THE SPEAKER AND THE M.P. BULLIES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1663, 22 November 1887, Page 3

THE SPEAKER AND THE M.P. BULLIES.

The new Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assambly has entered upon his duties under anything but pleasant auspices. The circumstances attending his taking the chair for the first time are thus described by the Melbourne correspondent of the Otago Daily Times:—Mr Matthew Henry Davies, the new Speaker, only gained his election by a single vote; though the majority ought to have been three, for his two opponents, Messrs Bent and Cooper, remained in the House and voted. Mr Davies took the more dignified course of walking out before the voting. It would be difficult to describe the personal feeling aroused by the election. One requires to be amongst the members to appreciate it. Accusations of breaking pledges have been very numerous. And the wrath showered on the head, for instance, of one who, having pledged himself to Mr Cooper, yet refused to vote against Mr Davies and walked out, may be imagined. There is no doubt the most suitable of the three candidates won. Mr Davies is a Yictorian native, a rich man, President of the Young Men's Christian Association, and one of the proprietors of the religious daily paper the Daily Telegraph. The scene after the 'election in the House, when Mr Davies took the chair for the first time, was of a most disgraceful kind. It was not an uproarious scene, but there was a brutal display of personal pique and disgusting manners. Mr Graunson has been accused of " hellish malice," and it was an exhibition of that quality which led him to speak of Mr Davies as he did. He said: " Personally, Mr Speaker, I have no ill-will towards you, but I regard it as a monstrous shame that you should be allowed to hold that position. I regard it as an insult to the House and to the country, but personally, beyond the miserable ambition which tempts you to grasp the position with the influence of wealth, I have no illfeeling towards you. I would say it with the heartiest shake of the hands, but I would be wanting in my duty to the country did I not point out that you have usurped a seat which, in my humble judgment, you are thoroughly unfitted'for." Mr M'Lellan also unburdened himself in something the same way. He said Mr Davies had no claim to the position, except that he had been able to snatch a little filthy lucre. " I know," he continued, " that the Premier differs from me. I know exactly the estimation he held you in seven years ago, and I know that whatever may be his views concerning you now, seven years back he would not have touched you, Mr Speaker, with the point of his boot." Mr Davies, be it remembered, was in his newly-elected seat listening to this personal abuse. It was worthy only of an assemblage of pickpockets, who, according to the popular saying, can abuse each other nearly as effectively as fishwives.