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POLiTtOAL,
MET. - —
FM«JAaS£VfcTfiBY M9TES.
BY Skip" SHOT.
"When the Speaker, ui Ms modest" ropes,
Ook Hie chair, on Tfiesday afternoon j tfierw
Wasa good attendance of members. AH the -
newsmen were in their places, filed- with -a
Jeal to give effect to their recent- election
pledges, while one member, .who-a-.tvn.cate<i- a
System of payment by attein-ancs-s w as
fibsenu Some curiosity wasevinced lo learn
, how-tiie new Speaker would fill the'liighand
honorable -posit ion' ' to which members had
elevated him. Any concern as to the result
war soon dispelled, for Mr Bent filled the
phair as to the manner born. Certainly he
afforded opportunity for comparison with bis
predecessor, in whicti deductions were made
not- altogether in favor ofthe new- Speaker
bat? of -this Mr Bent coaldscarcely complain.
However, " the king is dead — long live the
king," and the new king may, as his friends
predict, prove a second-Peter Lai sr. When
the late Mr Lalbr- was elected to the chair,
be once gave a ruling thatwas questioned. A
Venturesome- member inquired, ' Whose
ruling is that; Mr Speaker," but he dropped
Into his seat as Mr Lai or sharply replied,
3 It is in v ruling." No more rulings were
questioned, and- it is- anticipated Mr Bent
wiU, at any rate, possess the same qualifica
tion of firmness.
Before the real interest of the day arose
the Government had to supply members with .
Information on various interesting and unin
teresting subjects. A list of fifteen ques
tions bad to be disposed of, an4 as mem
bers had promised their constituents" to ask
them, straight answers were required. Mr
Dow had to be informed that the circular
notifying that railway gatekeepers would in
future be charged 7s a week rent for their
cottages, had been withdrawn, andahouldn't
have.been. issued. He did not learn, how
ever, that the Government, believe the docu
ment lost them two seats at the. general
election, and cost one Minister the expense
of a contest when he anticipated' a walk
over.
Water for the M&llee was the demand of
tlie members for ttie dry region. The
MiuLier informed" Mr Taverner that tanks
will be put down, and as an afterthought, he
told Mr Madden provision will be made for
putting water in tb.etn.
Mr F. Stuart is to be the Protectionist
champion of the session, as Dr Maloney will
be the advocate of higher education for
street arabs. The member for East Mel
bourne wants a. thorough revision of the
tariff, or, failing that, an increased duty on
deal boards.
There are rocks ahead for Queensland. Mr
R. T. Vale has given notice of his intention
to pulverise the black labor movement, and
his glooiu will not disappear while a colored
jnan is likely to work in Bananaland. Dr
Maloney is backer up, and between the two
they will prevent any return to slavery.
The coinage of silver is a coming question.
Why the Melbourne Mint is not allowed to
coin this metal is scarcely understood, but
the Government yesterday assured Mr
Stuart that the Agent- Ageneral has an eye
en the matter.
How much has been spent on irrigation
and water supply works in Victoria ? The
figures given to Mr Madden by Mr
Graham yesterday showed that the amount
expended on water supply works- prior to
1881 was- L644,828; and on domestic and
stock supply .since-' then, L728,000, while
since 1SS6 the amount invested in irrigation
works was L724.784.
Facts were rather dreary, and it only
required Dr. L. L. Smith to make inquiries
about the Frankston Cemetery to emphasise
the gloom of the Chamber.
It was hoped the Railway Commissioners'
case would afford some relief, but even that
diversion could not lift members out of their
Btate of apathetic despondency.
Members did temporarily prick up their
ears as the Clerk presented to Parliament
the report on the suspension of the Railway
Commissioners. They quickly recognised,
however, that ike document was a - conden
sation and repetition of old statements, and
reaUv contained very little new matter.
Mr Levien resumed the debate on the ad
dress in reply, and in scathing terms
attacked the Government policy; He
frankly stated he would not move an amend
ment, probably because he did not want to
be Premier so soon, but at the same time
intimated bis determination to overhaul Mr
Shiels and his political ways. This he. did
in a lively manner, but the Premier looked
quite pleased.
The 'first Government act that received
the attention of the Member for Barwon was
the construction of the Donald to Wirritft-
berchip and Warrackuabeal to Gal&quil.
The earth- works of these lines were under
taken in order to provide employment for the
eor of Melbourne, but Mr Levien con
demned the whole, proceeding as unconsti
tutional, he maintained that -such a course
was a danger to the institutions of Govern
ment.
On the suspension "of the Railway Com
missioners Mr Levien utterly opposed ttie-
action of the Government as< harsh ami '
illegal. According to bis view Mr Speight
is: a genius ; a bora railway manager;
and it is mere presumption for
anyone in or out- of the Govern
ment to criticise him or his methods.
" It is absurd, to say any thing against Mr-.
Speight." joyfully . exclaimed the honorable
member, and as he left the subject he felt
quite certain that he had secured the re-in-
statement of the Commissioners and the dis
missal of the Government.
Mr Levien says there are no curled darl
ings." m the Public Service, and he yester
day maintained that the increments and
salaries of those in the service of the State
should not be touched. He had a "hit -at
members themselves, by pointing out that
under the Government proposals they would
lose LI 1 a year, and the poor fourth-class-
clerk L53.
While dealing with the proposed retrench
ment Mr Levien got on to delicate ground.
He spoke with an attempt at discretion,
but plainly asked why should the salaries
of the Governor and Supreme Court judges
remain untouched ? This pointed question
brought an approving "hear hear" from Mr
£ Carter, but the House remained dis-
creetly silen fc. Spare -us-our idols, thought
those who were astounded , at. this outbreak
of the Barwon icouoclasjt
If salaries are to be reduced, why not dock
the peusions ? This problem is one that Mr
Levien debited to have solved: He drew a
picture of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy sporting
round-ami baviug'W real good rim ©in the old
country white di awing annually 1000 : bright
so vereignsf i >m the Victorian Treasury.-
Mr W. T; Garter followed from the Go-
' veromeut- om-er, and. warmly opposed the
retieueiiuiu . policy .of the Cabinet, .although
supporting the suspension- of. the Commis
sioners.
Mr Harper rose in an expectant House,
and sagely informed members that there was
nothing ia the Governor's speech ; it' was a
thing of padding. He then" proceeded to
walk through it, -and: then pronounced the
document a- thing of thin- air. Thin-
air with the padding in is very
good-; bat Mr Harper regretted the
speech did- not formally announce the
Ministerial changes that have transpired
since the close of last session. Had a list of
the Government headed the speech the mem
ber for East'Bdurke would have been happy,
although deprived" of one of the best
points of his attack. He congratulated
the Premier upon possess ng audacity
of the right sort — audacity that
brings success. The remark was an
unfortunate one, as the sequel will show.
Then the policy of railway construction with
out the authority of Parliament, and the
suspension of the Railway Commissioners
challenged attention, and each found a
sturdy opponent in Mr Harper.
Two matters in the charge against' the
Government were that the Cabinet stole the
Country Party's programme", and madea, bad
selection of polling day. He regarded the ;
latter as a discreditable electioneering
dodge; -
Mr Trenwith followed, and in an incisive
speech gave the Government a hearty sup
port. He twitted the previous speaker with
having been many years in Parliament with
out having the opportunity of inspir
ing a Governor's speech, The inference
being that his audacity was not the
variety that" brings success. The Member
for Richmond grew painfully pathetic ou the
subject of railway works for the unemployed,
and in dealing with the subject, charged Mr
Harper with smiling at the distress of
starving womenand children.
Mr Dow regards the present administra
tion as the lightning-change Government,
and says he teels uncertain as to who
was Premier the day before yesterday, or
who will be at the head of the Government a
week hence. ' ' This kaleidoscopic system of
Government" is rather puzzling to the
member for Kara Kara-, who is worrying
round to find out how the- Cabinet was- re
constructed. A member cruelly interjected
with reference to the dismissal of Mr
Nimmo from a Government with
which Mr Dow was connected. The
hit told, but the wire-netting Minister
stuck to his text. He wasn't very serious,
but succeeded in being extremely entertain
ing.
In the opinion of Mr Dow; if the Gillies-
Deakin Government were in power now
there would be a boom on.- " A Premier
Permanent boom," some one unkindly sug
gested, but Kara Kara explained he meant a
financial and political boom. This tickled hon
members, and Mr Dow then continued
being humorous, meandering for half-an-hour
and gave the House a touch of politics up to
date. In this way he did succeed in causing
a safety "boom."
The Labor leaders were roughly handled
by Mr Dow, who concluded by saying he did
not mean anything offensive. He regards
the present Libor members as " white men,"
but his platform- is anti-Trades Hall. He
stock up that old wooden bogey, and, having,
knocked it down several times, he stopped to
draw breath, and then charged Mr Trenwith
with weeping. Mr Trenwith said " Hear,"
and showed a willingness to at all time drop
a tear for the hungry and wretched.
Sir Bryan O'Loghien made the first refer
ence to the exploded subject of " one-man-
one- vote," but he soon got on to other sub
jects; The member for Port Fairy upheld
the action of the Government in undertaking
railway construction to provide wark for the
unemployed.
The debate was adjourned on the motion
of Mr Salmon, and the House rose.
It does appear strange to say a Government,
with" a fuliowiner of 65 out ot a house of 95, is
shaky: That is a large majority, but then1
majorities are uncertain. There is too much1
'corner and too many wobblers" in the pre
sent Housefor the Government to feelunwisely
safe, and the eye of the Premier is on his
"supporters. " The whole of the present trouble
is about the Stock Tax, the one thing that a
majority in the Assembly is really in earnest
, about. The Country Party demanded that a
heavy tax should be put on at once, and on
Tuesday evening. they sent their ultimatum to
the Government. A Ministerial canciis
decided to support1 the Government in '
carrying out its policy in the' order: decided
upon in Cabinet. Of course, this reply meant-
the Country Party would have to consider its
position, and burdened with the possibilities of
such "a situation, the House resumed duty"
on Wednesdays
During- the wearisome time devoted- to ques
tions a little interesting, information was«
obtained relative to the deposed and t bo-
deputy commissioners. Now, it has been
generally supnosed that the ex eomhnssioners'
sari rice- stopped on thb- day- of' fcbeir
suspension: but Mr Graves learned - they
are still drawing. the full amount. It was-
thought, perhaps, the deputies divided L6000
a year ; but these unfortunate, though
patriotic, gentfertren, it appears, get nothing,
.As Mr Wheeler informed Mr Staughton, no
arrangement -has been made to. reward Messrs
Francis Kibble and Co, far their services.
When Ministers bad unallotted portfolios they
did better than that by ' whacking Up" the odd
salaries. Now these screws might have been
given to the deputies; and 'Ministers have
demonstrated their earnestness in the cause of
economy,
Should Mr Allison Smith be suspended ?
Mr W. T; Carter says Yes, and he is pre
pared to find the rope. Mr Salmon is also un
friendly towards the loco, superintendent, and
lie on W ednesday expressed the opinion t hat Mr
Smith is as bad as Mr Speight. The House,
however, is tired of indefinite charges against
public officeis, so the gentleman referred to
escaped with these mindr attentions.
Mr Salmon, - the sliGsea of Port Melbourne,
s.
resumed -the debate on- the H
He i«,a new member, aud mnurally vvan ,
expt'iience, twit it must be ad u;ltu?, 2 !
gjod'appearanc", and a voice xhat canbe
HiksttW-isa' trifle h'-a\-v, avid it
tekeadiiufc, Mr Salmon wiU avoid
These exir&vaganees of Kpeeeh nly get
heariy, inexperienced, man into di mciu e-.
In the member for the Fort the yei
has a supportor of th old and thorough
and" not a half-hearted ' Cornertte. "-e ,
, provt-d of all the Government p'Aipijstd v> o»
and begged the Opposition, if subiuixtti g a oo.
confidt-uce nmtion, to tr;me it so tna. evciyo
would have to vote against it. , _
Sir Henry ty tlx m -rose; and the bum of co -
versatitm at onee ceased. The raetnbw o
Portland never fails to secure a.gooa House,
and last night be was entitled to every atten
tion that hon. members could Pay v5 «
thoughtful and graceful oration. H«<bd start
by pay ing a doubtful compliment to Mroaimon
.by: stating he would not traverse details
of the Port Mebournite's speech, but Mr c»iino
wxs pleased to have a hearty welcome to tne
Chamber. Sir Henry al- o expressed -a doubt
ing. hope that the newcomer'a pi Jitical ideals
would' in some degree be realised , but, tms
badinage over, he settled down to a careiul
consideration of the Governor's speech.
In "the opinion, of Sir Henry r
Isaacs is a gr-iat acquisition td the Chamber,
and tlie country would be saved 'if the- electors
would oniy return a sufficient number of tne
same learned, profession. Certainly. Sir Henry
Wrixon and Mr Isaacs must remain powers m
debate, but the House with one voice has ex
claimed, "Too many lawyers in Parliament
already."
This is a time above all others when party
strife should, be avoided in order to honeatly
deal with issues of great national importance.
While Sir Henry Wrixon admits there is
national work to perform, be considers Her
Majesty's Opposition should fairly but
thoroughly criticise the Government pro
posals.
He holds there should have been some refer
ence to the reconstruction of the Cabinetin the
V ice-regal speech. There may be some unhappy
or unfortunate cause for the omission lurking
in the background, and the learned gentleman
would like to know that all is right, fair, square
and above board. The reconstruction of a
Cabinet Is at at ail times a difficult and un
pleasant operation. This has been seen in the
past, and Sir Henry Wrixon has reason to
suppose there have been the usual experiences
in connection with the Shiels Government be
fore it reached its present state of complete
ness.
A man is known by the company he keeps.
Sir Henry Wrixon in saying this inferred the
Premier had not wisely chosen hi; companions
on the occasion of the Castercon speech. Mr
Trenwith was there to give an approving nod
to the serious utterances, and Dr. Maloney to
interject an airy " Hear, hear15 when anything
particularly, new or startling was hurled at
the audience. These little incidents did not
escape notice, and that is whj' the crusade was
1 entered upon against one-man-one-vote. _ Some
members do suggest that the suspension of
the Railway Commissioners was the Minis
terial counterblast.
The lesson of the elections is that the people
want national, and not party. Government.
This- Sir Henry Wrixon siout-ly maintains;
but, granting his deduction, are the ins or the
ouis the possessors of the "national" qualifi
cation?
The present depression, in his opinion, is due
to a. cause of slow growth. There are the con
struction of railways direct to other shipping
ports than Melbourne, the encjuragem en t of the
fruiti wine and other industries uf the soil, to;
gether with the settlement of the people on the
lands of toe colony. This i= admittedly
national Government, and the proposals have
bepn pretty well embodied in the programme
transferred to the Government by the Couutiy
Pari#.
Village settlement is a subject that the
learned member -considers must be cautiously
dealt with. We are forced by a crisis through
the people being drawn off the land, and they
must be got back from the cities to the
country s
Sir Henry Wrixon resumed his spat without
dealing with the suspension ot the Commis
sioners, stating he would debate that matter
at the right time.
Mr D- akin followed, ami announced a
similar intention; He was rather puzzled by
what, had occurred during- the recess, and
wanted to leuow more about the moving inci
dents by the political flood and field.
This is, in the opinion of Mr Deakin, ihe
third Government since the House rose. There
was the Munro Government, the Newspaper
interregnum (a shot at his old friend), and th a
present Government. A little later he put the
case more concisely, and announc- d the three -
Governments as follow : —
1. The -Munro Government.
2. The Shiels Interregnum Cabinet.
3. The Berry-Zeal Administration.
A little of the personal jealousy that has
always existed between Messrs Shiels aud
Deak in crept in. Mr Deakin thus ignored the
Premier, but the latter, having at present the
bigger end of the sties, only smiled.
The Shiels or No. 2 Government, according -
to Mr Deakin, was the Mnnro Government
with a minus sign. In the next breath" he
stated the great' Casterton speech was " all- .
embracing as the air and mixed m its
metaphors." Such criticism from the pro
lix and metaphorical member rather tickled his
old colleagues, who. had cause to remember
"The parting of the ways."
The appointment of Me Munro w&s a crime
against the country That was astrong ex
pression of opinion, but Mr Deafem threatened
tog© into awful and startling details if pressed.
The Munro Government deprived the Gillies-
Deakin Government ot power," probably"
another crim®:
. Mr M'Kenzie, who speaks under the disad
vantage of defective -eyesight, almost amount-
ing to blindness, had a kindly and patient
hearing, but he did not detain the House long.
He approved ©f " the stock tax," but said "he
would oppose a« income tax;
Mr C ampbell pro veda eturdy oppositioniet;
and he intends -bo (five the Government tome-
hard knocks. He. was surprised that Sir
Graham B rry, who was not good enough for
Agetit-Geueral/fcad been called in to get the "
Cabinet on its' feets. This - did- sound"
awkward, but funnier events occur In politics,
as Mr Campbell -is aware.
After a little talk between . the Premier
and Leader of the Opposition, the former
notified that the suspension of the Commis
sioners would be dealt with on Wednesday-
next.
The Stock Tax difficulty was "then brought
li. Mr M 'In tyre gave notice of motion
<4Ttiat in the opinion of this House the Stock
Tax should ba dealt with immediately after
the debate on the Address in Reply;-"
It was only a private member's motion in
that form, and not a no confidence motion.
but for that reason the more awkward. The
Government would prefer a no confidence
motion — so they say. The House
eventually howled, at Ms MTutyre, and
Mr Shiels told, him to withdraw, aa the
..jnotipn would go, out of sigh tmoiypit others
tabled by private member?. The nriiiiber
Mdfdon saw the mistake he hari tnad, ami
wii bdrew; to tfce great ehtfgiinof >
.Afser. a- chat about the unemployed the
House, -having nothing else to do. adjourned
until" Wednt silav n« xr, when' the snspetJQetl
Gbtnm>Rsionf rs will occupy the bbacds;
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