Mr. Speaker

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 774, 21 September 1929, Page 1

Mr. Speaker

Session Queries and Asides

(THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Friday. Altogether today was very disappointing in the House of Representatives; it was a worthy end to a dull week. When on Estimates members show an inclination to wander hither and thither among the fields of verbiage, stopping here and there to pluck a wild flower on one subject, or to make a daisy chain on another. When one has the estimates of a department followed by the annual report of the same department the discussions have a tendency to go along tho same lines. They might dc ruled out of order, in fact, on the ground of unnecessary repetition.

There were one or two bright spots in the business of the week, but these w T ere few and far between. Estimates at the best occupy a lot of time, but under the new Standing Orders they seem to be occupying much more time than is necessary. The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, uttered a threat when he told members that on the progress of the debates on the Estimates his decision to move a suspension of the Standing Orders (that was his intention, though not stated) would rest. Members accelerated noticeably, ter the 5.30 adjournment on Fridays is a popular institution.

Although it is believed that no word went forth among the clans, the members of the Government party were very silent on their benches today, and the talk was left to the Opposition and the Labour Party. One member of the United Party, Mr. R. W. Hawke, only spoke during the morning.

Mr. Martin Speaks Up There was quite a brisk interlude when Mr. W. L. Martin (Raglan) reproved Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central) for rising to a point of order and protesting against the waste of time in debating such subjects as the moonshine elixir that comes from the fastnesses of Hokonui (Southland). In protesting against waste of time, claimed Mr. Martin, Mr. Fraser himself was wasting time, and the member for Raglan interjected to this effect with reddening face and rising temper during Mr. Fraser’s speech. When the Wellington member resumed his seat he went over to Mr. Martin to see exactly what was what. He did mogt of the talking, however. Both Labour and other members were appreciative of the outburst of Mr. Martin. * • • Overcrowded Mental Hospitals A hint of coming legislation was given by the Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, during the debate on the Health Department estimates. He said that in a day or two a Bill would be brought down to give relief to the overcrowded conditions in the mental hospitals in New Zealand. • * * Not a Punter Does the Public Service Commissioner know anything about printing? Mr. C. H. Chapman (Wellington North) says that he doesn’t. In the discussion on the Estimates of the Printing and Stationery Department he suggested that the Public Service Commissioner did not know anything about printing, and that he should not have control of the Government printing office. He could not judge of the capabilities of men for promotion. Another point was that the accountant of the office should have gone through the mill of printing himself. * * • Literary Mr. J. S. Fletcher (Grey Lynn) nas the gift of apt quotation, and he is the only member of the House who utilises his reading of the poets to good advantage. He is a special lover of Browning, and many lines of the poet’s work fall on unheeding ears. Then he has used Goldsmith to good effect, and Rudyard Kipling is one of the representatives of the moderns in Mr. Fletcher’s gallery of quotations. Women Police Although he will not appoint women police as, under the Act, they cannot 1 carry out the oath, the Minister of 1 Justice, the Hon. T. M. Wilford, is ! quite willing to appoint women : patrols. That was what he told the Leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. ' J. G. Coates, today. Mr. Wilford, however, said that women’s organisations had refused to have anything but women police. Sheep-stealing Evil In reply to suggestions that police with special qualifications should combat the sheep-stealing evil, the Minister of Justice, the Hon. T. M. Wilford, said today that he believed there was a master mind behind the thefts, and that big men were operi ating in various districts.