SCENES IN THE NEW SOUTH WALES ASSEMBLY.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 35, 27 January 1864, Page 5 (Supplement)

SCENES IN THE NEW SOUTH WALES ASSEMBLY.

I (Abridged from the Parliamentary Reports of the > _ Sydney Morning Herald.J \ Ma. Maetct and Mb. Habpttb. ; On Friday,, tlie : Sth instant, Mr. Harpur asked tlie Attorney- General ■ whether the attention of the Government had been called to the fact that a blind man, named Timothy Corkery, vrtxo had for years past stood at the south-east entrance of Hyde Park, was O a "Wednesday, the 6th inst., sentenced by the "bench of magistrates at tlie ; Central Police Office, without any proof of his having solicited alms, to seven days' imprisonment in Darlingi Kgrst Gaol? Mr. Martin said: Although it is not { usual to refuse to answer a question i put by any hon. member of this House, < still it is a matter of courtesy on the I part of the Minister ; and, I regret to i say, that, in the present instance, I courtesy would be entirely misplaced. : In .my absence the other night, the I hon. aiember attacked me in the most ! -insulting terms, and, therefore, it will ; deprive me of the gratification of ; answering this or any question that the || honorable member might put. ■ Mr. Harpur rose to call the atten- | -fcj on of the Speaker to the answer just '-■ given. If this was the manner in which the Opposition . were to be treated, they woisld be debarred from '■ -casting any reflections upon a Minister. The hon. the Premier was insulting in his terms and disgraceful in his manner. "Was this answer, which . the hon. member gave as Attorney-General — a position which he held by accident — to go down in the records of the House? Mr. Cowper, jun.., desired to know whether the . answer had been taken down, and would go into the records of theHosse? The Speaker, who was almost inaudible in the gallery, was understood -to say that the usual practice would not be departed from. Mr. Cowper, jizn., said \e should move the adjournment of the House. He considered the conduct of the hon. the Premier not only insulting to the hon. member, but to the electors whom he represented. (Hear, hear.) It was most extraordinary. The hon. gentleman seemed to be utterly regardless of his position as a Minister of the Crown to conduct himself as he had. Perhap s the hon. member would make au explanation, and express sorrow for his conduct, and say he was prepared to answer the question ? Mr. Sadlier said he was very much surprised to hear the answer given by the hon. the Premier. It was the most direct personal insult to the hon. member himself, and to all the who sat on that side of the /House, that could possibly be given. JL'u was discourteous, ungentlemanly, unbecoming. Mr. Martin rose to order. The Speaker said the lion, member was not in order in using such J language. Mr. Sadlier said lie would withdraw the word " ungentlemanly," and say his conduct was not like what a gentleman's should be. The Speaker said this language was unparliamentary. Mr. Sadleir — "Well, then, he would gay it was unbecoming and discourteous. (Hear, hear.) He thought the hon. member had disgraced himself by using such language. He hoped it would be recorded. What was the use of hon. members asking questions if they were to be insulted in that way ? He did not come there to be insulted, and would not be insulted by any man. (Mr. Arnold — " Hear, hear.) Mr. Morris said he thought hon. members opposite were not quite acquainted with the facts of the case. The hon. member for Patrick's Plains (Mr. Harper), in the course of the debate the other night, said the hon. the Premier wa3 "base born, and therefore truckled to people who- were -considered to be his betters. (Mr. Harpur—" I deny it.") If not " baseborn" the words were " mean-born." (Mr. Harpur — " That was very different.") He would like to know what the hon. member himself would have said if any one had said that he was •of mean birth ?" Mr. G-arrett said if the hon. member for Patrick's Plains used the words imputed to him, he must have been carried away by his feelings, and he thought the Premier would have shewn his sense by taking no notice of it. After the way in which he expressed himself last night, the hon. member opposite (Mr. Piddington) who now cheered the remarks of the hon. member for Balranald, could not set himself up as a pattern of propriety. ." Mr Harpur thought this was an important question, not as regarded his own feelings, but as it affected the rights and privileges of the House as established by custom. He denied Tiavingused an expression conveying the idea that the Premier was base . "born. To suppose that he (Mr. H.) would say behind the hon. member's back what he would not say to his face was "to do him dishonesty," which the whole actions of his life belied. Referring to a peculiar trait in the Premier's character— the ambitious attempt to rise in the social scale by means of accidental circumstances .which aided his great ability he (Mr. H.) said the hon. member was anxious to ■; get away from the meanness of his birth. It was synonymous with humbleness and lowliness •of berth, and was; different in meaning from what would' be conveyed by the term base-born. In all substantial respects the hon. member's birth was no donlot honorable ! ; and he (Mr. H.) said nothing about his being base

born: He could "therefore excuse the hon. member's warmth if these words were reported to him as having been used. , ......,•■: Mr. Leary said they had heard very extraordinary speeches on this mattery and parallels had been drawn between the observations of Mr. Harper and what had been said by hon. members on that side of the House. What had been said by any of them was not so offensive as what had been said by the hon. member for ' Singleton. The comparison by the hon. member (Mr. W. Forster) of the hon. member for Shoalhaven to a bug — (a laugh) — was not so offensive. He (Mr Leary) regretted that the language should have been used, and that the hon. the Premier should have declined to reply. But Mr. Harper had repeated the expression. If he were to meet one whom he considered his friend, and if he were to make such a reference to his antecedents, he would no longer consider him his friend, but a blackguard, and treat him with contempt. He thought it Avould have been better if the hon. the Premier had not noticed the observations of the hon. member for Patrick's Plains. Mr. Lucas suggested that the hon. the Premier should withdraw the observations he had made. This was a matter of some importance, and there were four or five members of the House who were determined that no business should be done until the question was answered. Mr. Harper rose to put the question again, but not being in order, gave ! fresh notice for Tuesday next. Me. RoßEiiTsox's Fun. 1 During the debate on the tarriff in ■ committee, on the same evening — the [ question being a duty on candles — the following scene occurred : — j Mr. Robertson said, although the j Finance Minister declined to address the «eominittee to show the ground on which he put his proposal forward, he undertooktosay the hon. member would do so, or he should never have the vote. He was under the impression that the hou, member had not been treated fayiy by his colleagues ; they had j treated him with utter contempt. He felt for the hon. member, and was inclined to say, with the Christy i Miastrels — " Poor old Jeff am gone to rest, Got dam him let him go.'* Mr. Dalgleish — Is this the language for a Legislative Chamber? I move' that the words be taken down. The words were taken down. The Chairman said he had some deubs as to what were the precise words. Mr. Robertson — I have the words here on paper, so that you can see how they are spelt — " Poor old Jeff am gone to rest, (G-o-t) Got (d-a-m) dam him, let him go." Mr. Dalgleisb — After this explanation, I would beg to withdraw my motion. Tiie lion, member could not be understood to say anything else than '' God damn." Mr. Robertson that is owing to tlie hon. member's corrupt imagination. Mr. Redman suggested that tlie words should be sung by the hon. member. Mr. Robertson objected to the motion being withdrawn. The Chairman said worns having been taken down, it was usual to found a motion upon them, and that they be reported to the House. He would suggest that, as no such motion had yet been made, the hon. member for Shoalhaven should waive his objection to the withdrawal of the motion before the committee. Mr. Robertson— As the hon. member takes exception to the words, and as they are taken clown, I am entitled, I think, to have them read by the clerk. The words were read by the clerk. ! Mr. Stewart thought it would be | well for the hon. member for Shoal- | haven to give up his objection to the i withdrawal of the motion, so that the words might not go to the House. He (Mr Stewart) thought the Christy's Minstrels' entertainment should be confined to the hall where they chose to give them. He was sorry to see j any portion of them introduced here. i Mr. Robertson did not know what ' the lion, member meant ; he (Mr. Robertson) took no exception to the words. Mr. Stewart — I understood the hon. member to wish them to go to the House. Mr Robertson — I do not desire anything of the kind. It was moved that the words be taken down, and if they do go to the House, I am satisfied that they are Parliamentary. Mr. Macpherson said if these words went to the public, it might induce them to question the hon. member's sobriety or sanity. The Chairman — Order, order. Mr Morris said the words were blasphemous, notwithstanding that they were spelt as a negro or German might pronounce them. Such an exhibition was never before made in this House. He never heard the Christy Minstrels sing blasphemous words. However distorted they might be, the. intentions of the words was to take the Almighty's name in vain! Surely the hon. member must joke when he insisted upon having such words reported to the House. Mr. Robertson said really the hon. member took a most extraordinary course Our German fellow-citizens would certainly feel complimented by the manner in which he spoke of them —Germans and negroes. Well, that was a pretty piece of business. He suspected a German could speak our

language much; better* than the hon. member could speak German; and would he like to -be coupled with a nigger who spoke imperfect German? This kind of: thing was most unbecoming of the hon. member who stood up to teach us the proper kind of language' we were to use here. If the hon. member would stretch his memory a little ".he would ;<find thai? these words resembled some that he was in the habit of using. in his earlier. life. He (Mr. R.) did not accept "the blasphemous interpretation the.. hon. member put upon them, nor was he (Mr. R.) responsible for the words being taken down. What did the hon. member mean by appealing to him in this wretched, pitiful manner? He (Mr. R.) said nothing about their being reported to the House. He stated that he was right in using them, and he left it to the hon. members to take what course they pleased with regard to the words. He thought they were very applicable to the manner in which the Government had treated his hon* friend the Finance Minister. He sympathised with the hon. gentleman. They had not treated him well, when they did defend him it was that style of defence in which the Christy's Minstrels expressed commisseration for " Poor Old Jeff." Mr Cowper, jun., made some remarks in reference to language used at a former time by the hon. Premier, when he was called to order by Mr Martin, who submitted that the hon. member's remarks had nothing to do with the subject under consi- j deration. Mr Wisdom ruled the remark to be out of order. Mr Cowper, jun., resumed, remarking upon the delay that these motions made. Mr Robertson would not consent to the question before the committee being dealt with until the information he required was furnished.