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WELLINGTON GOSSIP.

&,• . ■ • • £■ , (*BOM OUB SPECIAIi CORRESPONDENT.) ;*. . [BY TELEGRAPH.] •\. .'...- ' ■Wellington, Monday. : , The Free Trade caucus to which I ■,'''■ referred yesterday waa held this morn- ... ing, but those attending it seem to have i' taken great precautions to prevent their I , names transpiring. I hear there were -:-v about 17 members present. ' The meefci* Ing was only informal, and little was ;•'■■■ done beyond the appointment of acorn?■■'. mittee to watch Free Trade interests in .'•".; the House and to arrange for a further . r meeting. The Budget proposals were ;";'Hot discussed from a party point of . •';' view, but it was elicited at the meeting !_■;■ that all analysis had been made, from , Atfbicji 'it appeared that the present ;'; yMpuee Contained 40 Free Traders, 23 i !>*!K^tectioiiißtß, 24 doubtful members, /*tind, two vacant Beats (Tauranga and hi- "Wafianui). I understand that no furK ther , steps are to be taken till the * ' :Colonial , Treasurer brings down his 'C Customs Bill for giving effect to the t , alterations in the tariff. The question will then, be again raised and some >-, action taken upon it. {The reason given. for the' small attendance at the caucus -'.la that Major Atkinson, having a|leaning : - towards Protection, advised several of '. his party not to attend the meeting gn /the ground that it was not advisable to :!' ■: interfere with the arrangement of parties f: at present. iV; 1 - ;It is rumored in the lobbies that Sir '^.George Grey has given *'popr Tole" ' (the present Minister of Justice) a bit of his 1 , mind over the Budget brought fe|3ojy?n by Sir Julius Vvgel. It was fre|i.riquehtly Btated last session that in case |||©f Sir George Grey opposing the Stoutfesj^Qgel Ministry Mr Tole, who was one Grey'a most devoted fol||iplowers, would at once retire from the V& .Cabinet, but although Sir George is ;;. in decided opposition to Ministers Mr V ■[ Tole ;«howfl no sign of resigning his *;;.' ;portfolio. On the contrary, I underi etand he has disposed of his house in Auckland, aed also sold out of his law A; .partnership, in order to have the necessary time at hia disposal for his Minisftxterial duties. ;;?>' There w still great dissatisfaction '.^ expressed' with the, Budget proposals, tf~ and it/is reported that Ministers them--5.' Helves , are not so sanguine of the of the proposals , by the •£};. House, as they were a few daye 'fy ago. Eamors of large modifi■jVy.* oations are already flying about, but it ,v is quite evident that one of the fights of ■^.tbis session will be Free Trade 7. Prok^ection, no matter whether the Treaproposals are modified. or not. W:-\ ■};'. T. liave previously referred to Sir p Julius Yogel's immense irfluence in the 15 V Cabinet, and another instance of this is I;:;" afforded by -his. property tax proposals. -Vo-'-'Tour readers will probably remember £.">■ that when Mr Stout was addressing an j^i Auckland audience during the reoess he 'gf '-■ strongly denounced the property tax, i: and went bo far as to say that members ;k 'who favored that tax as against a land tax were miarepresenting their con- ' ' etitaents. In the face of this emphatic ;: declaration from the Premier, Sir Julius S^S "Vogelnoyr not only continues the projt:t:: .perty tax, which his supposed chief so ,t4 ieloi^uently denounced, but actually ; doubles its amount. • '.•■" A meeting convened by Mr Holmes, the "'member for Ohristohuroh South, PH* waß held this afternoon to consider what f^s. steps should be taken with respect to the ifS^^Municipal Corporations Bill, introduced the Cdunoil by the Colonial Seorel^fetary.. It/was decided to adjourn the !|v? xrieeting until the bill came down from |ftlfr:tiie .Upper House. The new bill is a l^v'donsolidation measure of over 500 |§i ;; ;^oIwweB;'. It repeals all existing MuniIfr'^ioipalGorporafcions Acts and Provincial Council -Aots,' and introduces a large &|sinuinber of new clauses. ■ ' % , p^f:lThe' Ministerial organ to-night again ||^;' entices the Financial Statement in uu--1 V'-It conßide^^ the duty ||^|?upon iooal the most objectionable perhaps Ijfe^ifpfthe^ many objectionable features in I^^^QfiiSw:, tariff.; ?The JPo*^ goes on to |j^ Ppjiiy,' : ('lt is currently reported that ibis K|^j3^^^^PMhaa been insisted on as a wm ,>Bupp6rt by one of the IS I^^ : Houße. . The Ministry IP acted more wisely, had , they |^P#:l^0 i: the%yote'rather- than have accepted ( lj^fniß^;The proposed duty is on fc^ll'p^inci'plei.liutterly- indefensible, and in wlSpf^ctwe it a- most unjust and W^^M^h^M^W:'AS&iT3 Committee 'have Mr ' Bradahaw BH^^iThelGHmirial-.Gode^rß H^|l|i||'¥^B»^atth9billhafl

been prepared by Judge Johnston and the Solicitor-General, and that it ia founded on the Criminal Code Bill prepared by the Royal Commission in England in 1880. The bill was before the Legislative Oounoil in 1883, but was dropped. Mr Buckley then opposed it, but now, on further consideration, has consented to introduce it. The bill abolishes all the distinctions between felony and misdemeanor, and in plain terms defines all ordinary crimes, so that the technicalities and repetitions of indictments will be abolished, prisoners being charged in every oase with their offenoe in plain English, thus being able to answer to the charge ir the same manner. The bill is very voluminous, but in all its provisions and definitions is plain and distinct. If parsed it will greatly facilitate the despatch of criminal business. It appears from the annual sheep returnß for the year ending 3ist May, 1884, which have been laid before Parliament, that the total number of sheep in the icolony on that date was 13,978,520, as against 13.306,329— an increase of 672,191 on the return of the previous year. In the several districts the increase or decrease during the year were as follows : — Auckland, increase, 10,263; Napier, increase, 157,804; Taranaki, decrease, 3292; Wanganui, increase, 8233; Rangitikei, increase, 53,769 ; Wellington, increase, 67,983 ; Nelson, increase, 4432 ; Marlborough, increase, 39.691 ; Canterbury, increase, 217,829 ; Westland, increase, 217 ; and Otago, increase, 115,262, notwithstanding a decrease of . 44,472 sustained in the lake and South- ; I land counties. Crossbred * sheep show i \ an enormous increase, being five-sixths oi ' the total increase of the colony for the year. Mr Ballance's Land Bill consolidates all the existing laws relating to the administration of the lands of the Crown in the colony. The Forest Trees Planting. Encouragement Acts are wholly repealed, but all other Acts repealed by the bill are incorporated with it. The New Zealand Forests Act, 1884, is re-enacted in & modified form, and in accordance' with the recommendation of a Select Committee in 1870. The Thistle Ordinances are repealed. An addition to clause 3 provides that all Crown lands which have been alienated from the Crdwn shall on reversion to the Crown in any way be deemed to be subject to the provisions of the Act. The following portions of the estimates affect the Hawke's Bay district : — Registrar of electors, Napier, also clerk in Land Office, £255. Medical officer Napier Lunatic Asylum, also surgeon to gaol, £80 ; 2 attendants, married couple, £170 ; gaoler and superintendent of asylum, £315; matron, £40 ; principal warder, £150 ; warder, £135 ; 2 assistant warders, £125 each. Registrar and Sheriff Supreme Court, £300 and Sheriff's fees ; clerk, £90 ; office cleaner, £25; Resident Magistrate and native pfficar, £400 ; clerk, £225; clerk and interpreter, £200; cadet, £80; clerk and bailiff at Waipawa and Ormondyille, £150 ; clerk and bailiff at Woodville, £150 ; clerk, interpreter, and bailiff at Wairoa, £150. Telegraph Office : 19' telegraphists at Napier — 1 at £265, lat £210, 1 at £185, 2 at £150, 1 at £145, 2 at £135, 6at £120, lat £115, 1 at £110, 3at £100; cadet, £80; counter clerk, £160; 3 dispatch clerks— l at £85, 1 at £75, 1 at £65; 6 messengers at £36 each. The total for the Telegraph Office is £3301, as against £3558 voted last year. The votes for the sub-tele-graphic offices are the same aB last year, with the exception that the telegraphist at Port Ahuriri receives £LOO against £90 last year. The postmaster at Tapuaeharuru receives £165 instead of £155; the Waipukurau postmaster £186 against £196 last year, and a few other triflibg alterations. Conveyance of inland mails, Napier, £1900 against £1700 last year. Collector of Customs, Napier, £500; clerk and warehousekeeper, £200; landing waiter, £340; landing waiter and locker, £240 ; clerk, £120. Chief postmaster, Napier, £450 j chief clerk, £275 ; 3 clerks— l at £220, 1 at £125, 1- at £115; 2 cadets— l at £90 and 1 at £80; 3 letter carriers— l at £90 and 2 at £80 ; 31 country postmasters, £200. Keeper Napier Bluff lighthouse, £36. Pilot, Wairoa, £100. Deputy Commissioner of Stamps, £550 ; clerk, £80. Deputy Registrar of Deeds and chief clerk, £250; clerk, £200. District manager Napier railways, £475 ; 3 clerks -1 at £220 and 2 at £140; storekeeper, £100. Officer commanding Volunteers, £50; drill instructor, £128 ; office allowance, £20 ; magazine-keeper, £10. Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chief Surveyor, £600. '

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18850623.2.11

Bibliographic details

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7196, 23 June 1885, Page 3

Word Count
1,440

WELLINGTON GOSSIP. Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7196, 23 June 1885, Page 3

WELLINGTON GOSSIP. Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7196, 23 June 1885, Page 3