NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENT.

Press, Volume X, Issue 1155, 21 July 1866, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. [From the " New Zealand Advertiser," July 18] BEPOBTINGK On the motion of Mr FitzGbbald, the House resolved itself into committee of the whole House, to cousider the expediency of authorising the Government to make a contract for the reporting and printing the debates in both Houses of the Assembly, on the basis set forth in the report of the Select Committee upon reporting debates. The report of tho Select Committee was read. Mr FiTzGEBAitiD said that he would propose as a resolution—"That a contract be entered into on the basis of the report." Tt was not worth while occupying the time of the House on this subject; in 1862 a unanimous vote of the House was given to a resolution in favor of steps being taken by Government to have proper reports. In 1863 a similar resolution i was passed, and again in 1864, or 1865, the ; subject was re-opcued, but then fell through i in consequence of the want of proper means to * carry it out. Tho difficulty was that the

question came before tho House iii the middle of the session, and even now the commit tec did not propose any permunent arrangement but rather to try an experiment for the present session. In Victoria there was now a permanent Government staff, and iv England tho reports were collated from the morning papers. He would not say that tho plan proposed by the committee waa tho best that could bo arrived ut, but it was a good one for an experiment. It was very necessary that there should be some record of the debates, aud he believed that such a record would be very much used as a chock upon opinions expressed in tbe f > House. It seemed to him that it was a part and parcel of the constitutional government that there should be such a record. He would not say that the reports for the present session would be good—indeed, ho was afraid they would not be, but ho thought it was time to break through the apathy that had hitherto existed on this subject. He would now more ; ' the resolution. j

Mr J. O'Nnn.T. smid that ho "* lion. member by R;»yini» tl"!" 1 Settll ß committee had never agreed To a!' of this kind, an.l hid declined t" CI ' ,?r ' m: '«t tho report. Ag'un, ho contoml W '' t!l w.>ti!,-| be v most pernicious thh,'7 f ' lrl ! it newspaper*, >md though ] 10 nl ll M ''" i ''' a that it would hi* giiggmrj then ,lot *"iv that might hi* elsewhere 1m ''°^ ,:>8< \ hers had chosen to brimr tho' P irl', °"' W( "' v •" place where their reports conl 1 ' l ' nen * lu & ported, they must put up with it n"' (i Mr Fit/.Geuald explained th'iuY' l '! S ' ,t, ' r, l said that tho jo nt committee }.'°i ' !lnt mended the adoption of the report 'h » m '° nv ' was tho boat pbui before them. ''" that '* , Ur I'lTzimtnEirr said that tho h O -i Wn ber for tho Nort ''ern Division (M r (W 'n wa9 *™ n 8 m .saving that tho Qovcrnmi i would b <! R»gg«g tho press by subsidi*; •»«ii, mit was a matter in which tho Gov« ment had »<>"»"£ whatever to say. I{ o m - ,' " ay ."»' tllß committee was Rcnerallv 5 o P' nlon that something ought to be done n «i that Uie plan proposed was tho best If•> could bo done for nothing, well and good ■ h the J™"''* not ex P ect and ho thou°li that iloOO waa not too much. He mi»ht «1, Bay thftt the contractors were ready to tafcoim the reports from the beginning of thewsshif w, " ch tho of the resolution had omit! ted to say. His own opinion waa, that if thu e *PO"ment were tried, there would bo her? afC( : r B . om ° ofllcer of the House ) W rin 8 « »u»">rity interpose! betwesn hon. memhZ and the . reporters, because if hon. member* P " fc , *' ieir own versions upon what thoyjn teiuled to cay when they corrected k,;, speeches there would bo little value in t \ w 1 00rd - Ho recommended the plan to tho nrW tion of the House. P* At l m if. piK „ t five o'clock the commit* i journod for refreshment, and reMimedlK-, o'clock ea Mr VottEL said that tho Governments . not „ ivou ftn o p inion on tho maU "™* «Md Mr Stafford wid that thi* wa^™,,,, whlch ~u her ro „ C( , wit|l {]w Jr >•>«>? tllo Government would prefer Im'hvl ' roet report of nll thoip Bnyin „ 3 und'tloht thought, but he might he mistaken th«V waß not » Bufficient roporring staff «i \Vrliton to carry out tho vieW3 of tb ' ™' n 3* ftlso) lle thought that thoy would hay«« ' dilliculty in correcting tho reports n« n n „ t know w]mt 0110 offiw , p O J M J" "j* constitute himself as a judge if the mh ipsissima, or oven the meaning of the speaker were given. However, if tho matter wsat to a division, he would vote for it, not with any very sanguine expectation that it would be "a success, but rather as an experiment. It would also be an encouragement to the local press to get a staff which would enable theni

in a future session to give full reports of tao proceedings. Mr Maoandrew said that there could b no question as to the desirability of havins a correct report of the proceedings, but ho did not think that ia the face of impending taxr„ tion they could afford the luxury of having what the representatives of the countrj sail sent forth on tho wings of the press. Anoihae reason why he would oppose, and even divido against the motion was, that if they were sitting in some other cities in tho oolony, local enterprise would undertake tho work without subsidy. Mr Reynolds was opposed to tho motion. It was discreditable to the capital qf ths jolony, the empire city, and the Panama terminus, to neglect to report the debates, He would move as an amendment—" That ia tho present financial position of the eolouy, and having reference to the uncertainty as to

. whether funds will be available for purposes absolutely necessary, it is inexpedient to pledge tho colony to so largo an expenditure on an experiment." Mr Bunney would support tho amendment. [Heir, hear]. He could not eeo that ths people at largo would not acquire a better . knowledge of what was done in the House by a judicious summary than by giving soma sevcniy columns of the debates. If thoy wera to agree to the motion, it would have an in- • juriouß effect, as it would extend the length of s the session. He hoped that ilie vexed questions of the scat o£ Government and tha Panama route would be finally Bettled, arid then the press of Wellington would bo as well. prepared to undertake the expense of reporting and printing the speeches as any other place ' in the colony would, if it was honored by i being the seat of Government. ; Mr Beswick would support tho motion for : various reasons. If they did not carry ouS this (Suggestion of the Select Committee, they might as well close the doors and make it a secret chamber. Tho present curtailed system of reporting was worao than none at all. Mr Whitakeb would like to hear from the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer whether he had this little amount of cash to spare for reporting. Mr Vogel said that the mover of the resolution had received so little support from ths other members of the committee, that ho felt bound to depart from the rigid silence wliicli he had marked out for himself during the session. [Laughter.] He was sorry that the member for Wairarapa had left the Houas after making his eloquent speech, for no member had taken so muoh trouble to persuade his constituents that his speeches agrosd with his votes and his votes with his .speeches. He supposed that the reason why Mr Key nolds was so much opposed to tho motion was, that ho considered that tho speeches ho mado were not worth spending co much money as £1500 upon. He would support the motion, na he thought that this jxmne would great ly shorten the session, asmemburs would not speak so much if they thought that their speeches would be taken down. Secondly, this session was one which wm likely to be bo important that ho thought 1» very desirable that it should bo truly rooordeo. for tho benefit of tho country. To allow tbe session to pass without having ports would be to inflict a public injury. ;laW would bo increasing an injury already ram* ciently large. It was an absurd thing to say that because the Wellington- pap«» ought not to receive a subsidy thss they should therefore inßiot an injury on tM colony generally. Tho price asked by tne papers was one which would barely wet w» cost to which they were put. The Hcass Wi. simply asked to reimburse the papers in «» extra cost to which they were put. Us l« r « Vogel) had some experience in newepape™. and he could assure members that the spice taken up by the reports of the proceedings « the House would not save the pwpnetanWJ their ordinary exoeuso of supplying taw readers with the usual news. The »P**J ; the debates, although interesting to memoMV, was uninteresting to the general diss ot am paper readers. He did not think that it J»Jfair to pick out the two proprietors ot i«* papers of Wellington, and say that they 'tow* bear all the expense of reporting these deWJJ He hoped that the House would agree town motion of the hon. member for Cbrwtebonsu. [Cheers.] ~ «•,, Mr Jollie would support the motion, .jw did so, not from any interested because ho saw the necessity and dcsinMHJ of it. Ho did not think that the sountry.»" yet in such a very bnd state but that fey could not afford £1,500 to have a decent ro cord of the debates of the House. , Mr Geokoe Graham would support"

amendment. Ho thought the country wmnot afford so heavy a "»'» for '''f rep f W the specclies. When the Assembly in Auckland, tl.cn> was a foil »nd co*«*» port of tho spu.ob.es, and the country w « ll £ called upon to vote any emus of money assist tho papers. . . it, 9 Mr Dillon Bell would vote fg«" 9 USJ. motion, aa lie considered that the it professed to have iv yiaw coukl W earned out. Tho papnrs at Welling 0. W said, at the beginning of the session, Fjr did not intend to give a report ot ™J K &i ceeding*. but would give a resume ol took place. For his part, ho W ° d utterly disgusted at the nonsense been put into the mouths of hon. mjjgj. and above all, the garbled accounts the Ministers had said. And at the sa*e J$ that they gave these accguuts they sKW" the) had correct reports by them. * proprietors of the papers of this city p . king the last page of their papers mtb WJ

- „«„**. which tho respectable papers -arerbße« on 7ld not receive, to giving rfthe c T ny Zl they deserved very little For Sart he would oppose S> u,O |° n ;OKBALO drew attention to the fact jjrlrrzGKßix riu the report 9 had ,bßt g "ate't consideration from the ee ,vedt!ie P . tte w hich would be seen Si** i e SX "e P ort. The horf. mem--00 iSt spoken could not know much * rwho iSpV« if he thought that papers sbo.it ae**pape«. than kflep , ong w0U r S ° Jvertisements in their columns, rtaodw? w ' 9un3c ient subject matter to * hffl 'iVr«oers. There did not exist a fiUupf!, « n s2riu the colony which could ■MHSJE necessary staiT of reporters afordtoKeeu of thmr procee£ h ngSi forgv^ n ?. a "" { he rate of salaries which md ?Rl reauired. If this colony had one woU ld be 2 instead of small WSS-CSh province, this could be cb,e L„T«things now were it was imposW Tn cSttee would see that, con- *-. sble >L .nnali circulation of any paper "Kth TvZe where it was published.it oatJide the p» derta^e this work without ? i Tr^™^ UB « ton did , d / thu ",k every « the ?°,} on * C °? ld X C £ Py * or 'jSufornothing, without contributing , expense. The case of as,ngle ?„ in New Zealand was an excepts paps" m treated - n an ex _ tioDft l °f' ° h ° U For himself, if it were be would rather be in favor of P^ ,M a fecial *teff of reporters for the hovwg » X , House, and independent %c\ P restaftogether. He believed that if °[ *&£« dS not make a beginning now, £y would delay the commencement from would oppose the mot . Mr that this was a luxurious tion, antfjS it wo uld be undesirable to experiment,J™ . Dvr j ng former sessions get up W/gX Wellington papers had been !l divine tbe intimation of what hon. SIS, was better than giving the was opposed to both the motion and amendment, but was in favor wther of giving a small subsidy to the papers, SSSai of their producing the reports to some plan to be decided on by the (Jovernment. Mr J 0. EICHMOND would vote for the motion in its integrity, and did not think that the country would lose by such an invest-

10 Mr 3 WttHAMSOKsaid that the reason why the committee had recommended the proposal of Messrs. McKenzie and Bull was becitue that was the beet plan that had been ™«mMcd to them. He himself did not 53k«wt it Trould-have the desired effect. Tho best and cheapest plan that he knew of wa*. for the Government to pay the expenses of the' representatives of the press in the ttrious provinces to and from Wellington. This would only involve an expense of some far hundred poundß, and if it were done he felt sure that they would in less than a fortnight have the gallery thoroughly filled by uwrnbers of the fourth estate. He would fote with the amendment, aa he considered thßt the; country was not now justified in going to this expenditure. Mr Hah was opposed to the resolution. He considered a fair summary of the proceedings of the House would be better and more extensively read than a long and detailed report. When money could be spared he would hot object to vote for this object. He would vote for tho amendment.

MrO. WiMOir waa opposed to the motion. Mr W-HITAKBB would vote for tho amendment in the first place, because of the expense to be incurred, and in the second, because they could not get what they wanted. The eiperiraent would, in his opinion, certainly fail, and it was admitted on all sides to be doubtful. The Bouse divided on the motion as follows:— Ayes, 22— FitzGerald (teller), J C Richmond (teller), Armstrong, Atkinson, Beswick, Bradshaw, ifJampbell, Curtis, Fitzherbert, Ha'a^vtoD Jollie, McLean, Mo Neil, Muruon, Oliver, C O'Neil, Ormond, Stafford, Stevens, "Vogel and "Walker. Noes, 86—Reynolds (teller),. Ward (teller), Baldwin, Ball, Beauobamp, Bell, Borlase, Bryce, Bunny, Burns, Cargill, Clark, De Quincey, Dick, Eyes, Featherston, G.Graham, X Graham, Hall, Hankiuson, Hargreaves, Henderson, Hepburn, Hull, Ludlam, Macandrevr, Newman, J O'Neil, O'Rorke, Reid, Richardson, Whitaker, John Williamson, Wilson and Wood. The declaration of the division was received with applause. On the amendment being put, Major Biohabdson said that he had another amendment to propose in lieu of Mr Beynolds* amendment. The amendment he hdta propose was, " That for the present •ession there be offered a subsidy to Messrs. MoSenzie and Bull, equal to tho salary of M reporters, for a period of three months, and sot exceeding £30 or £10 per week, on condition of their reporting the debates of the legislature in a form to be decided on by the Government." The House again divided on Major Richardson* amendment, as follows :—Ayes, 25 : Noes,33. Mr FitzGebaio) said that as the two former resolutions had been negatived, he would •uggest tho propriety of negativing Mr Reynolds'amendment, so as not to leave a record on the books of the House of the colony of being unable to afford to pay £1500 for J® 50 -**object as this. He would move that k» Chairman do leave the chair. MrRBVNotDS had no objection to allow his amendment to lapse. The amendment therefore lapsed. Ihe House adjourned at 10.5 p.m.