THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1906, 23 September 1884, Page 3

THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

Wl* were unable to publish the conclusion of the debate on the Budget, on Fud.iy night, in our SatuidayV issue. The following commentaiy fioin the pen of the Heiald's con espondent, will be le.id with inteiest : —l'Yid.iy night s deb.ite was ceitainly the best that has been made foi some yeais m the lloi'se, and those foitunate enough to be parent, who hlled eveiv inch of loom, he.ud thiee excellent speeches Of the thiee Mi Wakefield's undoubtedly took hi^t honotiis, while Majoi Atkinson made. i good -ecoiid, Sir Julius Vogol being thud. Mr Moss u>»e inoppoi timely on so great an occasion, and as his using was the signal foi the stampede that unfoitunately nearly always takes, place when the lion member gets up, he saw the incoiigiiuty he was committing, and s >on sat dow n. Even his opponents ,ue cons-hnined to admit that Mr Wakefield was m magnificent foim, and old menibcis asseit that it was the best speech he e\ei made in the House. He litcially seemed to electrify the audience, and for an houi and a-half he kept up the keenest inteiest, broken only by the fiequent loud laughtei. l£\en the Post giudgingly admits that he made a wonduiful display of oiataiy, and mercilessly exposed mmy weak points in the Financial Statement. Jt was a manellous flow of languagene\ei a pause, inner at a los> for a woul, admiiable in inflection; in facta peifeit .speech Tlio witheimg scorn witli winch he dealt with the petty taunts .it the late Piemiei contained in the Statement, and the \ciy poor jokes ,Sn Julttis had just made in his speech at Ma)oi Atkm-son'-i expense, w.is Lfiand, and his lidieul ing the sending of fioicu mutton and woollen cloth to the naked natives of the tiopicnl islands in the .sea, the name of which had only been used to siipplv a high-sounding woid, was delightfully funny. He made an allusion, too, to the Telephone Company's c\posuie which ewiyono saw, but which was to ) debcitely done to be complained of. Sir Julius had expiessed an opinion that Major Atkinson had dealt with some bonds not in the most jndiuou-. miun'i. " If,' said Mi Wakeduld, "the hou. geutleiH'in liimsulf li.id done nothing w.u's-e than tint m handling of bond-, ami debentmes he t< ould have a \eiy fan ipeord,'' and the buist of laughfei, and Sn Julius's uneasy ino\eire'its m his cha,u, showed that the hit had told. Peihaps, howevei, the happiest hit was when he onipaied Sii Julius to Paul Piy coming bustling in with " Oh ! I hope I don't intrude ; jus-t lo'il el in to day, off ngiin to inonow," utteied \oiy rapidly, with the appiopriate action, as of .1 fussy inteilopei, ■with an nmbiolLv undei his .urn, and suspicious of his welcome. It was capital. In hhoit, the speech was a mm el. It enchained the inti'tot of every hearer, and those piesent could have listened to it for liuhn longer, and the pleasuie of leHeetion on it since has only been nn\ed, both m the minds of friends and opponents with a, wish that the brilliant oiatoi had those qualities which would ensuie his chaiactei being liked and respected as much as his oratoiy is adinned Major Atkinson's, speech was cleai and incisive,v c, and Mistinct with a pei feet mastei y of the most minute facts onnected with his sub]ect. He was calm and fully self-possessed thioughout, without the faintest appioath to peison.ihfy or bad temper, despite the goading contained in the wording of the Statement. Piaise even is extorted from the Vmt That pipe's Vogelwor&hip is toned down sufficiently to allow of the statement that he " here ti led to be facetious-, when piavity would lie nioie in place." Othoi pi-ojjlo ha\es.ud that Sir i Julnis'h atteni])ts at facetiousiicss wpienieie vulgn pikes unuiiitliv of a statesman on such dti occasion. To show the quality of the humour, the my oldest of Joe Mdlerisms was used. On account of Sir Julius' deafness the Major, instead of saying " No," shook his head when the Treasurer was making one .statement, and was instantly met with the m"&t ancient of jests — "The lion, gentleman bhook his head, but there is nothing in that," but only a dozen or so, even of the Vogelites, could raise a smile once more at the venerable joke. Sir Julius ceitainly did not rise to the occasion, as his leputation would have led one to expect, for his hpeech would seem to show either that hib own case was bad, and his opponent's good, or that, as Mr Wakefield hinted, a great change has come over him since he was in the House formerly. Ceitainly, if in his speech on Friday he show ed many of the qualities of a statesman, it in much easier to be a statesman than many people suppose, and there are moie capable of statesmanship among us than could have been expected. Sii Julius ceitainly made one or two points, but, judged ever so leniently, a speech in which an able opponent is compared to a .scolding old woman, and in which the most hackneyed and threadbare of jokes is interpolated cannot be esteemed very highly. The Opposition certainly scored largely, and the Government but little on Eriday night, and as the Treasurer has made the utmost of his case the position now cannot be reversed, as the Government have no more facts, and no orator who could adequately put them if they had. Mr Stout may make a speech of some vigour, but we have aheady had all the cream of the debate, though possibly it may be prolonged several days by the smaller fry, who will endeavour to show some knowledge of finance and cognate subjects. It "» would seem that no tangible result as affecting the position of the Government ir likely to ensue, but the debate will give jresh emphasis to the fact that the Government continues in office only on sufferance, and that its tenure of the Government benches can only last while it pursues a simply; negative policy.

In the ruins of Pompeii the remains of a man with a satisfied smile on his face and four JaWsfraTpeain"his"'aned""up"h"and"~have' heen unearthed. The Workmen are now digging \away -vigorously for the other