POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10417, 20 July 1895, Page 6

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

his amendment. If ho had done so ha would have ou!y acted in a manly way, and would be

f-T.ji-.tion ct the time Jis referred to w.ib thafc j doing justice to the Treasurer. Was Sir R ibf'f had obligations to the e-tcnt of £335,850, j Sfcont's conduct such m they might expecc ei-^^cii-aTailabk balance 7?23£72L263, so that j from one who h»d led the "Liberal gaity?

(Feom Our Otto Corkesfondbnt)) : Wellington, July 19, ; WANT OF CONEIDBNCB: '. ,

Tijie. want-of-confidence debate dragged somewhat during the early part of the afternoon, untilqld Neslor, rifling in his place, acted the part: of candid friend with words of such plain, unvarnished kind as to at once give added interest to the debate. He was sorry to take any part in such a, debate, but "he could notr remain silent. He wished that so evil an example of the ills of party government had come earlier in the session, and he did not believe, though the reault was^a foregone conclusion, that there was a single member in the House but who in his heart believed that, the Treasurer had done wroag in London; yet for his part he felt, that the services that gentleman had rendered the colony far more then outweighed his fault. But he thought less of tb,e fault'of the Treasurer in London than of the impropar utterances' of the three Ministers who had spoken to the motion, who held that these securities were nob to be eaered, but that they could betaken for the purpose of the Govern menl; at any time. The speech of we Minister yestsrdttyj.was more grbssly personal and vicious/than any/he bad.ever heard in Parliament,-ijvlijle the charges levelled byMinisters-against hoD..;gentlemen opposite that they "wished to destroy the credit- of' the colony 'could' only bring party govemm'snt irito contempt.

'After1 dinner, the galleries being ■ crowded, Mr. Duthio had an attentive audience, who did not.rtiiss a word of his very rapid utterance. Hisishort speech was vigorous and effective from the party standpoint. \ ~

Mr-G. V 7.: Russell concluded the bast-speech, yet made, on the Government side; by an eloquent and impassioned denunciation of the abase-.of party government as illustrated by the proceedings of the last Wo ,d»ys.. Mr iSillar- though* the whole question ■ turhetl upoii one word, and delivered a taking littls speech to show that the securities were interchangeable between the departments and could be used.

The Treasurer, -who was most warmly greftted, complainad that his accusers as to some some of. them were waiting until. h<e had spoUen, that they might accuse hiav without hi 3 being able to roply. He bad said that but for payment; of the land tax they had not £600,000 in cash in London, bub he did not say Chat thsy had not; certaia securities. Ho bad stabed that Treasury bills wera not exhausted, that there was cash for the Treasury and the Imperial guaranteed debsnturao available. All these statements ho proceeded to justify, aiid did so fully by, quoting from' private Treasury correspoudence of fcbab time and the statements of the public accounts. . In most eloquent and impaissioned "tsrma he repelled the accusation of want of probity and honour that had been hurled against; him amid the frequent cheers of his supporters. Up to this point he had been effective in his speech, but now he weakened his position by quoting extracts from anonymous letters published in the old country, which he charged' upon the.■ Opposition without being able to adduce any evidence in support of. the charge. As to the tsrra " unpledged," ha had used the term, and so locg as the^e securities were free' from Jial>ility it was right to say that they were unpledged. It was in that sense ho said-it, and he was right in saying it. He ;knew, as a matter of course that the 'Government could not deal with these securities without the consent of Parliament. • :,' He <3id not wish praise for v.-hat ha bad done^-he quly wanted fair play. Was be to be. condemned "poa the utterance of one word ? -Was it likely that one word conld deceive a set of men in London who knew the financial position of the colony as well as he did ? As to the. value of the securities, he coald chow 'by a return that there wsa in Londoa in October 189^ £3,600,000, including cash avail-' able. Re had never said anything m London or elsewhere to the effect that the Government Tiouid under ordinary. circumstances ':■ use the trust fund, but if a great.'ciriais . thieatened in this country .it would, be' a greiiS respoaaibility for the ti-natces o? those departments of the : State to deny that they should be used in the interests of tbe depositors to save the cradit of the State. Tha hon. gentleman resumed his seat amid, such ringing applause as must have been soino solace for the treatment he has no doubt in some respects been made to suffer. Later, as he emerged into thy lobby, he was loudly cheered.

Sir Robert Stout followed after the supper adjournment, and there is a far-off orcspect of our going home with the milk.

THE CYANIDE PEOCESS.

A matter of considerable importance to t'aa mining community has just be.ea brought undsr the notice of the Slines department in coanection with the cyanide process of treating ores. The Agent-general hag forwarded a copy of a letter received by him from a Mr W. G. Blagden, who states tbat he has noticed th.it the Government of New Zealand desiro to etieourao-e the manufacture of potassium cyanide. However, they would find it cheaper to buy it in Londoa. He is prepared to supply the firstclass article, 99 per cent, guaranteed and packed in zinc •esses, at Is 3d per lb, f.o.b. in London (osckages free, net cash). In the event of the Government wishing to purchase some of the raw material for cyauide manufacture, he will be nappy to supply. either psussiate, muriate, or csrbonate of pobaah, for which ha quotes his prices as follows : Prustiate (yellow), 7d per lb in casks; muriate, 98 per ce:it. minimum, £3 5s per ton ia double bags, basis, 80 per cent; £18 5a per ton in casks, basis 96 per cent., f.o.b. London, Hamburg, or Antwerp. The communication hss been referred to Mr Gordon, the mining expert, who states thtst he understands the price for crude or 70 per cent, cyanide in Auckland to be Is 7d per lb, and if 99 per cent, cyanide can be delivered (f.0.b.) in London at Is 3d per lb it will give a saving equivalent to lid per lb. in favour of purchasing from London. The Government, I tmderst&nd, do not think ili within their province to take any special action ia thi3 matter beyond making the offer known to the mining public.

V It is a recognised fact that Ascot tobacco ia the finest ever submitted to smokers.

— Whist is a. favourite gsmg vajth the Queer), and many years' practice has rendered her an expert in this pastime. No book on whist ia published that tbe Queen dees not read carefully, and her opinion as to its merits is of valua, ia the judgment of experts who know the game..

— A street musician in Vienna, for many years regarded as a poor old man, on being airested for drnnlcenoesa turned oat to be a woman. Shs confessed tbai tha had dressed as a man for 30 years, having found it easier to get an honest living so than in woman's clothing.

SPRING BLOSSOM TEA.