Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1886.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1940, 23 August 1886, Page 2

Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1886.

Session 111 of the ninth parlia- j ment of New Zealand has been brought to a close. It opened on the 13th May, and has, therefore, lasted something over three months. By common consent it has been voted the most dull and uninteresting session for years past; there have been no sensations of any moment; there has been no Ministerial crisis—the Government have been safe from *he first day of the session—and, consequently, there has been none of that plotting and intriguing so beloved by the newspaper specials, who, during the session, prowl about the purlieus of Parliament Buildings. The only people who are satisfied with the session are, probably, Ministers themselves. And they have reason to be satisfied, for, whilst they have been able to retain their seats (which in itself is sufficient reason,perhaps, for Ministerial satisfaction) they have undoubtedly done some exceedingly good work. They were anxious to do more, and would have succeeded, had there not been so much obstruction in the Upper House to Government measures. This obstruction by the Legislative Council has, indeed, been the feature of the session. We shall refer to the subject again, and, in the meantime, it will be sufficient to say that members of the House of Representatives feel they must make a stand next session should there be any indication of intended similar obstruction then. Let us gee how Parliament has been employed during the past three mouths Upon reference to the journals we find that 130 public Bills were in* troduced, 121 in the House of Representatives and nine in the Council- Of this number 72 were passed and have received the Royal assent, the remaining 58 were dropped or otherwise disposed of. Following is the list of Public Bills which have been passed and received the Royal assent : Administration Act Extension.

Animals Protection Act 1880 Amendment. Apportionment. Appropriation. Beer Duty Act 1880 Amendment. Charitable Trusts Extension, Civil Service Reform. Coal Mines. Companies Branch Registers. Counties. Deceased Persons’ Estates Duties Act 1881 Amendment. Deeds and Instruments Registration. Defence. Destitute Persons Acts Amendment, District Railways Purchasing Act 1885 Extension and Amendment. East and Weßt iCoast (Middle Island) and Nelson Railway and Railways Construction Act Amendment. First Offenders Probation. Fish Auction. Friendly Societies Aot 1882 Amendment. Gisborne Public Prison, Government Life Insurance (No 2). Government Loans to Local Bodies (No 2). Harbours Act 1878 Amendment. Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act 1885 Amendment. Impreßt Supply. Imprest Supply (No 2). Justices of the Peace Act 1832 Amendment. Local Bodies’ Finance and Powers Act 1885 Amendment. Local Bodies’ Loans; Lost Debentures. Mining. Mining Companies. Mortgage Debentures Act 1885 Amendment. Municipal Corporations.? Native Equitable Owners. Native Land Administration. Native Land Court. Native Reserves Titles Grants Empowering. New Zealand Loan. North Island Main Train Railway Loan Application. Owhaoko and Kaimanawa-Oramatua Reinvestigation of title. Police Force. Post Office Act 1881 Amendment. Property Assessment Act 1885 Amendment. Propertyxtax (No 2). Publia Bodies’ Leaseholds. Public Revenues. Public Trust Office Act 1872 Amendment. Public Works Appropriatson. Rabbit Nuisance Act 1882 Amendment. Railways Authorization and Management. Railways Construction and Land Act 1881 Amendment. Settled Land. Sheep Act 1878 Amendment. Special Powers and Contracts. Stamp Acts Amendment. Wellington and Wanganui Education Districts. From a glance at this list it will be seen that some exceedingly good work has been done particularly in the way of consolidating legislation. and legislation affecting transactions in Native Lands. Local Government measures of a valuable character and Acts in the direction of an endeavor to abate the rabbit nuisance have also been placed upon the Statute Book, and to these we shall have to refer again. Several Bills such as Criminal Code, Gold Duty Abolition and Reduction (two Bills) Artificial Fertilizers Warranty, and some of a reformatory character, we

are sorry had to be dropped. Sixty five local and private bills were introduced, but only twenty-four of these were passed. The House has sat on sixty-five dayß, for a total of 476 hours and a daily average of 7h> 19min, There have been 226 divisions during the session, 82 in the whole House and 144 in Committee. Four hundred and sixty petitions have been presented, 364 from Europoans, and 96 from Maoris. Ministers have been asked 545 questions, and have laid 242 papers on the Table. Thirteen select committees have sat and fourteen ordinary standing committees; these have brought up during the session 471 reports. Such, in brief, has been the work of the third session of the ninth Parliament.