Parliamentary Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 65, 7 October 1875, Page 6

Parliamentary Notes.

. The Abolition Bill is now through Committee. Several important amendments were forced on the Government, both by their own supporters and by the Opposition. In at least . two divisions the Government were in a minority. One new clause introduced by the Government provides that the Provincial Councils shall not meet again, or at least till the Assembly meets next session, when of course, the question of abolition will be _nally settled. It was generally supposed that the Government would be ■ barely able to carry this clause. Still they carried it with a considerable majority. The greater number of the members of the Provincial Council cannot but feel very indignant, at* the treatment they have received at the hands of the General Assembly. The " Provincial Councils were constituted by the very Act which constituted the General Assembly itself. They can point also to far greater advantages that they have conferred on the country. Almost all the members of the Councils, are men of influence in their own districts, arid there can bp little doubt tliat they will exercise their, influence .in returning men at the ensuing elections who are opposed to the centralistic tendencies of the present . Government. They should have been allowed at the. yery least to hold, their meetings till the Act had come into operation; They would probably have made some Valuable practical suggestions as, ta Bow the Government of the country 'should be carried on in the future.' It /is generally understood that the bill will pass i with ease through the Upper 'House; of the Legislature. , A•' /•..•....• ;. JJ'J '• _• The House is now to": go into Committee of Supply oil - thd ''■ Estimates. There ought to be /a debate/on 1 , the. financial - condition of the country. This has already referx^; "to to some extent . In so fer aa thbrnnarices of the country bear on; theiabdlitiori question they have /" been The negotiation pf the .four million! loan has been referred to r dnly7ineidenteiily. There can be .little doubt'/ that", the various proceedings brought to light.! by the loan papers riiust have7as'iißjriftous: effect on the credit of the/ tCQuntryv The exact sum now available for public jworks is a question ,of great, in>ppi|4nce. And whether this sum will be able to carry on the country for they next; two Tears, in the face of the promise r of Sir Julius Yogel to the Rothschilds,; arid confirmed by the lVeasurer^7/tb*ftt we should not for this period; go into the money . market, is a question of the most vital importance. The probahilityi howiever, is that the financial condition of the country will not receive that calm consideration which it justly mprjits, It is a question which in its bearing on the welfare of the country is not secondary even to the question of abolition. 'A Another important measure yet to be brought forward by tha Government $; the hill for the redistribution of the representation. This is a bill, come down; wnen it may, which is sure to he diis-

i r t :<n ■-. ..':.. i ;• > • • . ■ . a ■ ■• • tasteful to sotnei members. On the* way the.re^nasentation is distributed will depend the return of a good number to the House. It is impossible to satisfy, all. So convinced' are Government that their bill will cause disunion among their ; followers that they have not yet brought it down. Had they done so when the fate of their Abolition Bill was still undecided, the introduction of the bill for the redistribution of the representation might considerably have reduced their following. You will be glad to hear that the Clutha River Conservators Bill has passed a second reading. The Mayor of Balclutha and the Chairman oi the Road Districts that border the river are to be members of the Board ex officio. But after the first year the Municipal Council and the Boards can elect one of their own members or any other person to act as member of the Board. This is at least much more satisfactory than . leaving the appointment of the members of the Board in the hands of the Governor, that is the General Government.