HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 975, 5 September 1868, Page 3

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Pkoobedings of Thursday, August 27.

(Prom the " Evening Post," August 28.) Some people will have it that the real work of the session has not yet commenced, although the Assembly has been actively employed for nearly two months. The "sittings have not yet been protracted to late hours of the night, as so often the case last year, and a determination not to turn night into day seems to prevail this session among honourable members. Today's work, for instance, was got through at an early hour, the business of the day being certainly of a light and uninteresting nature. No debate of any consequence took place, and, after the understanding now arrived at as to " who is who," perhaps a sort of tacit agreement has been entered into by both sides of the House that, until foes meet face to face on the important questions naturally expected to arise since the formation of a well defined and strong opposition, the routine of the order paper does hardly require any extra amount of attention. To-day's sitting was a dull and dreary one. It was over by nine o'clock as a wonder, and a posse of " Constitutionalists" made their appearance in time to find the House had just adjourned. Mr. Stafford agreed that the Treasury regulations would, in some instances, work more smoothly in distant parts of the colony, if somewhat amended. In answer to Mr. Burns, he said that a lighthouse on the Snares would be found most beneficial ; but, as the cost of its erection and maintenance would come jto some £10,000 odd, it was a matter requiring consideration, and upon which neighboring colonies should be consulted. Passing vessels would have to be charged with light dues, he remarked, if the Snares were lit up. Mr. Burns said that the Snares and the Auckland Islands were the Charybdis and Seylla of the Australasian Colonies. Mr. Dillon Bell dug another trench around the Government financial tree, when asking whether the abstract of receipts and expenditure for the last quarter ending June 30fch had been prepared according to law. He said that considerable descrepancies on either side of the accounts between the Government and the Provinces had lately become notorious ; he deplored that the provisions of the statute had not been complied with in this matter ; regretted the illness of Mr. Hall, and undoubtedly represented the general feeling of the House, when saying that the accounts he referred to should be placed before the Assembly before the financial statement was made. He read the following abstract of what had passed between the General Government and the Provinces on the subject, stating the descrepancies which he had alleged existed, and as yet were not accounted for. In September, 1869, he said, the sum of £61,000 was due and payable to the provinces, while £48,000 only had been handed over to them. In December, 1867, £60,000 was payable, and £48,000 also had only been paid, In March, £62,000 was set down as due, while £90,000 had actually been allowed besides numerous other advances. Mr. Stafford appeared to be desirous to wait a suitable opportunity for a satisfactory explanation, briefly replied that the accounts had been completed, and that when printed they would be placed in the hands of honorable members. The plucky member for the city of Dunedin, Mr. Reynolds, introduced Ms ever recurring sessional motion, asking for leave to bring in a bill for causing the election of members of the House of ."Representatives and of Provincial Councils to be made by ballot. The mirth of the House was unrestrained when the good natured (wicked people say stubborn) representative of that flourishing city got upon his hobby-horse again. The House was in a very good humor, however, and on a division upon the question having been rung, leave was granted to Mr. Reynolds, by 28 to 23 votes, to introduce his pet and cherished measure. Its fate, it is almost needless to remark, is a problematical one, when the bill runs the gauntlet of a second reading, the hon. gentleman's hobby not being likely to be treated so considerately by dyspeptic conservatives, who in the present crisis soon get sour on every subject almost. It was resolved that a committee of the whole House should meet to consider the financial statement, and in Mr. Hall's absence, Mr. Richardson moved that that important event take place next Tuesday. The temporary illness of the Acting Treasurer must be looked upon as a source of considerable annoyance to both the Government party and the opposition . When the facts touched upon by Messrs. Fox, Yogel, and Bell as to the muddle in which the finances of the colony have been let are considered, no one can be in any way surprised at the over-worked state of mind and body into which the indefatigable Postmaster-General must have worked in order to attempt doing what a facetious member designated as " squaring the circle." The Order Paper was dealt with with the utmost parliamentary rapidity possible, and, with the exception of the pedantically sententious remark which fell from Mr. Carleton, that " he really did not believe any one hon. member of the House could really write or speak his native language correctly," no particular joke relieved the tedium of a short but uninteresting sitting, the jester himself appearing somewhat out of sorts.