SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9859, 3 October 1893, Page 5

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

POLITICAL AND GENERAL.

By far^the .mo/t important event of the last four weeks has/been the, final passing into law of the proposalto bestow the parliamentary francllse upon all the adult women of the colony. jThe Electoral Bill, which provides for fiSa new departure, received the Governor's assent on Ssptember 19, and the work of enrclment, in view of the coming elections, U ateady being briskly proceeded with. Aftsr gperiod of: interesting suspense tha proposal just . managed to pass the Legislative Council, unhampered by the addition of electoral rights, which— being unacceptable to Ministers—wrecked the Bill last year ; and tno only remaining qaestion was whether Lord Glasgow wotid think it necessary to reserve the BUI for the Royal assent. Petitions were got up by tha opponents of the reform BtroDgly urging the adoption of this coarse; but his in accordance with general expectation, decided to give his assent without haying recourse to the Home authorities. Thus the women of New Zealand have beei* enfranchised—certainly without eagerness* on; the part of the Ministry and the Legislature,-and (it is strongly suspected) without the exist : ence of any real desire in the minds of the majority of -the s?x./ Bat the agitators, male and female; were very persistent, and, in the end, parliamentary conditions and developments favoured the attainment of their project "Now tb&t the question is settled it is beginning",to be recognised how very important a-personage " the political woman "will henceforth be; ;for it must be remembered that, <our franchise being upon tha basis of population, the number of voters is about doubled by■ the new extension. There is a good deal both of confidence and of misgiving as to the eventual results of the change, 1 but it is generally expected that women will mark their advent to power by paying a desirable' measure of attention to the personal character of the politicians who seek their votes. Unfortunately, on the other hand, there are already indications of a tendency to form a " woman's party " and to adopt an attitude of separation of the sexes in matters political. Years must elapse before a deliberate judgment can be arrived at as to the real effect of the reform for good or ill, though no doubt a tentative idea of the character of feminine political influence.will be obtainable from the results of the coming general election. It is difficult, by the way, to allocate to; any : particular party/ or politicians the credit or blame .which may attach to the carrying out of the proposal. Of course the Electoral Bill was a Ministerial measure, but some Ministers, including the Premier, were, to put it mildly, notoriously unerithusiastic, if not secretly hostile; while the opponents numbered among them the Hon. W. Rqlleston and other prominent members of the Opposition. Sir JohnllAll, however, has supported the movement with consistency and thoroughness, and his influence has' undoubtedly had a considerable share in reconciling the more Conservative section of the community to this " leap in the dark," All parties nowsbo w a natural inclination to congratulate the-triumphant sex, "and " Codlin's the friend—not Shoet " is sure to be the burden/of many an election spefch during the next two months, ~,;-. .7 ,;, Session and Parliament are alike in their dying days; indeed, before this summary* leaves New Zealand the prorogation: will probably have taken place, and, the dissolution will follow in the course of a few weeks. The session yi ill not have been a very fruitful one, partly owing to the fact that the Legislative Council has felt called "upon to stay; the progress: of some of tha 'empirical-, 'proposals: advanced by the. Ministry. Next'to :the women's franchise, the most Important legislative achievement of the year has been the passing of the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Bill, the provisions of which were mentioned in a previous summary. The ; extension of the franchise made it especially desirable that the liquor qaestion should not-be left as a "burning question" at the general electioD, and there is reason to believe that the country, with the exception of the extreme temperance party, is fairly satisfied: with the present settlement. Sir Robebt Stout foDght' the Bill strenuously "to the Vend,', but fortunately the desire for-a reasonable compromise was too strong for him; and thoughthere aie menaces of ; a renewed agitation, it is very ;dbubtful whether the couutry will respond to the appeals of the extremists. One weak point there certainty U in the-Bill—the clause which makes it necassary for half the electors on the roll to record their votes before the local verdict can be operative. With this unfortunate exception, however, the measure is a bold and practical attempt to settle a most difficult question, and perhaps redounds more to .the credit of Mr Seddon and his colleagues than any other of their multifarious legislative proposals.- ' -■ "■■-■.-'" ~ : ; The Colonial Treasurer's1 taxation Bills, based on the Financial Scatemeht;.have been passed, though not without a certain amount of critical diEcussion. Of these, the Land and Income Assessment Act Amendment Bill provides for the remission of the tax on all improvements and for the increase of the graduated taxon the higher Bcele from 1 6-8 d to lid; while the '.. Public Revenues Bill enables the Government to borrow up to L 476.000 en Treasury Bills in the event of the cocEolidated fund being Trenchant criticism has also been applied to the financial management of the Public Works department, as ; explained in the Public Works Statement, which was at length brought down on September 21. L 693.068 has been appropriated for public works during the current financial year, of which a quarter of a iuiliion comes from the Colonial Treasurer's surplus, and L 330.628 from the balance in hand on March 31. last. L 316.278 is to be spent on railways, of which L 45,000 comes to the Otago Central, L 7500 to Catlins fiver, and LI 5,000 to. Seaward Bush. Tbese local appropriations are regaided as fairly satisfactory, and the Otago Central vote will complete'the Middle-march-Hyde section and enable substantial progress to be made with the Hyde;Eweburn

section. The line is expected to b.e opened for traffic as far as Hjde in the early part of next; year. It may be noted that up to the time the colony has spent on public |works the sum of L 28,887,434, the cbief •items being L 15,630,004 for railways. #13,708,817 for roads, L 2,146,209 for immiJp gration, L 1.846,679 for buildiDgP, and J? L 1.295,625 . for Native lands. Duricg the discussion on the Statement Sir Robert Stout expressed an opinion that in future it ■would be necessary to limit the public works expenditure to a quarter of a million a yesr. The Government Edilway3 Bill met with unique treatment in the Legislative Council. The proposal, it will be remembered, was to place the management of the railways in tho bands of a commission o£ four, of whom a Minister, with a deliberative and castiDg vote, should be chairman. After a hot debate the Bill passed the House of Repie- | sentatives by a narrow majority — many ! Ministerial partisans voting against their I notorious convictiorjs,—and went to the \ Council, where, having been read a \ second time " without a division, it ' was robbed of everything excepting its ; ■ title, and made to carry the sia-p^ j provision tbat tbe present commissioners i should retain control for another year. Ir, is 'i understood that tlie B-Jl wi)l be abandoned, 'i aud it is also rumoured that in February I (when the commissioners' terra of office jji expires) the Government propose to reassnme S complete possession. The general election, '& however, will talcs .placa bsfore February, % and ths country may have sorriefchirgto say U about both the management cf the railways | and the constitution of the Ministry. As has

been remarked on a previous occasion, there wculd be no objection to the commissioners being brought into more direct contact with Parliament by the presence of a Minister on the board; the dangerous and objectionable feature in the Government's proposal is the practical auttferacy conferred upon the Minister as chairman with a deliberative and casting vote.

With the Shops and Shop Assistants Bill (compelling a compulsory Saturday afternoon closure) the Council would have nothing to do, and a widespread fealing of relief followed the emphatfc rejection'of this' tyrannical scheme on the second reading. The Indu-.trial Conciliation and Arbitration Bill—which also has its strong opponents—waa read a second time; but the clauses providing for a oourt of com-' pulsory arbitration have been deleted, and the fate of. the Bill is practically sealed. The Lands for Settlement Bill, the provisions of which were strongly criticised by Sir Kobert Stout in the Lower Chamber, has also.been, rejected, and no doubt Ministers will make the most of these rebuffs when appealing to democratic passion during the electoral campaign. A step of very questionable wisdom was taken by the House of Representatives last week, wheD, by a majority of one, it was decided that the control of parliamentary officers and estimates should henceforth raat with the Government instead of the Speaker, as heretofore. A lordly contempt for precedent and tradition was professed by Ministers in relation to this delicate and important matter, lut it must be stated to the credit of Sir Eobert Stout that he stood up, in a truly statesmanlike manner, for the ancient independence and privileges of Parliament. The Legislative Council, as might have been expected, declined ito join in the step, and it may be hoped that one of the first tasks of a wiser Parliament will be to rescind the ', resolution of the present House of Representatives. ■

Mr Cadman re-entered the Cabinet as Minister for Justice and Mines on September 6. The controversy which culminated in the verdict for £1 without costs for the plaintiff In the libel case Cadman v. Rees, and which brought about Mr Cadman's resignation of the portfolio of Native Affairs, has been sufficiently explained in previous summaries, and it will be sufficient to pay that public opinion has emphatically condemned the readmission of: the honourable plaintiff as a Minister of the Crown. His appointment as Minister for Justice, of all things in the world, may be regarded as one of the Premier's best bits of unconßClons satire. Mr Seddon, who certainly does not lack self-confidence, adds the Native portfolio to his other Ministerial cares.

Sir John Hall, who, we regret to say, does not intend to seek re-election to the House of Representatives, was entertained by hi 3 political friends at a farewell banquet at Wellington on September 23. The proceedings were marked by great enthusiasm, and most interesting speeches were delivered by^ Mr Rolleston, who presided, and the honoured guest.. It is quits unnecessary to dilate upon Sir John Hall's great services to his adopted country as a man, a politician, and a Minister, or npon the special debt oi gratitude which is due to him from the province of Canterbury. The House of Representatives loses a high-minded gentleman, an unselfish patriot, and an exceedingly able politician whose ripe experience and lucidity, of mind have been of the greatest value.. Though in his 69th year Sir John still enjoys fairly good health, and it is felt that his appointment to the Legislative Council would-be a wise as well as a graceful act. Peihaps, however, it would be too much to exptct such a movement to proceed from the present Government. Not the least noteworthy feature of the valedictory festival was the presence of the Honourable John Beyce, who delivered a scathing criticism of the Ministerial policy. " ' ■Unforturiately-~Mr Bbyce evinces no iri-: tention of. re-entering public life, and among present M.H.K.'s who have notified their disinclination to re-enter' Parliament are Messrs. Fjshgus, Bbuce, James Mills, Buckland. and Valentine—all of them Opposition members. Sir George Gkey, though pre-. rented by indisposition from taking his seat at all during the present session, has notified his willingness to join the list of candidates, ani. a large number of new names are already mentioned in connection with the various constituencies^ The issues before the electorates are likely to be much complicated, and the scarcely disguised rivalry between the Premier and SirRoBEBT STOUT bids fair to produce some interesting developments. The Labour party, too, will hardly possess the same homogeneity as at the election 'of 1890; the temperance question will not be without its influence; and the host of feminine electors may be regarded as practically an unknown quantity. Altogether, prophecy concerning the results of the coming olection would be even more hazardous than usual.

, By the death of Mr Levin on September 15 Wellington lost Its most respected and' popular citizen and New Zealand a singularly public-spirited and philanthropic colonist. Mr Levin's munificent philanthropy was a household word in Wellington, arid the scene at his funeral on Sunday, September 17, was perhaps the most impressive testimony of public respeot and affection ever'witnessed in the colony^ The deceased gentleman was at one time a member of the House of .Rspresentatives, and at the instance of the Premier the House marked its regret by a short adjournment."''.'"' * :

'_ A charge of criminal libel preferred by Dr Tkuby. King, superinben^ent of Seacliff Asylum, Bgainst a discharged attendant, who had gratified his Bpleen by making most serious, charges against the medical administration, resulted in the complete vindication of the doctor and the imposition of a fine of L 25 upon the offender. The trial, however, had the incidental effect of showing that the multiform duties laid upon Dr King weie too much even for an officer of Mb acknowledged efficiency, and an additional medical attendant will shortly be appointed.

The half-yearly meeting of the Colonial Bank was held on September 27, when the directors' report, recommending a dividend at the rate of 7 per cent,, the addition of LSOOO to the reserve fund, and tbe carrying forward to the next half-year of LC434, was adopted. A general feeling of satisfaction with the bank's condition was manifested, and the chairman was able to state tbat the institution bad been affected neither by the financial crisis in Australia nor by the suspension of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Compsriy.