TOWN EDITION. (Staramg THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,1881. PROGRESS OF THE RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION BILL.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 65, 15 September 1881, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. (Staramg THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1881. PROGRESS OF THE RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION BILL.

Contrary to the expectation of some people — who evidently did not give our " Lords" credit for possessing so much good sense aa they have displayed — the Railway Construction and Land Sill passed its second reading in the Legislative Council by the large majority of 15 to 9 votes. There was a very vigorous debate on the bill, nearly all of the Councillors present taking part. Excellent speeches were delivered in favour of the measure by several of our Wellington members, notably Dr. Grace, Mr. P. A. Buckley, and Mr. Randall Johnson, all of whom put tho arguments very well and forcibly. Mr. Waterhousb gave the bill a more qualified support, intimating his intention of proposing various amendments in Committee, failing the adoption of which he should vote against the third reading. Mr. Hart voted for the bill, and Mr. John Martin paired on the same side, but Mr. Pharazyn paired against it. Perhaps we ought not to be surprised at this prooeeding on the part of Mr. Pharazyn. Nobody looks for enlightened, or sensible, or patriotic action from that nice old gentleman, whose sole remaining mission in Jife seems to be to obstruct or muddle all useful public business, whether as Chairman of the Education Board or as member of the Legislative Council. He tried the same sort of thing as Chairman of the Gas Company, and was speedily relegated by the indignant shareholders to a very " back seat." The Education Board made a desperate attempt this year to free themselves from their " old man of the sea," but he clung so pertinaciously to their shoulders that they had to relinquish the effort to dislodge him, and still groan under their burden, from the Legislative Council, unfortunately, he cannot be got rid of, and we have to submit to his sitting there for life. Even a magistrate may sometimes be removed from the Commission of the Peace if he deserve it, but a Legislative Councillor can stick to his seat regardless of public opinion, and do his worst against the interest of those he misrepresents — men may come and men may go, bnt he goes on for ever. We have no remedy, but if anything will force on the colony an alteration in the construction of the Upper House, it will be the necessity of sweeping away obstructive fossils of the Pharazyn type. It has been the misfortune of Wellington that some of her public men have been so unenlightened, antiquated, aud non-progressive in their ideas, and we are glad to find that Mr. Pharayzn now stands almost alone as a representative of this aohool. Most of the other Wellington Councillors were warm in their advocacy of tho bill, but curiously enough the most cogent testimony to the value and importance of the particular railway in which Wellington i 8 interested, and the construction of which depends upon this bill, was given by a strenuous opponent of the measure, Mr. Holmes. Although condomningitand declaring his determination to vote against it, Mr. Holmes frankly said that had it referred only to the Wollington-Manawatu Railway, he would have heartily supported it. He freely testified to the desirableness and usefulness of the work, speaking- from his personal observation of the country which would be served by it. But ho utterly denounced the line 3 proposed in the bouth Island, as absurd and chimerical, and he advocated the continuance of the policy hitherto adopted— that the Government should construct out of borrowed money all railways that it was decided to go on with. Several Councillors appear to have shared this opinion, believing that the Government could borrow money on more favourable terms than a private company could raise it. This does not Eeem to us a very logical or pointed argument. In the first place, the Colony cannot borrow any money for more tha 1 a year to come, so all that time at least would Jbe_ needlessly lost. In the second place, it is by no meana certain that New Zealand will obtain her next loan on even such good terms as the last, which were not at all too favourable. It is not satisfactory to getonly 79 and a fraction for 4 per cent, inscribed

Btock, and there are symptoms of our having to be content with no better price when again we go into the London market. It is one great advantage of the present movement for facilitating the construction of railways by private enterprise, that it will enable the Colony to " hold her hand" for a time, so far as loan-raising is concerned, and to allow the railways already open to demonstrate, a3 they already are bo BatiEfactorily doing, how thoroughly sound and legitimate an investment has been the money expended on them, in the case of perhaps nine-tenths of their total mileage. It is needless, however, to discuss further the general principle of the bill; a3 that ha 3 now been distinctly accepted by the Council. Ita ' danger now lies in the amendments threatened to be made in committee. The bill may easily be " killed" in this way unle3S the utmost care and watchfulness be exercised by those who are favourable to the measure. It sustained a serious blow in the inclusion of the " security " clause, by the Lower House. There will be an endeavour, we hear, in committee, of the Council to strike out the clause which empowers the Government to enter into immediate contracts in respect to certain specified lines, which have already been approved and sanctioned by Parliament, the Wellington-Mana-watu being one. If this attempt be successful, the usefulness of the bill will be destroyed, as much as if it were thrown out altogether, because it would necessarily stay all action for another year, by which time it would be just as easy to bring in a new bill as to submit all the proposed contrasts for Parliamentary sanction. There is not the slightest need of any such obstructive and yeiatious restriction. No Ministry, especially on the eve of a general election, would venture to enter into any improper contract, and their hands are further tied quite sufficiently by the limitations imposed by the bill itself. Reviewing all the circumstances, and bearing in mind the intelligence with which most of the Councillors discussed the bill, we are sanguine that the Legislative Council will abstain not only from rejecting the bill as a whole, but also from depriving it of all its potentiality of usefulness by unduly hampering its practical operation through injudicious alteration in committee.

The Premier laid on the table of the Lower House last night (1) a letter from the Government to the Agent-General which covered the returned letter of Sir Julius Vogel, and (2) the letter to Sir Julius which accompanied it. They were as follow :— (1) From the Under-Secretary (Mr. G. S. Cooper) to Sir F. D. Bell — " I have the honour to enclose herewith a letter addressed to Sir Julius Vogel, with itß enclosure, and to request that you will be good enough to cause it to be delivered to Sic Julius Vogel after you have perused it." (2) From the Undersecretary to Sir J. Vogel— " I am directed to acknowledge the receipt by the last San Francisco mail of your letter of the 27 th April last, directed to the Premier. The tone of this letter is so studiously sffensive, and it contains so many misrepresentations and mis-statements, that the Government refuse to permit it to be filed as a record of the colony, and I am therefore directed to return it to you." This afternoon, the Hon. Mr. Gisborne is to ask the Premier — " (1) How long, probably, will his Excellency the Governor be absent from the colony? (2) Whether, in regard to the Letters Patent, dated 21st February, 1879, constituting the office of Governor of New Zealand, and to the terms of the thirteenth paragraph providing for the case of the Governor having occasion to be temporarily absent for a short period from the seat of Government or from the colony, his Excellency|has, by an instrument under the Public Seal of the colony, appointed a deputy during his temporary absence ? (3) Whether, in view of the question which has been raised respecting the interpretation of the Letters Patent as to the mode of providing for the temporary administration of the office of Governor, Ministers have advised, or intend to advise the Governor, or Administrator of the Government, to communiwith the Imperial Government on the subject?" On the motion of Mr. Hutchison, a return was laid on the table of the House last evening in reference to the Thorndon Reclamation, showing that the total amount paid to the contractors for reclaiming the land was £60,511 19s 6d, and the receipts for the land sold by auction £32,888 13s Id. The total area of land reclaimed is 49a lr 8p : the area sold as above, 3a Or 2'Bp ; reserved by the Government for Government Buildings, Supreme Court, Resident Magistrate's Court, and Police Station, la Or l'7p; leserved for railway station, &c, 26a Or 2*Bp ; reserved for marine and telegraph store and drillshed, 4a lr sp ; Harbour Board endowment, la 2r 9p ; Masonic reserve, oa, Or 27'5p ; streets, 12a lr 5"5p ; still unsold and undisposed of, 0a 3r 337p ; total, 49a lr Bp. In reference to the petition of Dr. France, lato medical officer to the Mount View Asylum, who prayed for compensation under the Abolition of Provinces Act, for loss of office, the Public Petitions Committee yesterday reported that the petitioner's claim i^ a good one, and that he is entitled to receive an allowance under the Abolition of Provinces Act for loss of office. Ia the Legislative Council yesterday a report was presented by the Petitions Committee on the petition of the inhabitants of Nekon against the Representation Bill being passed into law until it should have first been submitted to the people at a general election. The committee stated that as the bill had already passed both Houses of the Legislature, they could make no recommendation on the subject. Mr. Levin is to ask the Colonial Treasurer this afternoon, " Whether he will take into consideration the propriety of allowing those Government officers insured in the New Zealand Government Insurance Department, and who have been compelled to allow their policies to lapse during the last departmental year, to take them up on payment of arrears of premium ?" Mr. Wright tabled a return yesterday showing that if the colony took over the New Plymouth Harbour Board assets and liabilities, there would be a balance of £26,799 in favour of the colony. The Hon. Mr. Mantell has given notice of hia intention to move in the Legislative Council to-morrow for any further correspondence between the Government and the Corporation of the city of Wellington, on the closing of the existing cemeteries in the city of Wellington. Three petitions, from Bufferers by the fatal accident of last September on the Simutaka Incline of the Wellington-Masterton Railway, for compensation, were adjudicated on yesterday by the Parliamentary Committee. Robert Hare, of Masterton, was pronounced to be entitled to £80; A. B. Jackson, of Greytown, to £147 7s Bd, and Elizabeth Pye, of Wellington, to £32, the above sums to be irrespective of and in addition to the payments already received by the petitioners. Yesterday the Hon. Mr. Wilson gave notice that on Friday (to-morrow) he would move, " That the vote of the Hon. Mr. Hart on the Railways Construction Bill be disallowed, on the ground that the honourable member had a direct interest in the question before the House, being a shareholder in the Wellington and West Coast Railway Company." The petition of C. C. Graham and others against the annexation of Karori to the Hutt Electoral District has been referred by the Public Petitions Committee to the Government for immediate consideration. Mr. Hutchison yesterday asked if it was the intention of the Minister for Pubac Works to close the Petoni railway station, and erect another one a short distance further on. The Premier said application had been made to him to shift the station a quarter of a mile further on. He had visited the locality, and had come to the conclusion that it would b9 advantageous to shift the station. Major Harris has given notice of his intention to ask the Government, " If it is the intention of the Government during the present session, to invite Parliament to give effect to the views indicated by the Hon. the Premier at Leeston, to change the constitution of the Legislative Council ; and, if not, what are the reasons for delay in doing so?" All qualified persons who are not on the electoral roll should take immediate steps to get the omission rectified, as a general election is imminent, and when once the writs have been issued it becomes too late to qualify oneself as an elector. The qualification now is a very comprehensive one. In the first place every man of the age of 21 years or upwards, having in any electoral district a freehold estate in possession of the value of £25, of which he has been the owner for six months, is entitled to be registered. The second, or residential, qualification embraces every man, aged 21 year 3 and upwards, who has resided in the colony one year, and in the electoral district for which he claims to vote during the sir months immediately preceding the registration of his vote. Two little boys, named John and William Wilson, aged. 10 and 6 years respectively, have mysteriously disappeared from their parents' residence, Bolton-street, and, notwithstanding the efforts of the police authorities to trace their present whereabouts, no tidings have yet been heard of them. The lads left home at half-past nine o'clock on Tuesday morning last, ostensibly for the purpose of attending the Marist Brothers' School. They were not presentjat the school that day, and have not since returned home. John, the elder boy, ia described as having dark hair, pale blue eyes, and weariog a serge coat, dark tweed trousers and lace-up boots. Tho other also has dark hair and blue eyes, is of rather stout build, and was dressed in blue trousers, blaok oloth coat and lace-up boots.

Mr. Weston is to ask the Mini-ter of Justice this afternoon, " Whether it is the caße that people sentenced by the magistrates in Wellington to i jiprisonment, through default in payment of fines for drunkenness and other offences, or committed on remand or to await their trial, are marched handcuffed through the public thoroughfares of Wellington to her Alajeßty'B prison; alao, how and in what manner prisoners are brought from her Majesty's prison to the several courts in Wellington, to take their trial ?" The following tenders were received at the Public Works Office, Wellington, for the Waimakariri Gorge contract, No. 1, Canterbury interior main line : — Accepted : Grigg and Guild, Tinwald, .£2487. Declined : B. Johnston, Waikari, £2536; J. Farmer, Christchurch, £2546; J. Henderson, Lyttelton, £2929 ; Davidson and Conyers, Dunedin, £3031 ; Fraser and Co., Dunedin, £3684. An amnsing "snub" was administered yesterday by the Public Petitions Committee. In their report on the petition of Henry Harrington, of Onehunga, they say :—: — "The petitioner states that on very many occasions during a period of 33 years, both as a private colonist and a military officer, he has been of great per vice to the Government, and he prays the House to take his case into consideration, and to grant him relief. The committee having read the petition with much interest, are gratified to find that the petitioner has performed so many valuable services for the colony, but the committee cannot Bee their way to recommend the granting of any Epecial reward for such services." It was roported to-day that a requisition has been presented to Mr. T. K. Macdonald, asking him to stand f.r the representation of Te Aro in Parliament. We understand that the rumour is incorrect, but that Mr. Macdonald purposes to offer himself as a candidate at the next election after the one now imminent. Two very curious petitions were reported on yesterday by the Public Petitions Committee. They were both from the Bame person, R. S. Feltns, of Auckland. The report is as follows -. — The petition {1) states that the Bank of New Zealand, through the Mercantile Association of the said institution, has been endeavouring to stop the poorer classes and others in acquiring land. The Committee are of opinion that a petition of such a character ought not to have been received by the House. (2) The petition states that the land is virtually given away, while the sons of old colonists have not an acre. The Committee have no recommendation to make. The remains of a boat, measuring about 16 feet in length, were washed ashore at Island Bay yesterday. Here they were found by two Italian fishermen, named Nigiotti and Vergele, who reported the discovery to the police. With the wreck there were found two life-buoys, painted white, three rowlocks, and an oar, with the word " Napier " appearing on the handle. The balance of the honor crium was paid by the Hon. Mr. Wood to Mr. Seddon to be handed to Mr. Reeves. A corporation in Wellington some time ago obtained a judgment against Mr. Reeves, and yesterday morning moved in the Supreme Court for an ord-r attaching the moneys in the hands of Mr. Seddon. The order was granted and served on Mr. Seddon, who will consequently have to hand over the money to Mr. Reeveß' creditors instead of to Mr. Reeves himself. Relative to a statement made at the R.M. Court on Monday last, during the hearing of a charge of drunkenness preferred against a woman named Mary Hobbins, it appears an injustice has been inflicted upon an innocent person. As previously reported, Hobbins informed the Resident Magistrate that the offence was committed on the previous day — Sunday — when she managed to obtain drink from "the Prince of Wales Hotel, Tory-street." With a view of prosecuting the licensee of this hotel for Sunday tradiug, the police authorities subsequently interrogated Hobbins for further particulars, when she stated that " she got eighteenponnyworth of gin of Mr. Poppins." It happens that Mr. W. Poppins is the licensee of the Princess Theatre Hotel, Tory-street, and against this person an information, which will be heard on Tuesday next, has now been issued. Thera are at present G7 patients at the Wellington Hospital, viz., 49 males and 18 females. During the week 7 patients were admitted and 10 discharge.!. The Mount Cook School Cadets were inspected by Lieut.-Col. Pearce yesterday afternoon, the inspection proving highly satisfactory. A new term commences at'the Wellington College to-morrow. Since the inauguration of the new regime, the institution has undergone a very noticeable improvement. The number of scholars has increased from 58 to 90, and the boarders, who numbered 7 when Mr. Mackay assumed the principalship, now number 33. Five pupils have entered for the junior scholarship examinations New uniforms will shortly bo supplied to the College Cadet Corps, and steps are being taken to provide a proper gymnasium. At last night's parade of the Naval Brigado, the lieutenant in charge observed, at the conclusion of the parade, that the men would obtain every facility from their secretary to get their names put on the electoral roll, and that he hoped the members would pay attention to the hint. From what we can learn this idea is likely to be followed by all volunteer corps throughout the colony. Mr. J. J. Atkinson, formerly employed in the Railway Department, is to deliver a lecture, on Wednesday next, on " The Management of our Middle Island Railways." There was a good attendance at the Theatre Royal last evening, when Pollard's Liliputian Opera Company appeared for the third time here in Planquetfce's charming opera comique, " Les Cloches de Corneville." As before, tbe " Legend of the Bells," " Just look at that," and other numbers had to be repeated, and the applause throughout the performance was both frequent and cordial. The opera will be repeated to-night. A reminder is given of the entertainment which takes place to-night at the Tinakoriroad schoolroom, in aid of the library fund of St. Paul's Parochial Association. The programme appears elsewhere. We are requested to state that the reading and library-room in the Sydney-street School building ia now open on the afternoons of Wednesday and Friday, from 3 to 5 o'clock. The Karori United Lodge held ita usual weekly session last night, Bro. T. Lancaster in the chair. The lodge was thrown open to the public at 8 p.m , when a very enjoyable evening was spent. The meeting closed at 10 p.m. The Excelsior Lodge, No. 248, of the Independent Order of Good Templars, held an open meeting last evening in the lodgeroom, corner of Tory-street and Courtenay-place. The chair was taken by Bro. F. H. Fraser, who gave an interesting address, arguing, on Army and London Hospital medical testimony, against the idea of there being any nutritious qualities in intoxicants. Bro. Donovan (New Plymouth) made a strong speech in tavour of temperance education in our State schools. Bro. M'lntyre made a cordial appeal to the non-abstainers present, the result being eleven new candidates for membership. Several very pleasing songs and readings were given during the evening. The lodge has been open only four months, and haß upwards of 100 members on its books. Says the Rangitikei Advocate :—": — " Perhaps the latest tribute to the honour of departed greatness is the naming of the proposed new hotel at Awahuri, ' The Endymion.' We wonder what the Maoris will make of it— we mean the name, not the hotel — we know what the natives usually make of an hotel." The Wairarapa Daily complains of the scarcity of bush hands in the Wairarapa. It adds :—": — " Farmers will do well to prepare themselves for a scarcity of hands during next harvest. It is very evident that good labour is obtainable now ouly to a very limited extent, and that in a few months wages will be high and men hard to obtain." The following obituary notice ia from the Tapanui Courier :— " Death.— Waikaia. — In the House of Assembly, this session, of Hallism and secret plotting, the Electoral District of Waikaia." The longest speech, says the Christchurch Telegraph, as far as the Parliament of New Zealand is concerned, is that of Mr. W. L. Rees, who spoke for twenty-four hours. Mr. Beauchamp — of Beauchatnp and Bell, of Christchuroh, the well-known auctioneers — spoke for ten hours and a-half continuously in the Provincial Council of Marlborough. When in the House of Representatives subsequently, he gave his confreres enormous doses of speechifying at times. The ransom paid for Mr. Snter to the Greek brigands, £15,000, was, it ia said, j just Mr. Suter's weight in gold. The grand-nephew of the discoverer of vaccination, Mr. Stephen Jenner, who was often the subject of his uncle's experiments in his childhood, is living in poverty, at the age of 88, in Heathfield, near Berkeley, England. Perhaps one of the latest freaks of the " great unpaid," and the most absurd, has recently been perpetrated in London, a section of the magistrates closing music halls on Sunday against evangelistic services. The Home Secretary, when the affair was brought under his notice, could not believe that any magistrate could be so devoid of common sense, and the power of repeating such a folly has been taken from them. Dyeing and cleaning in all branches, are advertised to be done at the Wellington Dye Works, Cuba-street.

Cuba-street will, no doubt, prove very attractive to sightseers to-morrow evening from 6 to 10 p.m., as it is announced in another column that the first display of spring novelties will be made at James Smith's, Te Aro Hou3e. From the wellknown taste evinced in former exhibitions of tLia sort, our fair readers miy doubtless expect a great treat. Attention i 3 directed to an important sale of electro-platedware, &c, to be sold by auction on Tuesday, by Messrs. T. Kennedy j Macdonald & Co. Catalogues will bo issned by the auctioneers, and as the goods are a direct consignment, buyers of first-class goods should inspect the articles. The attention of butchers ia directed to Messrs. Croskery, Hasell & Co.'b sale of fat Bheep and pigs, in their yards, on the Reclaimed Land, to-morrow, at noon. They will also sell on the wharf, at 2 o'clock, bacon and wheat, and at 2.30, in their rooms, household furniture and effects. Messrs. Laery & Campbell will sell tomorrow, at 11 o'clock, on tho breastwork, potatoes. Messrs. W. M'Lean & Co. will sell tomorrow, at noon, valuable properties in Manners-street. Mr. Francis Sidey will sell to-morrow, at 11 o'clock, on the premises, Cuba-street, hairdresser's stock-in-trade. At 2 o'clock, on the premises, Sydney-street, furniture, &c. Messrs. F. H. Wood & Co. will sell tomorrow, at Dalgity's farm, > ast Taratahi, sheep, horses, and larming implements.