past rexperien^ ; 'nad- proved Jthat m meddling ; with\iiift edgJecD -tool of " privilege Hofisa" had only got into . a mess r and -brought -r ridieuieupon its mpinbers.^ the sensitinej Colonel witjidrewi his motion, arid- tha impudent soribe wa3 allowed: Jto „,g# Scatheless. I :^~> ™ :* Daring th^Eifth Parliament of i^ejP ':■■. Zealand, as 1 surely ->as^^he ": opened did the then hon. member: for Waitakv Mjajor Stoytardj>; religiously-; - rise to his feel; and give notice of -his intention to introduce a Bill-to Legalisalo Marriage witji a Deceased "Wife's Sister. The measure was iiitroduced only to be thrown oat ag^ain, and t.hia process was repeated^tfntil; Parliament was dissolyed, and; at.tlie following elec* tion,*Major Steward beiog defeated for the .constituency,, hon. members .were congratulating themselves' tha£ the'_pe__- ; ceased J^F^e, : sister, : ahditha father oTE " all,iwer.e: biiried m ooe :-c6mmon'.'gl^Ly^.''' But they had reckoned; -without 1 : " : host, as t|ieraantlo of . tjie defuptD.t|[egislator Jbad fallen upon ijpr. Hodg^inson, the chosen of Eiverton. \, JW^Mipep. sis tency worthy of his ohief , the meitt. ber allude^ during the last fefjro f£e& aiens, has sttwd sponsor for themesisu>Q,

and "bu last Tuesday, ho-, arose m hi pla<fc/ fcniidsfc suppressed' laughter, to give&btioe for the third time. The long debate on Tuesday Bight on the second reading of the Electoral Bill . "wasAftißiarlcablo for the extremely calm, liberal, and impartial spirit m which its provisions were canvassed by all sides of the House ; and although exceptions were made to some of the leading features, the criticisms were evi-dently-not given m a captious, carping jmaanefv -s. Most, indeed, of all the speakers appeared to think that Mr Stout had 'not gone far enough, and that, instead of a residential qualifica'tibn, TOantjood or universal suffrage, pure and simple, should have been introduced: : Another bone which ap? peared to stick m the throats of legislators was the; clause giving votes to women ; the majority, however, being incl^ved to gire widows and unmarried fema]&;properiy-holders the franchise, but the line at their becoming .Far^A^enjarvv representatives. By the way, it has been Jrem^rkedi ihat it ,i%. % soW^Khat^aingular that all the great advocatetr for^ woman> suffrage^ have fbeetf raen^lveß Thildfess." Johnßtuart, Mill, who was the? apostle of tribe" was without family, anoLthe^Hon. Mr For and^pr. )^auis 'jl're, inlthe. same jcatep^ s'Spring5 ' Spring the discussion," Mr Saunders ridiculed the idea of female reprasentatibn,^ and drew s> -■ most ludierouii Tpifature of the effect a pretty wonfcn jwould hive- ujsqin thse ' impressionable D* a^pr^ maiden" speech; how, if she talked the^verriest twaddle (which was very likely) ever talked^ m the House, and thatj was saying a great deal, he would, cheer her to the end. But the Unkiindest cut of all was administered "to him by Mr fiowen, who' stated that he did not know what effect Dr. Wallis ©xpoetedhi^ remarks J» have upon the cen^eifiLiexi J>ut . ceitainlyi when that' lionr eentleman had commenced speaking, -there were two ladies present, and beforet he had half finished they had made a hurried exit. There is no question but the House lias received a valuable addition to its debating^ power by the return Qf .Mr *• Hobbs, and the' qeterniined manner m which he set his foot upon the clause of Mr Whittaker's Electoral Bill with regard to ;the representation of miners, prpveoVittiial lie w»s not only- a deep thinker, but that he is determined and knows how to/give expression to his : thought^ For go young a member he *ras most attentively 'v listened to by both sides, and his remarks evidently carriod weight with them. On Wednesday- night these was a free fight over Mr Fox's motion regarding the distribution of the Government •drertisements, and as might have been expected, ; a tough battle ensued; over • the division of the "loaves and fishes." The Premier, the Postmaster-General, and Mr^Stout were the only members of the .Cabinet who defended the action Of theiGovernmerit, the latter distinctly repudiating that any charge of favontism could be sustained. Notwithstanding tha^ tiieimember for Wanganui was the mover m the action, he did riot proceed state any specific cases where partiality hadbeen shown. Mr McLean however, a member of the Atkinson Ministry, appeared to have no such sensitiveness or delicacy m dealing with the question, and he made charge after charge with utter recklessness, until Sir George G^rey^whpse feelings evidently, got beyond l cpntrol^^ jumped to his legs svhd characterised the statements as a foul slander, adding that the speaker knew t&em to be a slander as he was Uttering them, lliere can be no question, ITowever, that Mr McLean fully provejd hiscase, as it was very hard 'to refute the charge when the "Otago Daily iTimeß," with a limited circulation, received four, shillings an inch for what -die "JDuriedin Heraldj" with three; times .the circulation; was ■mlling to insert f^or 'one shilling. Mr Wakefield, himself ja paper man, and editor of the VTimaru Herald," defended the Go--Ternmerit jfebut it was urged by the laembeßfpr that "the f opinion ehouldijcarry: but little-; weight; irissinuch^iftathat'i journal had •\jiMa%to'-i&_ oipieiftuot'ithe .fkxyla s l'bduMy,"and^onsei quen^yjlikielgEito take:a viewol the n^ttpr;T.-,of X^coursej r-as' there^'was a prbsp^cjba)f ; tf : .fij^ht,tit;wa'E iriot to be ci rpected.^halj3lrwßavton 'Would be a silent, spectator,: and rflie'little^^ man ■ had- his coat Qtt,-irailed m the dust^ for some time, But aa no ;ono I wouiaT oblige^iiifii «*f trf ading- upon it^ the matter^ was propped by the adjpurnmenti,;: '■'\ JJ^m^is^ had refreshed the inner- r inari,s the' evening sitting , cotri^ .menctfd <ot ihaif-past sevehi when :^r ' Whittaker proceeded to'mbve the second reading of thetParliaineritary Bill. He started by : stating that the Bill was, the assumption that the' 1 Constitution of the. Colony was- a .democratic "onto, and .the [.measure was divided into several 'Heads ; ; : 'firsi^ tb d febhstitation of electoral districts T; seoond, tl»e qualification of electors f ; nd members ; tibiree, the registration of "electors ; four, general elections tmA returning mem-, bers j.audrfive,^Native represent atiori. The liQn;, member ihen entered into most ejehaustive explanation of the prbTisiori^^fethe proj^osed -Bill, winding up with thei following;! with reference to Native^ jadnuni3tration': — "He thoaght the Maori vote; should be restricted to the Maoris, and t'je Europeans should have their votes e< nfined to themselves." This is, -perbapr, one of the best featuiises jn Jthe Bv'X, and shows but m bold relief witlv;adfantage over the Minis- j terial measure which seeks to perpetuate ! the double wte of the Mnori— one for a | Maori. and the other: for a European number. Whether Mr 'W'^it^ /■ : i»lcer'<)r;;Mjr-'StQut f s-.Bill be finally accepted thi4 : is one point tliafc is certainly worthy of consideration, as by such a claxise the macJiinafions of ambitions Pakeha-Maoris would be entirely riulli-. fiod. Mr Stout ibriefly criticised the leading features of the Bill, particularly that portion relating to the representation of minoriiica ; after whiehi Mr^ Barton closed the debate by characterising the meaVure before the House as an attempt'to take the wind out of the sails of the Governijierit by bidding for populaTify^ He said that when the old Boraan. Satyrs beheld the Greek advancing witti'gifts m his hands, he feared" ■, that a certain: result might follow the -rGrecian flatferers, and the '- result-was- ! that at the proper time there was pre- j pared-a very delicious cup of poison, to De^sVallowed by the i unwilling testator. making some^^vejy excellent pbirits 'wifli regard to the uusititability 6t th^ i

Bill, Mr. Barton got into the groove of his private grievances, and was cbmniencing to lash out against the judges, when Mr Wakefield put the screw on, and Mr Joyce having moved the adjournment, it was carried.