GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 5229, 22 November 1877, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

[Fbom the I'bbbb Agbnot.] ■HOUSE OF BEPBEBBNTATIYIB. TUESDAY, NOV. 20. 'The House resumed at 7 80. THIRD EBADISBB. : , The Murine Act Amendment Bill and the “Uemetories Management Bill were each read third time. THB riNAHOIAXi STATEMENT. - - On the motion for going into Committee of Axxinboh said he had lately .‘thought himself to Marne for not having "Answered the very inaccurate statements of finance made by the- present ministers and --carefully droulated. He thought now he had Mted wisely, a* they had now a full VtoKbente statement from the Treasurer. He ~ 'Wotdd reviewAho JPublio Works finance for ' ‘ Abe last few years. It had been said that the • late Government war dontinaous since 1888, ~ hut how war it so ? Certainly it woe not so ' in' pertowtol, policy or finance, for all had been frequently changed. The matter wae only important aa weakening the personal responsibility of ministers. If he was respon* sible for what Mr Fox did in 1869, when he was in England, then naturally he would mre little for what he himself did last year. Ho held a minister only responsible for what * he did himself. Allowing for the sake of argument, however, that the-lata; Government was continuous, there were two distinct epochs in its history. Up to 1874 it was a provincialist j, einoe that aboUlionsit. And there had c.. algo been great-changes in its finance. Up to 1875 the public works loans were expended according to permanent appropriation, great a- <; discretionary power being left in the bonds of ' theGovemmsnt In 1876 an entire change took plsoa, permanent appropriations were done away with, and the money was placed ; ' within the power of the House to appropriate from year to year, each vote, both on loon and bs revenue, expiring on June 80. A plan .for —(two- yearn* ■ expenditure.. was then laid down and faithfully adhered to, so that on .Tima 80 last the whole of the balances authorised in 1875, were not all epent. . If ' hio Government were continuous, he aaid they deserved the. credit of having sobered down to their work, looked ahead and adhered to the plorie laid down. He recalled the depressed condition of the Colony in 1870 When the public works policy was introduced the population was 260 000, and the permanent debt seven and a Quarto? millions, after deducting accrued sinking fond, and including Treasury Bills to the extent of £618,000, - • and the permanent charges were £536,000. The consolidated revenue was £936000, and the land fund £208,000; total, say£l,lso,ooo. Tiast year the population was 4i 0,000, the public debt, including Treasury Bills, $18,820,000; but deducting accrued sinksng' fond and cash in hand on June SO it was eighteen and a quarter millions. The Increase in Treasury Bills was £214,000, and the total increase, of debt £11,000,000 The permanent charges were £1,180,000. In 1870 it took four-sevenths of oar consolidated revenue to meet the permanent charges; in :. 1877 seven-twelfths, or one-eighty fourth ; i more was sufficient, but on,e half of our total revenue was, in 1870, required to pay the interest, while now only one third was required. Eleven millions had been expended under the public works scheme, not twenty* seven millions ae stated by the Premier. This included immigration, railway material in England, and costs of raising loans, leaving only a little over eight millions spent in the Colony, or one million and a quarter (per annum ?) not three millions as was stated the other day. For this 860 miles of railway, S6OO miles of road, and 3260 miles of tele* graph had bean made; public buildings and ligSthohses bad been built, 100,003 immi* grants introduced, and land ’bought worth three quarters oMb million. On thewhole he thought the Colony had got fair value for the ~mOney spent. Sinoe he had been in office he had only asked for borrowing power to the amount of £1,850000, including Treasury Bills, and on Jun» 80 last one million of this ’- -was in the Treasury in cash; The increase in. Treasury Bills was not a matter of surprise. • They were a mattes of convenience. They were increased . by £214,( 00, bat 1 Auckland, Wellington, .and Westland, had to be assisted to upwards of £300,000 in the test three years. Had they proposed a permanent loon-,- they would have been toughed at. Itwhs,prudent toissue Treasury Bills, to ses -whether the revenue could bear *, ;- the Charges-they" hoped were:temporary. It would not then; have been possible to seise - Hie lend fond isss; was. now proposed, nor 1 would the House dr country have, listened to tho only possible other coatee, that Of Increasing the taxation. They had to choose be- ■- sweeri Treasury' Bills emd perpjpaent loan, and be held-that they were wise-in choosing the former. 1 Before , leaving office ihe, had prepared on interesting return of .actual ' receipts, and’ expenditureri of .the j(jtolony, ' excluding public work# and loahsi bjit treating the Colony and the Provinces!as One; -■HA found -t-hefaotual ,rofeaß»,'s|noluding land j, ...fund - las t;year,;was £8,893,000, nd,.. in-. elusive of alllpoM. public works,.subsidise, to ■ ! -Bead Boards, Aa., the - ospoadituro to bo £2.879000; so that £514,009' oat Af; the revenue would hays been available for,public 7 works-; After meeting aU.ordinhry expenses* with aide to Provinoiai revenue, amounting to c ! £673,C00, whiob included Treasury Bill, loans, r„‘~ ‘ , &«•:, end oash in hand on’June 80,1876, a total r;' ;■ of £I 6OOOOO was available foe Provincial pub- ' lie works, tabsidtes, *o, and nearly £1,800,000 ■ , «»•'< toto Provinces m theirway during the yew.;; JB* ■i-’ how necessary Abolition woe, and[ that al expenditure ebdplfl ?bd : ,»g#ated; by thi House. last year, hearty throe million* u ?: ,0! all Were spent oh public works by the Colon) ' . ‘ and the the Colon; v--&a633BS^s ' sJStt&stS&Srs , would have been £260,000. When* the Lm ■ nach Government took office, he rawed din cullies ab'-ut, meeting liabilities without fundi TThn»n niffioaltin now seemed to: have ail appeared.i Had MrL&rnaoh learned to Bw bricks without strew P ,H so, he wished, t know the secret, for use should- he eve ■>'. ‘ become Treasurer sgain; Ho diffloulty ahos cash could have -arisen, as jwrangemente ha befih made with the Bank of New t . ntevont .any difficulty from temporary folios - of the revenue. For Treasury Bill* and thei - i fiosttng belonfeea the late Government ic s' tended w provide by mean* of the Inscription c • ssnek Act. which would have met the difficult most completely. Had that passed the Imperii . Parliament last ssssienitho floating debt wool 1 bow have 'been a-thtog ’ of .the past. H Government bad also provided for ell pr< vincial liabilities It was notj fact th, there were £200,000 unprovided tor. Tb ZT tor unexpended votes of - Councils upon which, pp. incurred, and it lay entirely Whether it voted tb*m or j J n “ 8 “ Government (md-msdo reoeobal ‘ provision tor all difficulties, and were jpu finance. The-figurea op whiob was pa®' ' tldaetotemeoAtiWl^itqir^-jpy^f Treasurer saying he oouldootpoMihly puttl

fact* more, fairly, or moreoloarlythan he, Major condition In whiah Sir George Gray had left theOolonyfilter saveral years of almost irresponsible administration, he quoted the address from the House in 1864, which showed that every department, finance included, was left by him in the utmost confusion. Sir George Grey now set up as a great reformer odd financier. If the late Ministry were to be judged by their paet actions, so ought Sir George Grey to be judged, ahd this addretsof the House to the Home Government, asking for responsible Government showed what bis past financial administration had been. Ho now came to consider Mr Larnaob’s proposals of lest night. At a glance it must be seen that the Statement was involved, inaccurate, and misleading. The first paragraph showed otter confusion of mind, mixing up loans and revenue in a most extraordinary way. ‘ Sir G. Grey some time ago had seen his way to make an immediate reduction in the expenditure of at least £IOO 000 But what did Mr liarnaoh now say P That ho would adopt the‘estimates of his predecessors, and that no reduction was possible without careful inquiry and thought. Here was a difference between promise and performance. Why had not Mr Lantech told the House what was.the present system of finance to which he objected P It was not to borrowing money for public works, or consolidating the public debt. That was evident from the proposals made. It could not be to borrowing in aid of revenue, because Mr liarnaoh proposed to borrow £300,009 in aid of consolidated revenue, while he had only proposed to borrow £IOO,OOO in aid of the Otago land revenue. The pro* posal for the House meeting early had been tried and had failed, as it necessitated the House taking estimates for one, quarter and results for only three quarters. This would never be agreed to while the main finance consisted in expenditure on public works. Otherwise it would be a good proposal. It bad been tried by Sir Julius Vogel and had failed. He now came to the Provincial liabilities and supplementary estimates. Here he found himself in a perfect maze. Either he or Mr Larnaoh knew nothing of the public accounts. He could not understand the latter’s figures. He did not know what the *' unsupported'’ balance meant. The' £279,000 mentioned in reality included the overdraft, as a reference to the accounts would show. The amount he bad asked for in his statement provided for every outstand ing provincial liability, and every one which should be outstanding now, yet it was said there were £200,000 unprovided for. He would give the history of this, which Ministers had failed in their duty in not giving. He bad before leaving office prepared a statement showing the actual liabilities, and the unexpended balandea of votes of Provisbial Councils. Those balances in Otago were agreed to simply on condition of the land being sold to meet the votes. The idea of their becoming s burden on the Colony was never suggested. , The list was simply prepared for the Cabinet to conaiderwhat votes should bo suggested to . be re-voted by the House. It was never intended to treat these os liabilities. They were no more liabilities than any vote on the estimates. He hoped most of the Otago items would be rejected unless they were made a local charge on the land revenue. He called the attention of the Auckland people to Sir George Grey ’s conduct in this matter. Before long they would measure Sir George Grey at his true value. What had. he done now he bad power to do justice to Auckland P He proposed £241,000 for Otago, and £SCOO for Auckland. Canterbury, alio. had £IOO,OOO. This was Sir Q. Grey’s idea of justice to Auckland. Why, when he had the opportunity, had he ; not done justice to Auckland, as he was always talking about ? He denied Mr Larnaoh’s statement that there were no balances of loans available to meet Provincial liabilities. He had provided a supply for these liabilities by taking £250,000 of last year’s loan, and £250,000. from the proposed loan of this year, He had' now to consider Mr Larnaoh’s proposals to take the land fund. Mr Larnaoh proposed to equalise the accounts by robbing, in Sir G. Grey’s words, the land funds of Canter bury and Otago. He'hoped by this to k give confidence to English moneylenders.- Mr Larnaoh was wrong in bis statement of the estimate of the late Government of receipts from land fund, by £ISOOOO. Their estimate was £BOO.OOO, not £740,000. He (Major Atkinson) had proposed to take £169,000. from the Otago and Canterbury land funds to balance the revenue and expenditure as estimated. To this £169,000 mush now be added £300,000, owing to the excision of the capitation claims in the Education Bill. £200,000 (P), therefore, had to be made good. As Mr Larnaoh had now accepted his estimates of both revenue and expenditure, how was it proposed to provide for, this ? To take 80 per cent of land fund from Jan'; 1 next. Mr Larnaoh estimated the land' fund for the. year at one million, but of this at least £650,000 will have become accrued before Jan 1, £550,000 having been received up to Sept 30, Of this remaining £3 50,000, it was proposed to - localise 20 per cent, or, £70,000, leaving only £280,000 to come into the general aooount. But the permanentcharges for six months now chargeable against the land ■ fund were £322,000,. peaking a farther deficit , of £40.000, instead of pro viding for the £200,000 which had to be made good. l The Only ‘making ; provision to meet this “in the Statement, was bj-borrowing £300.000 in aid of the /consolidated revenue.-! But howdid .this tally with the ttotementy’that ho money was! to be borrowed ’to'aid' revenue P It' seemed that Mr Larnaoh-proposed to generalise the land ;fund .bi lpoaUeipg. it. giving, 20 'p«?r joent to local bodies, hnd spading: the remaining! SO per cent on the Idealities where it was raised, xbis rrquired a liltle explanation. Then the proposals mad e Ll i& 1 offhand' about,takjng, ov< t th® maintenance-of - main roads if - desirable, -to.itba deficit^ fog I the . counties,would , ebon;, bring pres' sure to --make, it - ■ desirable. i As -■ to: Another (?)" proposal, . it’ meant >jther;-giving-ove*. the government .of .'thbljjquntry ,tq i adventurers or Is to any man wfib bad ever held offices whether hh hiuJ iapt beeri pOOTer for it,' 1 As a matte*; of; accuracy he might point’ out- that the Public Accounts Committee bad hot reported in favour of ' Selling ' the 1 Hinemoa,, The Weather Reporting Committee had, however, reportediagainst selling her. This .was a. sample of’ Mr Larnach’s accuracy \ He considered* It would bo dangerous and [impolitic to sell the . Hinemoa,. Then again the report of the Bailway Management -tir which Mr Larnaoh professed to be lookingforward, had actually beep on tbfy table for a fortnight. “If Government proposed to go-on with tjie Inscription of Stock Bill, a'fourmillion loan would not be wanted, i i’*oui'oro than £2,500.000 .could possibly bo Wanted! byway of' loans, ps‘the Treasury Bills could be more economically and easily funded under tho lnscription of Stock Bill. Ho challenged Mr Larnaoh. to. produce a single! financial statement in which the total indebtedness of the Colony by Treasury Bills and in otte r Ways, was not clearly SCI forth. If Mjr.Larhaoh could retract bis statement about having concealed tho indebtedness j. it was -set' forth, fully, if anything exaggerated, byeverypubuo (than in hie speeches, and stated not only in' financial Statements but in annual statistic)*. There was no concealment attempied or possible. To show bow Mr Larnaoh intended, to re-MSjire, the; English creditors, he |«f erred. »P tables at hh« end of the finanoial Statement, by which Mr Larnaoh made is appear that After taking the whole of the land fund he had ft deficit of £711,000: That wj.e s splendid security upon which to borrow,^, MO 000 He objected altogether to some, of, toe items charged as expenditure in these tables. j Mr Larnaoh must’ have known, or if ho did not Should have known; that these tables .were a sham and must derive. The first item be would take was.the supplemeniory imutes of £II2OOO. Of these , £64,000 (?) hap beep written off befprp b?.■Atfcnson) had struck the surplus of .£148,000 With which they began the year. This, bad therefore no right to appear; Did HrLarnoob know this? Then take the lsd called ;prov? n oi“ l :|ial>ihi‘es of £616,000. What righkh»<? they there P Did for ft moment that the j, were to ho protided for out of revWno*‘?i fjeifkainly moment, nor dare the Government propose it.

But if the; did so./Intends-why bed Mr < '■ Laroach ’ajade aopiwossliftq- meet the deficit? He iHowid it to befedOoXHe oonld not: conceive how e gentleman in Mr Laraobh’s position oonld reconcile himself to pattinf forward inch astatcmenfc. The statement ofj the balenoee in Wellington on a certain day was »; snera jinatter of account,j conveyingno informationto the public, and misleading lo ony one who hadnotthe key to, it, which was only to be obtained in a know*: ledge of the manner in which treasury account* were kept. With regard to the! £300,000 borrowed from the Public Work* Loan by the Consolidated'Revenue, itwaa •imply taken from time to tlmo by Deficiency Bills m order to provide for payment* at the beginning of the quarter, before the oonsolidated revenue came in. It was a mere work: ing balance in anticipation of revenue, and was , always repaid within the year. It was indentioal with the system of Exchequer Bills in England. j He thanked the House for its" patient attention to the facts he had placed before it, in order to show that the finance of the, last few years had not been ; band to month, or pa wnbroking finance, bat that every step had bean prudent and well omeidered. The borrowing from the banks of £1,000,000 last year bad been resorted to under the advice of independent and high authorities in London. Had,the late Government remained in Cffioe, a few months would have sufficed to have placed their finances in a thoroughly clear and satisfactory condition, which it was impossible to have done while the Provinces existed. He had clearly shown that the proposals of the Government were unsound, insufficient, aqd their statement such as seriously to affect the credit of the Colony. : Sir Gbobob Geby, who followed, said that he had a very difficult task in reply ing to such a carefully prepared, but wandering speech as Major Atkinson’s. He maintained that the late Ministry was a continuous one from 1869, and a continuous one of A very bad description, but fortunately the iystom was now broken down, and could never be restored. He was surprised at the audacity of the manner in which Major'Atkinson had ventured to tell the House he had made arrangements with the Bank of Hew Zealand | to borrow more money. Surely he should have been ashamed of such an avowal instead, of boasting of living on'the charity of unwise people,, Major Atkinson should have known that the £Boo,ooo borrowed from the Public,'. Works Account could hot be repaid. He read a letter from the Secretary to,the Treasury dated Nov 18, Baying that the expend!ture on public works was now £27,000 per week; that in five weeks all the loan would be expended, and that there was no probability of the consolidated fund repaying the £300,000 for some time to oome. As to ample provision having' been made to meet provincial 1 liabilities, he denied it absolutely. If it had been made, where was it? Ho knew of none, but' ho did know that the money was not in {the Treasury. He >defended himself from ;the accusations made against him in 1854, jand which Major Atkinson had quoted. Men were now able to judge impartially of what ’ he had done thrn.and 35 yean hence pro bably the railings JcfJMajor Atkinson now would be forgotten, ahd/,his present action would be rightly judged. flehaddovjoted his early years'to the good; of the Colony, and now he was devoting his old age to it, and he hoped that ere he died he, would be able to render it some service yet, even though bis existence since he tbbk office had been embittered by Major Atkinson’s,§eiire to get l back. Vnder great difficulties he,.and, his. colleagues during their.few weeks of‘Office bad devifed a - new soheine from its difficulties, reducing .the ‘expenditure; and., preserving the liberties of the peeple. , They had made a Financial Statement, and: now within Sl hours wereinvitjng discussion on it, while session after session Major Atkinson hod carefully avoided allowing the House an opportunity of discussing bis Statement,' He ' asked the Honse to contrast their oohduot with Major Atkinson’s in this matter. Although they had adopted Major Atkinson’s' estimates it; wak because thwe wets; hoi time ‘ ■to prepare new ones. They simply aekcjd the House to vote the earns there set down as amounts hot to be’exceeded, but they pledged themselves to largely reduce the actual expenditure! His objection to Msjor Atkin-, aon’e finance yras that it was finance .for his friends, not for the people of the Colony. It was a finance whioh made roads and railwayi. for a few rich people, and: left'the people fo ~ pay the cost. Ho objected to such finance, - and looked forward to one regulated by the people of New Zealand based oh a fair system l of taxation, and administered by a House of Representatives really representing the people and fairly elected by the people, with a com-, inon land fund; He proposed also one com- ! mon land,law for New Zealand, which wqnld, ■render impossible such dealings,-withj lands as hod taken place with confiscated lands for the benefit of friendsof the Ministers, Let Major Atkinson ask 'the 'oonalituenoiee of the Colony which system of finance they approved of. The knell was struck, andneitherhe nor hi# finance would ever more be heard of. The statement of provincial liabilities ; which had been made was an absolutely .correct one, prepared by the department and carefully 1 scrutinised by Ministers. His desire to do jusiioe to Auckland would» have been no excuse for doing injustice to, other [ parts of the Colony, and thfi-.people of Auokland would be the flrst to scorn being I benefited by robbing others. Jostiop would ! be done to 'Auckland without injustice .to i other parts of the Colony. As to the alleged, deficit to bo met, Ministers’hoped largely to decrease it by reductions in proposed expenditure. This would have to be done pdfltinuously, and until'next session; when they wOuld bring down • careful- reliable estimates/_o|_ their own.'The' Hquso'mast have confidence in the Gbyernment; *»-'|obg> a* it: did. not exceed the amount thefr predecessors down as necessary.. This .was not ac wreasonii able-request .to make, .and •*«, .ashed for jras conceded,, he beWe^sd^,#*^] { would taetit the ;HdueC'-next Session with a ; perfectly Vatisfabtpry. account, andW abIMK Show, that- the Colony::had been.:ogtr|dated_ frota its difficulties. :: He belieyedit‘yas largo- - Ministerial salaries, not. a reduction bf. them, which : would attracts:adventurers to lajkp’part. in,its Government, Tt was,. .iMs. . people of tjhe Qjilony totalkof hot getting the right sort, of men.,-: n There were’jhppdreds of men perfectly Capable of conducting hsaffaifs who .would, jrUlingW accept 'le»s'#al4ri*S"tbanwere now Increased 1 salaries neiths i created'ability-nor led «pen of Utility into pubiid [attracted i porimnleßß-.men .tft.soramble »aid, “ Lsrddp|iver us from tbe pen“#ho' were attracted-!- by large ftailway .. • 1 matter Major Atkintoh was speaking.-He Contended that suaffd'ftbating debt as oure did-'ddnbeal the rral indebtedness oOfiTpoiony the Home oreditdr. Though; it:' was' out .'in> Major:;; Atkihspny^ «-.rid did aoiLlmawlblMdJ:M hisjstatements, but looked to the; publio debt alone. He contended also that to: honestly) confess a deficit where: 1 one existed would inspire more confidence than boasting of surpluses which Old not , exist and telegraphing pa- state* inent to London to' deceive 'pimblp, &«(?• The plain, blunt, honest. s«.ateiheht of out affairs would do far more to inspire confidence in London. In bringing forward the Provincial liabilities, they 1 were simply informing the HousOiOf aJI thq, of the Colony so far as they knewj tbein. Theydid not desire 'to- conceal anything. He Could not understand how the oaty balances,. - which were admitted by Majar. Atkinson to, be true and hoourato,'could also be misleading; It was a most unfair statomeqt to make. Tbe bftlanoeß as contained in tho tablci wew those supplied t<» Government j for their guidance. Ho and his colleagues, ' were determined to try and . establish a policy for. the many and hot for the low j aud this qnjie done, they were content to pass aw;ey,; ;* , Mr M’LEXN said that Sir G; Grey bad not attempted to answer Major Atkinfpn’| figures. All bis talk wopld hot sathfy.tibe, people of Otago and-Oantsrhury,-.wlfett he was trying to rob them b£ their right./. It, was to -express his Jat fope *>| 1 ** scheme' tbs* he'-atoodrup Grey 'ww allowed to iuie hiagUag^wbiob.if

any other dsiid, heiwould be hooted down. Sir G. Grey made wild statsmenls, but he dared hitn. dr apV baej to advance an instance of beini 4<me-to the publlo by the late Goferamettl. to; .benefit friends. ; The tote Government bad done,all they could i to reduoelhe lirolto H income,.but the tssk wae a mpst ton. It was to faeilitote it that he suppetted abolition. He Witibised Hf !LsriiMh'e figures st| somo toDgtb. r Thb •InswipMun,q| ( B,topk BUlj gave full power to funA the Treesury Bills,; and it also roleasO/ the By this returns, there would have been ample fand*! to mett' all requirements without perpetr-; siting e rb&bidiy to( Ottgp and Where were, those men who had tslked aboUt dying to defence of their land fund ? Sv«h Mr Utout’s logio would fail to gull the people of Ou^pir submitring to robbery. He would force those who were robbing the provinces of their land fund tp go.intp tbe .lffbby and place their votes oh record to show the people they were plnnderedjby theirfriends,notbytheirenemus. The present Goveromeht proposed to rob Canterbury of £700,000. . How would the Postmseter General's constituents like that? He believed the Otago land revenue could this year be made to realue £3oo,COU,,without detriment to lettleinent. The amount Available for local purposes would, however, be far less Unddr'the'present thaU .under thelate proposals, The Otego, litof fund for yeare to be the largest in the Colony, and it was being taken from. them. He was quite willing to go to the country on this questioh, bo should every southern member. It was through the treachery of Otego members On Government Benches that ’it had become im possible to save the land fund. He would not be sorry to see Sir G- Grey retain offide, to show people how nnfit he was in hi|old age to' govern this young > country.- It could not- be governed thy a Elp Van Winkle. Hie Scheme ;to release the Colony from its difficulties was to »b Otago ahd Canterbury. It wai honcense to talk !of freeing l ' the - pe6ple i , / fbr( toSre,|WSre^'hoj ! freer people in the.world. 'Even if men 1 found; it difficult at timVe to get employment in winter, they might, if they wore prun ent; earn enough in the ebmiher to keep them in the winter. He hurled bsok the insinuation that the late Government Xhe Financial -jGitetofflmk';.to^..ba^idlW to pieoe»i and was framed; carefully to mislead. • :5e denied th 4t J the ■Opposition wefeAnxipus ■ for offiDe, .and he highly ealoguedViMajor Atkinson, He also, praised the perpianent officers of Government,'especially Mr Batkin, and complained, of 6ir, G. Grey’s answer to Mr Stafford’s question about obstructions being thrown in the way of Ministers. , MrWASOH moved the‘adjournment of the debate. , Messrs Stout. DbLauxotjb, J. O. and Bees* objected’ to adjourning, as ;tho Opposition had not . brought forward any definite motion, although the opportunity -hadheen-aEord«d.-~r~i--r.-~ —<

The Hon J. said that the qbes* tions at issue were so large,.that the Gavernmeht did hot think; the time lost eveh if another' day were. Aperit over it. If [the debate: werou .adjourned- c tp, Thursday,! all private business might be finished to-moriow, and this debate fipisbed on Thursday... i; , The debate was adjourned to 2.80 p.ml on Thursday, and the House rose at 12.45 a.m. , . Wbdhesdat, N0t.,21; f ( i.■ The House met at 2 30 p.m. ‘ ’ ■ '. qUBSTIOW. In asking the' Mtijister of Lands;for Mr O’Borke (who was in the chair) w)iit have bran token, or ate intended to be token, to oonter upon.toe imendo wed borough of the Thames endowments, subb aS.are proposed to be conferred on the Kaiapoi, Lyttelton, and' Akarpa, undeif the T 3sb clause of “ The Munioipal Corporations Act, 1876,” Mr BoWb said that if there were no lands available in Auokland they Aould have no' objedtiphj to'takicg lands in Otago or Oahterbulry. vr ■ The Hott-J. MAGA»DBBW,in reply: said that certain lands in Auckland had beea indioated as' unsuitable endowment," 1 and I ''would be grahted os soon as ; the -Native, title was extinguished.. . j ’ ‘HEW BILIB. I - Th* following Bills- wsre-introduced: — Maori Beal Estate Management Adt 1 : Amend*. ,m«ipt Bill (Mr Sheehan), Wyndbam .Showr 1 . Ground,Beserve Bill (Mr Wood), Whangarei Point Endowment Bill (Sir B. Douglas)■ ; MABTIH’S BAT. :!■■■■ ; On the motion ,of Mr MAKDBES .it was reaolved to go into OommitteC on a future day for an address £or£looo,to removoa.rock at the entrance to' Martin’s Bay, and improve the Approaches to the harbour., IKLA3JD EAILWAT, • . j Mr Mahdbbs alsd moved to set-aside , 200,000 acres; of land for a railway! from Queenstown to Cromwell. . , iv. The Hoh J, Maoahdebw said that the land there was notr likely, to be sold at present, and Government would' consider this line with others.,.,., *, -. * This motion was withdrawn* . - ' BEMUHEBATIOH OP abobough. Mr J. O, Bbown for Mr, Stput mpfed for an address for £3OO to. partially reoopp the Dnnpdia City; Council expense incurred ia drafting” the Municipal Corporation Bill of -last-session. - - ——| ■' The Hon W. 'J. .M.>LAEKidHi stated that Government muit'oppole the motion! as the Corporation bad not been asked to prepare the,BUl*. , I .‘"ThftHpnW. H.'BBTKODDS said'that-the borporatioh believed that the(r BilljWas usedby Government in draf ting .their. Corperations ,8i11.,, f , The .Hop E. EIOHABDSpA said this W4s not the case * ' ’ ‘’' ‘ 1 ’ ’ discussion, the motion was -negatived.*- V'- ‘ n£ s - • ■ -SBIDGE two THE OBEY, j ' ;V 'address fdr £IO,OOO to weri t "Msi f oounfcy matter. - sDcUuassbaos ps,® J. ,; r Ttie.-Hod W. H. BbtboliDS said that the on M!)«\jaoTqiaHO -I , . ' , . ,The-Hoir:W. J. M. Lahnaoh said that tkeneeesrityrfftr.this.and.gimilalnrprki, bqt All thbt They would promise srasduridg the ,-repps* ;to : , parefoUyaO<raiider-' ; hOW’-I»*t snob works'could he done. . giw toeir of (m : oluding suirti A bridge as. thi* rlh-Ah? soheme of! public works; ;and was glad: the'Goyernmsnt ,ptopbMd|toq#*ißer , .. ', After furlbCr discdsiion 'thp.motion was *apßed!tKGJ*uw .0 j ’7 ments should be from lands within the county endowed! He moved, thetefpre; the omiMipn.-. of; the resolution. -• > . a> ■ This was agreed to, the olaueeAemgAltered an that th* endowment .should be from lands -within the Provinoiai district*..- I: j ~± , n , - : The discussion: on the second resolution WES, tetewoptod by the dioner hour. ! ■' ;

(tbom oua owe ooaai*psn>it»i.3 ; The Local Option'Bill hss, on Mr Fox * njbtion. beeh discharged from the order last night 'was a very able pne; and carefully got up in figure*. Sir G. Grey having to faply "on thespur of tht moment, - could well grapple with the detail*; ‘but spoke most eloquently. Major Atoiospn lpi; sbout^,t*g,howto* »pd dir . G. Grey: for,anihodii attpr whlph ,Mr K’Lean prosed away for an hourand a half. lt was ‘rumoured • about -that' he wa* ; talking; to - proiong the dabate, as. Mr Stafford intended, to morrow, to move some motion'equivalent; to Vwant of oonfldenoedne j bat if any , *uoh intention Au ever entertained, it bus been Abandoned;; for it was found that there Was ; noobance of •» majority following Mr -.MrStafford’s,lead., '■‘This forenoon a private canon* ol AnpEtond, ’ members;’ of, the J 5" -te»ded;;s>y t #?Mto 9®V Whl^!!’ Bo*e, and onemr two ltjWM* ownmously.. raVolved J'npf’ po> offjr any furfha, m ?* n ? h° . opjKwfa^elllnl^^omm'Jih

The Uinistry seem fiow quite lafe, though a dying demonstration may possibly be attempted iy. the;i other side, i to-morrow. The prorogation Is tiow-confidently looked iorwwd to within ten days or a fortnight.. v(