POLITICAL GOSSIP.

Evening Star, Issue 7355, 29 October 1887, Page 2

POLITICAL GOSSIP.

[From Our Parliamentary Reporter. 1

WEfLINGTOIL Opippjt 28. Gqyerwiitant Printing (if (free, SMr Didsjbury in his annual report mentions hat nearly all the brown paper now used in the has tfjen from the colonial mills, 4mJ they snd j;hat t(je quality ha* greatly iifjprpypd! tyjaj of Neiy Zealand-made ink bat alia b£en ipdf, )]'ut pjfip hiysnoj: (men satisfactory, as its eortosive quality (yap rendered the pens useles. All the brass work in connection with the department is now being done at the printing office.

Latest ApfjujsltlQn. Just before thg House rose, S}v J, Vogel referred to the cablegrams published during the last two or three days to the effect that the English Government had agreed to cede to France the island of Raiatea, and said that as ho was under the impression that a groat fuss was Jnaije qojpe {ajna ogo ajsout the cession of Raiafpaj app:eift'n i Rarafconga was meant. Ir that, were .the fase it \yould be a misfortune for ,New Zealand ; and if the Government had no information on the. subject they might deem it of sufficient importance to make incmingl concerning it. The Premier replied that thoy' had no ln|orrr,atiou on the subject, and, seeing the cost of a eablegram, he did not think it worth while telegraphing, as the cost would be. cpnjsidgraldo. If England had made any agreement with France a. protest by this Colony would be quite useless. He agreed that it would hf matter for regret if either of the islands named ,liad • beeq; given _to pranae, Sir J. Vogel suggested that the Victorian .Government might be cohmmnicated with, and Major Atkinson nrnmised to favorably consider 1 the

Atsmson promiseu lu lavorauiy cunaiuci mo suggestion. TtfjJjtcht’s Sitting-. The sitting- airtlie Abuse'to-night was a very short oiie. Notice was given of an 1 immense number of questions and' motions, and 1 very many petitions'were received'at the request of the Government. : to t)ip questions set down were Referred till Tuesday. The Midland Railway Papers haya'tyaen.laid on 'the taple. The premier stated that the hope he had entertained of submitting' the Financial Statement that night had proved delusive, but it would be brought down ou Tuesday evening without fail.

Sir J, Vogel said if it were; it would have been prepared with considerable celerity, and the House should be satisfied. He thought the request for additional time very reasonable, and .would assist to consult the covenienoe of the Government in the order of busings?.

■After some, further, discussion, referred to elsewhere, the House’ adjourned sqoh after eight o'clock. >

The Budget. It may fairly be presumed that, inasmuch as the Cabinet are anxious to place the finances of the Colony on somewhat like an assured basis, the Statement on Tuesday will traverse the question of public works. The usual Public Works Statement will, however, be made at a later stage of the session. The Minister for Lands has removed into the Ministerial residence in the Tenakou road; while the Premier occupies that in Brown street. Sir J. Vogel and the Hon. E. Richardson still occupy the other residences, pending the decision of the House as to their disposal. Corporation Borrowing.

A new departure in the matter of borrowing has been taken by the Dunedin Corporation, who have submitted a Bill enabling them to receive deposits from private persons at a rate of interest not exceeding 7 percent. The money to bo received on deposit is not to exceed L 30.000, and the sum of the deposits and overdraft are not to exceed the larger overdraft. Some opposition will be offered to the principle of the Bill. IVew Zealand Institute. The following are the numbers of the ordinary members now belonging to the New Zealand Institute:—Auckland, 277; Hawke’s Bay, 139; Wellington, 248; Canterbury, 11G ; Nelson, 50; Westland, 69; Otago, 156 ; Southland, 72. Total, 1,156. The Beer Trade, It appears that during last year thirty-five new licenses were refused, on the ground that the houses were not required. The total number of publicans’ licenses issued was 1,476, and the total number refused fifty-six. There are 115 brewers in the Colony, and the amount of beer duty paid is L53.C00. Political Jottings. The Financial Sta'ement will be delivered at the evening sitting on Tuesday, Mr Taylor is indignant, and wants to know if the Minister of Works has promised to have the railway material required for Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin manufactured at those plapes instead gf at Addington. Colonel Eraser's Bill reducing thp number of members fo fifty has been read a first time. Defence js suffering very severely in the scheme of retrenchment which is now being prepared by the Government. Notice has been given of the appointment qf a Select Committee to deal with the question of the rabbit pest. The railway connection for which Mr Hobbs is agitating would complete a length of fifty miles between Kamo and Kawakawa. Sir Ju'ius Vogel considers that if the Financial Statement is brought down on Tuesday it will have been prepared with an amount of celerity that should be satisfactory to the House. Mr Walter Leslie has published the first of a series of Pailiamentaiy portraits, with letterpress biographies, the latest subject being Mr Vincent Fyke. Scarcely more than half the members have returned to Wellington, and the attendance is not very large to-night. The Government will take a firm stand against the whole of the further concessions applied for by the Midland Railway Company. Messrs Hamlin and Jackson hqve been urging the Government to reduce the rates for canying milk on the railways, but without success, Mr Harry W. O’Farrell, who retired from the Auckland North election at the last moment, is petitioning the House, through Mr Moss, for a return of his LlO deposit. ' It is now said thkt the Government never seriously contemplated the afiolitibh of thd Bcariijs’of Edufc'atioji,'"' ” Major ftoake’s Pamphlet. Lieutenant-Major Noake’s pamphlet, “ How we may save L 50.000 a-year by the reorganisationof our forces,” is unfavorably commented on, and is likely to get the writer into tiouble, Mr Feldy/jclf Ijgs glr&ady given notice |o a?k whether the Defence Minister doe? not consider Major Noake’s conduct a gross breach of military discipline and of the Volunteer regulations. Dunedin Cemetery Extension. Mr Downie Stewart has again introduced the Nor.h Dunedin Cemetery Extension Bill, which appropriates a portion of the Town Belt near Opoho for the purpose of a public cemetery. The Jjocgl jls Committee last sgsgiqn rppopted that It was 'inadvisable to grant' the power asked for by the Bill, The Railway Hands. Mr Fish is championihg the grievances of the railway employes; and oil Tuesday will ask whether it is true that instructions have b;en issued to the heads of the' different ‘railkay departments in Dunedin to retrench by discharging a number of men now receiving Os and 6s per day; and if so 1 , how many men ate to be discharged? WJiether instructions h?,vp hepn issued frhat : ihq men recditlhg Vs are be reduced to 6s 6d day? If tile reduction above mentioned is to be iiiatle,'is it the intention of the Government to reduce the salaries of beads of departments in like proportion. Bible In Schools. Petitions from Cfago containing upwards of 3,|)(JG signature! Ip favor of Bible-reacppg ip tlife schools 1 were presented in file Tfouse' last night. The Midland Railway. Mr Scott, chairman of the Midland Railway Company, states that the correspondence laid qn the table last night hardly explains the trpp position’of the question. The main difficulty has' ariseh dwftig''fo' the' sluing df 'the proclamation withdrawing the reservation over certain lands, which proclamation was myatpriqusiy pigeonholed Ip the Mines Department for some weeks, tijl attention was palled to the matter by a communication I sent you Inst session. AH that the Company ask is that for any lands originally set aside for their benefit, and subsequently reserved, they shall be entitled to other lands of equal value, and not be compelled to take glaciers or mountain tops. Mr Scott apprehends that there will be no difficulty In coming to terms with the M’mj3tp;9| 4 s bp fags bgen authorised to make certain concessions, and says fhaVdirpctly the agreement ip signed the ppcessgry capital of three millions for the work will be forthcoming;