NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENT.

Press, Volume X, Issue 1194, 4 September 1866, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The following debates, which we take from the "Wellington Independent," took place when the House was in Committee of Supply, OB Friday last:— GENBEAL POSTrOEEIOB. On tbe item £3250, General Post-office* IheHon J. Hall said that these were the XeSinstes of the late Government, and he saw }£m—j to reducing them slightly. The*votes ; VtoM, &s\expended with every regard to waoonsjl The Inspector of Mails was not a 1 am officer, bat an old officer with a new i cane. : Mr Vossl suggested that if the Postmaster- | Gtenerftl mc not a political officer, and that if ' the chief Post-office was where the most busi- i nettww done, much money would be Bayed. i ' IThe Hon E, W. Stafeobjd said that it would i be better, perhaps, if all tho Ministers held h office permanently, for they would then 1 oseKßriwell acquainted -with their .duties. > With regard to the latter remark, : it would he : impossible to fix on any place in the colony ". where the most business would be done per- ' msaenUy. ■Mt Vobsu replied that he had seen and ■ kttrot enough during the last twenty-four hears to know that the prosperity of Dunedin \ mold not be much advanced, while the pre- . ■nimvernmerit remained in office. Major Cabgill called attention to the inconvenience caused by having post-offices open sometimes on Sunday, for the, making up of ; ttiila, ■ The Hon. J. Hall said that he thought tbe people of the localities should be consulted in ' this matter. -Mr.NuwttAH said that the Government 6t»ot to eet an example of morality in partiowm localities, and not make their officers work-on Snndays. In London, Sunday was •hrajs kept a holiday in the Postal Service. Tho Hon. E. W. Staseobp disclaimed the wea that Ministers were responsible for the a<ffa% of their officers; he also pointed out writhe circumstances of New Zealand were wnwwsfe from those of the home country, and "Mered, the making up of mails on Sunday ?* 9 ? s * ! 7- • People could not be made moral of Parliament; and on the other hand, «c Mtent to which the Sunday should be '•£? wd wae * moot point. .™! T °t« was agreed to with a diminution «575. * COHVSTAirOB OP KAILS by sea. o|ttie item Conveyance of Mails by Sea, - «fe Maoahdbew spoke against the system «JBbKdisiag the intercolonial arid interservices to such an extent as an ranealthy one, tending to repress private iTO* He moved * "Auction of £10,000. What was meant by '{he ■ft item for demurrage, £3000, and for e9 g n gencies,£4soo? teA said that it was owing fas»l v nof ateamePß chieiayfor bring- ~? wo English moil acroes, owing to the want punctuality of the steamers on the Suez j**ia consequence of this the Government J"JP?» notice of the termination of the in two years, as well as the P«« Governments of the Australian coloLrf o ? XCept tha * : ° f Soath Australia, which wifjM the notice foT a different reason ; Zl ~w W w that all connection with ,^ u **Would cease. «o Hon. E. W, Staffobd replied shortly 5L 8 of Mp Macondrew, stating were absolutely necessary. i*W • UEI ! S B P oie against the system of the steamers as being no longer under the improved circumstances hSt ** lfc would then om > bo necessary te£« , *P ieccfor letters acd newa " Sttn/ i.S? tbou S nfc these steam subside*^.T°? done away with, except in the f tta English mail: y ftsiteS eu PP°»ed the reduction of

i-aaeS S ! t "P o * o of the advantage which to the colony from having these mZy ,teaT n««. which had encouraged 8 Mked the Postmaster-General *bicli _* glVen t0 -teamers carrying mails J" sw not subsidised? »«»ed » J ' Haxi * Baid Uiat the question dies iUu Tery ,m P°rt-nfc one j the subsist JrJ 1 80 . doabt > *» decreased as time W th/w r - "/ honorable member then showed 'lotaftL beea reduced by pree ? lnientß ' and Baid tlmt the present n * oald talce eTerT op D ortunity «»• i_t- Uw Bt f m «*«--•-• In*reply to Tft JB J^ n Mta, the amount paid to 01 Babadised for carrying ™„ilft

was one penny a letter. With regard to the contribution to the Suez line, it would not be more than £12,000. He might state that the Government had thought it would be most unfair that the contribution should be based on the average number of letters sent for three years past in consequence of.the establishment of the Panama line, and that the Government had given proper notice to this effect to the Imperial Government.

Mr Boblase looked on the establishment of steam services as part of the work of colonization, serving, as they did, for means of communication. If there were no subsidies, there could be no regular mail services which could bo depended on. Tho hon member then enlarged on the benefit which the colony had derived from the steam services. The vote was agreed to without reduction. THE TELBOBAPH. On the item Telegraph Department, £21,980 4s, The" Hon J. Hail said that the sum of £7000 would have, to bo paid for the Cook Strait cable, at the end of three months, if it was then in working order, and that would be all that would be payable during the year. The hon. member also said that the Government hoped to complete the line to Napier during the present year. Mr WniTAKEB thought that for these expensive telegraph works the sums payable should be spread over four or five years, by means of Exchequer Bills. Ho thought that the item should be reduced, therefore, by £9000; if this was done it would tend to equalise the revenues due to the provinces. Mr Voobli thought it should be charged against the loan, as had originally been intended.

The Hon. Mr Fitzhebbebt said that of tbe £3,000,000 loan £25,000 had been set apart for telegraphic services, but it had all been expended. With regard to the remainder of the loan it would be necessary to bring in a Re-appropriation Act, and as he recognised the principle contained in the remarks of the member for Parnell, he would willingly place the amount referred to against the loan and assent to the proposed reduction with that object.

Mr C. Wabd said that the course porposed of placing expenditure against the loan should be adopted in all cases of extraordinary expenditure for the year. But in case the loan should be exhausted, he thought that the charges for defence should be extended over a series of years. He made this suggestion somewhat in the dark, as be was not fully aware of the financial proposals of the Government.

Mr Whitakeb said that he would propose, when the committee came to the Defence Estimates, that £200,000 would be taken off the current revenue, and placed either against a new loan, or extended over a series of years by means of Exchequer Bills, as the House should determine;

Mr Vogel suggested that Government messages should not take precedence of other messages, unless specially certified, as abuses arose therefrom, and that they should be charged against the departments sending them. He would also suggest that shipping intelligence should be sent free, as in Australia. The hon. member concluded by saying that he would bring down a substantial resolution on the subject. The Hon. W. Fitzhebbebt said that it appeared to him to be a distinction without a difference for one member to talk of a new loan and another of Treasury Bills. It was like the Irishman trying to lengthen his blanket by cutting pieces off from one end and stretching them on to the other end. On the whole, however, the plan of issuing Treasury Bills appeared to be the better one, as expenditure would then be charged against Ordinary revenue, and it would not appear that a new loan was raised to feed the provinces ; but the Government had hardly made up its mind yet on all the details of its financial proposals. Mr Moobhoubb said that he had gleaned, from what he had read in blue-books and heard from Colonial Treasurers, that the expenditure of the country was gradually diminishing every year, in consequence of these extraordinary expenses for defence and Native purposes, while the revenue was increasing. The Northern Island was so fertile that it had been suggested that a tide of immigration should set in from the Middle Island to the Northern, and the Middle Island was making great progress. If the expenses of next year were diminished by £250,000, and the revenue increased by £250,000, there would be a surplus of £500,000. [Ironical cheers.] He did not see then why Treasury Bills should not be issued. He knew that additional taxation would be most distasteful to the country, and thought that the best way of raising money would be to issue Treasury Bills to only half the amount of the surplus he anticipated. But if they could not be met, nothing could be more easy than to renew them. [Laughter. J He, however, looked on this contingency as extremely unlikely. TheSPEAKEB said that the speeches made by hon. members had been interesting, but ill-timed and premature. The Speaker then proceeded to state what was the proper course in Committees of Supply and Ways and Means. It did not appear to him that because a sum was voted,now on the Estimates it should therefore be placed on ordinary revenue and not on loan. He hoped that before many more sums were voted the House would go into Wayß and Means, and hear the Treasurer make some financial statement. The present discussion appeared to him premature, because it would be more appropriate in Committee of Ways and Means. The Chaibman oe Committees made a short explanation of the course he had pursued. The Hon W. Fitzhbbbebt rose to say that the hon membor for Westland (Mr Moorhouse) had appeared to interpret his remarks in a very sanguine manner, by putting a construction on them which they would hardly bear. He admired the ease and freedom with which the hon member had with a wave of his magic wand conjured £500,000 into his pocket, but those who were in harness could hardly take the same sanguine view as those who were not burdened with any responsibility. Mr MoOBHOtTSB rose say that he felt as much responsibility as any member of the Cabinet, although he could not express his ideas in such fanciful words or in so finished a manner as the Colonial Treasurer. The Hon J. Hall rose to recall the committee from the lofty regions which it had been straying to the dull prosaic subject before it_the postal estimates. He might say that the Government did not see their way to telegraphing the shipping news gratis. Mr Beykolds spoke on the necessity of having this done. Mr D. Bell said that the shipping intelligence was telegraphed gratis in Australia and most other places, and it would only be fair for the public, who paid so much for the telegraph, to have this information. He also thought that the messages of the press and private persons should be completely set aside by Government messages. The other day when he was at Dunedin a most important telegram of the state of the money market at home was interrupted by tho Government just before the very word in it which was the most important one. The Hon E. W. Staffobd said that there wore many newspapers and newpaper agents, and a regular race sometimes ensued between themto send messages. Sometimestlieobjectwas merely to get possession of the telegraph. He knew of one case in which a man had secured the telegraph for one hour, anticipating a mail, with a message beginning, " The following words are to be found in Webster's Dictionary. Able, advance," and then got sold after all, for the mail did not come. It might be said that the telegraph should not be occupied by one person for more than an hour at a time. The question was a very large one, and should form the subject matter of a separate resolution.

Mr Osmond asked a question with regard to the construction of the telegraph in the Northern Island.

The Hon J. Hall replied that it was proposed to extend it during the financial year from Wellington to Napier. The means by which it was at first proposed to do this was to pay £10,000 out of current revenue, but

the member for Parnell had reasonably made objections, and the sum would be placed on loan. At present, facilities were offered to the press at the Telegraph offices, and it had the wires for two hours on the arrival of the last mails. One of his first acts on taking office was to order that news should be sent of the departure of a stfamer from ono port to the next, and that it should be posted ; but shipping intelligence comprised rather more than that. On Tuesday next, by way of experiment, he would endeavor to find out how long it would take to send a message from Wellington to Invercargill, and get an answer back.

The vote was agreed to. MABINE ESCHWEEB'S DEPARTMENT.

The Hon J. Hail said that the Marine Board would be abolished, and its powers invested in a Marine Engineer and Superintendent.

_ Mr Busies wanted to know what the nautical assessor did ? He thought the Govern ment should have their Bteamers examined ; he knew of one, the Sturt, the boilers of which were not very safe, for he was on board of it lately in Cook Strait, and did not feel very comfortable.

The Hon. Colonel Hauxtain said that the Sturt had been lately overhauled and repaired in Auckland, and although it might not be able to obtain a first-class certificate, it was safe.

The Hon. J. Halt, explained the duties of the Nautical Assessor.

j Mr C. Wabd did not think that one Engineer Surveyor would be sufficient to examine steamers as ought to be done. He also wished to know what would become of the Engineer of last year, who was suspended, and the Engineer Surveyor, whose services were no longer required. The Hon. J. Hall said that he had been assured that there would not be sufficient work for two Engineer Surveyors, and the one who had been discharged had been only a few years in the Government service, and had received ample notice. With regard to the Engineer who had retired, he had been in the service eighteen years, and was entitled to a retiring pension if he chose to avail himself of it. In any case the Government would not neglect him.

Mr Reynolds did not know what the nautical assessor would do. He knew something about Marine Boards, and had never heard of such an officer before in connection with a Marine Engineer Department, but he had of a nautical surveyor. If his duties would be to examine the hulls of ships, any captain could do that. It would be of no use of his being located in one port, and if he travelled his travelling expenses would be very great. The duty would be best done by the Harbour Master at eaoh port, and paid for by fees. He would move that the assessor's salary, £375, be struck out. On the question being put, the committee divided Ayes, 3 ; noes, 44. The vote was agreed to.