OUR LETTER HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8669, 11 September 1891, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR LETTER HOME.

J'ahuament lias been in session during the whole of the past month, and in all probability the session will terminate towards the end of September. The chief work has been the change effected jit the system of direct taxation, by ■which a land tax and an income tax have been substituted for the property tax of the Atkinson Government. We give elsewhere a full synopsis of the now Taxation Act, as its provisions allect in many ways the relations between the mother country and the

colony. In several important parti

culars, which we have indicated in / former summaries, wo believe that very grave mistakes have been made. The tax on improvements is wrong, and will infallibly discourage the investment of capital in improving property ; the land tax with the increases where land is held in considerable quantities throws a burden upon a class. But it must be kept in mind that 110 part of the new taxation will be actually levied till after the meeting of another session of Parliament. By that time the government will be in possession of a. large amount of data which they have net now, and will also be able to form an opinion as to how the new taxation will operate. The Premier, the Hon. Mr. Ballanee, has stated, in regard to some of the objectionable features, that in all probability the Government will mm 1 their way to modify them when they are in possession of more accurate information. The Government have also pressed through the Labour Bills, and have succeeded in passing them through the House of Representatives. In regard to them, however, the_ Legislative Council have made considerable modirations. The Shop Hours Bill—a measure which provided for the hours ft t which shops were to be kept openwas thrown out entirely by the Council, while several very objectionable provisions of the Factories Act were deleted or modified. Un September 8 the Public Works Statement was made in the House of Representatives by the Minister of i Public Works, the Hon. Mr. Seddon. This statement is very different from what it was when the colony was in the full tide of the Public Works Scheme. The loan money is pretty nearly exhausted, and the skill of the Minister is shown by making the money go as fains possible, and using it in works for the opening up of the country. These purposes we think Mr. SeddorwJias achieved. The proposals made liySsftim provide for the construction of works which will give a considerable amount of employment, and will also open up now districts for settlement. About £'300,000 will be available from the recent conversion operations, and of this £100,000 will be devoted to extinguishing debenture's. £200,000 will be. devoted to public works. The total appropriation proposed for expenditure during 189.1-02, and to cover liabilities at the end of the year, is £837,476. The estimated balance 011 the 31st March, 1592, available for future appropriation, will be £94,620. The following are the principal proposals of the statement: —To extend the railway from Kawakawa to Ilikurangi; to extend the line from Te Aroha down the valley of the Thames to Paeroa ; to extend the Rotorua rail-' way from the termination of the present contract to a point on the Caru-briclge-Rotorua Roads within a few miles of the Botorua township ; to construct another section of the Eketa-luma-Woodville line; to_ construct the Te Aro extension at. Wellington ; to expend £30,000 011 the Otago Central. The total amount to be expended, on

railway works tins year will be £484,976. Of this sum, £323,289 is out of allocations already made to .railways ; £88,000 is taken from released sinking funds ; £14,000 is derived from the sale of rolling stock no longer required, and the remainder obtained from rearrangement of balances under allocations determined by previous Loan Acts. Mr. Secklon detailed the position the Midland -Kail and the Ivaihu Valley Railway ; also the proposals of the Government in regard to the construction of roads. The total expenditure on harbour defences up to the 31st March last amounted to £475,000, of which £210,000 represents the cost of material of war from England, and £345,000 the cost of works in the colony. Mr. Seddon said, "In this connection Auckland lias been specially regarded by the Imperial authorities as the possible naval base in these seas, and it is therefore advisable that the colony should, as far as possible, endeavour to justify the selection by providing such efficient defences to the harbour as Avill enable Her Majesty's ships to confidently take advantage of it." The Public Works Statement, as a whole, is able and comprehensive, and we have no doubt that the proposals made will meet with very

little opposition in the House. _ One notable piece of business in Parliament during the last session has been the second reading of a Bill to confer -the franchise on women. The till was brought in by Sir John Hall, one of the leading men of the Opposition, and was supported by the Premier and a large body of members'on the Government, side of the House. The second reading was carried by 33 to 8. It was thought that this made the measure secure, but since then doubts have arisen as to whether it will be carried through. There is difference of opinion among the supporters of the Bill as to when the change should be brought into operation. Then the Legislative Council are about equally divided, and it is possible the measure may be blocked there. The Bill is supported by some solely because they believe that justice demands that women should have votes. It is believed that some sections support it because they think they .would be strengthened if women had this political power. The Prohibition party think that women would jote for the suppression of licensed houses, Some of the Conservative party think that women would _ aid them in resisting the semi-socialistic feeling that is at present so strongly in evidence in colonial politics. A most unhappy affair has taken place in the House," which has resulted in the retirement from political life" of the Hon, J. Bryce, the leader of the Opposition. Mr. Bryce is well known outside of the colony. He has held olnce before, and he is one of the few Politicians who have shown that they lire entirely devoid of self-seeking or of ttere desire to secure office. The House | v . as discussing the Land Bill when the ■lion. Mr. McKenzie, Minister for Lands, referred to the leasing of two runs in JJ tfiejci by the last Ministry, and stated wit if '• the secrets of that matter were stated in the House, it would not be i? the credit of his predecessor, the i,. 0 ' 1 - Mr. Richardson. To this Mr. Richardson said there were no secrets, 'Hid it Mr. McKenzie knew anything, 10 should disclose it or withdraw the emark. Mr. McKenzie replied that <]' e hi n ' bl. Campbell (who is now e;ir -l) had said on board of a, steamer to th,P, 0l * sou whom he would not name nat lie came up to Wellington, and • squared" the matter with Mr. Ilichard-

! son. On this, Mr. Richardson demanded that a committee should be at once appointed to inquire into what was virtually a charge of corruption. After some discussion, Mr. McKenzie withdrew the words, but Mr. .Richardson contended that thk, did not withdraw the charge, and urged that he was entitled to his committee. Mr. Ballanee •aid that Mr. Richardson could not press for the committee as a matter of privilege, as Mr. McKenzie had withdrawn the words. On this Air. Bryce said that Mr. Ballanee should be ashamed to rely on a technicality to defeat a claim for a committee to vindicate the character of a Minister. Mr.

Bryce was not allowed to complete the sentence, when .Mr. Ballanee said the words that he should be ashamed of himself should be withdrawn. Mr. Bryce declined to withdraw them. Mr. Bees at length moved, " That this House regrets that the words taken down were used." This motion was carried by 33 to 24. The Speaker afterwards said that had the whole sentence been raised, he should have decided it was not serious enough to call for his interference. Mr. Bryce declined to bow to the censure implied in Mr. .1 lees's motion, and said that he should not re-enter the House while the resolution remained on its records. On a subsequent day Mr. Bolleston handed in Mr. Bryco's resignation to the Speaker, and then moved that the vote of censure be ex-

punged. The House, however, declined to do this by 34 to 2G. The feeling throughout the country is that Mr. Bryce has been most harshly used by a tyrannical majority of the House. His constituents of Waikato pressed upon him not to resign, but lie felt that he could not remain after the treatment which he received. A meeting of the electors of Waikato has been held, at which it was agreed that if Mr. .Bryce was still determined not to return they would support the candidature of Mr. Lake, who formerly • represented the district in the House. Mr. Bryce's place as leader of the Opposition has been filled by the selection of Mr. liolleston.

The Payment of Members Bill, which provides that each member of the House of -Representatives shall receive a salary of £210 per annum, payable monthly, and not to bo attachable by any legal process, has been passed by a majority of 33 to 22. Li consequence, however, of the strong feeling that litis been manifested in the country there is some inclination in the House to let the measure lie over. The. argument is, that this House were elected at £150. They have had two sessions during the year, which entitles them to draw a double allowance. Hat the amount ! of £150 was settled when it was felt that there must be retrenchment, and I (lie country lias not sanctioned any [ change being made. ! No statement has yet been made by the Government as to who is to be appointed as Agent-General, in succession to Sir F. D. .Bell, whose term of otlice expires next month. It has been suggested that Sir G. Grey might be appointed, but it is considered that he would not accept, owing to his advanced years. The two most likely men are Mr. Perceval, one of the members for Christchurch, and the Hon. P. Buckley, Colonial Secretary, who now conducts the Government business in the Legislative Council. The latter has the greater claims on the party now in power, and would make an excellent Agent-General. But, for some reason, the Government seem determined not to say who is to have the otlice till after the prorogation of the House. Mr. J. 11. Cox, M.P. for East Clare, is now in New Zealand, having come to collect money on behalf of tlie evicted tenants, and to explain the present position of Irish matters.

The Postmaster-General has stated in the House of Representatives that he had received communications from Washington to the effect that the United States Government contemplated giving aid to the establishment of a fortnightly service between San Francisco and these colonies. He had

replied that the New Zealand Government} would be agreeable providing that arrangements were made by which the present service should be merged into any new service. The Bill providing that the postage in the colony shall be reduced from 2d to Id has passed the House of Representatives. It is to come into operation on the 31st March, 18D2.

Mr. IT. Reynolds, who has spent a considerable time in England making arrangements for the export to England from New Zealand of large quantities of dairy produce, has been banqueted in Waikato on his return. Mr. Reynolds is looked ' upon as having rendered a great service to New Zealand, and particularly to this district, by introducing our dairy products to England. This colony has enormous capacities in dairy products, and if proper arrangements are made, the trade would undoubtedly reach large dimensions. Madame Bernhardt, the famous actress, passed through Auckland on August 17 on her way to San Francisco, after the termination of a very successful season in Melbourne and Sydney. Madame Bernhardt spent a day in Auckland, and while here she drove some miles out into the suburbs, and amused herself with shooting birds.

The criminal sittings of the Supreme Court were opened on the 31st of August by His Honor Mr. Justice Conolly. There was a lengthy calendar of 42 indictments against 30 persons, but the larger proportion of them were cases of larceny of various descriptions, and there were several cases of em-

bezzlement and of obtaining money by means of valueless cheques. In his charge to the Grand Jury His Honor commented strongly on the readiness with which people in business cashed cheques for persons whom they did not know, and on signatures which they were unacquainted with. This, he pointed out, was a great incentive to crime of this character. He also strongly commented on the ready means afforded to petty thieves of disposing of their plunder, and in one case jewellery robbery— in which the thief .'had disposed of his plunder within an hour of the theft to three jewellers for a tenth of its value, lie called the three jewellers and publicly cautioned them that if they continued to carry on their business in that way they would probably find themselves beside the prisoner in the dock charged with receiving property knowing it be stolen. There were three charges', of indecent assault, two on children and one on a married woman. In one of the charges for an offence against a child, the jury disagreed, and the new trial was postponed until the December sittings, and in the other the accused was discharged without being called on for a defence. The other was of a more serious nature. It occurred in a country district when the husband of the woman was absent for some days. The accused, a neighbouring settler of respectable character and appearance and well advanced in years, came to offer neighbourly assistance in the way of getting in firewood, etc., and it was during this time the indecent assault was committed. The accused was sentenced to nine months'imprisonment. There were two indictments for arson. In the first case the charge against the

accused was that of sotting fire to an occupied dwelling, but he was acquitted on the ground that he was insane and not responsible for his acts, and he is confined during the Hon. the Colonial Secretary's pleasure. In the other case the charge was that of setting fire to some tow with intent to burn down a flaxmill, but after hearing the evidence the accused was acquitted. There was a case of horse stealing preferred against two aboriginal natives, but after hearing the evidence in support of the indictment the prisoners were acquitted without being called on for a defence.