HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4666, 27 October 1876, Page 3

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

I -■■. ' GoyiKHSnEU* BuELDnras r r -■■.:: •-;■ • :••• WsLLnrGTdK, Thuradayr"-. JbBQtTMiCBidATIdN Bfiii' Jr •'•" '*< i The .chief portion..of last night's sitting ; was engaged on the Public Works Bill in I committee. The hill, passed through comimittee, was read a third time, and passed. 'The remainder of the.sitting; was passed on ; the Disqualification-Bill N0..2.. Mr. BUTTON considered Disqualification Acts traps to .catch the unwary, and hoped to see them wiped.-off the. statute' book. The purity of Parliament depended .upon the purity of the people, and statutory purity was a mere figment' He moved an amendment to 'shelve the bill. On division the amendment was negatived by 40 :toil2. Various verbal "amendments in -several clauses were made, and the bill reported and passed. The Honse adjourned at 2.5. . ' The House met at 2.30 to-day. ' CAPTAIN MORRIS.' - Leave of absence for the remainder of the session was granted to Captain Morris. j BATH ROOMS FOR MEMBERS. < On the question whether the House would give effect to the report of the joint House Committee, Mr. REYNOLDS dxew attention to the necessity of having hath, rooms erected on thepremises of the House. :He said there had been a great deal of sickness amongst members'during tho session, and it was absolutely necessary to their health these bath rooms should be provided. - ■ r PROVINCIAL ABOLITION.PERMISSIVE BILL. ; Sir G. GREY moved the second reading of the Provincial Abolition Permissive BilL The hon. gentleman argued against the wjadom and unconstitutionality of the Government depriving the inhabitants of New Zealand of tho privileges which were not granted to auy. other part of the Empire, of settling up a spurious aristocracy and endowing the; friends of the' Government with the lands of the colony, and generally destroying ,she freedom of ..New Zealand _and unfairly; oppressing the people." The hon. gentleman' then went-mte tho-question of conferring j titles and life peerages, and the securing of 1 large pastoral licences, the effect of which! was to debase the people of New Zealand.; All this was done with deceit towards; the Imperial Government of Great. tain. There had been a firm determination that the House should not represent the large constituencies, but by the little insig-! niticant ones that were entirely in the hands of the Government, and who coerced those parts where the real popuUSion of the colony was—in .fact the rotten borough system, discarded in England, was revived here. The hon. gentlemen went on toshew that what the bill asked was only reasonable, and that if it was not conceded, the feeling of irritation that pervaded the north, and south of the colony must end in a demand for separation from this centre of government. He asked them" to avoid these storms and perils by granting his request, a request he put to them as Superintendent of great province. Mr. MANDERS characterised the speech of Sir George Grey as wild, declamatory, and quite nnworfchy of the House, and he hoped the Ministry would not reply to such a The: PREMIER briefly stated it would be unnecessary to "answer the' speech of ,the mover of the bill. Such arguments as he condescended to use had been answered over and over again. He hoped the bill would be rejected. The people of New Zealand had within their own hands the power of moulding their constitution, and he had perfect reliance in their judgment. Mr. HODGKINSON spoke in favor of the bill, and went Jon to shew that abolition was carried out in contravention of all political morality and in defiance of all principles of right and justice, and he was confident the Act would be resisted. '.. ... Mr. TOLE supported the bill at some length. Mr. REES also supported the bill. Sir GEORGE GREY having replied, a division was taken, and the second reading wa9 rejected by 36 against 23. NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITY ACT AMENDMENT BILL. The New Zealand University Act Amendment Bill was discharged. The Speaker left tho chair at 5.30.