SUMMARY FOR EUROPE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5205, 23 October 1878, Page 2

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE

POLITICAL.

The session of Parliamenthasdra wn very near to its close, and the usual custom •of slaughtering the innocents haa been for some time proceeding. Ere another 'week has passed the honourable members will have left the halls of legislalation for the comfort of the domestic hearth, and the great annual palaver "will have ended. The principal measures ol policy of the Government—barring those abandoned—have left the disturbed sphere of the Lower House, and have either passed their final stages, or are languidly progressing in the serene chamber of the Lords.

The Electoral Bill, introducing manhood suffrage, after a stormy season in the Lower Housp, has now been well advanced in Committee in the Council. Its second reading there was carried by 25 to 11, and the only material amendment which it has received in Committee is the restoration of the Maori franchise to the position, it occupied in the measure

as it first entered the House of Hepresentatives, namely, the aborigines retain their special representation, - and have also a vote in common with Europeans, if enrolled in any electoral district as ratepayers. The Land Tax Bill, one of the great features of the aession, which was read a second time in the House on a division of 42 to 19, has actually passed through allits stages, ■; and now awaits His Excellency's sign manual. It was tho theme of bitter debates in the Lower House, bui did not materially disturb the placidity of

the Lords, to whom one might have

thought it should have been peculiarly j obnoxious. The principle of a pure I land tax, without taxing* the improve- ■. ments on the land, haa now, for tho first time, perhaps, been practically affirmed, and we venture to say that as year follows year we shall find this tax becoming more and more the backbone of our public finance. The Customs Tariff Bill is also in Council, . and will certainly pass, no amendment of ite clauses, as a Revenue Bill, being permissible in the Upper Chamber. But two of the Government measures have come to an untimely end. ft •would require a long story to fully elucidate the causes which led to the with- . drawal of the Beer Tax and Companies ' Income Tax Bills. Suffice to say that they were both obnoxious to a goodly number of Government supporters, who, by mutual agreement, set themselves to have the measures defeated. The Government had takon no pains to feel the pulse of their supporters, and - on the second reading of the Beer Tax Bill, in a thin house, without any debate, were defeated, to their great surprise, on a division of 30 to 28. Im- ' mediately tbe Attorney-General moved that itbe "read a second time to-morrow," and debate was adjourned. Those who, ordinarily supporting the Government, had voted against them on this occasion, hastened to renew their assurances of support; and, when the question came on again, the second reading j "was carried on the voices, the opponents of the Ministry not caring to call •for a division. However, the Ministry had in tho meantime expressed their intention, in deference to the wishes of their supporters, to withdraw this and the Companies Tax Bills, and they •were withdrawn accordingly. The little . contretemps was no indication of the . position of the Ministry, but waa purely a surprise, and the result of negligence in relation to Parliamentary tactics.

A subject of great interest within and without the Assembly has been the Judicial Commission Bill, intending inquiry into the powers of summary commitment for contempt claimed "by the Supreme Court Judges, aiid so arbitrarily put in practice in the commitment to prison for a month of Mr Barton, a barrister, since then elected a member of the Assembly. It "was introduced by a private member, but was warmly supported by all the Ministers except the Attorney-General, and in its discussion the Judges, who had certainly exceeded all reasonable limits, came in for very rough handling. It was defeated on a division of 39 to 27, "but one of the Judges had the temerity to re-open the matter by an ill-advised letter, which was laid on the table of the Houso, and gave an opportunity to Mr Bahton himself to appear on the subject, lie having in the debate re framed from speaking. Being now placed on his defence, he submitted specific charges of so grave and serious a character against the Judges, that an enquiry into tho conduct of the Chief Justice Prkneeuoast and Mr Justice Ejchmond is now unavoidable.

Another somewhat significant measure is beforo the Assembly, called the Native Lawsuits Bill. It is intended to constitute a special Court for the purpose of trying the long list of causes raised by the Natives of Hawke Bay for the restitution of their lands, of which they allege they have been wrongfully dispossessed by certain Europeans. These are the infamous Hawke Bay Native land transactions, of which so much has been heard, and the infamy of which, and the doings of the "land ring," have been a scandal on the history of colonisation in New Zealand. It is said that the Court will consist of Mr Justice Williams, a South Island Judge, with Mr. Mansfoud, late Resident Magistrate in the Soutb, and Mr Cook, an eminent Southern banister, in whom, from their remoteness and their non-connection with Maori matters, the Maoris will doubtless repose more confidence than they appear to placeinother dispensers of law between the races.

The Rail way Construction Bill, which has recently been submitted, is one of great importance, and deals with matters of great magnitude. It proposes the construction of a portion of our future railway extension, to the amount of three millions and a half sterling, and its most marked feature is the proposal to withhold payments for the work until the several sections are completed, so that before the sale of the lands set for their construction the lands may have received that increase in value ■which arises from railway communication. Among the lines in the schedule is that one which is to be made right through the King Country, connecting the Auckland trunk line with Taranaki.

Various measures of minor import have been under discussion in the Assembly. The Deceased Wife's sister las had her connubial aspiration once more blighted through the ungallant conduct of the Lords, who have performed the annual feat of turning her little Bill out of doors. The Education Act Amending Bill, introduced by a

private member for restoring denominationalism to our State schools, haa been rejected. Important amendments have been made in the law relating to Friendly Societies, and a very stringent measure baa been introduced giving to Natives in Native districts powers to control or prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors among them, and a variety of other measures of more or less importance have occupied the attention of the Assembly. The Ministry still continue to command a very large majority in the House, though opposed with a virulence on the part of the remnant of the Opposition that has been rarely exceeded. Taken, altogether, however, the session has been a most important one, and the introduction of manhood suffrage, the land tax, and the first steps in the adjustment of the Customs tariff, are sufficient of themselves to stamp it as one of the most remarkable sessions in the history of New Zealand.