THIS DAY'S PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Evening Post, Volume XL, Issue 63, 13 September 1890, Page 3

THIS DAY'S PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MomborH reassembled at 11 a.m. to-day. The Public Bevonnos Act Amendment Bill, a technioal measnre relating to the recovery of the cost of certain looal bodios' audit, and the Kuraara Sludge Channel Bill, handing over another acotion of the channel to tru.itecH, wore road the second time. Tho Coal Leases Itoyalty Bill— whioh pre poses to empower the Government to give effect to the recommendation of a Commisiiion which it is intended to appoint, to report upon the desirableness of suspending the royalty upon tho output of the Westport Coal Company's mines and that of the Grey Valley Coal Company— was dincussed at somo length on the motion for eooond reading. Ultimately tho debate was adjourned till Monday, by 30 to 28. OCEAN lIAILB. Tbo Foitmastor-General moved the Ocean Mail Service resolution*, which provided (1) for tbe reduction of the rate of ocean letter postage from 6d par bait" ounce to 2Jd, and that by tho Brindiei-Naplos routo from Is to 6d, and tho renowal of tho San Francisco and Direct Services on the basis of a payment of 12s por lb on tho woight of letters carried. In the course of his nptech he said that disappointment would donbtlcss be felt in the country districts at tbe fact that Government had not proposed to also reduce the rate for interprovinoial lottors to a penny, but tboy could not at present ace their ■way to that course. Great credit was due to Mr. Croighton, Government Agent at San Francisco, for tho efforts which had induced the United States Government to grant their subiidy of .£12,000 a year towards the I cofet of the San Franoiioo eorvice. The ; Imperial Government bad also behaved most liberally, for their payment of 12a per lb upon Jotters to the oolony worked out at the rate of 2Jd per letter, or » loss to them of \d per letter. He congratulated the colony upon baring been able to aohiove what was at one time thought to bo absolutely impossible. As regards Now South Wales, tho Government thought that as they were proposing to pay suoh a small som for tho 'Frisco sei?ico they could nob dictate to the contractors as to what should be tbair torminal port. They therefore proposed to allow tho contractors to tako their steamers on to Sydnoy and take for theraaolvoa tho total postages from there. Tho Occanio Company was propared to oarry on the San Franciaoo service, but there was yet no certainty that the Shaw-Savill and New Zealand thippintc Companies would accept tho carnage of direot mails on the new terms. 'ihe Hon. Mr. Ballance, while complimenting the Government upon thoir excellent arrangements, considered it would bo desirable to hare the terminal port within the oolony— either in Auckland or Wellington— oven if it oosfc £4000 or 4>5000, for it would be worth i! 15,000 or to tan colony from a commercial point of view. Ho also argued in favour of the reduction of the inland rate to a penny. [Left sitting.)