A Breeze in Parliament.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 103, 17 September 1901, Page 1

A Breeze in Parliament.

On Friday, during the debate on th« Finaooial Statement, Mr James AH«« ■aid that ho had a statement to mako wbioh as would have made in his speech on tha financial debat*, bat the Premier was absent, and he wished to make the statement to tho Premier's face. He said that the Premier had ordered the Tagns to go fcom A'bsny to Dunedini and the men to Inverctrgill, against the advice of the mo lic»l offio r that the men shOJll ait bs brought to New Zealand by a cold route. The condition of the man mad» the j mrnsy by'a cold route dange»oas, but the Premier, because for political reasons he would not offend the prople of luvercarail'i gave instructions tha'. the contingent* must go there, and he must rake the responsibility. Since the arrival of the Contingent*, several men had died, and he asked who waff responsible for thav ? The Premier explained that the Admiralty had decided that the Tagus should not go to Bluff harbour on account of alleged dangers. Every man who had gone to luvercargill had done to-with the sanction of a doctor and the officer commanding.. Hal the medical men said one word about it being unwise to go to invercnrgill, be (the Premier) would have been ths last men to say that they should goSir Joseph Ward characterised Mr Allen's statement as one of the most out*, ragnous he hid ever heard in the House. The. Premier did not want to disappoint the people of Inve^cargill,after.the great preparations they had made to receive the Contingents, but not one of the men had landed without a certificate that he was fit to land. Had there been any foundation for Mr Allen's charge, it would have bncn heard of before. He had practically charged the Premier with being responsible for the deaths of four or five men. The Premier then read correspondence from the Agent-General, showing that the Admiralty hud declined to permit the Tagus to go to the Bluff, as that port was not safe. There w>s a desire that the Contingents should be sent to the southern port, and he had, therefore, consented to their being sent there from Dunedin. Mr J,' Allen read extracts from Hansard, showing that he had repeatedly referred to the question connected with the use of the Contingents for political purposes, which he had intended to make, but would not make until tha Premier was present. Mr Allan said that a telegram had been received from tie medical officer at Albany, advising that the troopers should not go to New Zealand by a cold route. The Premier said that no such message had been received. Mr Allen asked for a {air enquiry Int* the whole matter. The Premier said that the member for Bruce founded a oharge of the gravest possible kind on a telegram he had never seen, and asked for a fair enquiry into the muter standing upon suoh a founda* tion. He (the Premier) denied that he had ever sought to make political eapital out of - the Contingents, and exclaimed that he hid tried to act for the best for the oolony and the troopers themselves.

Mr Mas«ey suggested that a cOtttrftilte® of enquiry bn sob up to enquire, into the matter and report to Parlia* menti Mr McNab, referring to the tifoOpSfl who bad died, said that he did not think there Was one instance in which thert was any reason for supposing that the result would have been any different if the men had landed in the north. Mr Carncross, Mr Barclay, and Mf Hanan etrong'y deprecated charges each a serious nature being mads Oil hearsay evidence. Mr A. L. D. Fraser referred to th®; Premier’s kindness to the returnee! troopers, and advised Mr Allen to with* draw his statement. After further discussion the FreUiier ■aid that Mr Allen dare not say. Outside the House what he had said inside. Mr Allen said that he claimed a tho* rough enquiry, and if he was proved to be wrong he would apologise to the House and the Premier. Sir Joseph Ward pointed but that the weather was cold all over the colony when the Tatrus men returned, and even if they had landed at Wellington thb same kind of weather would have been expert* enced. Af.er further discussion the Premier read a cablegram from Lieutenant-CoI» onel Davies, in which he said “Dr Thomas, P.M-0., officially notifies very unwise to expose troops been through Bfira, Cold Voyage to Bluff, also on account of sickness on board at present, strongly recommends port of arrival should.be'changed.” That wa s the only communication he had received The ship did rot go to the Bluff. Bh© went to Port Ohal inert. Mr Mas«ey: That bears Out ovary Word Mr Allen h»s said. The Premier went Oh to say that aft that time there was only a difference ©? eight degrees between Dunedin and Wellington, ftr DelantOdr reported tO him that the pneumonia waS CaUied by overcrowding. He had, he declared, never heard any complaint la, regard to this matter except from Mr Allen./„ After the telegraphofflce closed on Sat* tirday morning, the diioaulpn npdtf the statement of Mr James Allen Jn regard to the Tngue troopers, was continued. Daring the debate Mr Alien read front his Hansard proof to fallow what he had Stated at first w to. tbe

responsibility for the sacrifice of the liw* of tome] of the men who cam* by 'the Tagas. The Premier mOTed that the words be taken down, remarking that he wanted jto give Mr Allen an opportunity to with* draw them. Mr Allen banded his Hansard, proof to the acting-chairman (Major Steward), and after a long discussion the oommittee adjourned in order to enable the parties interested to come to an understanding as to what the Premier objected to, and in what way Mr Allen was prepared to modify his statement. Upon resuming the Premier withdrew his motion. Mr Allen said he would withdraw the following portion of his speech t " Since that ship (the Tagus) lefb Albany five or six of these men were dead. Whose was che responsibility ? The Premier; was afraid to offend the people of Invercargill, even though to please them be had to sacrifice the lives of min who had been serving their country. The hon. gentle man had taken the responsibility of the lives of these men uprm his own shoulders, and had the ressonsibility of all the sickness and breakdown in health of all theso men by sending them by a cold route." He would modify another phrase to this: "He (Mr Beddon) would, have to answer to the House and the oountry for declining to acceptjtheladvice giveu by the doctor," and would withdraw the statement that " These men had been sacrificed to political exigenoits."