PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4164, 25 July 1874, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Friday, July 2-1. ' The Hon. the Speaker took tho chair at two p.m. The Hon. Colonel BRETT presented petitions from Christchurch, against any alienation of the Public Domain. The Hon. Mr. WATERHOUSE moved "That in the opinion of the Council, no contract for the leasing of land, whether Native or otherwise, should bo entered into by the Government, except under the sanction of Parliament." The Hon. Mr. HART and the Colonial Secretary opposed the motion, the latter Btating that the Council would have an opportunity, before the end of the session, of reviewing any action of the Government; and tho hon. mover consented to withdraw it. The Hon. Mr. WATERHOUSE moved the second reading of tho Taimaro and Waimahana Grants Bill, which was referred to the Waste Lands Commission. The Hon. Dr. POLLEN moved the second reading of the Post Office Savings Bank Act Amendment Bill. The Hon. Mr. CAMPBELL moved that the Bill bo read that day six months. On a division, after discussion, the amendment was carried by 12 votes to 8. The Supreme Court Judges Act Amendment Bill, and the Inspection of Machinery Bill, were passed ; and the Council was adjourned till Tuesday. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. . Friday, July 24. The Speaker took the chair at 2.30j>.m. private bill. Mr. FOX moved the stcond reading of the Colonial Bank of New Zealand Bill, which was agreed to. BILLS. Leave to introduce tho following Bills was given :—To Mr. Bunny : A Bill to amend tho Wellington Education Eeservos Act, 1871 to Mr. Reynolds : Merchant Shipping Acts; adoption Bill, and Naval Training Schools Establishment Bill; to Mr. Macandrew : A Bill to amend The Juries Act, 1866 ; to Mr. White : A Bill to provide for tho Election of Mayor of the Town of Hokitika ; and to Mr. J. L. Gillies : A Bill to amend Tho Highway Boards Act, 1871. TELEGRAPH to no town, grey valley. Mr. O'CONOR asked,—" If it is tho intention of Government to extend the telegraph communication to the township of No Town, in tho Grey Valley." If telegraph communication was extended to No Town, he believed facilities would bo given for tho accommodation required for an office. Mr. VOGEL replied that tho department was not in possession of sufficient information as to the locality referred to to enable it to

d acide upon the course it would take in the matter. The department, however, would give the subject attention. NEWSPAPER EXCHANGES. Mr. HARRISON asked,—"lf the Post-master-General will consider whether the condition of signing the covers of newspaper exchanges might not be dispensed with." The present practice of requiring newspaper exchanges within the Colony to be signed by the publisher, or some one appointed by him for the purpose, entailed a considerable amount of trouble. He instanced the case of a newspaper proprietor who to save trouble had had the fac-similes of the publisher's signature on the covers lithographed, and the department on discovering it had informed him that it must not be continued. He wished to know if the Postmaster-General could not see his way to adopting some more convenient regulation.' Mr. VOGEL had no doubt that the condition of signing newspaper exchanges was productive of a considerable amount of trouble ; at the same time it was made with the view of protecting the revenue. He thought he could see his way to altering the condition by allowing exchanges to be stamped in future, and intended to make an alteration in that direction. THE HONORARIUM. Mr. TRIBE, for Mr. PrKE, asked,— " Whether the Government will take action with a view to the reconsideration of the question of members' allowances." Mr. "VOGEL had stated the other day that the question as it at present stood was full of anomaly ; and there were so many difficulties in regard to it as to involve constant references to the Speaker. As it seemed desirable that the matter should be placed upon a more satisfactory footing, he would be willing to propose on a future day a select committee to take the whole subject into consideration. ' THIRD READINGS. On the committal of the Government Annuities Act Amendment Bill, Mr. Vogel moved and carried an addition to Clause 25, allowing the amount for which the life of a deceased person was insured to be paid without probate to his executors. This Bill and the Telegraph Act Amendment Bill were read a third time, and passed. PAPER. Mr. VOGEL laid on the table papers referring to the Scandinavian settlements at Wellington and Hawke's Bay. THE GOLDMINING BILL. The following report from the Goldfields Committee was brought up : The Goldfields Committee have the honor to report that they havo passed the following resolution : That in the opinion of this committee it is not desirable to pass a new Goldfields Act until the people of the districts which it affects have had full opportunity to consider it, and the committee recommend that any measure for the amendment of the goldfields laws should be prepared by the Government as early as possible after the rising of Parliament, and copies forwarded to the members for Goldfields constituencies for consideration in their respective districts. Oswald Cuktis, Friday, July 24. Chairman. Mr. T. L. SHEPHERD moved that the Bill be committed on Wednesday next. His reason for so doing was that the Goldfields Committee had refused to consider the measure, although the second reading was carried without a dissentient voice, excepting that of an hon. member (Mr. J. C. Brown) who considered himself the pillar of all wisdom in that or any other House. He thought the Goldfields Committee had set the House at defiance. He had represented a goldfield for seven years, and was not disposed to submit to such treatment. No objection had been made to the Bill, excepting that it had not been circulated on the goldfields. Mr. O'CONOR opposed the motion on the ground that the Bill, though perhaps adapted to the wants of the miners of Otago was not at all such a measure as was required in Nelson or Westland. He protested against the course taken by the hon. member for the Dunstan. Mr. "VOGEL suggested that the measure should not be proceeded with. Legislation on the Goldfields was practically in the hands of the Provincial authorities, and in reply to letters addressed to those bodies the returns did not show that legislation was called for. The Bill contained much valuable matter, but he did not think that, under the circumstances, any good would result from its being persevered with. After some discussion the hon. member (Mr. T. L. Shepherd) withdrew his motion. SUPPLY. The House then went into Committee of Supply, when the whole of the votes in division number one were agreed to, after some discussion as to the advisability of the appointment of a Director-General of Surveys. A number of votes in Class 2, " Law and Justice," were also agreed to, before the hour of adjournment arrived. PUBLIC WORKS —STATEMENT OF THE MINISTER. On the re-assembling of the House, Mr. Richardson made the Annual Statement as regards the railways, roads, and other public works of the Colony, which will be found in another column. The speech was well received. The Hon. member spoke for nearly two hours. LICENSING ACT AMENDMENT BILL. After a short recess of twenty minutes, the second reading of this Bill was moved by Mr. VOGEL, who explained its provisions at considerable length. The measure was intended to amend the defects of the Bill of last session. It was intended, for example, to do away with the restriction that there should be only one bar in a licensed house, and that no publican should be interested in more than one house. It was also thought that licensing meetings should be held quarterly in place of annually, and that it should not be necessary that a man who held a license, who was well known, and against whom there was nothing alleged—the holder of a wholesale license for example—should be compelled to attend personally when applying for a renewal of his license. Mr. FOX warmly opposed the Bill, which struck at the right of the people to regulate the liquor traffic which underlay the Bill of last session. The Bill of last session in which he had interested himself had failed, chiefly because the machinery ho had proposed for carrying it was struckoutof themeasure. Goodaccommodation houses would be found —as they were in the State of Maine—although no spirituous liquor was allowed to be sold in them. In committee he would propose a variety of amendments. Ho thought women \r\\g signed petitions under the Bill of last session should not be required to state their age. Ladies objected to do so. It would be sufficient to state that they were over twenty-one. He also objected to the employment of barmaids, and thought no woman under thirty should be allowed to Berve in a bar. He would also close up billiard-rooms, and all other adjuncts of an hotel, at the time for closing the house itself. He trusted the House would assist him to endeavor to reform the drinking habits of the people. After some observations from Sir Cracroft Wilson, Mr. J. E. Brown, Mr. J. Shepherd, and Mr. Cuthbertson, Mr. VOGEL defended the provisions of the Bill, and answered the objections of the hon. member for Eangitikei. He regarded the tendency of the arguments and the measure of that hon. member to be tyrannous, and destructive of personal liberty. He would assist any hon. member in really useful, even stringent, legislation on the subject, so as to preserve a man's property for his family from being wasted in drunkenness, or incarcerate for a time a person so given to drink in a place properly organised for such a purpose ; but ho believed the legislation proposed by the hon. member (Mr. Fox) was not approved by the majority of the people, and that the extent of drunkenness in the Colony had been grossly exaggerated. The second reading of the Bill was agreed to, and it was ordered to be committed on Friday next, at tho suggestion of Mr. Fox, who intimated that he had a variety of amendments to move. MUNICIPAL RESERVES BILL. This Bill was committed, and after some opposition from Mr. J. L. Gillies, was passed through committee and reported, its further consideration being made an order for Tuesday next. The House adjourned at ten minutes past one till Tuesday next.