POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8861, 19 July 1890, Page 2

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE

(Fbom Oob Own CoaUBSPONDBHT.) Wbllinotok, July 18.

THE TARANAKI HARBOUR BOARD. A long and very lively discussion took place this afternoon upon Mr Seddon's question to Mr Macarthur, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee for 1889, asking him whether it was true that the Public Accounts Committee had sanctioned the payment of. interest due. on the Taranaki Harbour Board, debentures. After a great deal of talk Mr Surauel rose and told the House all about what the committee had done arid thereasons wtiich had*guided them in" their decision to advise tho payment of the interest. Sir John Hall, Messrs Moss, Ballance, and others followed, and the discussion grow very warm, and .at time 3 acrimonious. Mr Seddon spoko hotly to Mr Macarthur, and went so far as to say," You are equivocating, sir." " Order, order," was the cry from all parts of the.House, and the Speaker asked the member for Kumara to withdraw the expression. "I withdraw it sir," said Mr Scddou promptly.iand the incident went no further. Finally, after the question had been pretty well tnreshed out, it was allowed to drop. .

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

In the evening Mr Tanner intercepted Supply with his motion.that the general election should not take place till after the next cerisuß. It was soon evident that he had few followers, Mr Hobbs only seconding the motion so that the House might get into Committee of Supply. After a comparatively short- discussion the question was put, and Mr Tanner insisted on a division. When the ball had been rung, the doois closed, and the question again put, Mr Tanner remained silent, but Mr Seddon mischievously called for a division, as he afterwards explained, "To force Mr Tanner into his proper lobby." The result was that Mr Tanner was accompanied into " his lobby " by the three Maori membersi Mr Samuel, and Mr Lamacb, while 84 members voted against him. ': . . ..i,; :.

REDUCING THE ESTIMATES.

When this question was decided, the House got into committee, and it soon became evident that'the Opposition were animated with the most commendable zeal for retrenchment. Mr Monk declared, amidst laughter, that" Othello's occupation was gone." The Opposition had come to see the necessity for retrenchment. Mr R. Thompson also congratulated the Opposition on their action, and pointed out that the small band of skinflints had grown into a large party. The HouSe then settled down to the work before it, and spent the rest of the,'evehing wrangling over the various items in tbe Estimates. ■

PUTTING DOWN CONSULTATIONS.

The Post Office Aots Amendment Bill, which has been introduced by Mr Mitchelson and read ' a first Sime to-day, provides for tha interception oi all letters and parcels containing money to be used in lotteries. The act provides that the Postmaster-general, if he has reasonable grounds to suppose that a person is engaged in coriduo£ ing lotteries, or in any fraudulent! trasines?, is to hr.ye power to declare by ..Gazelle notice that letteraj papers," or parcelsaddressed to him shall not ba either forwarded, registered, or delivered. Such communications are to ts tenttothe Dead Letter Offlcej opened, and the contents forfeited to her Majesty. Letters from outside New Zealand are to be returned unopened to their place of origin. - '" -: •'. MINIBTERS' EXPENSES. A return was laid on the table to-day giving the travelling,, allowances * and expenses of Ministers from October 8, 1887, to April 8, 1889. They are as follows:—Sir Harry Atkinson, £231 Is 6d; Mr' Mitohelson, £353 123 8d; Mr Richardson, £163 17s:8d; Sir F.Whitaker, £16 Is 6d; Mr Fergus, £116 5a 6d; Mr. Hislop, £164 2s; Mr Fisher, £232 5s 6d; Mr Stevens, £46 4s; joint expenses, £265 Ib-9&;— total, £1639 7s lid.

PENSIONS.

A schedule of pensions proposed to be'granted to! civil servants under the provisions of the Civil Service Act was laid on the table to-day. It shows that R. T. M'Donnell, David Fraser, and J. T. Hart (all in the Customs department) are entitled to pensions- of- £150, £100, and £193 respectively, beginning this year. r{:;\t FEELING IN DUNEDIN. The Government have-received a telegram from: Mr Downie Stewart stating; that there is very considerable feeling in Diinedin against obstruction by the Opposition! "The feeling," he adda," is strongly against a second session. Hold firm. Government manifesto is satisfac°ry" VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS. / ' A statement has been prepared showing the results of the special village settlements in the north of Auckland. It appears at the present time there are only 180 special settle™ in occupation of their allotments, as against 263 in March 1889, as compared with 438, tho original number. Bach of these settlers cost the Government £30. The decrease in the number of actual settlers since March of last year is equivalent to 40 per cent., and the decrease as compared with the original number is CO per cent. : ..." DEFALCATIONS. ' In reply to Mr Fish, who asked the Minister for Public Works if he was in a position to inform the House as to the total amount of the defalcations of the late railway stationmaster of Dunedio, Mr Fergus replied that the total amount was £1061 155." CARRIAGE OF NEWSPAPERS ON - RAILWAYS. . Newspaper proprietors ought to; be obliged to Mr R..Reeves, who is going to ask the House to declare that the Railway Commissioners' action in making a charge for the transmission of single newspapers is vexatious and injurious to the best interests of the colony. 1 MR HUTCHISON'S CHARGES. It is said that at the afternoon sitting to-day, Mr Withy, chairman of the Hutchison Inquiry Committee, obtained leave to hold a special meeting of the committee on businessof "urgency while the House was sitting, , It is also announced that, on the motion of Mr Bryce, it was decided to subgcena Mr Hutchison himself as a witness, so that he can be examined bb to his knowledge of the bank's relations with certain Ministers at the time he made his speech in the House. Some mention is also made of summoning other officers of the bank besides Mr John Murray, as the latter is not now in the service of the bank, though a director, and cannot produce the papers and documents required. The committee meets again od Tuesday next. It is stated that Mr. H. D. Bell has been retained to appear on behalf of Ministers before the committee. ■ :; THE LATE MR TURNBULL/' ■ Fully 100 members of the two Houses of the Legislature followed the remains of the late Mr TurnbuU from his late residence to the steamer Penguin this evening. Several Ministers and Sir G. Grey.were among the number. Should the Penguin not catch the express to-morrow morning, a special train will be sent to Timaru to enable the funeral to take place on the same MISCELLANEOUS. -' ' The member for Invercargill has given notice to move for a whole string of returns, the most noteworthy being those of details of the expenditure under the item "expenses of representation commission (£800)" in the Estimates for the present year; also of the expenses attending the annual drawing of debentures issued under " The Consolidated Loan Act 1867," for which the sum of £750 is asked on the Estimates. ' The Postmaster-general is being pressed to issue instructions to the Postal department to the effect that the rate of postage for all letters throughout the colony (outside of towns) be 2d for all letters not exceeding loz, and Id additional for every Joz or fraction of Joz. Five new bills were announced to-day, bringing up the total number now before the House to 70. Those of which notice were given to-day are: — The Railway Authorisation Bill (Mr Fergus), The Electoral Acts Amendment Bill (Mr Hialop), The Local Bodies Accounts and Audit Bill (Captain Russell), The Waipu County Bill (Mr Carroll), a bill to repeal"The Gaming and Lotteries Act 1881!.' (Mr R. Reeves). The isolation of lepers and the prevention of the spread of leprosy in New Zealand still exercises Mr Scddon's mind, and he is going to move again in the matter shortly;