WELLINGTON.

Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 414, 8 September 1868, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

(PROM ' OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT;) August 27. In the House, yesterday, the question of imprisonment for debt for sums under £10 was raised by Major Atkinson, of Taranaki, who asked if the Government intended to bring in any measure to alter the present law on the subject. He referred to the loud complaints that had been made in various parts of the Colony of the serious effects of the existing law. The absolute immunity from imprisonment for debts of less than .£lO was a premium to to petty frauds upon traders. The hon. member did not wish to place the power of imprisonment in the hand 3of the creditor, but would in all cases leave it to the discretion of the Magistrate, so that the punishment of imprisonment should simply operate as a penalty for the fraudulent evasion, of payment. Mr Stafford admitted that the existing law was open to grave objections, and mentioned that the responsibility of the 7ith section of the Act rested with the Upper House, which had materially altered the Bill as originally drafted. He suggested that the hon. member (Mr Atkinson) should prepare, a Bill on the Bubject, and the Government would afford him every assistance. — Mr Haiighton's motion for reducing the duty on gold in the Province of Otago waa lost on a division by twenty-one to twentytin^©, although the motion was backed by a resolution of the Provincial Council of Otago to the same effect. I fancy that many of the members who voted against the motion did so because they thought it unwise to reduce the revenue of the mining districts until the financial proposals of the Government were known. • — The, Westland Representation Act Amendment Bill, introduced by Mr Harrison, was read a, second time. There was a lengthy and at times acrimonious debate upon thej Dunedin Waterworks BUI, which is a, measure to authorise the* Provincial Council of Otago to give a guarantee of interest on a further issue of capital on behalf of the Company. It was opposed vehemently by the Otago country members, but as, equally earnestly supported by the town representatives. The debate was adjourned until next day.— A wearisome and dreary discussion on a Bill relating to the Native, lands on the East Coast brought the. business to a close for that sitting. August 28, There was nothing of particular interest before the House yesterday. In reply to Mr Burns, the Colonial Secretary stated that the Government would correspond with the Governments of the adjoining colonies on the subject of erecting a light on Jthe Snares Islands.— Mr Reynolds obtained leave to bring in a Bill providing for the adoption of the ballot at all elections for Provincial Qoimsils or tie House of Representatives. Although the ballot is generally regarded as a very fruitful subject for discussion, little waa said about it, and the bill was ordered to be brought in by a, majority of twentyeight to twenty-five. It is to be read % second time on Wednesday next. -^Notice was given by the Premier (in the absence of Mr John Hall, who is confined to his room by sickness) that the financial statement would be made on Tuesday. August 29. An interesting debate took place last night on the. report of the University Scholarships Committee of last session. The substance of the recommendations of that Committee is, that six SQhelaishipsi at ono of theSSnglish XfrnversitieSj of the annual value of £250 each, should be. provided by the Colony. There was a. good deal of diversity of opinion a? to the* utility of the proposal, some arguing that if a good University were, established in the Colony, that would achieve all the ends desired by the Committee, whilst others pointed out that no Colonial University could provide the large and valuable field tha£ existed at home. Others, again, said that if any Colonial scholar took high honors at an English University,, he would find better opportunities of ad-» vancing Iris position in England than in the Colony, and then the Colony would ; lose the advantages, Avhicb. had been ex-* pected. MrMacandrew wished the number of scholarships, to be increased from six to fifteen, and the amount of each, reduced to .£100 ; and, instead of them being established at an English University, they should be confined to an University to be founded in New Zealand. He stated that steps had already been taken for establishing an University in Dunedin, which he hopejd would be w existence ja\ about twelve months. He mentioned that an arrangement had been made with, the General Government for the transfer of the new post-office building for the pur-^ pose. Mr Stafford made his very best speech of the session on this occasion, and is well worth re-printing. He did no* see why the fxmndation of scholarship ;in an English University should at all interfere with the establishment of an University in the Colony.. He lucidly showed the advantages of culture which a student would receive, if only by contact and acquaintance with English society ; ; and expressed the opinion that in very few cases would a Colonial scholar find it to his personal advantage to remain in Europe after his term of study had ex-* pired. Every one is anxiously looking forward ;to the financial statement, on Tuesday next. Mr Hall, the acting Treasurer, baa not been in the Uoijse for several days, and is said to be- very ill. Some illnatured people, do say that the Ho». John- has simply locked himself up to ' ' couch up " his subject, and get rid of embarassing questions in the House ; but I don't believe anything of the kind, as when I last saw him* a few days ago^ he was then suffering from a cold. It has leaked out; that the financial scheme of the Govern-. 1 ruent will be a strong blow at Provincialism, and the Opposition knowing the necessity of united action have at last formed. themselves into something like a compact body, with Mr Fox as the avowed leader. A " cauqus "■ of the Opposition party waa held the other day, and I think, some twenty-eight members have joined the combination. I fancy, however^ that there will be a good many defections before the occasion for using the strength of the party arises. September 2. 1 The great Budget speech was delivered last night by the Hon. John Hall. The. House was full, and the galleries were, crowded— the financial statement - beings always regarded as one of the grand occa.-

Biom of the session. The hon. gentlemen i looked extremely haggard and spoke with much less than his usual vigor and sprightlines 3. In fact one can hardly say that he delivered a " speech" — it was simply an j array of figures and statement of accounts strung together by explanatory remarks. As a display of oratory it was nothing, but as clear, concise, and intelligible exposition of the finance of the colony it could not have been better. He was over three hours in making the statement, and was listened to throughout with profound attention It would be useless for me to follow the speech in all its details, and I will content myself with referring to the most salient points. The revenue of the past financial year, shows, as everybody expected a large falling off, the total tlefieiency of the consolidated revenue amounting to L 96,793, of which the Customs duties were L 80,198 short, and stamp duties L 16.595. The falling off was ascribed to the geueral prevailing commercial depression, the decrease of the gold fields population, and to the evasion of stamp duties. Still the colony had no reason to fear that this state of things was more than a temporary circumstance, and he thought that considering all the disturbing causes which had agitated the commercial relations of the colony, the state of it 3 finances was not unsatisfactory. The expenditure had been kept within bounds, and there had been a large saving, and there was a balance to the credit of the consolidated fund, of L 47,000, which Bum would to the extent of L 25,000 be applied to the paying off Treasury bills to that amount, and the balance would go to the credit of the present financial year. He referred with satisfaction to the increase that had taken place in the Trust Funds, which was chiefly caused by the satisfactory working of the Post-office Savings Banks, the deposits having on the last day of July reached L 1 15,000. A part of that sum had been invested by the Comptroller in Treasury Bills, a portion in Colonial Debentures, and the balance was in the Bank. This was the first occasion on which the exigencies of the public service had not required the appropriation of some of the Trust Funds. With regard to the result of the Public Debts Act of last session and the conversion of the Loans, he stated that 2h millions had been converted^ and the operation was going on satisfactorily, and when completed would 6ave the colony L 40,000 a year in interest. The receipts of the current yeav are estimated as follows : — - Customs ... ... Bonded warehouses... 6,500 Stamps 63,000 Telegraph ... .- 15,000 Post-Office 60,000 Miscellaneous ... 56,000 £1,000,500 The expenditure is estimated at L 704,647 as against L 856.796 last year, a saving effected by a large reduction in the cost of the departments of Law and Justice, Defence, and Postal subsidies. He stated that the Government could not hold out any hope of effecting a reduction in the taxation of the colony, although possibly the incidence of that taxation might be altered. He endeavored to show that after all New Zealand was not propor- " tionately to the earnings of its people so heavily taxed as had been imagined. He said the amount per head in New Zealand was L 3 lls, whilst in Holland it was L 2 lls 3d, although the earnings of the people were not half those of the inhabitants of j New Zealand. He referred to the finan- | cial relations between the General and j Provincial Governments as being one of the most serious obstacles in the way of affording relief from present taxation, and showed that in nine years the Provincial Governments had shared in the revenue of the colony to the extent of L 2,076,572., 076, 572. After commenting upon the inequalities of the manner in which this amount had been shared by the respective provinces, he went on to disclose the financial pro- ! positions of the Ministry, which I may j sum up as follows : — lst. The entire cessation of the partnership in the Consolidated Fund on the Ist January, 1869. 2nd. That j the various Provincial debts should cease to be charged against the respective Provinces and made a colonial charge. 3rd. That the Harbor be placed under the General Government, in addition to other departments at present under its cont 01. 4th. That the administration of police and gaols be left to the local authorities, the cost of which is to be defrayed by a capitation grant based upon the last census of seven shillings per head of the population, voted by the Assembly. According to this plan all the revenue of the Provinces will be their land fund and what they can raise by local taxation. The change would be felt as follows : — Auckland would gain L9OOO a year; Taranaki, L2OOO ; Hawke's Bay, L3OOO ; Southland, L 18.000; Marlborough, L 2000; whilst Wellington would lose L 11,00 0; Nelson, L 20,000; Canterbury, L 700; Westland, L 220 0; and Otago, L 10.200. This inequality is owing to the fact that some of the provinces cannot pay the interest on their loans, which has under this plan to come out of the pockets of those who can. To remedy this inequality it is proposed to take L 12,000 a year from the land fund of Southland, that a lump payment of L 90,000 be paid to Nelson and of L 15,000 to Wellington. Westland was not mentioned, although she has certainly claims for a similar adjustment. Those proposals fell like a shell among the Provincialists, and the faces of hon. members on the opposition benches were blank. Of course if they are carried they will take away the last prop from Provincial officialism, if they do not destroy Provincial institutions altogether. After a smart discussion on the question of adjournment, the debate was adjourned for a week. September 4. . I have only time to add that on Wednesday, Mr Harrison's motion for a committee on the Canterbury debt was defeated. Mr Harrison fought the point strenuously, and divided the House, but there was a large majority against it. The reason assigned was that it would be impossible to deal with the question until the financial proposals of the Government were disposed of. The debate was adjourned for a week. The Westland Bill is on the order paper for torday. The Bill is not circulated yet, but I can inform you briefly its main provisions:—!. County to be divided into electorates, as recommended by Council. 2. Council consists of nine members, to retire in rotation annually. 3. Chairman k obe elected by Council. 4. Council to be a Corporate body. I will sendyoTi full particulars when the Bill is printed.