Wellington Gossip.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8432, 3 August 1889, Page 2

Wellington Gossip.

— • — [fly T.ELECJRAPH.] (FROM QUR SPECUL CORRESPONDENT, 1 Wellington, Friday. THE REPRESENTATION BILL. Several meetings of delegates have been held since yesterday, and a common basis of agreement has at length been decided upon, but it has yet to be confirmed by the two opposing parties, 'f lie compromise arrived at is that the country distriots shall receive an addition of 28 per cent instead "of IS, all boroughs having a pspulation qf over 2800 to be excluded, and the margin left undisturbed, ' It is considered likely that this settlement of a very vexed question will bo accepted by the town and country parties. The delegates appointed by the latter were Messrs Seymour, Lance, Macarthur, Steward, and Captain Russell, who is acting as whip for the country party. The House' at the evening sitting further adjourned till 9 o'clock to-night, in order that both sides could hold a full meeting to discuss the compromise. ' A LOST OPPORTUNITY. The town members consider they have made a grave mistake in allowing Sir George Gray 'a amendment' to be 'withdrawn this afternoon. : Their notion is that if the amendment had been agreed to and added to the bill the Government could not 'possibly have gone on with the measure, and would have been compelled to drop it, the reduction of the number of members being such a cardinal point of their policy that they would not readily pass a bill into law. that, interfered witk that reduction. The Government are of opinion that they cotjlfl easily have defeated Sir George's amendment it it had gone to the vote,, but other members consider that, the division would have been a very close thing. Jt \s esti--1 mated that aboui twenty, me.i»be*s would : have supported the anjandment'on principle, besides the thirty town members ' who might have voted for it in a block merely 'to kill the bill. Many others of the latter are of course diafciuotly pledged to maintain the reduction of the number < of members.at any cost, but, as I have ' just stated, they would have had a strong i desirtto; follow Sir George Grey jnto^tHe? j j96pyj^|f,"tu^divjßT(onj.^liacl-: been taken,' !