PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 43, 19 August 1895, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

1 A Mi.08.1 STOBT APPLIED. ) Mr. Hone Heke made a witty and apt speech to an empty House on Saturday morning. He improved on Sir Robert ■ dtout'a Btory of tbe red-petticoated wives b by telling of an ancestor of his, who wa.* L with five of bis men at Patoa when be heard of a Southern invading party comit g [ to attack his pah. The five men were immediately set to work to make men -out of manuka scrub, who were "boldly mounted on the parapets, while the six, with 1 all the power of lung and limbejthey ' cnli muster, danced a war dance. When the attacking party oame olose enough to see and hear they imagined that the chief had > got reinforcements, and fled from the ti-trce ' men. So Mr. Ward in London had marshalled his three milKone of " unpledged " securities. The mass of them were pledged, but the London capitalist did not know, and they took the bogns securities for real — another case of the ti-tree effigies— and they turned tail and left the colony alone. Mr. > Ward interjected that he did not dance a 1 war-dance. Mr. Heke said he could not t answer for that. The Maoris had one form - of war-dance ; the Europeans had another, t ' They heard of Mr. Ward being dined and p enteit lined and making speeches. That was bis war-dance. , TEE BANK COMMtTTII. 9 The Bank Committee sat on Saturday afternoon, but did little of moment, the reason given subsequently being the presence 3 of outside members. It was definitely stated in the lobbies on Saturday, on the strength of a statement made by Air. Seddon himself, that he did not intend to add to the Committee. He has, however, now determined to add two members of each House to the Committee, and .it is probable that it will then be made a " Secret Committee." In conseqaenoe of this the Committee is not sitting to-day. [ A PATHITIC PETITION. There is quite a pathetic petition from the i Whakatohea tribe, of Opotiki, in respeot of tbe Oamaru block of 104,500 acreß. It sets | ont that Bomo of the tribe desired to bave a , email pieoe of tho corner of the block suri veyed, but a surveyor named Baker made a compact with two of them to extend the ) survey to the whole block, against the wish of the tribe, who urged the Magistrate to Btop the proceeding. They wanted the block surveyed, but not by this surveyor, who they heird "had friends in high places, and from the way he acted could do what he'liked without interference from the Government." Judge Williams in adjudicating on the block " spoke strongly against tho surveyor's nnderhasd work." A value of Is 3d per aore was fixed for the block . as the basis for cutting out the portion of , the block to pay for thi> survey, and in spite , of the protest of the tribe 30,000 aores were out ont for the survey lien. They had lost | land by confiscation for rebellion, but " this | second confiscation of the last of onr birth1 right," they add, " has broken onr hearts." r They have lost so much that they oannot t afford to tend a deputation to Wellington, so ask that the Hon. Mr. Carroll and Mr. 1 Wi Pere, who know all about tho matter, [ may give evidence for them.