POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7317, 29 July 1885, Page 2

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

(FEOJI OOIt OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Wellington, July 28. This morning a suggestion was made by which it was thought a way might be shown to the Government out of the difficulty with reference to the East and West Coast railway proposals. That way is the old one of shifting the responsibility of any matter of difficulty from the ■shoulders of the Government to a select committee. At first it was suggested that the matter shoukl be determined by a select committee composed entirely of" North Island members, aiid it was urgeel in support of this that when there was a like difficulty as to the route of the North Island Main Trunk railway the matter was relegated to a select committee, composed entirely of South Island members, with fairly satisfactory results. The Canterbury and West Coast members, however, don't seem inclined to trust the fate of their railway to Northern members, and a meeting of those interested in the railway proposals was held during the day, at which the suggestion here mentioned was very freely discussed. Nothing very definite has transpired as to the result ofthe meeting, and it is said it was adjourned without any final decision being arrived at. It is, however, understood that the opinion expressed at' the meeting was almost unanimous against relegating the final determination of the matter to a North Island committee, but that there would be no objection to refer matters to a committee selected from ;all sides of the. House. At time of writing there is little to add, but something may transpire dining the evening. There now seems tp be no doubt that the correspondence which 1 hinted last night might have been passing has actually taken, .place" between the Government and Messrs Meiggs and Company,' and it is believed that'some'com--promise has been arrived at by which the 20 years' guarantee of £97,000 has been reduced to £35,000, and that the whole of this guarantee. is to be a charge upoii Canterbury and West Coast alone: Of course this is a mere rumour; but I have reason to think that it will turn out to be pretty near the truth. I,do not think that this will make any material difference iii the position, because opposition td the railway is .very largely based upon the belief that the railway, is not under any circumstances a desirable one, quite as much as that the proposals iii connection with it are Objectionable; Of course; the' chief argument against the proposals is that no public guarantee of any land should be given towards tlie construction of the railway. -

In reigard to proposal that the matter stoidd be referred to a select committee; I believe the chief reason for receiving the proposal cautiously is that it looks Somewhat like an attempt to hang the matter up for some time.

There have been further secessions from the Government party, Mr O.rmoml and Captain Sutter having to-day written. to the Premier stating that they can no longer give their support to the Government. I have reason for believing that these and other members have been askeel by the Premier to refrain from taking their final step until they see how the Government are going to deal with the railway proposals. Several of these members who are on the brink of secession seem inclined to act upon this suggestion, and have not j-et actually jumped the rail.

This afternoon rather an interesting discussion took place upon the motion for the second reading of the Public Works Amendment Bill. You have already been luade aware of the object of the bill. It appears that it is necessary the bill should be passed through all its stages tonight, because there is an action pending against the Government for trespassing upon land taken for fortification purposes near Auckland. The reason for. the urgency of the bill is that the time for pleading, as lawyers call it, or filing the defence, expires to-morrow.

To-day Mr Mitchelson presented a petition from shipowners and others praying for an alteration in the present system of payment of light dues, and suggesting in lieu thereof that au annual charge shoulel be made, due ami payable at any one port, and pointing out the injustice to British owners of vessels of allowing foreign ships to engage in coastal trade. To-day the Local Bills Committee reported on the Dunedin Drillshed Reserves Act Amendment Bill, introduced by Mr M. J: S. Mackenzie. The committee say that they have considered the petitions of Law and Simpson in support of . the amending bill. They have also considered the petition of the Drillshed Commission against the bill, and have examined Mr Mackenzie in support of his bill, and Major Wales against the bill. The committee say that it appears that there is no dispute between the parties as to the facts. The committee, however, consider that the Act of 1884 was an undesirable measure so far as it relates to Marshall's execution, since they had given notice to give up possession of their lease and had no reason to suppose that §uch notice was not accepted. .

Fresh rumours are current to-night as to the special object in view in proposing reference of the railway scheme to a Select Committee. From careful consideration of facts, and as a result of conversation with members, I am inclined to suspect that the intention is as follows : I believe the Government have at last become convinced by the number of formal secessions already announced and threatened that there is no chance of carrying the scheme as it stands, aud recognise that the only feasible way out of the difficulty in which they have involved themselves is a compromise. I have already referred to a suggestion that the guarantee shall be £35,000, and chargeable entirely on the districts affected, but I anticipate that this will be merely put forward tentatively, and without any great idea of its being accepted, because it is well-known that strong feeling exists against the idea of the Colony being committed to a syndicate. Consequently there is likely to be a majority against the Meiggs scheme, whatever shape it may be modified into. Assuming that this view is accurate, and that Ministers see ■ the grave clanger to their own position in trying !to force the proposal down the throat of the House, I expect that the outcome of the reference to a Select Committee may be a proposal to abandon Meiggs' scheme altogether; to throw overboarel the Nelson part of the railway plan, and coustruct the Canterbury, East, and West Coast line at the cost of the Colony. Under Meiggs' scheme the total actual cost of construction closely approached four millions, besides £1.250,000 of land granted, and the £97,000 per annum guaranteed for 20 years in excess of working expenses, but under the contract between the Colony and the promoters the total estimate was only two and a-half millions, of which the Canterbury and Westland portion would absorb about one million and a-half. If, therefore, this latter alone were adhered to, it might be carried out by floating a loan of a million and a-half. I shall not be surprised to find this proposed, the expenditure to be spread over a term of years. If- this is proposed, I have some reason to believe it will be carried.