PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4162, 23 July 1874, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Wednesday, July 22. The Speaker took the chair at 2.30 p.m. PRIVILEGE. Mr. T. KELLY moved, —That the article in the Taranaki Advertiser, of the 14th inst., reflecting on himself in his character of member of the House, should he taken into consideration, The charges made in the paper were totally unfounded. Mr. BRADSHAW advised the House to let the matter drop. Sir CRACROFT WILSON said his course would be to clear himself of such an imputation in a court of law. The matter was allowed to drop. Si PAPERS. Mr. VOGEL laid on the table a return to the order of the House, on Mr. T. B. Gillies’s motion, of all persons employed in connection with the purchase of Native lands, relating only to all transactions which had been completed, as it was not thought desirable to lay on the table information with respect to those which had not been carried out. PETITIONS. The following petitions were presented by Mr. Taiakoa :—From three hunched Natives of the Middle Island, relative to land; and from seventy-seven inhabitants of Waikanei, 'saying that the Rost Office there had been abolished, and praying it might he re-established. NASEBY sludge channel. Mr. MERVYN, in asking the intention of the Government in reference to the deepening of the sludge channel at Naseby, in accordance with tlie recommendation of the Provincial authorities of Otago, said the construction of the public works at Naseby had been handed over to the Provincial authorities, who had agreed to recommend that the works should be carried out, and had asked the Government, through the Minister for Works, to give the necessary authority. Mr. RICHARDSON replied that the way in which the question was put was very inconvenient, as it could not be answered fully without introducing clebateable matter. He could only say that the Superintendent of Otago had informed him on the question, and he would give attention to the matter. Mr. MERVYN shortly afterwards gave notice of a motion for to-day in the terms of the question. SOUTHLAND TIMBER PROHIBITION. Mr. PYKE asked the Minister for pjnblic Works, —“ (1.) Whether his attention had been directed to the prohibition by the Southland AVaste Lands Board of the exportation beyond the boundaries of the Southland district, of railway sleepers and other timber 1 (2.) If the Government approve of such prohibition ; and if not, whether they will take action, by legislation or otherwise, to relieve the timber trade of Southland from the vexatious restrictions at present imposed by the Board ?” He said the questions were particularly important at the present time, when the Forest Bill was before the House, and he read a memorandum from the Forest Inspector of Southland on the subject. Mr. RICHARDSON said the question was a very important one, and the matter had for some time past been under the consideration of the Government, who had found that the only way to deal with it effectually would be to bring in an enactment. FIRST HEADINGS. The following Bills were read a first time ; —Provincial Fencing Law Empowering Bill and Clutha River Trust Reserve Bill, the second readings being fixed for to-day and Wednesday next respectively. READJUSTMENT OF REPRESENTATION. Mr. SHEEHAN moved,—“That it is desirable that a readjustment of the representation of this House should be made, so as to take effect at the next general elections ; and that the Government should take the question into consideration during the recess, with a view to the preparation of a properly matured measure, to be submitted to this House at its next session.” He said the question of the representation of the country was one that had engaged the attention of the present Parliament on several occasions ; when taking into consideration the increase of population, of wealth, of settlement, and of material prosperity, it had provided for the redistribution of seats, and an increase in the number of members. He thought there was quite sufficient number of members at present, but that it would he thought desirable to effect such a readjustment as would make it fairer. Population, or amount of contribution to the revenue, or area of country, could not quite turn the balances of the proportion of the constituencies, but they should have their weight. He was aware there were several objections made to resolutions of this kind, such as that they interfered with the present representation, and would he simply increasing the numerical power of Otago and Auckland in the House. But if the population and trade, and other circumstances, justified the increase to these Provinces, they ought to have it. Another objection was that the balance of power in the North Island would he disturbed ; but during the last three or four years the South Island also had increased its claim, and it was because ho believed the readjustment to be a matter of justice that he would he willing to agree to it even at the expense of the North Island, some very serious circumstances in the representation of which he would point out. Auckland contained the largest population, contributed most to the consolidated revenue, and in many-other circumstances had claims above its sister Provinces in the matter of representation; for Taranaki, rightly called the garden of New Zealand, it was as productive in members as in fruits of the soil, returning three to the House, though under every possible consideration it should not return more than one ; whilst Hawke’s Bay, on the other hand, was under represented ; Wellington was over represented as compared with other North Island Provinces, and any readjustment should lesson the- voting power of Wellington and Taranaki in the House by two or three seats without giving real cause for complaint, and distribute them to the other Provinces. For the purpose of showing how unequal was the population of the Colony, he would quote some figures of his own calculation ; Auckland for a population of 67,000 returned sixteen members, or one to each 4177 ; Wellington one to every 3700, Taranaki one to each 828, Hawke’s Bay one to each 4000, which showed how unequal was the distribution amongst the Provinces. To give some idea of the uncertain distribution of the voting power, the Thames with 32,000 electors, and Rodney with 1500, returned only one member each, while Onehuuga with 420, and Bay of Islands with 520, also had one each ; while, again, the Thames, Buffer, and Rodney returned for 6400 voters only three members. Lyttelton, Wallace, and Cheviot returned three also for 740 voters. The Thames was the most notable example, for with nearly 12,000 people, contributing immensely to the trade and revenue of the Province and the Colony, and with 3100 registered voters, exclusive of a large number holding miner’s rights, it had only one member in the House. The Province of Taranaki ; sends three, and his hon. friend the member for Buffer says in 1873 the total number on the electoral roll was 50,302 ; average per electorate 681, taking the House at 74 members. The twenty-two first electorates contained 25,553, over half ; and the fifty-two remaining electorates contained 24,769. The minority thus in the House out-voted the majority by eight votes, over two to one. The twenty-two first districts contained the principal gold-fields, and represented wealthy parts of the Colony. Last twenty-two contained 7,120, first four contained 7892. The majority of electors were thus out-voted by five and a half to one in that instance. The average population of each electorate was 3440 ; twenty-seven being over and forty-seven under that number. Five districts contain onc-sixth of the population (42,371), namely, Thames, 11,950 ; Dunedin (2), 14,804 ; Grey, i 7342 ; Hokitika, 8275. The population of the Thames is greater than the last six upon the list ; Thames, 11,950; six districts, 11,834 He (Mr. Sheehan) thought it would have been perfectly right and fair to put the question before the House without remark, because no member would say that the distribution as it

stood was justifiable. He thought that the. Government were quite right in resisting individual applications forreadjustment, because to grant them would have excited an angry feeling in the House ; hut they must remember now that the present distribution was ' fixed some three or four years ago, since which time some 80,000 people had been added to the population of the Colony, and the Colony itself had made enormous strides in wealth, trade, and every one of those matters which affected representations, and a refusal to take the subject into consideration before another Parliament was elected could not possibly be justified, for it would he hopeless to attempt anything in the middle of a Parliament. If it were allowed to go by, it was equivalent to saying that at least ten years must elapse between the redistribution of representation. At our present rate of progress it would he almost dangerous to think of the change that will have taken place in our material wealth five years hence, when the present representation would be nothing more nor less than a delusion and, a snare. In dealing with the Province of Auckland, he had not taken the Native vote into account. There were 25,000 Native inhabitants, who contributed largely to the revenue, and they were represented by only one member. He hoped the Government would see their way to undertake a project for the redistribution of seats before the next •session of Parliament. Mr. VOGEL said it seemed to linn that the remarks of the member for Rodney were those of a member who had not been in the House before the present Parliament, or he would have had a larger knowledge of the conditions which regulated this matter in previous Parliaments. More or less the decisions depended upon the idea of making the adjustment of the representation as between the two Islands, and as between the different Provinces. It was very obvious that whilst the Provincial divisions of the country were continued any disturbance of the number of members in the different Provinces would be looked upon with a great deal of interest and a certain amount of concern by the Provinces interested. This was really the cause of the Government, when it proposed a readjustment of the representation, proposing, as a first step to be adopted, that a decision should he come to as to the number of members each Province was to have. When that was decided, a decision was arrived at as to how the number of members appointed to each Province should be divided among such Provinces. Then, although population was a large - element in the consideration of the matter, it was not altogether taken into account. It was quite notorious that the Provinces of Taranaki and Wellington had a larger proportionate representation than other parts of the Colony, hut it was decided that it would be a very strong measure to alter the proportion of those Provinces, and so they were continued. A greater anomaly was the case of Hawke’s Bay with its two members, whilst Taranaki continued to have three. There was a tolerable and surprising amount of unanimity when the adjustment, in 1870, was arrived at, the principle being, as he had before said, the apportionment of a certain number of members to each Province. The arguments used by the hon. member for Rodney had all been used before. He (Mr. Vogel) wished to show the hon. member the folly of his position, if his object was to secure a large amount of representation to the Province of Auckland. If the House made any alteration in the adjustment arrived at in 1870, it was very clear that the number of the Auckland members would have to be reduced, and the number of members so reduced given to other Provinces that had progressed much more than Auckland had. (Hear.) Take, for example, the year 1870, when the adjustment was made, and compare it with 1874, according to the capitation allowance, which was based on population, paid to the Provinces during those years. In 1870, the estimated population of Auckland was 62,000 ; whilst the return laid on the table last night gave it as 69,000, or an increase of 7000. Taranaki was 4800 in 1870, and 5500 this year, which was a large proportionate increase. Wellington was 25,000 in 1870, and 91,425 this year ; so that this Province, with its 25,000 inhabitants when the last adjustment took place, had increased ahnost as much as Auckland, with its 62,000. On the other hand, Hawke’s Bay, with 6000 inhabitants in 1870, had now 9700, or an increase of considerably more than 50 per cent., so that it was entitled to much larger representation than it had on the occasion of the last settlement of the question. Nelson had 24,000 in 1870, and now only 22,000, so that it should have lost some of its representatives. Marlborough had 4700 in 1870, and had now increased to 6200, or about 40 per cent. Canterbury was estimated in 1870 at 40,000 ; in 1874 the population was 61,000 — a very remarkable increase of over 50 per cent. Westland was estimated at 13,500 in 1870 ; the population now stood at 14,900. Otago in 1870 was estimated at 70,000 ; this year the estimate was 88,000. Therefore one of two deductions must be made : either to adopt the principle laid down by the hon. member for Rodney, in which case probably Auckland would lose some members, or else the hon. member taught a newer system than that which had been adopted before. But his arguments had been used over and over again, and had never obtained any great concurrence. If they were to adjust the representation tomorrow the question would arise as to how many representatives each Province should have. He thought there would be a sufficient feeling of chivalry on the part of members that would impel them not to take away representatives from Auckland, Taranaki, and Westland, because during the past four years some other Provinces had progressed more than they had. The feeling had been that although certain Provinces temporarily suffered a certain amount of adversity, they would in the course of time improve and progress ; it was not desirable to deprive those Provinces of their proportion of members, and ho believed if the matter were again considered, the same result would he arrived at. For example, the House would not say that, because there had been an immense addition to the population of one part of the North Island, and a reduction in another part, that it would therefore take a member from Auckland Province and give it to another Province. He could not see what Auckland was to gain, unless the desire of the member for Rodney was to obtain a redistribution of the electoral districts within the Province. (Hear.) No doubt, if the matter were x-eopened, that redistribution might be granted ; it might have advantages or it might not, hut ho was unable to say. But if it were granted, he undertook to say that any holdfast lines as were laid down by the study of statistics could not be adhered to ; had never and would never receive support fi-om the House. So many elements had to be considered in taking the matter of redistribution of the representation into consideration. The representation of towns and of country districts had to be considered, and in many cases they had to consider not only the present condition of some setttlemeuts, but the prospects that lay before them. The anomalies which the hon. member for Rodney had referred to were not new ; they had always been patent to hon. members who had looked into the question, and would be so immediately after a i-e-distributiou was made. For example, tlxex-e was the case of the City of Wellington having two members, while the City of Dunedin had only two, and Auckland City three, while Dunedin was certainly the lax-gest City in the Colony. As to whether or not it was desirable to have a re-distribution of the electoral districts before the next Parliament met members might have opposite opinions. For his own part, looking at the difficulty there was in settling the question before, and to the fact that he did not consider it was a sufficient ground for the House to deprive any part of the Colony of its representatives because it might not have progx-essed so* much as other portions, he saw no object to be gained. With respect to a great fact of the increased population which arose from the number of new arxivals in the Colony, although it was very desirable for the Colony to be at the expense of bringing out immigrants to settle the country, to take advantage of its laws, and to aid in promoting the prosperity of the Colony, he did not think we required to import people for the purpose of governing the country. It was not desirable to give immigrants an immediate opportunity of taking,

part in the Government of the country before they became aware of its conditions. The subject was an exceedingly popular one. It was easy for members to suggest that their district or neighborhood should receive a larger amount of representation, but the only difficulty the Governmeut had in dealing with the matter was that to them attached the responsibility of recommending such a step, and not to private members. If they were to double the representation all round, it would be a very popular measure with the country. If the House were large enough to accommodate all the members, that would be just as good a redistribution as could be hit upon, but in many cases it might have the peculiar effect of disenfranchising some constituencies, because, as they knew it had sometimes happened, members might ho returned who voted one on one side and one on the other. Tor his part he thought the House quite large enough (Hear). Aother matter deserving of consideration was that although members always preferred to desire to reduce the number of members, the tendency of redistribution was to increase them. If there was a redistribution now, the only possible effect of it might be to enable one or two Provinces to squeeze in an additional member, but be did not believe that a single Province would be permitted to lose a member it already possessed. There would be no objection on the part of the Government to take the matter into consideration during the recess. The hon. member for Rodney seemed to take it for granted that there would bo another session of the present Parliament ; and he -was certainly offering a strong inducement in such a course by proposing, as one of the pleasures of the recess, considering a readjustment of the representation. The assurance that the Government would consider the matter should be sufficient for the hon. member for Rodney. It was undesirable for the Governmeut to pledge itself, or for the House to endeavor to get a pledge from the Government on the subject. He therefore suggested that the hon. member should withdraw the motion or accept the previous question which he (Mr. Vogel) moved. Mr. MAO ANDREW seconded the motion, saying that he felt that if an equitable redistribution took place, Otago would obtain a much larger representation than Northern members thought ; that Province was very much underrated at present. Mr. WOOD said the proposal of the Government to consider the question meant nothing more nor less than putting it off. The whole tenor of the Premier’s speech was to endeavor to convince the House that there was no necessity for a redistribution of seats. He ventured to say there never had been a properly matured measure brought down. All measures understood to have been properly matured had been generally thrown on to the floor of the House in such a way as to lead to a scramble for seats, so that the question became, not one of principle, but of strength of voting power. The Government should take the matter into their consideration during the recess, and bring down a measure based on some definite and intelligible principle for the adjustment of the representation. The Premier had referred to a feeling of chivalry. He (Mr. Wood) had heard that expression mentioned once or twice in the House ; but how could chivalry possibly enter into the consideration of such a subject ? Chivalry was only another word for sentiment, and he hoped sentimentality would not be introduced on the floor of the House. Members called themselves the representatives of the people and not of land or sheep—(hear)—or shares, and he should like exceedingly to see population the only basis on which a redistribution should beattempted.*Had he thought there would have been any chance of the motion being carried, he would have moved the insertion of the words, “upon the basis of population.” Mr. O’NEILL felt disappointed at the Premier’s reply. He referred to the petition he had presented, praying that additional representation should be granted to the Thames, which was a case of marked injustice. The Thames, with from 11,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, had only one member, while in the House were fifty members, each of whom represented under 5000 people. He hoped the motion would he amended in such a way that the Government should be requested to bring forward a measure this session. Mr, SWANSON said members sbould make up their minds to support only a Government that would alter the representation, which was the most scandalous that could be found anywhere. After some observations by Messrs. O'Connor, Murray, Thomson, Bryce, Mervyn, Tribe, and McGillivray, the previous question was put and carried by thirty-three against thirty, the voting being : Ayes, 30.—Messrs, Bradshaw, J. C. Brown, Bryce, Bucklond, Gibbs, J. L. Gillies, T. B. Gillies, Jackson, W. Kelly, Macandrew, May, McGillivray, Mervyn, Mnnro, Murray, O’Connor, O’Neil], Pyke, Sheehan (teller), Steward, Swanson, Tararoa, Takamoana, Thomson, Tribe, Wakefield, Wales, White, Williams, Wood. Noes, 33. Messrs. Andrew, Atkinson (teller), Bluett, Brandon, Bunny, Carrington, Curtis, Cuthbertson, Eitzherbert, Pox, Hunter, Inglis, Katene, T. Kelly, Kenny, Luckie, McGlashan, Montgomery, Ormond, O’Rorke, Parata, C. Parker, Pearce, Reynolds, Richardson, Richmond (teller), Seymour, J. Shepherd, Stmlholme, Vogel, Webb, Williamson, and Wilson. EXEMPTION GF FIREMEN FROM JURY SERVICE. Mr. MACANDREW moved,— 1 “ That it is expedient that members of Volunteer Eire Brigades should, at their own option, be exempted from service as jurors, and that the Juries Act, 1867, be amended accordingly.” He remarked that a few days ago he presented a petition from the Dunedin Volunteer Eire Brigade, which stated that the members of the brigade, in the performance of their duties, were called upon at all hours of the day and night to attend fires, and that their having to serve as jurymen materially interfered with the performance of their duties as firemen, because of the large sacrifice of their time. Mr. PEARCE seconded the motion, and testified to the valuable services rendered to the public by firemen. Mr. VOGEL pointed out that it was necessary, to prevent any but actual firemen claiming the exemption. The Government would give the matter their consideration, and introduce a Bill next session to deal with the matter. Mr. SHEEHAN said if firemen were exempted, volunteers should, and it could be passed in a short time. Mr. MAY observed that the option remained with the Premier to say whether they would serve as jurors or not, which was very objectionable. Mr. O’CONOR said the proposal might bo very well for large towns, but it would not for small ones, where nearly all the available jurors were already enrolled as firemen. How did the member for Port Chalmers purpose to meet Mr. WALES observed that a short Bill would be sufficient to obtain the boon desired to bo given to the Captain of the Dunedin Eire Brigade on the subject, and pointed out to him that the only difficulty was to provide means of preventing people just joining the Brigade with the view oi evading service as jurors. Captain Wain replied that'there was no difficulty. The active firemen numbered about thirty, and the Brigade would he prepared to have that limit placed on the number to be exempted ; the names of the thirty to be forwarded to the Government, and gazetted from time to time as being the persons entitled to exemption. A short Bill, of two or three clauses, was all that would be required, (Cries of “ No,”) In Auckland, volunteers were frequently called upon to do service at fires. It would be impossible to prevent the exemption being abused. A man might join a brigade, which would entitle him to exemption, and the week after getting such exemption, ho could leave the Brigade, and yet retain his exemption. Mr. HUNTER bore testimony to the usefulness of fire brigades. Mr. ANDREW said that trial by jury was the glory of the Briton and the safeguard of liberty, life, and property, and also invaluable as a means of education, for every juryman, and every man who was liable to be a juryman had to study well the nature of evidence, the weight of character, and the inspiration of motives. Notwithstanding all these excellen-

cies mistakes frequently occurred on the part of juries. In one case a jury refused to give a verdict because “ there was not sufficient evidence.” Another trial had lately taken place here, in which the verdict, though greatly to the delight of the counsel for the defence, had not impressed the Natives a very high idea of the excellence of our institutions. Yet everyone knew the importance and value of juries, and iu order to make them as good as possible we could not spare the firemen. The House had been told they were strong and willing ; he thought they were also intelligent, and therefore they could not be spared on a jury. Mr. O’NEILL thought the time would soon come when the fire brigades would be no longer volunteer, but well-paid bodies. In Auckland they had lately felt greatly the want of such a body, where ouo of the principal streets had been half cleared at a loss of some £IOO,OOO, He would support the motion. Mr. BRYCE thought it would be as well if the debate were adjourned, as a petition had been presented to the House on the subject, which was referred to a select committee, whoso report had not yet been brought up. Mr. MACANDREW, in reply, regretted so many hon. members bad failed to see the importance of the services which the firemen rendered to their fellow-citizens, and he saw no difficulty in constructing a Bill in half a day, or half an hour, for that, which he would undertake to have drafted by one of the mc&t experienced Parliamentary agents iu the Colony, so as to provide against all the abuses objected to, and not allow any but hona fide firemen to be excused. He was very glad that the Government had agreed to take the question into consideration during the recess, but he hoped the House would pronounce upon the matter now, and, if it decided in the affirmative, it would bring in a Bill to meet the ease. Mr. O’CONOR rose to a point of order. The hon. member for Port Chalmers bad said that other hon. members did not see the importance of the services the firemen rendered to their fellow-citizens ; he would—(laughter and “ question.”) M-. SPEAKER : It is no point of order. The question was then put and carried. RAILWAY MATERIAL. Mr. MURRAY moved,—“Eor a return showing under distinct heads the prices, amount, and cost of material and goods imported by the Government under the Immigration and Public Works, and specifying commissions and discounts, if any, thereon. Mr. RICHARDSON did not know what had led the hon. member to want this laid on the table of the House. The same motion had been made last year by the hon. member, and be (Mr. Richardson) had pointed out how impossible it would be to conform to it as the session drew to its close ; but, had told him that if he would come to his office at the Public Works Buildings, and state exactly what he wanted, he would show him the whole transaction. That volume (showing a large quarto) was one of several which would all have to be copied if the motion were complied with, and it would take two or three clerks to the end of the session to do it. If the hon. member would withdraw his motion and move it in a different shape, and ask for exact information, the Government would be glad to furnish it. Mr. MURRAY said there was some misunderstanding about his motion ; he only wished, for lumself and others, to have some idea of the amount of material which had been brought to the country, with a statement of the general prices paid. They had a right to have some information as to the nature of the transactions carried on, and he ventured to say there were very few in or out of the House who had any idea of them. He only wished to be told the amount of rails, rates of freights, and number of locomotives imported ; but ho would not press the question, with the understanding that the Government would furnish such a return as they were enabled to make without too much labor. Motion withdrawn by leave. STATE DOCUMENTS. Mr. TRIBE moved, —“ That, in the opinion of this House, it is eminently necessary that a safe and fire-proof building should he erected or obtained for the safe keeping of records and documents of Colonial importance.” He said he was informed that very important State documents were kept in a very unsafe condition, and as the Premier had stated it was in contemplation to build new public offices, he hoped some fit and safe place for State papers would be provided in it. Motion agreed to. MIDDLE ISLAND NATIVE RESERVES. Mr. TAIAROA’in moving,—“That any report which may have been received by the Government from Mr. Alexander Mackay on the subject of the subdivision of Native Reserves in the southern portion of the Middle Island, or any new allotment of land for Notives in that district, be laid upon the table," said he had heard that Mr. Mackay had allowed some fresh land to the Natives in the southern portion of the Middle Island, and he wished to see the report. Mr. VOGEL said this important question had not yet been seen by the Native Minister, who was expected to arrive iu the course of the week, and he would prefer that no action should betaken until Mr. McLean was present. He would move that the debate he adjourned untill Wednesday next. The suggestion was agreed to. OTAGO GOLD DUTY. Mr. J. C. BROWN moved,—“That copies of all correspondence or telegrams between the General Government and Provincial Government of Otago, relative to the Otago Gold Duty Repayment Ordinance, and its consequent disallowance by His Excellency the Governor, be laid upon the table.” Mr. VOGEL was not aware of any correspondence having taken, place on the subject, but he would lay on the table the usual official intimation of disallowance, and one telegram which might relate to it. COLLINGWOOD INQUIRY. Mr, GIBBS moved, —“ That copies of all correspondence having reference to an inquiry held by the Resident Magistrate of Collingwood, in respect to nn inquest held on the body of one Michael Campion, be laid on the table.” The inquiry, he said, was held at the request of a number of persons living in Collingwood upon an inquest which had been held in that district, and where some great irregularities had taken place. The inquiry having been made, he had been informed that the report of the Resident Magistrate had hit upon a person who had nothing to do with the transaction. Mr. O’RORKE ; The papers will be laid on the table. LEASES OP LAND IN HAWKE’S DAY. Mr. LUCKIE moved, —“ That a return bo laid on the table, setting forth the terms upon which large blocks of land in the Province of Hawke’s Bay were lately leased to Mr. Alfred Cox—such return to specify the extent of the block, and the conditions respecting improvements, if any such exist; and whether any right of purchase, and if so what right, is conveyed by such lease." Agreed to. R. M. COURTS. Mr. BRADSHAW, on behalf of Mr, Harrison, moved, —“That a return be laid upon the table, showing the cost charged upon the Consolidated Revenue of each Resident Magistrate’s Court in the Colony, and the amount of revenue derived ftom each Court. Mr. COLES proposed as an amendment that the return should show the revenue from all R.M. Courts, ns some of them made no charge upon the Consolidated Revenue. Mr. REYNOLDS thought tho motion was too sudden. NATIVE LAND CLAIMS, On tho adjourned debate on tho question,— “That a Select Committee he appointed to inquire into and report on unfulfilled promises to Natives iu the Middle Island ; three to bo a quorum ; with power to call for persons and papers, and to report in throe weeks. Committee to consist of the Hon. Mr. McLean, the Hon. Mr. Pox, the Hou. Mr. Parata, Mr. Sheehan, Mr. J. L. Gillies, Mr. Williamson, Mr. Williams, Mr. Swanson, and the mover,” being called on, Mr. Reynolds asked for, and obtained, an adjournment for a week, in order that tho Defence Minister might be in his place.

SECOND READINGS. The following Bills passed their second readings ;—Goldfields, Otago Waste Lands Amendment, Oamaru Hospital Reserves, Offences Against the Persons Amendment, Presbyterian Church of Otago. MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE’S SISTER. Mr. STEWARD moved the second reading of this Bill, which was met by an amendment, moved by Mr. McGillivray, and seconded by Mr. O’Rorke, that it be read that day six months, and a division being called, the second reading of the Bill was agreed to by tiventy against nine. COMMITTALS. The Wellington Hospital Reserves Loan Bill, the Wellington Special Settlements Act Amendment Bill, the Justices of the Peace Act Amendment Bill, the Municipal Corporations Gasworks Bill, the Conveyancing Ordinance Amendment Bill were committed. The Justice of the Peace Act was read a third time and passed. Several notices of committal and second readings were postponed. MUNICIPAL RESERVES BILL. On the committal of this Bill, Mr. J. L. GILLIES moved the amendments of which he had given notice, but as Mr. Reynolds, who had charge of the Bill, intimated that ho had not had time to consider them, progress was reported, and leave obtained to sit again. Tho House then adjourned till the usual hsur to-day.