PARLIAMENTARY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 203, 30 August 1869, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY.

{From the Evening Post, August 27). Mr. Curtis's motion relative to Mr. Fox's letter to Major Brown, took precedence of all other business,-- as *it~ was a motion affecting the privileges of the House. Mr. Curtis moved it in a very temperate speech, in which he endeavoured to treat the subject entirely on high constitutional grouuds. He was followed by Mr. Tancred, who was Chairman of the select committee which had reported its inability to find any precedents for considering Mr. Fox's letter a breach of privilege. Mr. Tancred's mouth having been shut in committee, he took advantage of the debate to show how very much opposed to his own views the report he had brought up was. After Mr. Tancred came Mr. Bell, who made one of the most vigorous and excited speeches which I ever heard him make. He said the motion was a party move, and that the Governmejt would meet and treat it as one ; world, in fact, as Mr. Stafford afterwards put it, " use their majority.'* Mr. Bell made Mr. Carleton the peculiar object of his wrath, and declared that that gentleman's conduct on the select committee was influenced by violent party motives, and was very different from the impartial and calm manner in which Mr. Carleton, as Chairman of Committees, should have approached the investigation. After Mr. Bell had done with Mr. Carleton, and made it pretty clear that the Government declined to discuss the question on its merits after its having been investigated and reported on by a select committee, and would treat it as a virtual vote of want of confidence, Mr. Carleton rose next, and made a very calm and dignified reply to Mr. BelFs attack, justifying the course he bad adopted in Committee, and arguing with a good deal of earnestness that the letter was an undoubted breach of privilege, and that the committee's report simply evaded the question referred to them. After Mr ' Carleton's speech, the fun became fast and furious, and instead of the debate being a dignified discussion of privilege, it became a regular faction or party fight, abounding in personalities and irregularities. Mr. Creighton made perhaps the best hit of the lot, for he confessed that Mr. Fox, in writing the letter to Major Brown, had committed a blunder, or rather " put his foot in it," and that probably he would know better next time. He was right in removing Major Brown from his command, but ought not to have told the Major why he did so. This caused a good deal of amusement, and was evidently the general feeling of the House. The debate would probably have gone on a good deal longer had it not been for the near approach of the dinner hour. A few minutes before this, Mr Curtis was allowed to reply, and then the division took place; the motion being negatived by 29 to 27. This announcement was received with great cheers from both sides ; the Government because they had a majority — the Opposition, because the majority on a Ministerial question was so small. Mr. Stafford, when the numbers were announced, called out in loud tones "a majority of two !" Later in the evening Major Heaphy explained that he had inadvertently voted in the privilege division after . having paired with Captain Kenny, The proper numbers of that division were therefore, Ayes 27>Noes 28. On Thursday the House went into committee to consider of an address to his Excellency the Governor, -praying him to submit for appropriation such sum as he may deem to be necessary for the purpose of making advances by way of loan to the Patea and- Waitotara settlers, to enable them to re-occupy their farms ; such advances to be secured by a mortgage on the property of those settlers who may avail themselves of the privilege. This motion Mr. moved in one of the soundest, most practical, sensible, and logical speeches beard in the House this session. In admirably chosen terms be pointed out the; immense advantages of re-settling the districts in question ; the energetic and almost heroic character and conduct of the settlers themselves ; the justness of their claim, not for compensation, but for assistance in rebuilding their houses ; the immense; benefit .which the Colony would derive from their doing so, and the^littleirjsk of any s ultimate loss by the scheme ; be had -proposed.; /-Mr. Kelly was justly complimented on both his speech and : proposal by>;Messrs.; Fox, Stafford, cMLean^ Richmond, Travers, Bell, Greighton>Majbr;Brbwn^ and several

l^hers. They all spoke most favorably of. jfpbe proposal, declaring it to be the dawn lybf a bright era in our history, and a much Ifyietter proposal than compensation, as the would accept it without auy of obligation, and the Colony ipwould in the end lose nothing by it. The m nature of t lie Patea country was expatiated I upon in glowing terms by the Premier. |. Mr. Stafford spoke in highly eulogistic I terms of the conduct of the settlers, and I especially of the energy, determination, < hopefulness, and shrewdness of Mr. Middlemas, who, it seemed, was the author of the scheme, then before the House. Mr. Stafford also suggested that if the scheme answered in this case, it ' might,- as had been done at home, be extended to settled districts, in assistance to / drain swamps and other similar works. Mr. Travers and Mr. Richmond suggested that the repayment might be arranged on a system like thajt of building societies; thepaymentof interest gradually extinguishing the principal ; but being very light for the first few years. Mr. i Fox declare! that the Government was fully determined not to let any of the rebel J natives return to settle in the district; and Mr.M'Lean said that arrangements had been made with Ropata, and a large body of Ngatiporous, to settle in the district, and act as a defensive force. This was done with the full concurrence of the settlers, and of that chief. The resolution seemed to meet the wishes of every one, and not a single word of objection was said regarding it— a thing almost unpre- \ cedented in the House.

The huge Blue-Book just issued upon local taxation in England and Wales shows j that it now amounts to 16| per cent, upon the annual rateable value of the country, and 15 per cent, upon the gross estimated rental. The total now amounts to £16,660,459, or nearly double the cost of the civil administration of the United Kingdom. Of this enormous sum the poor-rate is £11,061,502, or nearly the cost of the Army, and even more entirelywaste, for the Army does not, at all events, demoralise the national character. Financiers sometimes complain that nothing remains for them to do, but here is work for the strongest of them. Onehalf, at least, of all these rates are levied, not upon profits, but upon the machinery for producing profits, and a large portion of the remainder is spent in convincing Englishmen that it is needless to provide for old age. — Spectator. The Honorable the Legislative Councilors are determmined, it seems, to give as much trouble in connection with the Hau Hau prisoners as they possibly can. They have already out and pared the act framed for trying them under, till they made it all but useless, and now Mr. Mantel! has given notice to move for a return showing the name, tribe, nature of offence, date of apprehension, and date ot committal, of each of the prisoners confined on board the barque City of Newcastle. This will be rather a difficult return to prepare, and what useful purpose it can serve passes the comprehension of ordinary mortals. — Wellington Post. The result of the first examination for women in the University of London has recently been announced. As Lord Granville mentioned in his public address a fortnight ago, there were precisely nine candidates— classical and suggestive number," remarked his Lordship — though there had been very little notice of the examination, and though a sound elementary knowledge of Latin and two other languages, arithmetic and geometry, natural philosophy, and either chemistry or botany, was required from the candidates, as well as English history and physical geography —the standard of the examination being generally that of the matriculation examination — i.e., one adapted to test a good school education. The result was rather carious. Of the nine muses who presented themselves, three, we regret to say, were not accepted by the, University j but of the other six, all passed in the honors' division. That is, two- thirds passed in the honors' division, and one-third was rejected. With the young men, the average rule is that only some fifteen per cent, or so pass in the honors': division j perhaps thirty per cent, in the first division, and that somewhere about half are rejected. Probably, these pioneers of learning amongst the girls were picked specimens. If not, the lads must look to their laurels.— Spectator. ~ " Ideas," say Vol taire, " are like \ beards. Men only get theni when they .grow up, and women never have any.'* •