SCENE IN PARLIAMEMT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 80, 21 August 1912, Page 6

SCENE IN PARLIAMEMT

j THE SPEAKERS 'TROY ifAKI)/. "; ! Auckland, August IS.. - ! Tlie Mayu.r .of. Auckland-, (Mr.-0,-J. Parr), during his recent stay in Sydney,, was . vastly • amused,- though a-" little .shocked.. at> scenes he witnessed-in the. jParliament of New South Wales. DeI scribing Home of the incidents, lie -said: j "The proceeding* verged, from burlesque to tragedy. Mr. Speaker Willi's |was in the-cliair. Last-year it was quite '< ia common thing, for former Liberal associates to be removed by his order'. lOn one occasion it required'a body of 30 ;policemen to eject half-a-doy.eil members from the House. On that occasion oriel I member, while struggling with three burly policemen,' threw a water bottle' at the Speaker's head. The bottle missiedits mark 'by half an inch, otherwise it is probaWc that there would have, been an end of Mr. Speaker: 1 expected that after the interval'of rest afforded the! Speaker during the recess, he would have' met the House in milder mood, but with the first work of the session J found on ,my visit to the House that he was again disposed to exercise his inflexible determination to maintain what he calls order. The Leader of the Opposition put a question us to three clerks in Parliament House who had been summarily suspended by the Speaker, much to the disgust of a number of Parliamentarians. The question was an awkward one for the Speaker, so he neatly parried' what was really ;iu attack on him by informing the lion, gentleman that tlie matter was in the Premiers Department, and he therefor.- could not allow the question, to be put, to the Attorney-General. The subtleness of the reply may be judged by the fact that the Premier was away from the House at tlie time. '•Something, however, happened. The Premier a few minutes later unexpectedly entered the House. Immediately the Lead-r of the Opposition rose again and put til,- question, and interesting revelations were expected. 'There fs a rule that an lion, member cannot ask the same question twice,' declared the .Speaker. 'T rule him out of order. 'But ' said the Leader of the Opposition. 'Sir,' said the Speaker, 'you are most disorderly. H you repeat your conduct I shall have you removed.' "Mr. Wood, who has more than once crossed swords with the Speaker, also asked an awkward question. I| o was peremptorily ruled out of order. On making a protest he was ordered to resume his seat under penalty of ejection.'

Mr. Wood sat down, tout the Speaker observed that his lips moved. 'Sir, said tlic Speaker, 'you are trifling with me. If you do not immediately desist you shall be severely dealt with.'' Mr. Wood's lips promptly ceased to move, and he became like a graven image. "Can it be wondered at," Mr. Parr concluded, ''that with such scenes almost nightly taking place, Parliament House is looked upon by the public as a more entertaining place than the theatres, and that the galleries are thronged there as never before?"