POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9137, 9 June 1891, Page 2

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

(Fbom Oub Own Cobuespondent.) Wellington, June 8, PREPARING FOR THE SESSION.

It is a matter of general remark that an air f" of peace and oalm prevails, which is quite exceptional with a parliamentary session so very a' close at hand. Very few members have as yet „, arrived, and the Parliament buildings show little ti ;ns of the coming stir save that tha workmen f' are still engaged in various labours of reno- J' vation. Tho electrio lighting plant of the * Lower Chamber is undergoing an overhaul P to-day with a view to its improvement, and a v few seats in each chamber have been ticketed by °, their intending occupants, but the changes are * hardly worth mentioning. Several of the old J: members have bespoken their former seats. It ia a coincidence, but perhaps nothing more than w that, that Sir John Hall and Mr W. Hutchison " will sit together on the Opposition side of the House. A new sound-proof telephone bureau *' has been erected. This will be a convenience to members desirous of talking Becrets through the ?. telephone, for hitherto a sotto voce remark in ' the telephone bureau has been distinctly audible * in the lobbies, and special correspondents have been obliged to put their fingers in their ears or * flee precipitately, lest they should unwillingly surf prise information not intended for their ears. J; The telegraph office, too, at the Parliamentary fc Buildings bag been considerably improved. A 8 vast area of new cord matting has been laid v down ia the great lobby, regardless of expense; J and the old building has been " done up " and . garnished generally. Ministers are going on ' steadily with the work of preparation, and they c assure me that they are quite ready to meet the House. BILLS. I have been endeavouring to-day to procure < some more bills, in addition to those I forwarded ; to you on Saturday; but lam informed that no t more are ready yet for distribution, though ( nearly all are either in type, undergeing ] revision, or are in the printer's hands. The ] Criminal Code Bill, which the Attorney-general , has in hand, has gone back for a final revision, | and I hoped to send it to-day; but it will not be ] ready for a few days, as several fresh alterations hare been made so late as to-day. It is however, in its main features a mere repro- . duotion of the former bill. It will serve to keep the Uppei: House employed, if not amused, for a time, but its passing is regarded as very doubtful, because members always will insist on travelling out of the record and legislating afresh, instead of merely consolidating. THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY. ' I informed you last week that Sir Harry Atkinson's present successor and erstwhile opponent, Mr T. M'Guire, the new member for Ggmont, will move the Address-in-Reply in the Lower House, and I hear that Mr Buick, the juvenile but decidedly clever and eloquent Marlborough member, will second the address. There is some doubt as to the mover and seconder ia the Legislative Council, and the Attorney-general tells me he may poesibly move it himself. HON. MR WIGLEY'S SEAT. Mr Wigley, I believe, disputes the alleged vacatian of his seat ia the Council through nonattendance last session, and he has arrived in Wellington with his family for the session, and means, I am told, to take some steps to establish his claim to retain his seat, on the ground that the last session failed in certain technical respects to be a session as interpreted by the law, consequently that his nonattendance did not forfeit his seat. The Government are, however, convinced that "his place knows him no more," and I suspect will not restore him to Legislative honours unless he should manifest an unexpectedly strong sense of Ministerial merit in saying what might happen. His present intention is to take his seat, and challenge any attempt to dislodge him. It n probable that the course adopted will be the same as ia the case of Sir Frederick Whitaker, Hon. Richard Oliver, Hon. Robert Fharazyn, and Hon. G. M. Waterhouse, some years ago, when they were said to have forfeited their seats through unauthorised absence during two sessions. Oq that occasion the Governor, according to the rule provided in such csse3, referred | to the Council the question whether or not the seats had been forfeited, and the decision wa? in the negative. In this case Mr Wigley will plead: (1) That there was nosessionin January, inasmuch as no act was'passed, and no business provided for the Legislative Council; (2) that he made two attempts to reach Wellington in time, but was prevented by illness, being laid up en route successively at Timuru and Christchurch, reaching Wellington just after the short session closed. He will argue that having bona fide used every effort to be present, and being prevented solely by an accidental illness, the peualty of forfeiture ought not in fairness to be enforced. :It is not improbable that tbis view may bo taken by the Council, and that his seat may thus be saved as ia the other cases which I have just referred to. TAX ON TOTALISATOR INVESTMENTS. A tax upon moneys invested in the totalisator is spoken of as another new source of revenue likely to be proposed by the Government as a feature in their scheme of revised taxation. The amount of the prop wed tax will, it is said, be small. THB OPPOSITION. Captain Russell is still talked of a% the coming leader of the Opposition party, bub the wholo question is still an entirely open one. CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES. In connection with the Chairmanship of Committees, the Post to-night strongly urges the Government to discard all party questions ia the matter, and put forward Mr Hamlin as undoubtedly the most capable and acceptable candidate. THE LAND DEPARTMENT. The rearrangement in the Land department decided upon by Mr M'Kenzie proceeds uninterruptedly. Mr J. W. A. Merchant, late Commisof Lands and Chief Surveyor for the Wellington district, left to-day for Christchurch to assume a similar position in Canterbury district. His departure is greatly regretted, although Mr J. H. Baker is sure to be a very popular successor. THE SITUATION. It is considered inevitable that a protracted and probably acrimonious debate will take place on the Addresa-in-Reply. There is the usual talk about a want-of-confidence motion being moved in the shape of an amendment to the Address, but I know that this course is earnestly deprecated by some members of the Opposition as being certain to fail at so early a stage, and as consequently tending to harden up the Ministerial side. The shrewder members on both sides of the House are convinced that a policy of extreme caution is requisite for Ministers, as well as for the Opposition. Both sides have to deal with conditions more or less new and uncertain as to their potentialities. The reduced numerical strength of the House and the freshness of many members to political life will, it is felt, institute new elements of uncertainty which will need to bo studied very carefully before any definite action can be safely initiated. COLONIAL FINANCES. I understand it is not unlikely that a Select Committee may be moved for at an early date to make a searching and exhaustive examination of tha colonial finances and accounts. Some inquiries have already been made why the report of the Controller-general, presented to Parliament in each of the last three years, has not been printed so as to be available for study and ready reference. The explanation appears to ba that this report has not been very acceptable to successive Ministries, as patting the financial position in a less favourable light than Colonial. Treasurers approved. I hear that an effort is to be made this time to have the series of reports printed, and to compel the wholo situation to be exhaustively reviewed. One point to which I understand attention will be pointedly directed is the construction of a surplus by including in the revenue the sums borrowed from the secretions of sinking fund according to the ingenious plan introduced in 1884 by Sir J. Vogel and continued by his successor. It has been urged th&t this process was nothing more than the diversion for revenue purposes n{e. sum already actually raised for the sinking fund, but practically not needed by ttw latter. It is asserted, however, on good authority that the money is not really raised at all by taxation, but is in fact borrowed, so that the colony is yearly borrowing a considerable sum (£288,000 last year) in aid of current income, and thus adding covertly to its debt. It is further stated that the last year's surplus, even reckoning it in the way surpluses have been arrived at hitherto, proves now to be £40,000 or £50,000 less than the amount officially announced, £146,000 odd. PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE. With reference to the Public Trust Office and the proceedings pending in connection therewith, I learn that the Public Trustee, Mr Hamerton, has received three months' leave of absence. He has suffered severely in health under the strain of the recent investigation, coupled with the allegations and insinuations so freely made touching his administration of the department, and the harsh mode of examination to which he was subjected. He applied under his doctor's advice for 12 months' sick leave, but this was refused, only three months' being granted. It is generally believed he will not assume charga of the Trust office, but that a complete change in the personnel of its staff will be one certain result of the Royal Commissioners' report. I mentioned lately a rumour was in circulation that the commissioners would recommend a vote being asked in Parliament to provide for losses in properties administered by the Public Trust office, and that the amount required was estimated at £20,000 to £30,000. I bear on good authority that this estimate is another of the reckless exaggerations which have been indulged iv with regard to tho Public Trust office affairs, and that the total amount of all securities which are deemed unsatisfactory does not exceed £15,000 or £16,000. That is their total amount, nor. the probable loss on thttrn, which i;i computed by capable jmigfts at a very much lower figure I_l>»v<; reason to beliosvc that the Royal Commitsioners with all their keen scent of abuses have mis3e<l detecting one or^two matters which call for more serious consideration than the Parliamentary affairs of the

half-crown bangle and the six-shilling strip of lace, about which such a tremendous fuss wao was made. I refer to fuses in which the interests of the beneficiaries were sacrificed to political exigencies, and the funds of the office indirectly employed in aid of the colonial fia&nce. There is a strong feeling that trust funds such as those of the Publio Trust Office, Postal Savings Bank, and Government Insurance should not ba " get-at-able " for financial purposes by Colonial Treasurers, and that some means should ba found to prevent this effectually, so that any apparent surplus resulting from the management of the department should go towards a guarantee fund to make good losses. I am informed nevertheless that it has been the practice of the Trust Office to make good losses incurred in arrangement by charging such losses on the working expenses of the department, Although this is not supposed to be done. Complaints still reach me of the harshness of the royal commissioners' demeanour toward witnesses, who were usually treated as hostile, and cross-examined wi!h excessive stringency. I hoar that the public trustee, upon reading over the printed report of his evidence, asked to be permitted to correct it- iv certain important particulars, as he had been co ill and distressed at the time of bis examination that he had inadvertently answered some questions in such a manner as to create an entirely wrong impression. Two of the Commissioners, I understand, were willing that he should do so, but the third objected, so a consultation had to be held, the outcome of which was that the two gave way to the one, and the trustee's request was refused. He thereupon, I am told, consulted Sir R. Stout, who advised him instantly to make his demand in writing so as to compel its production among the evidence and doouments in the case, and this advice was followed, RUMOURS AND REPORTS. The Evening Post to-night asserts positively: —(1) That Sir William Jervois cabled to the Government offering to accept the Agentgeneralship, if satisfactory term? were arranged j and (2) that the Government last session distinctly offered to Mr Fisher, M.H.R. for Wellington, his choice of the speakership and chairmnnship'of committees, which latter he accepted after taking 24 hours to consider, but Ministers then deliberately threw him over and selected Mr W. C. Smith as their candidate.