POLITICAL NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 227, 26 September 1898, Page 3

POLITICAL NOTES.

(By Telegraph—Own Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, this day. A DRAINAGE BILL.

j The Land Drainage Amendment ! Bill provides that any ratepayer withiin a read district, •or town district, ! may in writing request the Board to exercise its powers under section nine 1 of the Land Drainage Amendment Act, i 186-i, by ordering any occupier or i owner of land to remove from any I water-course or drain all , reeds or j refuse, and if, after the lapse ot I twenty-eight days after the receipt of i notice, the Board fails to comply with the notice, the ratepayer niay proceed i by complaint under the Justices of the | Peace Act, 18S2, and call upon the i Board to appear before a Stipendiary I Magistrate to show cause why such ! notice has not been complied with j The magistrate shall have jurisdiction to finally determine whether, and to what extent, such niotice shall be complied with by the Board, but any decision by the Board is to be subi ject to appeal before a Stipendiary i Magistrate.

The Hon. Mr Jennings has received telegrams from Dr. Erson, Mayor of Onehunga, and several others congratulating him on his tact and good generalship in engineering the Onehunga Cemetery Bill through the Legislative Council. Mr Jennings has ably supported Sir Maurice O'Rorke in securing the final triumph of the measure.

The Petitions Committee on the petition of James Mouat V.C., praying for a further opportunity of substantiating his claim for recognition for services rendered to the colony in organising the medical staff during the Maori War, has referred the petition to the Government for consideration. Surgeon Mouat was well-known in Auckland during the Waikato War.

The Native Land Laws Amendment Bill, which was passed through committee in the Legislative Council today, with the amendments recommended by the Native Affairs Committee, deals with fees, transfers and trusts.