WELLINGTON GOSSIP.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11322, 5 September 1899, Page 3

WELLINGTON GOSSIP.

[from our special correspondent.]

[BT TELEGRAPH.] Wellington, Monday, THE VERDANT COUNCILLOR.

The practical joke played on the HonW. M'Cullogh by Messrs Carnorosa and O'Meara is still the talk of the lobbies, and the latest absurdity put forth is that the Auckland harbor is to be shifted to Lyttelton. It is now seriously statec that a breach of privilege will result from the indignant telegrams sent to members from Auckland, instructing them to defend their much-loved San Francisco service. ASSETS REALISATION BOARD. A great deal of unfavorable comment has been caused by the action of the Government in defeating the Hon Mr Stevens' motion for an inquiry into the working of the Assets Board, which is now a colonial concern. Mr Stevens intended asking the Legislative Council to agree to the appointment of a committee last session, but he received a definite assurance from the Premier that he himself would set up a committee this year, and ho, therefore, refrained from doing so. There being no appearance of the committee this session, Mr Stevens moved in the matter by a direot motion, which was lost by only pne vote, and .would have resulted in a tie if a " pair " had not been broken. Some of the Seddonites in. the Council now assert that they would have voted for Mr Stevens' motion had it not been for the strong party speech made by Mr Ormond, and if so, the motion certainly would have been carried. The fact, however, that it was strongly opposed by the Minister for Education, and defeated by the Government supporters in the Council is not very creditable to Ministers, especially in the face of Mr Seddon's promise to Mr Stevens. The inference is of course perfectly manifest, that they dare not on the eve of a general election let any light into the working of the Assets Board, of which the Premier himself is a prominent member. It may probably be just as well from an Opposition point of view that the motion was defeated by Government influence, but the country at large will undoubtedly, during 'the ooming contest, regard Ministers' action with doubt and. suspicion. Mr Ormond made a remarkably able speech on Mr Stevena' motion, and he was quite up to his best Parliamentary debating form, with whioh the older members of the Lower House are so familiar. ME SEDDON'S TACTICS. The defeat of Mr Stevens' proposal is strongly commented on by the Post, which says that the whole circumstances "indicate that the Premier iB, for some reason or other, desperately anxious to avoid any disclosures of the real position of affairs, and further, it proves that the right hon. gentleman is ready to have recourse to questionable and reprehensible tactics,- in order to stop inquiry. The story was told clearly in the Hon. Mr Ormond's speeoh, and his account waa fully confirmed by the Hon. Mr Stevens. Tho colony is "so accustomed to the Premier's broken promises and unreliable statements that it has become callous to the evils such conduct is bringing into our public life." The same paper says : — " It is one thing to make vague electioneering promises, which are neither believed by the speaker nor listener, and quite another to make explicit pledges to a fellow legislator, and then when his part of the bargain has been fulfilled, simply to refuse to carry out your own undertakings. We have no wish to be unjust to Mr Seddon, and we^are quite ready to admit thai; he sees no shame in lines of action that men of a different moral calibre would consider devious and unwarrantable. But everyone who reads carefully the tale told by Messrs Ormond and Stevens, mnst feel that it reveals a side of the Premier's publio life that is unworthy of his high position, and far from creditable to the colony."