PARLIAMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. (FROM THE "WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT.') HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. TUESDAY, JULY 17.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2810, 28 July 1866, Page 6

PARLIAMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. (FROM THE "WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT.' ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. TUESDAY, JULY 17.

The Speaker took the chair at two p m. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

THE SEAT" FOR WESTLAND. Before proceeding to the busiuess of the day the Speaker aunounced that he had received & letter from Mr. W, fc>. Moorhouse, stating that he had been returned ,t\vo districts, aud that he elected to sit for WegtlaDd. The letter containing this informationjwould be inserted in the journal of the House. Subsequently, Mr. Stafford moved that an humble address be presented" to his Excellency praying that he would issue a -writ for a new election for tht district of Mount Herbert.

NEW MEMBERS. Messrs. Moorhouse, It. Graham, and P. F. De Quincey took the oath of allegiance>and their seats.

PAPERS. The following .papers were laid on the table byMinistera — copy oC all correspondence between the Government and the Resident Magistrate at Mongouui respecting thepowfrs of magistrates; return of gold expoited in 1865 6 ; and return of number *nd names of the natives killed at Opotiki within tea days of the arrival of the troops there.

CORRECTION. Mr. Stafford took the opportunity of explaining that he was in error wheu he stated that there were ' more bills before the House this session than on a. previous ouo, as he had boon mittled by * Statement* placed before him by the clerk, which only contained the returns of the number for one branch of the Legislature bnly. He might say that his attention had beeu called to this error by au article in the Independent, which atticle, however, also [usedi the word " false"' in connection with what he hadij said. If that was what the writer of the article deemed correct and proper language, he only pitied both the Independent and its readers.

SEPARATION. Mr. Whitaker, having givea a notice of motion on this subject, which will be foxind in another column, asked leave to explain that -the resolutions were not yet complete, but he had been prevented through the pressure of business in consequence of the arrival and departure of the steamers from putting them all on the paper that day. He would, however complete them next day or the day after.

PUBLIC PETITIONS. Mr. C. Wir.soN brought up the report of the Public Petitions Committee on those that had been submitted to them, and, at the same time complained that the committee had not power to call for person* and papers.

MUNICIPALITIES. Major Richardson asked, "Whether ifc ii the intention of the Government to introduce any Act this session, whereby provision may be made out of provincial revenues in aid of town or country municipalities or counties." Mr. Stafford replied that the Government saw great difficulty in doing so, or in taking any uteps with regard to establishing municipalities or counties except in certain exceptional cases. Under all the circumstances, the Government had no intention of bringing in any general measure on this subject, at all events during the present session. Major KiCHARDSON hoped that the Government would not object to special measures with regard to particular districts. Mr. Stafford said that they would] of courae receive consideration.

COMPTROLLERS ACT. Major Richardson asked the head of the Government " What obstacles have prevented the Comptrollers Act of last session being brought into operation, and if they are now removed." In doing so, he said that such a measure had been introduced by the late Government, but had fallen by the general epidemic which had attacked many measures at that time. It was, however, taken \vp by the succeeding Government, and as the report of the Civil Service Commission said that it was a very necessary Act, he should like to know what were the obstacles that prevented it being brought into operation. Mr. Stafford said there were obstacles to its being put into operation which would be removed this session. One of these was, that no appropria tion of the three-million loan had been made from April, 1865, which he had not discovered until after the session closed. The expenditure under this loan was absolutely going on up to the present time without the authority of the Legislature, and the Government could not appoint a Comptroller without excepting from his powers any right to .inquire into the expenditure under the Three Million Loan Act. The Government would, however, as soon as the financial statement was made, lay upon the table estimates and a bill appropriating the loan from April, 1865. There was also a great excess of expenditure up to that date, and the present Government would thus have to ask the House to legalise the expenditure by three Governments.

DT7TY ON MINING MACHINERY. Mr. Hatxghton asked the Commissioner of Customs, "Whether the Government intend to give effect to the resolution of the late House of Representatives — that the duty upon mining machinery and railway iron should be remitted." Mr. Stafford replied that the Government in the tariff proposed to remit the duties mentioned in this question. The Government found itself unable to comply with the resolution, because they could not do so without breaking the law, as no similar clause was in the Act. They could not promise to give any retrospective action to the remission of the duties, as it would very much disturb the calculation of the Treasurer.

AUDIT COMMITTEE. The House then proceeded to the election by ballot of an Audit Committee. On the ballot papers being scrutinised, it was found that Messrs. John Williamson, Curtis, and Haughton -were elected. The Speaker appointed Mr. J. Williamson Chairman.

DISTILLERIES. Mr. Stafford, in reply to a question put on a previous occasion, said that the Government would introduce a bill to permit of distilleries being established in five of the principal towns of the colony. It was not, however, without great doubt on fiscal grounds that the Government did so.

INDICTABLE OEPENCES BILL. Mr. Whitaker moved that the House go into committee on this bill, and explained the principles ■of it. He said that its objects was to remedy certain defects in Jervis Acts, which only gave power to magistrates to commit within their own prorinces although fthey were anomalously appointed justices of peace for the colony. There was the same error with regard to the Supreme Court Act, which only gave power to judges of the colony to try cases within their own districts. It was also intended to assimilate the power of changing the venue in criminal cases to that in civil cases, and the bill was drafted on an Act in force in England, which was introduced there in consequence of the celebrated Palmer case, with which hon. members would be familiar. These were the three chief alterations in the law proposed, but he would be happy to give any further information if required, and he would now propose that the House go into committee on the bill, • Mr. Stafford seconded the motion, and the House resolved itself into committee of the whole. The bill was considered in committee, and clause 4 amended, so as to give power to justices of 'the peace to commit prisoners to a court in any part of the colony. The bill was then reported to the House, and the amendment ordered to be taken into consideration next day.

PARTNERSHIP LAW AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. Stafford moved the second reading of this I bill. Mr. Whitaker explained the legal objects- of the bill, and that it was similar to a new law passed in England in 1865. The .bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on next sitting day.

REPRESENTATION ACT AMKNTOIENr BILL. • On the motion of Mr. Stafford, this bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed next sitting day. ' . *

DUTIES ON NATIVE LANDS. The resolution of the committee of the whole House on this subject was brought up, giving leave to introduce a bill to enable duties on native lands to be collected. The resolution- was agreed to, and the bill ordered to be prepared and brought up

PENSIONS TO OFFICERS AND MEN OF COLONIAL FORCES. The resolution of the committee, giving leave to bring in a bill to grant pensions to officers and men of the colonial forces, and to widows and families of the same, under certain circumstances, was adopted. The bill was brought up, read a first time, and the second reading fixed for next sitting day.

DISTRICT COURTS BILL. Mr. Stafford moved the second reading of this bill, and explained that it was intended to extend the power of District Courts to adjudicate in cases to the amount of £250. It was specially intended for such places as the West Coast goldfields, where it was a matter of great inconvenience for a Judge of the Supreme Court to attend. In criminal cases also the power was proposed to be extended so as to be equal to that of Judges at quarter sessions . They might say that the Government had found great difficulty in obtaining gentlemen of professional attainments -to accept the very moderate salaries which the colony could afford to give. Two gentlemen that had been applied to to take the office, at the West Coast goldfields, had positively declined to give up the large emoluments of their profession for that purpose. He would move the second reading of the bill. « Mr. Jollib seconded the motion, and the bill was read a second time and ordered to be considered in committee on next sitting day.

CRIMINAL LAW PROCEDURE BILL. Mr. Whitaker moved the second reading of this bill, which was intended to introduce some of the provisions of the English law into New Zealand. Mr. Reynolds hoped that the Government would in committee introduce a clause doing away with grand, juries altogether. (Oh, oh, and hear, hear.) He could only say that in the province from which he came it was a perfect farce. He would also suggest that a change in the system of petty juries should, be introduced, giving pow^r to a. portion of the jury to return a verdict, as he might evidence that in the case of Jervey a new trial was necessitated because one of the jury was opposed to capital punishment, and declined to give any verdict. Mr. J. O'JNeill was glad to see that there was a desire by some hon. members to have laws auitad to their own part of the colony, as he might say that the Scotch system and no grand j tides might answer in the South, bnt they preferred to adheieto the old JTUijlfsli system in the North. Mr. Carleton also supported the adherence to the system of having grand juries. Mr. WOOD naid that they had been dispensed with in other colonies, and it was-found a great benefit in comparison with the English system. ''"Mr. J. C. Richmond called attention to- the fact of the Supreme Court not being central in this colony, and the consequent necessity for having grand juries to relieve the Coutt of much work. Mr. Whitakkr having briefly repl.ed, the bill was read a second time, aud ordered to be committed next sitting day.

PROVINCIAL COMPULSORY LAND TAKING BILL. Mr. Stafford moved the second reading of this bill, and said that it was similar to a bill introduced in a previous session. Mr. Bonny pointed ont that there was a material , difference in the Acts, as he saw that no leave was given to take lands for railways, and he thought that tbe time was come when this should be allowed. He did not intend to oppose the bill, but he hoped the Government would have no objection to strike out the portion of the clause in the bill which prohibited Provincial Governments from taking land for this purpose. Mr J. O'Neill instanced the railway in course of formation »t Auckland, which had cost some £50,000 more than it would otherwise have done if such power had been given to the Council. Mr. FitzGerald wished to see some clause introduced, giving persons whose lands were taken from them power to protest, and he would also like to see no distinction made between the lands of natives and those of Europeans. Mr. Hall quite agreed with the remarks of the hon. member that the laws for both races on this subject should be assimilated, but he would remind the House that a clause of the present bill was in a previous one, and had caused the bill to be thrown out by the Home Government. Major Richardson thought that the hon. member did not make sufficient allowance for the change of circumstances in the colony between 1863 and the present time. At the former time, the Imperial Government occupied a most anomalous position towards the colony, bub now -we were clearing that up by sending away the troops, and would thereby obtain independence in legislation. However, he considered that the question which had been discussed more properly belonged to committee work, and he did hot think: it right to introduce such arguments on the second readiug. Mr. Stafford replied, aud said that if they began assimilating the laws in all respects for both races, they must abolish the prohibition to •ell spirits to the Maoris. (Hear, hear.) As to the arguments of the hon. member for Wairarapa (Mr. Bunny), he must remiud him that in the Imperial Parliament all railway bills had to be introduced as special bills, aud if the Legislature brought in * general bill on the subject here, they might be causing great evils. The special railway bills gave an opportunity to owners- of property to protest against railways be'ng taken through their land, and the Government could not therefore introduce a general bill. Tb» bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be committed next sittiug day.

GOLDFIELDS ACT AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. Stafford said that this bill was intended to do away with some Tery great incouveniences that existed under the present Acts, particularly with, regard to^the formation of mining companies. Bfe would move the second reading of the bill, and then that it should be referred to the Select Commitfcee-on the Goldfiields Acfi. Lieut. -Colonel Cargill said that he was afraid rery little interest was taken by most hon.. members on this subject, but if they would allow him, he would read the introduction to a clause in the Act of last year, with regard to the forming water-courses, which he considered a very large power indeed. [The hon. member read the clause, aud gave an instance in which a runholder had been put to great inconvenience by a water-course having been cut on his land.] Miners themselves also often suffered from the cutting of these water-courses, and the waste lands of the Crown were injured by them. He considered that the goldfields ought to be put, under the control of the Provincial Government as well as the waste lands. (Hear, hear, and "No, no.") He would not now move that the committee on this subject should be discharged, but he would recommend that the House should watch it very closely to see that it did not take evidence from only one side of the question. t Major Richardson entirely denied that the committee were in any way prejudiced one way or the other, and pointed out how many of them were gentlemen representing pastoral interests. The bill was read a second time, and ordered to be referred to the Committee on the Goldfielda Acts/

BUILDING AND LAND SOCIETIES ACT. The Speaker announced that he had received a message from the Speaker of the Legislate c Council, informing him that the Council had passed a bill, to amend and consolidate the laws relating to building societies, and transmitting the same to the House of Kepresentati yes . The bill was read a first time, and ordered to bo read a second time next day.

IROJT-SAND COMMITTEE. Mr. Borlase explained that he had already given a professional opinion upon the claims of IU". Samuel, and as he did not think that he ought to sit upon it, he would therefore move, "That his name be discharged from the committee appointed to consider the claims of Dr. Samuel, with reference to the ironsand at Taranaki. " Mr. Whitaker objected to the discharge of the hon. gentleman's name from the committee, as he ■would be able to give so much information to it on the subject. After a short discussion the question was put and the motion agreed to.

CROWN GRANTS. Mr. Stevens moved, "That copies of all correspondence between the Government and any Chief Commissioners of Crown Lands, relating to the expediency of Crown grants being registered prior to delivery of the grants to purchasers, be laid on the table." The motion, on being seconded, was agreed to.

REPORTING. On the motion of Mr. FitzGerald, the House resolved itself into committee of the whole ITouse, to consider the expediency of authorising the Government to make a contractfor the reportingand priutiug Lbo debates in both Houses of the Assembly, on the basis feet forth in the report of the Select "Committee upon Reporting Debates. , . v * *-^ The report of the select committee" was read. ' gJ^^r-¥*rßG-ERATn> r ',said iha&be would propose, as a l esoui tion, r that a 'Contract be entered iuto on the basis of the report. It was not worth while occupying the time of the House on this subj ct ; in 1862, a unanimous vote of the House was given to a lesolution in favour of etepe being taken by Government to have proper leports. In 1863, a similar resolution was passed, and again in 1864, or 1865, the subject was re-opened, but then fell through in consequence of the want of proper means to carry it out. The difficulty was, that the question came before the House in the middle of the session, and even now tbe\ommittee did not propose any permanent arrangement, but rather to try an experiment for the pressnt session. In Victoria there was now a permauent Government staff, and iv England the reports were collated from the morning papers. He would not say that the plan proposed b"y the committee was the beat that could be arrived at, but it was a good one for an experiment. It was very necessary that there should be some record of the debates, and lie believed that such a record would be very much ÜBed as a check upon opinions expressed in the House." It seemed to him that it was a part and parcel of constitutional Government that there should be such a record. He would not say that the reports for the present session would be good - indeed, he was afraid they would not be ; but he thought it was time to break through the apathy that had hitherto existed on this subject. He would now move the resolution. •* Mr. J O'Nilxt, siid he desired to put tbe\ommittee right as to a mistakf 'the hon. -member^for Christchurch unintentionally, no doubt, fell into. He said tbaf before making permanent arrangements theWninittee were dusirons to try an experiment and subsidise the newspapers .Now such uas not the case, as would be seen by the report, for the negatived the proposition of recommending the House to adopt their report, and therefore it was that the hou . member himself brought forward the question If gentlemen were- anxious to have their speeches repoited and printed, they ought to pay for it out of their own pockets, for the £1,500 now asked for that purpose was certainly the moneys of the provinces, and ought not to be diverted from provincial purposes ; and he {Mx. CWetW}- would earnestly ask all hon. members, who wished well to the provinces, to set their faces against an expenditure of this nature. He contended that the time had not arrived fora New Zealand Hansard, and he contended further against the pernicious principle of subsidising the public press. He believed that' th<j proprietors- of" tie Wellington papers rose higher than being? bought over ; but it was (a curious fact, that tenttsTß were not invited fronf thTss~e gentlemen separately, but conjointly. It might, therefore, be considered iv other parts of the colony that the pre^s of Wellington was gagged, and consequently their reports and opinions would be worthless. If, as the hon. member for Christclmrch said, a Hansard would be useful to refer to for the purple of showing the inconsistency of members, then he (Mr. OVNeill) would say 1 that any member in the House would open out his hands, and turn up bis eyes, if the hon. member for Christchurch would presume to base any argument upon his own consistency. The fact was, the country could not afford the expenditure; and if hon. members chose to meet in a town- where the press could not report their speeches, they had only themselres to blame. (He*r.) _ Mr. FiizGerai/d explained that he had not said that the joint cpmmittee had recommended the adoption oi the report, but that it was the best plan for them. Mr. Fitzherbert said that the hou. member for the Northern Division (Mr.-O^Neili) was wrong in saying that the Government would be gagging the by subsidizing thrm, as it was a. matter in which the Government had nothing whatever to say. lie might say that the Nsomraittee was generally of opinion that something ought to be done, and that the plan proposed was the best. If it could be done for nothing, well and good ; but they c uld not expect that, and he thought that £1,500 was not too much. He might almost say that the contractors were ready to take up ,'the reports from the beginning of the session, which the mover of the resolution had omitted to say. His own opinion was that, if this experiment were tried, there would be hereafter some officer of the House having an authority iuterposed betweeD hon. members and the reporters; because, if hon. members put their own versions upon what they intended to say, when they corrected their speeches, there would be little value in the record. He recommended the plan to the adoption of the House. At half -past five o'clock the committee adjourned for refreshment, and resumed at seven o'clock. Mr. VoGEL said that the Government had not given an opinion on the matter as yet. Mr. Stafford said th*b this was a matter which rather rested with the House, although the Government would prefer having a correct report of all their sayings and doings. He thought, but he might be mistaken, that there was not a sufficient reporting staff in Wellington to carry out the views of the\ommittee ; also, he thought that they would have great difficulty in correcting the reports. He did not know what one officer could attempt to constitute himself as a judge if the verba ipsissima, or even the meaning 61 the speaker, were given. However, if the matter went to a division, hewoiild 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 eucouragement to the local fcress to get * staff which would enable them, in a future session, to give full reports of the proceeding*. Mr. Maoandrbw said there could' be no question as to the desirability of having a correct report of the proceedings, but he did not think that iv the face of impending taxation they could afford the luxury of having what the representatives of the country said sent forth on the wings of the J>resi. Another reason why he would oppose, and evfcn divide [against the resolution was, that r it they were sitting in some other cities of the colony, local enterprise would undertake the woi k without subsidy. Mr. Retkolds was opposed to the motion. He thought if a subsidy were required it ought to be provided by the Wellington Provincial Council. It was discreditable to the capital of the colony, the Empiie City, and the Panama tenninu", to neglect to report th« debates. He would move as an amendment,* "'l hat in the present financial position of the colony, and having reference to the uncertainty as to whether funds will be available for purposes absolutely necessary, it is inexpedient to pledge the colony to so large an expenditure on an experiment." Mr. Bunny would support the amendment. (Hear,-hearr) He could noT; see that the people at large would not acquire a better knowledge of what was done in the House by a judicious summary than by giving some. 70 columns of the debate?. Jf they were to agree to the motion, it would have an injurious effect, us it would exteud the length of the session. He hoped that the vexed questions of the seat of Government and the Panama route would be finally settled, aud then tke'fress of Wellington would be aa well prepared to undertake the expense of reporting and priming the speeches as any other place in the colony would, if it was honoured by being the seat of Government. Mr. Bbswjck would support the motion, for Various reasons. If they i did not carry out this suggestion of the Select Committee, they might as well close the'doors, and make it a secret chamber. The present curtailed system of reporting was worse than none at all.

[ Mr, WhitaKSß -would like to hear from the Ron. -the Colonial Treasurer whether he had this little amount of cash to spare for reporting. Mr. VoGEti said that the mover of the resolution had received so little support from the other members of the committee that he felt bound to from the rigid silence which he had marked out for himself during the session (Laughter.) He w«s sorry that the member for Wairnrapa had left the House after making his eloquent speech, for no member had taken no much trouble to persuade his constituents that his speeches agreed with his votes, and his votes with his speeches. He supposed that the reason why&fr. .Reynolds was so much opposed to the motion/was, that he considered that the speeches he made were not worth expending bo much money as £1,500 upon. He would support, tbe motion, as he thought that this course would greatly shorten the session, as members would uot speak so much, if they thought that their speeches would be taken down. Secondly, this session was one which was likely to be so important that he thought it very desirable that it should be truly recorded for the benefit of tbe country. To allow the session to pa«s without having adequate reports would be to inflict a public injury. They would be increasing an injury already sufficiently iarge. It was an absurd thing to say that, because the Wellington papers ou«ht not to receive a subsidy, that they should therefore inflict an injury on the colony generally. The price asked by the papers was one which would barely cover the cost to which they were put, especially as Mr. Dillon Beli- was about to open au academy for young politicians." (Laughter,) The House was simply asked t-> reimburse the papers in the extra coat to which they were p it. He (Mr. Vogel) had some experience iv new -papers, and ho could assure hon. members that the space takeu up by the reports of the proceedings of the House would not save the proprietors from their ordinary expense of Bupplying their leaders with the usual news. The report of the debates, although interesting to members, was uninteresting to (he geneial class of newspaper readers. He did not think that it was fair to pi»sk out the two proprietors of the papers of "Wellington, and say that they nhould bear all the expanse of reporting these debates. Me hoped that the House would agree to the motion of the hon, member for Christchurch. (Gheora.).. Mr. Jollie would support the motion. ITe did go, not from any interested motives, imfc because he saw the necessity and desirability of it. Redid not think that the con-itiy whs yet in. such » very bad slate but that they cnuld not affutd £1,500 to - have a decent record of the debates of the House. Mr. Gborci Grakam would support the amendment. II c thonght the couutry could not afford So heavy a sum for the report of the speeches. When the Assembly was held in Auckland, there was a 'till and correct report of Die speeches, a-id the country was not called upon to vote any suras of money to assist the paper?. Mr. Dillon Bell would rote against the motion, as he considered that the object which it professed to have in view could not be carried out. The papers of Wellington had said, at tho beginning of the session, that they did not intend to give a report of the proceedings, but would give a lesume' of what took place. For his part", he had been utterly disgusted at the nonsense which had been -put into the m-.-uths of hon. membeis, and above all, the garbled accounts of what the Ministers had, said. And at the same-time that they gave these account* they stated that they had correct reports by them. If the proprietors of the papers of this city preferred, filling the last page of their papers with filthy advertisemeHts, which the respectable papeis of the colony would not receive, to giving public information, they deserved very little consideration. For his own part he would oppose the motion. Mr. FitzGerald drew attention to the fact that ' th© question of correcting the reports had received the greatest consideration from the hands of the' committee, would le seen on reference to the report. The hon. member who had just spoken could uot know much about newspapers, if he thought that papers would go bankrupt rather than keep longstanding advertisements in their columns, when they had not sufficient subject matter to fill up their papers. There did not exist a single newspaper in the colony which could afford td^keep the^necessary staff of reporters for giving-a full report of th§tf proceedings, and pay them at the rate of salaries which would be required. If this colony had one large and principal town, instead of small chief towns to each province, this could be done ; but as things now were it was impossible. The Committee would see that, considering the small circulation of any paper outside the place where it was "published, if was impossible to undertake this work without aid. If a paper in Wellington did t"o this work, every paper in the colony could copy these reports for nothing, without contributing a single penny to the expense. The case of the papers in JNew Zealand was an exceptional one, and should be treated in an exceptional manner. For himself,* if it were practicable, he would rather be in favour of having a special staff of reporters for the House, paid by the House, and independent of the press altogether. He believed that, if the House did not make a beginning now, they would delay the commencement from session to session. Mr. Gkosbie WAnD would oppoge the motion, on the ground that this was a luxurious experiment, which it would be undesirable to f-et up as a precedent. • During former sessions, the reports of the; Wellington papers had been very creditable, and he thought that short* reports, giving the intimation of what hon. members said, was better than diving the speeches in full. Major .Richardson was opposed to both the motion and amendment, bnt was in favour rather of giving a small subsidy to the paper?, on condition of their produciug the reports according to some plan to be decided on by the Government. Mr. J. C. Richmond would vote for the motion in its integrity, and did not think that the country would lose by such an investment. Mr. JJ^Wiluamson said thai the reason why the committee had recommended tbe proposal of Messrs. McKenzie and Bull was because that was the best plan that had beea proposed to them. He himself did not think that it would i have the desired effect. The best and cheapest 1 plau that he 'knew of was, for the Government to pay the expenses of the representatives of the priest in the various provinces to and from Wellington; This would only involve an expense of some few hundred pounds, aud if it were done he felt sure that they would, in less than a fortnight, have thn gallery thoroughly by members of ~the fourth, estate. He would vote with the amendment, as he considered that the country was not now justified in, goiug to this expenditure. Mr. Hall wa3 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 nos object to vote for this object. He would vote with the arc* admen t. . * Mr.~G, Wilson wa9 opposed to the motion. Mr. Whitaker would vote with the amendment j in the first place because of the expense to be incurred, and in the second because they could not get what they wanted. The experiment would, ' in his opinion, certainly fail, and it was admitted on all sides to be doubtful. House divided on the motion A3 follows :— Ayes, 22 : FitzGerald (teller), J. C. Richmond (teller), Armstrong, Atkinson, Beiwick, Bradshaw, Campbell, Curtis, Fitzuerbert, Haughton, Ha,ultain, Jollir, McLean, McNeill,|Muiison , Oliver, 0. rf'Neil, Ormond, Stafford, Stevens, Vogel, anff Walker," Noes, 36-^Reynolds (teller^, Ward (teller), Bald, win, Ball, Beauchamp, Bell, Borlase, Bryce, Bunny,* Burns, Cargill, Clark, De Quincey, Dick, Eyes, Featherston, G. Graham, R. Graham, Hall, Hankin son, Hargreaves, Henderson, Hepburn, Hull, Ludlaui, Macandrew, Newman, J-. O'Neill, O'Rorke, Heid, flichar4son, Whitaker, John Williamson, Wilson, and Wood. The declaration of the division was received with , applause. On the amendment being put, '' Major JtIOHiBDSON said that he had another r mend men t to propose in lieu of Mr. Reynolds'! amendment. The amendment he had to propose was " That for. the present session there be offered a subsidy to Messrs. McKenzie and Bull, equal to the salary of six reporters, for a period of three mouth?, and not exceeding £30 or £40 per week, on condition cf their reporting the debates of the legislature iv a form to be decided on by the Government/ The House again divided on Major Richardson 1 * amendment, as follows,: Ayes, 25 ; noes, 33. v Mr. Fitzgerald said that as the two former resolutions had been negatived,, he would suggest the 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 £1,500 for such an object as this. He would move that the Chairman do leave the chair. Mr. Reynolds had no objection to allow hit amendment to lapse. The amendment therefore lapsed. The House adjourned at 10.5 p.m.