WELLINGTON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2677, 5 September 1870, Page 3

WELLINGTON.

(FROM OT7B, OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

August 29th.

The University had a very narrowescape indeed, owing to the indifference ahown by some of the Otago members, and the vigorous opposition offered by the Canterbury members. The Canterbury men who were on the Select Committee by which the Bill was framed, •contended that it was utterly wrong in principle to try, to in any way localize ihe University, and that it ought to be a kind of abstract institution, consisting of gentlemen who should examine all comers in all parts of the colony, and giant certificates according to merit. Beat en in the Committee, the battle ground was shifted to the House, and in Committee Mr Rolleston moved an amendment on the third clause which embodied the first step towards the principle he sought to establish. Mr Fox who, as Chairman of the Select Committee, had charge of the Bill, and Mr Macandrew, who took a very great interest in the measure, fought vigorously against what the latter, not I think inaptly, described as the dog in the manger propositions of the Canterbury school; but on a division on the question that the words proposed to be omitted (the original clause) stand part of the question, the votes were equal, 25 on each side. Mr Carleton, the Chairman, gave his vote with the ayes. Then came the question for inserting the words of Mr Kolleston's amendment, and on this another division took place, resulting as in the former case in a tie, b"t wi h only 24 on each side. Mr Carleton, as before, gave his vote with the ayes, and the doors were unlocked. Mr Fox then rose and stated that the amendment having entirely altered the principle of the Bill as prepared by the Select Committee, he did not feel justified in going on with it, and he moved that the Chairman do leave the chair. This rather frightened some of the members who had voted " aye," especially Mr Mervyn, the only Otago member who voted on that side, and Mr Main, who for some unaccountable reason had not voted at all in the second division. Mr Main, as a matter of privilege, complained that he and three other members had been improperly locked out, but the Chairman stated that the doors had not been locked till after the lapse of the usual two minutes, measured by the sand glass ; and it was also found that one of the members named by Mr Main as being shut out, had really been inside and voted. Mr Barff roae, and said that lie had seen Mr Maiu standing in the lobby when he entered the House, and that the hon. member had seemed very anxious to be shut out. Mr Birch supplemented this, by saying that Mr Main liad plenty of time to get into the House had he wanted to, and the matter -dropped. The story is, that Mr Main had been asleep either in the library or Bellamy's, and that although he was roused up and voted in the first division, lie was not quite awake at the time, and when the division bell was rung the second time, made a mistake as to which Side of the lobby door his presence was required at. As the Bill was thus shelved

by the loss of Mr Main's vote, the responsibility of the loss rested on his shoulders so heavily, that he determined to get rid of it by trying to get the Bill restored to the Order Paper by the somewhat unusual process of a special motion for its being committed. This motion Mr Main made in due course, and although some little objection was made to the proceeding as unusual, it was agreed to ; and on a subsequent occasion the House went into Committee on the Bill, taking it up exactly at the stage in which it had been left when Mr Fox threw it up, viz., with Mr Rolleston's amendment standing as the third clause. It was understood that Mr Rolleston would endeavour to introduce his next amendments, and that the division on the first of them Bhould settle the question once for all. If he was successful he would either have to take up the Bill himself, or see it shelved; if he was unsuccessful, the remaining clauses should be allowed to pass, and the amendments already made be rescinded. On the first amendment, therefore, the division took place, and Mr Rolleston was defeated by a majority of six—29 to 23. Further opposition was then discontinued, and although two divisions took place subsequently, they were not on the principle of the Bill or called for by its opponents. Sir D. Monro strongly objected to giving the University power to confer medical degrees, and drew an alarming picture of the consequences of turning loose on the community a lot of imperfectly trained and educated doctors. He declared that it was impossible for any man to receive a proper medical education in the colony. Mr Fox pointed out that medical degrees conferred by the University, would nob entitle any one to practies as a medical man, unless the Medical Practitioners Act was altered, any more than the degree of Doctor of Laws would entitle any man to practise as a Barrister or Solicitor, unless he complied with the provisions of the Law Practitioners Act, and passed the due examination. Sir David moved the omission of the medical degrees from the list of those the University could bestow, but he did not press his amendment to a division, and it was negatived. Mr Haughton then moved the omission of the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Music, stating that the qualification for those degrees consisted in the composition of an oratorio, and the conducting the full orchestra during the rehearsals and performance. He declared it to be an absurdity to talk of giving such degrees, when he did not believe that there were half a dozen people in the colony who would have patience to listen to an oratorio, much less be able to compose one. The amendment was declared to be carried on the voices, but Mr Stafford, who declared the clause as it stood to be in perfect harmony with the rest of the Bill, called for a division, and the result was that if any musical genius in the colony will compose an oratorio, and conduct the orchestra when it is performed, the New Zealand University willlhaye the power of rewarding him by dignifying him with the title of either Bachelor or Doctor of Music. The numbers on the division were 20 to 15. The clause granting an annual subsidy of L3OOO to the University was amended, at Mr Rolleston's suggestion, by the insertion of words allowing the Council to spend the money, or any portion of it, in lectures at Colleges affiiliated to the University. The grant of any public money was, however, very strongly opposed by Messrs Kerr, Bunny, and Kelly, principally on the ground that no public money should be devoted to high class education while the colony did nothing in the way of primary education. The Opposition was, however, unsuccessful, although Mr Macandrew and Mr M'lndae both declared that Otago did not want any such grant — that its endowments for the University were amply sufficient, and that the suggestion of a colonial subsidy had not emanated from, or been encouraged by, the Ofcago members of the Select Committee. In the division, Mr M'lndoe voted against the clause, and Mr Macandrew would have done so had he not paired for the debate with Mr Collins. The grant was affirmed by 27 to 14. The Canterbury section gave their voices against the last clause of the Bill, which allows the University of Otago to merge itself in the University of New Zealand, but did not divide upon it or on a subsequent amendment, by Mr Tancred, to alter the title of the Bill to the " Dunedin University Act." There was some applause when the Bill passed its third reading. It is now in the Council, where, however, it is not likely to meet with much opposition, or even discussion, at "this late period of the session," a phrase now in almost hourly use, and the standing excuse for all sorts of sins of omission and commission, most of the latter being the rushing through of all sorts of Bills, which it is quite certain will have to be amended next session.

The Representation Bill has passed the Lower House, without any substantial alteration in the schedule recommended by the Select Committee. There was a considerable show of opposition, and no one was found to defend the redistribution as being anything like a perfect one. Still the necessity of making some alteration was inevitable, and &■- the Government declined to accept any responsibility in the matter, the only thing which could be done was to accept the report of the Select Committee. Even those members who voted for the Bill admit that, taking it as a whole, the redistribution is anything but satisfactory—that, in point of fact, it is little or no improvement. The J schedule of the Bill will certainly puzzle Parliamentary draughtsmen in future ages by its eccentricities of style. The Select Committee, immediately on appointment, divided itself into sub-com-mittees for each province, the members of the Committee who represented the province forming the sub-committee ; and the distribution of seats within each province was virtually left to the subcommittees. In several instances, the members of the sub-committees sought the assistance of the remaining members for the province before agreeing to a report. Thus Messrs Haughton, Macandrew, Driver, and Reynolds consulted all the other Ofcago members before determining on the Ofcago districts. In almost every case, the General Committee accepted the report of the sub-committees, and this accounts for the difference of style in the description of boundaries. In one pro-' vince the districts are described as "being bounded by so and so;" in other provinces the form is "this district shall inf elude all that portion," &c. ; and so on with almost as many different forms of description as there are districts. Mr Stafford made a very good little speech in protesting against the way in which the Government had shirked

responsibility in this matter of redistributing the representation, and he and others very vigorously blamed the Ministry for relegating its own proper functions to a Select Committee. There were several divisions during the passage of the schedule through Committee, but all alterations were resisted by large majorities. When the Bill came to the third reading, Mr Haughton moved that it be read a second time that day six

months, and in doing so he protested against the especially unfair manner in which the goldfields populations of Auckland and Otago were affected by the Bill. He warned the House that this unfair treatment would recoil on the heads of those who prompted it, and that the time would soon come when manhood suffrage would have to be adopted. He announced his intention, if in the House next session, of bringing down a Representation Bill based upon population, and if it was carried he said he should move for the dissolution of the House at the end of the session. The third reading of the Bill was carried by 41 to 12. The Bill provides that the writs for the new elections shall be issued as soon as the electoral rolls can be prepared for the new districts, so that it may reasonably be expected that the elections will come on some time in November.

Mr Vogel's perplexities in administering the railway scheme have already commenced. When the Public Works Bill passed it was generally understood that no railways would actually be commenced this year; butjthe wonderful manner in which the House swallowed that Bill of course emboldened the Treasurer, and bo he came down with a list of the lines which he intended to ask authority to commence at once. What lines these are I have already informed you by telegraph, and certainly they are as numerous and extensive as could possibly be expected could even be commenced during the recess; but Otago, in .the person of its representatives, was by no means satisfied with the line from Dunedin to Balclutha. while Wellington, Taranaki, and Hawke's Bay members were of course highly indignant that the only North Island railway mentioned was one from Auckland to the Waikato. So meetings were straightway held, and deputations appointed. The Ofcago and Southland deputations winted three lines added, while the Wellington, Hawke's Bay, and Taranaki deputation, consisting of 18 members of the two Houses, wanted a V line, which would bring Taranaki and Napier into communication with Wellington. Mr Vogel received both deputations very courteously, but was extremely cautious. Mr Holmes was the spokesman of the Otago deputation, and he urged the claims of the three lines already referred to. Mr Fitzherbert, as the spokesman of the North Island deputation, not only spoke but wrote in support of the line I have indicated, if any lines in either island were to be made during the recess ; but he urged that no lines at all should be authorised this session. After two days' consideration, Mr Vogel replied in writing, adhering to his original scheme, as far as the lines of railway to be authorised this session went, but making all kinds of soothing promises as to making surveys and collecting information. He, however, announced that the Government would propose a grant of L 35,000 for a bridge over the Waitaki, if a suitable site could be fixed on; and that, to'save time in regard to the lines of railway to be authorised next session, a vote of L 25,000 would be proposed for the purchase and importation of railway material, which would thus be ready for use as soon as any lines were fixed on. The probability of getting the Clutha line constructed of course prevents the Otago members grumbling very much ; but the members of the North Island deputations are extremely wroth, and whisper about opposing the Government Bill to allow of the lines just indicated being constructed. It never seems tc have struck the members of either deputation that a railway on paper is not a very useful institution, and that it would be physically impossible that anything could really be done towards the construction of all these uisurveyed railways during the approaching recess. The surveys can, and it is promised will, be made without an Act at all, so it is really very difficult to see any reason why the lines in question should be included in the Railway Bill of the present session. It is, however, only an indication of the general scramble which will take place next session. As to any hope of even the railway scheme being carried out as a colonial one, Mr Vogel has already effectually dissipated it. The Auckland Provincial Government is very anxious to have a line from, the Waitemata to Kaip^ra, and Mr Gillies informed the Government that the province was prepared to find the money if the General Government would undertake the work. After all that has been said about the absolute necessity and the great advantage of a colonial railway system, one would have imagined that Mr Vogel would not only have accepted this offer, but that he would have insisted th<it if the line was made at all, it should be made by the Colonial Government. Not so, however, for he came to the conclusion that the Provincial Government would probably be able to construct the line more promptly and better than the General Government, and so he left the work to it. In announcing this to the House, Mr Vogel took occasion to indulge in a great deal of self congratulation and laudation in regard to the confidence displayed in the Government by Mr Gillies in making the above offer, after having opposed the Government policy ; but he quite omitted to allude to this first glaring departure from the principle which formed the chief recommendation of the Government policy to a very large section of the House—that public works and immigration were at length to be undertaken by the colony and as colonial works. At Mr Vogel's own request, all discussion as to the details of the Railway Bill has been postponed to the second reading, when a pretty sharp debate is sure to arise, and the point in question be dealt with.

The Land Transfer Bill passed its second reading in the House after a series of brief congratulatory speeches,, and without any show of opposition except a few remarks from Mr Brandon, who said he thought members expected too much from the Bill, and that it would disappoint them. Mr Fox, in moving the second reading, made a very good speech, and he urged the House to accept the Bill exactly as it stood. It was almost a literal transcript of the South Australian Act which had been framed by Mr Torrens, and which had worked so satisfactorily in that colony. There were many things in it which he did not altogether like, but he was prepared t& accept them, and he hoped that other members would waive their objections, as he felt, without practical experience of the working, it would be a very dangerous thing to attempt to alter or amend the Bil!, and that they might very easily unwittingly render the Bill unworkable if they attempted to amend it. The House accepted Mr Fox's advice so literally that the Bill passed through Committee in an altogether unprecedented manner, in a lump, not even the side notes being read. Tiie experience of South Australia has been relied on in the most confiding manner, and it is to be hoped that the confidence will prove not to have been misplaced. Another very large morsel which the House swallowed was the Otago Road Boards Ordinance Validation Bill, to which the Ordinance of some 270 clauses was attached as a schedule. In iay last letter I noted the opposition wuich this Bill had met with. It came

on again very suddenly, and at a time when Mr Driver, its chief opponent, was not in the house. The Chairman read the word "schedule/ there Was no opposition, and the two hundred and odd clauses, which for all the Committee knew might have enacted anything, were agreed to, the Bill reported, and Mr Driver ; returned to the house just in time to hear |it being read a third time. He, Mr J.- G. Wilson, and others, then protested against the indecent haste with which the Bill was passed through, but they offered no further opposition. Volunteers will be glad to learn that, the Government has placed the sum of L 2500 on the Estimates for prizes at the next colonial contest, and that every possible effort is to be made to foster the Volunteer movement, and above all to promote good shooting. An annual course of musketry instruction is to be insisted on, and I believe that the colonial matches next year are to be arranged on very liberal principles. Mr Vogel said, the other night that he would like to see these contests assume the character of national gatherings, by allowing any volunteer who desired it, to compete at them. This, I think, will be. the plan adopted. Each district will, as heretofore, select its representatives, who will have their expenses paid to and from the place of contest, but any volunteer in the coloily will be allowed to compete at the firing if he likes to pay his own expenses. Volunteers who have served for three years are to be allowed to place their names on the " reserved list" of their corps. They will retain their arms, be eligible to compete for rifle prizes, and as long as they maintain the standard of drill, will only be required to attend quarterly inspection parade. While on the reserved list they will not be entitled to capitation allowance. These and a few other provisions recommended by a Select Committee, are embodied in a Bill which Mr M'Lean has just introduced.

The last San Francisco mail brought back Capt. Baldwin, who, in a semi-official character, had during his visit made a tour of the States of California, Oregon, Utah, &c, with the view of reporting on their industries, system of mining, &c. Two of his reports are now on the table of the House, one on Sericulture and the other on Mining, and they contain a good deal of well arranged information on the subject to which they relate. Captain Baldwin speaks in very high terms of the courtesy shown him by all classes in the States he visited, and the anxiety shown to furnish him with reliable official and other information. It is understood that he is now engaged in preparing reports on other subjects ■which came under his notice. Amongst other matters, lam told that he made himself well acquainted with the various land laws of the Pacific States, and although I d® not suppose he will make any official report on this subject, still any information regarding it must be of very considerable interest here now, as the land laws of the colony are undoubtedly in a transition state, and the question of their alteration or consolidation is one which must soon be dealt with. Then information as to how they manage matters in America will be very useful.

August 30fch. When the House met yesterday, Sir David Monro took occasion to announce that he did not intend, to again offer himself as a candidate for ihe Speaker's Chair. In a brief speech he reviewed the course of events during the ten years during which he has presided over the House, after thanking the members for the unfailing courtesy shown to him, and excusing himself for the unintentional errors he had committed, he formally bade farewell to the House. The chief reason which he said had induced him to take the resolution he announced, was a conviction that his health would no* permit him to discharge the duties of Speaker for another term of five years. Mr M'Lean, in a few well chosen words, expressed his deep regret at the prospect ..of the House and country losing the services of Sir David as Speaker. Mr Vogel also expressed great regret at the announcement just made. He said he had probably given Sir David more trouble than any other member ; but looking back at the various differences which had arisen between them, he frankly admitted that Sir David had generally been in the right, and he himself wrong. After a pause Mr Stafford rose, and after expressing regret that Sir David had, despite the wishes of his friends, resolved to retire, he proceeded to refer to their early days together in England, their emigration together to Australia, their future removal together to this colony, and the warm political and private friendship which had always existed between them. Mr Stafford was evidently deeply affected, and when he came to refer to the gradual retirement from public life of so many of those who had been his old associates, he became quite overcome by emotion, and had to sit down abruptly, burying his face in his hands. A few moments afterwards he rose and left the House. In the evening the members entertained Sir David at a dinner, which I believe passed off extremely well. Of course people have already begun to speculate as to who is to be the next speaker. The names of Mr Dillon Bell, Mr Carleton, Mr O'Rorke, and Col. Haultain, are mentioned. It is thought the Government will support Mr Bell, and if so, he will of course be elected. It will, however, be a very long time before another speaker is found possessing the same knowledge of parliamentary law and practice, and the same power of enforcing the respect of the House, that Sir David Monro does.

Mr Macandrew did his best to obtain the assent of the House; to the L 650,000 loan for Ofcago, which the Provincial Council instructed him to apply for ; but the attempt was a hopeless one after the financial proposals of the Government. Mr Vogel, after referring to the peculiarity of his position, after having, as Provincial Treasurer, often advocated such a loan, said that it was his duty to state that the Cabinet had come to the conclusion that it was inconsistent with their policy that the motion should be affirmed, a 9 most of the works referred to in it came fairly within the scope of the Government scheme, and if any province began to borrow on its own account for such works, every penny so borrowed, would be subtracted from the borrowing power of the Colony. Mr Macandrew admitted that all the works contemplated by the motion, except the sum of L 90,000, were likely to be constructed by the Government under its scheme; but he urged that the province should be allowed to borrow that L 90,000 for the following works :—Embankments of rivers, L 50.00 0; Oamaru harbour works, L 20.000; Waikouaiti harbour works, L 800 0; Kakanui b arbour works, L6QOO; Shag River bridge, L : 4000; and Lower Mataura bridge, L^OOO; or that, if the province was not. allowed to borrow, the Government would recognise the importance of these works, and include them amongst other colonial works under the Public Works scheme, The motion for going into Committee to consider the address for the loan, was negatived by 26 to 18,