POLITICAL NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10111, 9 August 1893, Page 6

POLITICAL NOTES.

EpK>ar-.oi».Bi(iCMjt. coowwondsnt.] ,V August 8. * o? vamm as. . Th© potential!ty of the fourth estate or taovMlm was proved to-day, when the waa induced to defer Monday foe a woolc, and to commence hcainead at 7.30 instead of in Tfc mi laseely on a representation turn & AwtL that this concession WM obtained Mr T*»a«r says private SMakew dure have been so flagrantly WmM tfcat he thinks the Government wmULwm large sappirfciHtpMuosed to "mmm&m-- the whole, time of the House When the Premier napeSTw-dsy that Gavetament business ifconUt ta3cal precedence on "Wednesdays Mbm' Jla«n*t 9, Mr Fish insinuatingly MUQMptiwuiat uio Government might os waU ietart by taking ■ tomorrow- This •kWva * sonarent when it .was seen that the taper for to-morrow woo" Committee on the Licensing Act AaMOdatent Bill. 3 ’ The Premier was umdj with hia reply. Ha thought that tSeSoveMuaenh might agree if the mom--Im> fo* Inknigitliuft had no objection. Sit 1. Stout decidedly objected to waive the hip Bill, and Mr Fish’s benevolent.,intention, to give it the happy dePpatohwaa frustrated. j THE ELL CASH. . Tha Ell case appeared for a short time «n the floor of the House this afternoon. Whan the Ityiniator for Justice laid on the taUe aom» correspondence received on the BfVW. Mr Hargraves wrote to co rreot an •rwc he had made in his evidence before tha Oomausion in stating tho original aSoont of Harper and Cd.’s claim against EU to be J 85619 9a lid instead of £IOO3 jg 2Jd. Mr Lattar writes on the subject of tfep two .points upon which the Commiadooftß had reported him to be in error. Vba first of these was that he wrongly ■eeapfcediMr Nathan’s proof .of debt. In 'Mplwto this he states that the proof was baMd npon a promise to pay, aad though it* tisfnja . werommtaal, its validity could eoly be .tasted. by a decision of tho Bdn«mn Court, to which Ell might have »np*led'at'ahy tlme. The second point value of Ill’s b00k5.... This, he declares, is against tha -Mr', Latter "goes on ..to samonstrate against the judgment of the OoßUßisaionexs, as'. placing him in an position..^'He disappoint|as*nt‘ ond surprise at finding that the Government proposes tp pay him only bait'his counsel’s fee of £SO for attendance at the Commission for fourteen days, Md for getting up the facta of the case. Ob the motion that these letters bo laid bb the table and printed, Mr Eolleston airad Mr Latter’a grievances, and appeared desirous of provoking a lengthy debate. Sir B, Stout submitted that the prouer time to discuss the question was when the gMoial legislation promised on Ell a bohalf was under consideration,.or when the vote OB the Estimates to compensate Ell was !being passed. The Hon W. P. Eeovea Bfread with this suggestion, and the matter, was. dropped. , , ! ,BIRR. STOUT’S BILL. In'Committee, on Sir, ,E. Stout’s Lioeneing'Biil. Mr d’Conor will move anamend‘meoi that licensing districts under the Act shall he as fat as possible coterminous with,the Parliamentary electoral districts, there being not. more, than four licensing diatnots lathe North Island, and the same intlxeiotith; each such district to comprise not Isas than four Parliamentary electoral districts., ■ .Mr, Sandford will move an addi-tiOß-to CliliUae 5, declaring that after the local option poll the Licensing Committee •hall at' its first meeting decide what licenses Shall be refused, but the determination shall not take effect till July 1, 1966, aid. thereafter on July 1 in every third year. , , SCHOOL BUILDINGS. A return asked for by Mr George Hutchison has beau laid on the table, showing that the amounts asked for last yaar by each Education Board for building traroosas were as follow Auckland £23,404, . .Taranaki £5998, Wanganui £13,059, Wellington £11,986, Hawke a Buy £11,506, Marlborough £1999, Nelson £6uBD, Greymouth £3BIO. Westland £1522, North Canterbury .;£34,31'J,. Soiith Canterbury £3606, Otago £32,931, Southland £O3BB. The advances made by the Boards to credit of building account from othor accounts were as follow -.--Auckland £3OOO. Taranaki £126 ISs 4d, Wanganui £2OOO, North Canterbury £345 17a Id, Otago £1343 17s fOd. .

: LAND AND INCOME TAX, Ob the motion of Sir John Hall a return baa been preiented allowing that 208,453 valuations of land wore made under the .1891 aasetsment. There were 19,461 objections . received, of which 9398 wtra allowed-by the Commissioner, and 9563 were referred to the Board of Beviewew, which igranted . reductions _in 2010 inetapoea. For the year ending March-SI, 1892, there 11,809 returns of income received. No cases were brought before a Magistrate sitting as, a Court of Review, but a« tb« result-of enquiries many adm* tiona were made to incomes as returned.

NATIVE SCHOOLS. The' 'ifpert on Native schools was laid M the ■ table by Mr Keovoa. This shows that' at. the end of 1891 there were 71 Matfre aohoole in the Colony. Since then bhran schools have been opened and mx Closed. Those closed comprised four in the Auckland district, shut, up for various reasons, and two schools, viz., thosb at Akaroa and Port .Molynoaux, which were taken over by tho Education Boards! of North Canterbury and Otago respectively. At the end of 1892 there werd sixty-eight schools open, the children on the' rolls for tho December quarter numbered 2113. and the average attendahea -fCr the December quarter was 1623. Of'Qie, children 1 att§nding Native schools "cent ■ were -Maoris, "17 per cent Ehrhpeafta, and TO par Cent half-castes. The ‘expenditure on Native schools for the nastfyear. waa ,£14,290 4u ■ : ,TOTTINGB AND INCIDENTS. iri’order'to tetit the views of the House Bud-the country with regard to tho Parliamentary system of Government, Mr O'Qcnor intends to introduce a Bill provldifag for the abolition of that system. The Minister for Lands has promised to lay hifote the Cabinet the views of those members who are in favour of the owners of threshing machines having alien over grain and seed threshed by them. I hear there is some feeling against legislation being-passed to this effect, as it ia considered that owners of threshing machines should have no preferential claim. The Public Accounts Committee, to-day, had. under examination the Hon G. F. Richardson, ex-Minister for Lands, under whose administration the questionable icrip'traneacfciona that are-being enquired into; took place. The Premier crossnuestioned the witness at some length. The Committee intends to take the opinion *1 -tha - Law Officers of the Crown as to wbeihe? certain scrip was legally exercisi^^fr:fe': 'tha; manner in which it was > fSwirayi<>r-ptofes?c i to believe there 5»aWa 'wothing man in this Colony whose Tdta;! can- bo influenced or bought. Mr BodklMid says he can always tell wfca.j electors have "sold” him at the b».lot box His experience in this way ia balievad to-be rather extensive. Mr Dawson solemnly declares that at tba dasfc general election in Dunedin he did -not see a single person the worse for drink. He therefore considers that it ,Would be an insult to the electors to close pubiio-houses oa tho polling doy. In Me- Meredith's opinion more money will: he spent on the general elootdoa in New Zealand than has boon •pent on any such occasion for twenty .years past.' Petitions in favour of the Direct Veto Bill were presented to-day hy Messrs Joyce wad Fisher. There was also a large petition from,' residents in Ashburton against the measure.

Mf Duthie to-day presented a largelysigned petition from Wellington shopkeepers, praying the House not to pass the compulsory clauses of the Shops Act, aa it ■would'prove an infringement of the rights of freeborn British subjects. A. .petition was presented photognphu* «£ Gnsysoirth and Animate,

praying to have 30 per cent duty imposed i on imported photographs or enlargements j of New Zealand scenery, and have the duty taken off certain photographic materials. Mr Waddell, oast steel worker, of .Christchurch, has, through the agency of Mr Taylor, who introduced him to the Engineer-in-Chief, obtained a Government order for eight sots of cast stool wheels for bogie carriages. If these ara found to bo satisfactory, more orders will doubtless follow, in pursuance of tha Government policy of encouraging local industry. . When the Electoral Bill was in Committee, Mr Sandford moved an amendment to provide that the electoral rolls should be on view at a number of public places, such as Resident Magistrate’s Courts, City and Borough Council offices, &c. The Prsmier declined to accept the amendment, contending that it was sufficiently provided in the Bill that the rolls should be exhibited at places to be determined by the Government. Ten members followed Mr Sandford info the lobby to affirm that the statute should fix the places, but the amendment was of course lost. I obsarve that) no mention is made of the division iu the Press Association report, so deem it necessary to place the facts on record. Messrs Saunders, Meredith and Barnshaw were among the tew Liberals who voted against tho Oamarn Loans Consolidation Bill. It is now stated that the excursion or members lo the Cheviot estate will take place on Friday week. The Public Petitions Committee reports with reference to tho petition, of Edward Bretton, of Christchurch, praying for. the remission o? -a tine of £5 for selling' flounders under the regulation size, taat.it, has no recommendation to make. A petitibh r largely signed by residents of Hokitika-ana neighbourhood was pre-’ santed'by Mr Guinness to-day, praying the House to grant; assistance to Daniel Callaway and James Cameron in consideration of prospecting work done by them on tha south side of the Hokitika river, resulting in tho discovery of a very payable lead of geld. . ... The Premier to-day gave notice to introduce tho G. W. Ell Empowering Bill, the object of which is to make Ell trustee in his own bankrupt estate as recommended by the Oommisaion. Mr Meredith’s new clause to the Electoral Bill, declaring polling day a public holiday, was withdrawn oil account of the amendment- being ■ lost that proposed closing public-houses on that day. [Per Puses Association.] The Shearers’ Accommodation Bill as drafted by Major Steward at the request of tbe labour members, only applies to shearing sheds where four or more men are employed. The penalty on employers for failing to provide accommodation to the satisfaction of tho Inspector is £SO, aad for obstructing the Inspector £35. An Aliena Bill will be introduced by Mr O’Conor, the object of which is to prevent Asiatics from entering into trade or becoming naturalised : in New Zealand, unless they are able to show that they are likely to become permanent residents in tho Colony. DUNEDIN, August 8,

A meeting held to-night in tho Choral Hall, convened by tha Women’s Franchise League, was well attended. The following resolutions were passed;—(l) Whereas half the adult population are excluded from participating in making laws they are compelled to obey, this meeting declares its conviction that they should be enfranchised without delay. (3) The question having bean before tho country for many years, and the principle having been admitted in both: Houses last session, this masting calls upon tbe Government to pass the Electoral Bill iu time to enable women to vote at tbe next general election. (3) This meeting thanks the Government for making the question of women’s franchise a portion of its E lectoral Bill, and urges it to impress on tho Legislative Council the necessity of pr.asi.ug the Bill at once. Mrs Hutton presided,, aad nearly one-half those present wore women. INVERCARGILL, August 8.

At a meeting of electors last night it was resolved to found a fund to be used ia support of a candidate for the Invercargill seat at the general election who will deal justly, from tho meeting's point of view, with the licensing interests.

Mr G. J. Smith will meet hia friends and supporters on Thursday evening, at the Oddfellows' Chamber , to discuss matters in connection with his candidature for Parliament.