Wellington Gossip.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7929, 19 December 1887, Page 3

Wellington Gossip.

• (BY TELEGRAPH.) tPKOM OUE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] '. -Wellington, Saturday. : ABOLITION OF PARTY GOVERNMENT. , .. Some few: weeks ago a mysterious paragraph -appeared in one of the local papers to the effect that it was probable that a great change would be shortly ' made in the system of party government which at present exists. in the colony, by which the legislation of the country l^"' would be passed irrespective of party in- \ fluence, and Ministers would merely carry * ' ' out a policy at the will of the House. The paragraph excited much curiosity at the time, bubnothing more was heard of it. • I hear to-night, that a meeting of mem- ; bers, convened by Major Steward; the . member for Waimate, will take place on , Monday morning in connection with this x subject. The idea is that at the com- * mencement of each Parliament a Ministry should be elected by ballot of the whole . Parliament, which, would not be liable to . * ■ ejection from office if their measures were defeated as at present is the case, and ' that by this means a lot of valuable time would be saved at the commencement of . the, session, which is now occupied' by • • . party stragglers. It is extremely unlikely that anything will come of the ', meeting, 'or that such a radical change has the slightest chance of being adopted, bnt the conveners think a little discns : • sion over the matter will probably do some' good by, ventilating it. The circular . convening the meeting was signed by about 17 members. STATE FORESTS. A meeting of those members opposed to the abolition of the State Forests Depart- ' ment will also be held on Monday, to endeavor to get Ministers to retain this departmeat. . 'THE TUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES. . was very little real progress made with the estimates np to the dinner adjournment, the chief part of the after- * . noon being taken up with a discussion on the vote of £80,000 for harbor defences, in which a large number of members ' • took part. Sir Julius Yogel quite snr- & . prised the House by the hostile attitude r ' he assumed towards this vote, especially when it is reniembered t'nat his Government was responsible for the whole of the expendifnreponnpered with it. A lengthy discussion is expected when the immigration vote is moyed, and the Minister for that department will make a general statement on the whole subject before the vote is taken. A TELLING REJOINDER, The member for Waitemata, when speaking on the vote for harbor defences this morning, administered a well-de-served rebuke to one or two members who have been particularly active obstructionists this_ session. Mr Monk, who rarely occupies much time in debating, was interrupted several times during the course of his remarks by cries of " Question!" from Mr Fish and other archobstructionists. He at length suddenly turned round on Mr Fish and passionately silted that he had sat there day after day for weeks past listening to those hon. gen-' tlemen deliberately wasting the time o •the Honse and the country. _ He considered that but for the obstructive tactics of the members he had alluded to the session wonld have concluded over a month, ago, and members would have been back at their homes. The rejoinder evidently took with the House, and Mr Monk was allowed to continue his re- . marks without further interruption. i, THE EAILWAY BILL. h In moving the second reading of tho Wu Government Railways Bill this afternoon / tha- Attorney-General said : that it seemed i. to be .the- general opinion ithat £1500 a p.. . . yeax was too small a : salary ;to secure ithe til .services of -a first-class CJhief Commia'Jj. sioner/and therefore it, wari probable that %•' ' ',- an increase in the salary would he wade ■g. • j>yrnessag|jfromJ!he'Qoyernoj;,- : > rs- ■ ' ■ -..•>• i . fe ■

- «fct. WILLIAM HAKPEE'S CASE. Mr Ormond brought this matter under the notice of the Government to-day by asking whether they will consider the case of William Harper, a lineman, who was injured and incapacitated while on Government duty, and continues unable to earn a ; livelihood for his family. The Premier replied that this was one of those unfortunate cases which the Government hardly knew how to deal with. He pointed ont that Harper had not been in the permanent employment of the Government, but .was only temporari'y employed. The Government had exceeded their authority by giving the help they had done,, but he promised to look into the matter and see if anything further could be done for Harper's relief. THE CHINESE QUESTION. It appears from a return laid on the table of the House to the order of Mr Seddon that between the 31st of March, 1886, and the 30th of November, 1887, 138 Chinese arrived in the colony and paid polj tax, and during that period 323 arrived and produced exemption certificates. The total number of exemption certificates issued since the passing of the Chinese Immigrants Act, 1881, has heen 412. When the last census was taken there were 4542 Chinese in the colony, or about 400 less than when the previous census was taken. HASTINGS STATION YARD. Captain Russell asked the Minister for Public Works to-day whether he is aware' that land has at last been taken for increasing the station yard accommodation at Hastings, and the price settled by the Compensation Court ; and whether he will cause such alterations to be at once made as will prevent shunting across the main road._ Mr Mitclielson said that the question of compensation for land taken having only been decided yesterday, the Government had not had time to consider the question raised by the hon. gentleman, but he might say that plans for the proposed alterations were now being prepared, and as soon as they were complete he would go into the question. The expense would be considerable, but as increased accommodation andalterationswere necessary, no time would be lost in determining what accommodation would be given. VOTING IN THE COUNCIL. - The Legislative Council yesterday afternoon spent a considerable time discussing how they should record their votes on divisions, as owing to the awkward mistake made the previous day by Major Ropata giving his voice one way and his rote another, it was* felt that some change was necessary. In the House of Representatives, members of course walk into the " ayes " and " noes " lobbies when recording their votes ; but in the Council they remain in their seats and simply say "aye" or "no," as the case may be. The proposal yesterday was made by the Hon. Captain Baillie that a change in voting should be made 'by members passing to the right and left of the chair. Captain Bajllie afterwards suggested as an alternative method to that described in his motion that the ayes and noes should respectively stand, and their votes be taken down by the clerk. The At-torney-General thought the system referred to in the motion would be an inconvenient one, and as an amendment he moved that the divisions be taken by members rising from ttaeif seats. After a very long discussion, in which most of the members present took part, the Speaker recommended the method of voting in lobbies as being preferable, and as tending to a better realisation of the responsibility devolving upon members. After some farther consideration the amendment was negatived by 48 to 15. The original motion was also lost by 23 to 10, so that no change is tobe made in the present system, after all the arguments advanced against its many disadvantages. I KAIKOKA MAIL SERVICE.' ■ Mr Tanner this morning asked the Postmaster-General if, when the present contracts expire, the Postal Department will institute a mail service three ■times a week between Kaikora and Tamumu, and Kaikora and Patangata, instead' of twice a week as at present? Major Atkinson replied to the effect that when the present contracts expired alternative contracts will be called for, and if not too expensive the triweekly service will be granted. Sunday. THE ESTIMATES. There was the usual preliminary fight over the small items on the estimates last night, and some hours were occupied in determining whether or not the salaries of the statutory officers of the House should be reduced. Several reductions were eventually made, no extra amounts beyond those ,authorised by Act being allowed. For instance the Speaker of the House has hitherto received a salary of £600 a year by Act, with £200 added, and the Chairman of Committees (MrHamlin) £400, with £100 added. The committee last night, on a division, struck off the two extra allowances, leaving the salaries at £600 and £400 respectively. The votes of £100 each for the chairman of the Public Petitions Committee and the Native Affairs Committee were also ; struck out, and similar amounts in the Legislative Council. There was considerable progress made with the estimates ' after the telegraph office closed, the votes for the whole ot the departments being passed without any remonstrance, on the Premier stating that they would partici- ! pate in the general scheme of retrench- ' ment to be made during the recess. When , the education vote was reached it was ' evident by the tone of the committee that ' that vote would be keenly criticised, and ' there was no disposition to enter on this important discussion within an hour of Sunday morning. The Premier there- ' tore moved that the vote be post- - poned, which was agreed to, and some other votes were proceeded with. ' The discussion on the education question 1 will probably be takea on Monday, and it ' is likely to be a very exhaustive one. 1 There is great difference of opinion on the ' whole subject, some members maintaining ' that the vote must be • largely reduced.at ' all hazards, and others, that it would be 1 almost suicidal to 'do so. ! LEGISLATIVE EXCURSION. - j A large number of members, accompanied by their lady friends, proceeded on an excursion round the harbor this after- ' noon in the steamer Takapuna, by the invitation of Mr Jas. Mills, member for . Port Chalmers, The trip was arranged by Mr Mills, who is general manager for ] the.Union Steamship Company, in order to afford members an opportunity of testing the sea-going capabilities of the fastest steamer in the company's line fleet. THE LAND BILL. Several members threaten to obstruct the final passage of the Land Bill when it is received from the Legislative Council, in consequence of the Council striking out the clause relating to Waste Land Boards. The Government are accused of insincerity in the matter, on the ground that the Attorney-General voted for the abolition of the Laud Boards after they had been approved in the House by a large majority. The Radical section of the House assert that this action of the Government will even now kill the bill, and they intend to throw it out if possible.