THE PREMIER GETS ANGRY.

Taihape Daily Times, 16 April 1918, Page 4

THE PREMIER GETS ANGRY.

A most regrettable scene occurred in Parliament on last Saturday morning, when the man who above all others should' have maintained dignified selfpossession lost his temper and was made to say that Which utmost -efforts of various Members had fruitlessly been trying to get from him. At no tihle in the ’of New Zealand has a'Parliament been so unruly and aggressively militant; at no time has there been such rapid succession of revolts against the methods of control, and at no time has the time of Parliament and the money of taxpayers been ,so ruthlessly wasted. Leaders of the House have from time to time assured the people that the present Parliament is the equal of any that have previously been elected; then where are the people to look for the cause of the oft recurring regrettable and degrading scenes? No one can doubt that Parliament has been treated by Ministers as something for them to make use of; Members have been tantalised and bated on occasions when quite reasonable requests have been made for information and this has been the cause of much of the trouble, as it was of that which occurred On Saturday. That the information asked for was reasonable is proved by the fact that Mr. Massey in a fit of temper gave the information and the trouble ended. There arc, it is reasonable to assume, men in the House who are much more concerned about the welfare of second division men’s wives and families that are to be left to the mercy of the Government than they arc about Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward going to England. Bat Mr. Massey did not seem to realise this, nothing approaches in importance that which he is personally concerned in. He was not concerned about second division men but he was about his visit to England. However, tho information was forthcoming, backed by a statement from Mr., Wilford and the House again settled down to business. One most apropos statement was made by Mr. Massey, that was, that the present session was called for a special purpose. There is evidence that some Members are disinclined to realise’ that fact. The session was called to transact important business so that turn leaders of the House might proceed to England, and it was quite proper that Ministers and Members should resent extraneous and unimportant matters being introduced We must, however, realise that the urgent call fox more men, by which Ministers were compelled to consult Pailiament, and the earlier calling up of second division reservists, rendered it quite reasonable that Members should enquire what provision the Government was going to make for wives and families left behind in New Zealand. Dr. Thacker is a red rag to Mr. Massey, but other Members wanted the information asked for, -who were convinced by past experience that the welfare of wdves and families was equal in importance to the putting of their husbands into camp. The termination of tho scene showed clearly that had the Premier given the information coolly which he blurted out in a fit of temper unseemly proceedings might have been avoided.