ALL-NIGHT SITTING

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 107, 27 July 1927, Page 1

ALL-NIGHT SITTING

Samoa Amendment Bill Bragged Through Final Stages in House A PROTRACTED STONEWALL (THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter.) T WELLINGTON, To-day. HE Samoa Amendment Bill was dragged through its final stages in the House of Representatives before breakfast this morning. A protracted stonewall was carried on throughout the sitting until the third reading was passed at 7 o’clock by 41 votes to 12. Several questions were directed by Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, toward the Prime Minister, who, in turn, revealed a number of policy points hitherto not disclosed in the House.

TEE first concrete indication of trouble wa3 when the Prime Minister moved that tile Bill be treated as urgent. Mr. H. E. Holland: Why?,

Mr. Coates: The Government desir 1 ; to get it through all its stages. Mr. Holland: But for what reasons?

Mr. Coates: It has been read a second time and, for reasons which must be fairly clear, it is desired to have the Bill passed through all its stages to-night. The reasons have been well discussed during the past few days. Mr. Holland: Is it because you have found that all your acts up to the present have been illegal.

Mr. Coates: No; it is not. It is simply because the Government desires to get legislation on the Statute Book as soon as possible.

On a division Mr. Coates’s motion was carried "by 48 votes to 12. On the House going into committee, Mr. Holland sprang to his feet to protest against the manner in which the Bill was being rushed through without any apparent reason whatever except the reason he had already suggested, namely, that the Government had discovered that all its threats of deportation had been illegally made. “ILLEGAL THREATS” “I challenge the Prime Minister or Min I iter of External Affairs to deny that that is so,” said Mr. Holland. “The Prime Minister told us earlier that the Government held all the powers which this Bill confers. If so, why does he want to rush it through today. The real position is that, although they claim to have power to deport Europeans tey have never had it. Regarding the threat to the Hon. O. F. Nelson and others, that when they came back they were liable to b€! deported, I want to say emphatically that when the Minister made that threat, he made it illegally, and when he wrote those letters, he wrote them illegally.” Mr. Nosworthy: I said I would ask Parliament for all the powers necessary. Mr. Holland: The Minister admits now that he did not have constitutional authority. Mr. Nosworthy: I don’t admit anything. (Laughter from Labour benches.)

Mr. J. A. Lee said that Mr. Nosworthy had gone to Samoa, not as an investigator, but as a hostile and biassed Minister, determined to deport anyone who dared to express a word against his policy. Mr. Coates, replying to Mr. H. E. Holland, said that Mr. Holland had asked about deportation of natives. Mr. Holland: I did not mention natives. It was Europeans. Mr. Coates: I want to tie you down to your questions. Mr. Holland: T have got you pretty well tied down.

SIR JOSEPH CARRUTHER'S VIEWS Mr. Anderson said much had been made of the statement of Sir Joseph Carruthers, but Sir Joseph had been only two days in Samoa. He had given praise for Samoa in an interview at Suva, but apparently he had changed his mind on his way to New Zealand. It would be Interesting to learn whom he travelled with. Many hours were occupied in the debate before the opponents of the Bill exhausted their enthusiasm on the general question and It was 2.40 a.m. before the House was divided on the first clause, the short title, which had been discussed* from 4 o’clock in the afternoon. By this time Mr. J. McCombs, Lyttelton, was drawing dramatic word pictures of Samoan slaves which he said were “hounded to death by the laws of New Zealand.” Other members were far too sleepy

to conceive anything so horrible. Mr. H. G. R. Mason, Eden, curled up comfortably in his seat, recorded his vote in the first division by the narrowest margin, a colleague waking him when everyone else had voted. Mr. E. J. Howard, Christchurch South, was very wakeful and talked his full privilege out in likening the Samoa Bill to cracking a peanut with a steam-hammer. The first clause was carried by 42 votes to 14, Mr. W. D. Lysnar, Gisborne, voting with Labour. After the first clause had been disposed of the Opposition’s amendments began to pour in. Mr. H. E. Holland sought to alter clause 2 to have an accused person required to appear before a justice of the High Court to answer the charge. NATIONALIST AMENDMENT Mr. G. W. Forbes, Nationalist Leader, moved an amendment providing for the appearance of an accused before the chief judge of the High Court, as well as the Administrator, or some other person appointed. Loud Government groans were heard as Mr. Lysnar talked merrily on seeking an intermediary between a charged person and the Administrator. The Hon. F. J. Ilolleston, Minister of Justice: What if the two disagree? Mr. Holland: And what happens in

Mr. Coates: 1 gave the Blouse an assurance that natives would not be deported from Samoa, but might be removed to another part of the islands. Mr. Lysnar: That is just as bad. Mr. Coates: In the old days they used to be sent 2,000 miles. Sir Maui Pomare: They would knock them on the head. Mr. Coates: Oh, I don’t go back that far. NECESSARY POWER The Prime Minister explained that the Government had desired to bring power of deportation and dealing with natives more into the hands of the Government itself, and later had decided tq bring it directly" before Parliament, to give the necessary power for the deportation of Europeans in certain circumstances. “My legal advisers say the ordinance is all right,” said Mr. Coates. Mr. Holland: Well, what is Sir George Richardson shouting about. The Prime Minister gave his assurance that anyone charged would be permitted to engage services of counsel. This Invited a storm of requests to have this provision entered in the Bill. When the Hon. G. J. Anderson, Minister of Labour, rose to speak at 12.45 the House woke up and sub jected him to a sharp fire of interjections, as he remarked that, now that Labour’s attitude toward the Samoa Bill had prevented the discussion of his own little Rent Restriction Bill for the time being, he did not mind how long the debate went on. It reminded him of the old days of stonewalls. The Leader of the Opposition protested strongly against the Minister’s statement that Labour’s attitude had prevented the Rent: Restriction Bill coming before the House. The Minister had misrepresented the position. Mr. P. Fraser: In a most caddish fashion. The Chairman of Committees, : Mr. F. F. Hockly: The hon. memt ber must not use that expression. Mr. Holland went on to say that It had never been Intended that the Minister’s bill should come on tonight as an arrangement had been made with the Government Whip. Surely when a Minister made such a - mistake he should express regret. If ' Ministers were going to take up that attitude they would find that Labour ■ would not agree to their proposals ; when Ministers came to them.

agree? The prisoner is simply not guilty. Mr. Rolleston: We have a Governor-General-in-Council exercising jurisdiction after the Administrator. Mr. Coates refused to insert a clause in the bill providing for counsel for accused persons. An amendment of Mr. Holland’s, giving deported persons the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of New Zealand suffered the same fate as other amendments and the House threatened to resolve itself a weary procession to the division lobbies, the Leader of the Opposition dividing the House relentlessly at every opportunity. On each occasion Labour was faithfully supported by Mr. Lysnar, who said at one stage, “This is not a party measure.’’ Mr. Coates destroyed this illusion. “This is a party measure,” he said. Mr. Lysnar: Well, if you have made it so, all right. A member: Someone else has made it so for us. It was close to 5 o’clock when the third reading speeches began, the debate dragging on till shortly after 7 o’clock when the measure was passed by 41 votes to 12. SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE SAMOA TAKING OF EVIDENCE (THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON. To-day. Nine members comprise the Select Committee which is to consider the petition submitted to Parliament by disaffected persons in Samoa. The personnel of the committee, which was set up by the House of Representatives to-day, is the Hon. W. Nosworthy, Minister of External Affairs, Sir Apirana Ngata, Messrs. G. W. Forbes, A. Hamilton, F. F. Hockly, H. E. Holland, E. J. Howard, E. P. Lee and J. Linklater. There was some discussion on the final clause of the motion, that if, after having' received the departmental report, the committee deems any further action necessary it shall refer the petition to the Administrator of Samoa for his report and comment, the committee to defer making its report until it has received a reply from the Administrator. Mr. H. E. Holland objected to this clause, as he thought it limited the evidence which the committee could take. The Prime Minister said it had been explained to him by the Government’s legal advisers that the procedure suggested was necessary. In order to comply with the terms of the mandate petitions must be referred to the Administrator for his report and comment. Mr. Holland: Has the committee the right to call evidence? The Prime Minister: Certainly. Its ; powers to call for papers and persons are not limited. The clause was then passed and another was added making it clesir that the committee had the power to call for persons and papers.