PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 273, 19 November 1887, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

(BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Wellington, this day.

New Petitions from Auckland. The following petitions from Auckland were presented yesterday: From Thos. Thwaites, for compensation for service s rendered by and injuries received when in the Naval Corps in Auckland.

Petition of 2,702 inhabitants of the provincial district of Auckland that in the construction of the North Island Trunk Railway such deviation may ba made as will connect the Government railway at Stratford (Grey).

Petition of 378 inhabitants of the provincial district of Auckland, that Hoera Te Mimiha and Hone Koraneho may be allowed to prove their innocence. Reports on Auckland Petitions. The Petitions Committee reported as follows :—Denis Murphy, previous report affirmed that petitioner has no claim. Joseph Hogan, no recommendation to make. E. L. Clark, no recommendation to make. John Neal and other homestead settlers, Otonga and Opuawhanga, for same privilege of digging gum in Puhipihi bush as village settlers ; referred to Government for consideration. George Thompson, of Waikato, asking for inquiry into the committal of his children to an industrial school; no recommendation. James Gill, no claim. A Monday Night Sitting. The House has agreed to sit on Monday night, in order to dispose of some of the local Bills on the order paper. The Premier, in submitting the motion in that direction, beseeched members in charge of_ such measures to only occupy reasonable time in bringing them before tho House, and hinted that after next week it would be necessary to take private members' days for the transaction of Government business Taxing the Totalisator. The resolution moved in this direction by the Hon. R. Hart was adopted by the Legislative Council after debate. After viewing the position of tho colony's finances at great length Mr Hart argued that it a choice were put to the public whether they would raise money _to meet their necessities by reducing the Civil servants' salaries or taxing tho investments in the totalisator, they would certainly elect to take the latter course. It was urged that it was immoral for the State to profit by the use of a gambling instrument. In reply it was said that a Stato which raised revenue by the licensing of places for the sale of intoxicants, which brought people to such a state that they had to be placed under police protection, need not bo meally-mouthed in adopting his present proposal. The Attorncy-Generalopposedtho motion. He was not aware that gambling was taxed in any English-speaking country, and if a beginning were now made it would probably come ultimately to a system of licensing gambling houses. Tho Hon. Mr Shrimski supported the propojal that a small percentage, say two per cent., should be deducted from the commissions received by tho Racing Clubs for tho use of tho totalisator ana devoted to charitable purposes. It would materially benefit the community, while the Clubs themselves wero not likoly to object to it. The total sum passed through tho totalisator in the colony during last year was £509,602. Tho motion was carried on a division by 18 to 16.

Non-political Railway Boards. The new Railway Bill will be finally before Cabinet either to-day or on Monday. Mr Mitchdson considor3 that management by a board of experts will work admirably, but thinks that there should bo a commercial board of advice located in Wellington. This he intends to propose in the Cabinet, and it may perhaps be incorporated in the Bill. The Premier said in the Hou?o yesterday that if the House passed the Railway Bill, the railways would not continue to remain under the management of Mr Maxwell, bub would bo managed by anon-political board. New Bills. The Minister for Mines has been good enough to explain to me tho object of the two measures introduced by him yesterday. Tho Sale of Reserves Bill merely gives the Government power to deal with certain reserves seb apart for purposes of public utility, bub which, without special authority, they have no power to deal with. Tho Mines Act Amendment Bill proposes some technical amendments which have been found necessary in tho Mines Act of last year. Medical Fees. The Premier would not adopt the suggestion of Mr Duncan that the Government should tako steps by bill to regulate and lessen the fees now charged by medical men, so as to make their services more within the reach of poorer colonists. Ho says it would be impossible for the Government to interfere in such a matter, that tho Hospitals and Charitable Boards are tho proper bodies to assist such people. Hβ also says that at present many medical men give a large amount of time to poor persons free of charge. The Totalisator In Danger. The Government decline to consider the advisability of collecting a tax on theatrical and totalisator tickets. The Premier says he looks forward to tho day when the totalieator will be abolished altogether, and men could have a day's amusement without risking something. He did not see why the two things should be inseparable. The Apostle of Protection Baffled. Another futile attempt to get the Governmenb committed to a protective tariff was made by Mr Moss yesterday afternoon. Seeing that they have agreed to _ the appointment of last session's Committee for : taking evidence re. encouragement to local industries, Mr Moss suggested that this should consist of free traders, while a Royal Commission might be appointed to consider how the tariff can beat be revised in the direction of affording protection to manufacturers, so that the House might then be able to decide which is the most advantageous policy to pursue. The Premier said that the Government had no intention of appointing such a Commission as tjhat proposed. They were satisfied that from the information which they already possessed they would be able to satisfy all sections of the House with a reasonable tariff. Should the Government find that they could not obtain the necessary information without a Royal Commission they would, during the recess, take the responsibility of appointing one. Sir Julius Attacks the Government. Sir Julius Vogel having been informed by the Premier yesterday afternoon that Government saw no necessity for circulating their policy bills till the Financial Statement was disposed of, he proceeded, to complain of the great waste of time to which the action of the Government was subjecting the House. He said that the Premier was pursuing his old tactics which had been so justly reprobated by the colony, of carrying on the government of the colony by intrigues outside of the House. Members had no knowledge of what the proposed reductions were to be in the Education and Survey and the proposal to ask them to pass the estimates en bloc was to his mind eimply disgraceful. He said that Wellington members had got an assurance from the Government that the Civil servants should not be dealt with harshly, while the representatives from other parts of. the colony had been given to understand tbdt pha retrenchment! would bb oi a radical

character. Then with respect to the Main Trunk line, the Auckland inapers seemed to be satisfied with the assurance of the Minister for Works on this subject, while the Wellington papers had been conciliated by the promise that no alteration was intended in the route that had been decided on. Sir Julius proceeded to say that the Government were so weak that they were compelled to conceal their policy till the last moment, when members would have picked up their portmanteaus and were not inclined to offer any resistance, and charged Ministers with dangling before their supporters personal hostility to himself. Messrs Tanner, T. Thompson and Goldio had admitted that while the country demanded a> revision of the tariff they were afraid to support a motion in that direc fcion, as the carrying of it would replace him in power. To those hon. gentlemen ho had to make this proposal, that at the end of the session he was willing to resign his seat for Christchurch North, and tight any of these gentlemen named in their own electorates if they too would resign. This challenge was received with applause from the Opposition benches, and it was renewed when Sir Julius said that it extended to the Premier also.

Mr Sedclon suggested the inclusion of the Minister of Education, which induced i Mr Fisher to remark that if the challenge i were made to him he would accept it. Sir J. Vogel went on to say that while he reiterated that Ministers retained their ! positions by intrigues and promises made outside the House, he (the speaker) wished to bear his testimony to the fact that Mr Fisher was the only member of the Govern- , ment who had gained ground with the , House during the session—a fact which was duo to the manliness and iirraness he had displayed in speaking his mind. In conl elusion, Sir J. Vogel -warned the Minis- , terial supporters that the Premier was making fools of them by using them Jas he pleased, and that at the end Jof the session they would be known throughout the colony as the "stupid party." He recognised that it was useless discussing the Financial Statement at present. They were simply beating the air till they knew what the intentions of the Government were. Ministers treated this attack on them : with supreme indifference, and finding that ho failed to evoke a reply, Sir Julius V"ogel said that he was in doubt as to how it was best to save the time of the country— whether by the Opposition continuing the discussion on the question for going into Committee of Supply, or otherwise. No-Confidence Debate. The evening sitting was occupied with the debate adjourned from Friday evening last respecting tho budget proposals of the Government. The discussion was resumed by Mr Izard, who is the possessor of a very weak volco, and was scarcely audible. He recognised that an honest effort was being made towards retrenchment, and would therefore support the present Ministry. Mr Peacock also warmly supported tho Government on account of their retrenchment proposals, and thought that as they had undertaken this great work no attempt to force their hand on tho question of tho revision of tho tariff should bo made at present. Ho, however, considered their proposal for a reduction of tho number of European members to sixty-six of too sweeping a nature. Mr Hutchison made tho best epocuh of the evening, in the course of which ho condemned almost all the Government proposal*, and declared that their native legislation would havo the effect of delivering tho natives into the hauda of those who are worse than lund sharks. Mr Macarthur confined his attention to traversing Sir J. Vogel'a speech, while Mr Loughrey earned th« distinction of making the shortest speech during the debate. He expressed a hope that Government would yet see their way thi.s session to the introduction of measures for the easy settlement) of the land and a revision of tho tariff. Neither Messrs Graham nor Blade, who followed, said much that wnsi new, while Major Jackson, who also spoke, urged the desirability of granting facilities for settlement of land by small settleis. Education Boservcn Settlement BUI. The Waste Lands Committee havo considered the Education Reserves Settlement Bill, and recommend that it bo ullowed to proceed with a new clause, providing that the powers of the Act shall apply only to such educational endowments as have been set aside out of Crown Lands under the authority of Parliament. Expenditure from North Island Lonn. The following arc the liabilities and expenditure from North Island Railway loafn upon roads and bridges between Wellington and Auckland up till September last: — North end : Ptinui cart bridge, £1,662 ; road, JPunui to Kawa station, £1,007 ; Porotataroa to Tc Kawa, £1,000 : total, £3,669. South cod : Road, Kaiori to Tauinuranui, £14,501 ; Pipiteki to Okahuno, £6,872. Inland : Patea to Taurungarere, £4,300 ; Mdrray's track, £750 ; Hunterville to Hautapu, £6,116 ; Wanganui River improvements, £3,030 : total, £35,570, of which £9,801 consists of liabilities. Stealing a March. In introducing his Land Amendment Bill, Sir G. Grey certainly stole a inarch on both the Speaker and the Government. It is a rule of the House thai/ no private member can introduce a measure affecting the waste lands of the colony except the leave of the Crown lias been first obtained ; but Sir George thinks that such a rule ought not to prevail, and declined to ask for the necessary loavo on the present occasion with the intention of raising a question of privilege as to the correctness of tho existing rule. But to his surprise no opposition was raised, and after the bill had been read a first time Mr Seddon called attention to the omission. Sir G> M. O'Rorke said that he could not give any direction without knowing what the intentions of the measure were, which drew from Sir George Grey the remark, "I have always been stopped before, eir, and expected to be on the present occasion, in which case I should have tried to establish the right of a. private member to introduce legislation dealing with the waste lands of the Crown. The Speaker again said that he could not give an opinion, not having seen the bill, and Sir George Grey remarked, with a knowing wink, that he was glad to see re-established a right of which members had been so long deprived. Unemployed Expenditure. Details have now been furnished to Mr Goldie of the expenditure of the £20,000, voted last year, under the heading of Subsidies for Local Bodies, for providing work for unemployed. The total amount spent was £21,235, und of this Christchurch benefited to the extent of £12,763 for park works and formation of new rifle range ; Dunedin. Borough got £7,600 for Anderson's Bay, Kensington roads, etc. ; Canterbury Boroughs got smaller amounts ; Auckland participated to the extent of £123 for gravel pit; £477 for Wairenga forest planting, and £364 for railway fares for unemployed, the latter item not being expenditure at all. The Hallway Workshops. Mi , Goldie is moving for a return allowing the value of work performed in the Government railway workshops of Hillside, Addington, Petorte and Newmarket for the two yeare ending 31«t March, 1887, for districts other than those in whioh the aforesaid workshops are situated. Jottings. While not approving of the present method of distributing the proceeds of licensing fees, the Government cannot see their way to bring in a Board of Inland Revdntfe Bill, to which ehall bo paid all license fees received by the local authorities.

Ministers have determined not to curtail the privileges enjoyed by members with respect to railway passes. Government do not intend to propose any amendment of the Licensing Act this session. ' The "Post" censures Sir Julius Vogel for raking up and endeavouring to expose scandals of the former Parliaments, and sincerely trusts that he will abandon his present intentions, and allow the late scandal to be forgotten as soon as possible. A bill is being introduced to the Upper House to amend the Slaughter Houses Act. . _ Mr Joyco's ideas of imposing a poll tax on adult males, and of reducing the property tax exemptions from £500 to £100 have not the approval of Ministers, and shall not be given effect to. Some valuable suggestions relating to the law of bankruptcy have been made to the Minister of Justice, who will, during the recess, reconsider the advisability of bringing in an amended Act next session. Mr Goldio is asking the Government whether they intend to give effect to the petition of the Auckland unemployed. The Legislative Council preferred the Attorney-General's resolution for reform of the Council to a select committee.

Mr Fish wishes instructions given that delayed telegrams may be sent as collect.

Mr Taiwhanga is urging the Government to give £100 per annum in support of the Koromakau Maori newspapor. Mr Fulton is calling tho attention of the Government to the so-called glove lights.

Mr Carroll wants the Government to provides work for the unemployed natives in the Rotorua district.

Sir John Hall is asking for particulars of the public debt of the colony. Major Jackson asserts that a blind man was employed to overlook work on the Wanganui River.