POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10423, 27 July 1895, Page 6

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

(From Oub Own CoRREs^oNDENTi) ■;•..■ ■ Welmngton, July 26, , A LBAKAGE : SOMBWHBRBi';

This afternoon- the jainist«r;'for Lbicds proclaimed some what excitedly that certain' members of the Opposition appeared to be. able to get iuforraation from Government departments which Ministers themselves were unable to get.' The ■ qne3iiona and mbfci; na { which appeared from time to, time on the ;or:ser Paper proved this unmistakably. There was, he 'declared emphatically,, a leakage somewhere. Some Opposition members appeared to beinpo>s-s----sion ot a skeleton key, : which th«y wore .not slow to mske use of. The .JUiaister. concluded thus: "The Go7fcrnment aro surrounded in that building—(that is, the Government Buildings)— by men whom they cannot tru*b''" in answer Sir Robert Stout said ths" only course for the Ministsr to pursup- was 'to tnarrie the officials ho referred to, arid .haye'the matter investigated before the Public Accounts; Committee. The officers accused should;have an opportunity of" clewing,'themselves': and; the minister could then examine them x The Minute interjected : " And:much could fI set oufcoftbem." Mr Mitchelson also condemned the Minuter for Lauds fnr. asaertiug this there were a large number of spisa in the GoveriimeiiS. Baildings.-j RK^ Minister retorted,v!' I did not say,a Urge uwmbw ; ;!I ?"ai I some. (To this- there;was a chb us of interjections,, \ou said you were surrounded by ™i;-i. i^ eKiQ'ster repeated: " So we are." Mr Mitcaelson went on to state that he had obtained no informatiou from any officer in the' publicbmldiugs. The Minister: "Look at the Order Paper." Mr Mitchclson: "Show mo any particular itam." The Minister: "You had better look them .up yourself." After further discussion the Minister for Lands said he wanted to placa on record what he had stited,and he would not withdraw one word. Information hadbeen made use of in connection with the Order Paper which could not have been'; obtamed^exeept through some officer of the de-' partment. There were cries, of "Name," but the Minister replied, " T will not mention names.,-... Sir Roba-d Stout: " Yon can't.". The »'^-tS r Bald th' lti everJ*binS pointed to the Audit [department-he knew it, and he could prove ib. The Auditor-general had a•' down "; upon^him because he (the Minister) had bowled that official out before a com- ; imttea, and 6 ince then the Auditor-general-had contmu,»lly endeavoured to tarnish the character of the Minister for Lands. Therefore it was quite true that they were eurrouaded by . spies «fho gave information to the detriment of .the colony,;;.,M.r BeU contended that Mr Pita-;gera(d-was; distinguished among the distin-: gutshed'men of this colony, and a man of whom the:-colony'should ; ba proud.-^fHear, hear.) 1 Considering his;,position and duties.Jao should-haye.'tlie.confidence-oi-:the whole House irre-spectivaof-party, ,^He rbgretted that a Minister ot the.Crowii:;should- describe this official as a ?py, and. speak, of 'him ma manner intended to ■bringvhimiato'contempb.- The Premier said the-Minister for Lands never used the'term 'spy of him. Mr Bsll asked whit he did say, and the Minister'for Lnhds replied •" I 6wd we are surrounded by spies.l--I did not'say the Auditorrgeoeral was one.", Mr Bell said he was glad of the Minister's explanation, but still the matter should ba inquired into, and if th« Anditor-gsneral was to be attacked it should be by diwcb motion aßsailiog his character and demanding his removal, as in the Cisa* of a judge of the Supreme Court. How could the House expect loj al : service' from . their servants _if they fallowed teem, to ba attacked in this way ? . The JMini^tsr for Lands replied with soinaw&rmtti, and said itiw»s. matter of history that the Auditorgeneral had. written a letter'aboub him that no SS jmm 3hould.haye writtea. The MiKistar added,. " I passedit oyer.as ths drivell'iug of an ?<Qu man;',' Tt»s' produced loud cries of bhame, and the Minister > wbs* called to order. ThaMinister 'for. Lauds went ou to declare that a committee h»d supported him against the Auditor-geoeral, and. the House had poetically passed a, vote"of censure upon Him ihe'Premier said his opinioQ of Mr Fitzgerald was npc as high as it hidbeen.' Howas not s;oul thatsotoememhad depicted. In opposiwon. Jto ithis ■ Sir Koberf Stout -that ; the 'future historiauii.of New Zealand;wou'.d:;regard'rMr}Fiti!-gerald-as perhaps the greatest mahwhohad eversxt in'that Patlianifno,acd as- a man of the highest honor in the semes of the colony

STATUTORY. RETURNS.

The House did not CDmmeuce business iii'S very amiable temper this afternoon. First" there were protests by some members in charge ot bills owmg to their measures being placed in an unsatisfactory position-by an alteration in vhe Orders of tha.Day. This matter: heirg'disposed of, ; . Sir ;Robfcrt Sbpiib' agsans'raiaed;'% hw ■.voice against tie conduct of the Government iv withholding certain returns in- violation of the express requirements of the, law. The charge was pressed home very forcibly, and all the Treasurer's:.fencing, ; clever though it certainly was under :the-' circumstances, failed to meet the objections raised, but a number of the Government foUowing treated this violation of the law as meiely a subject; for laughter.' Mr Mitchelson "atfauked the Government for the manner hi which tfey refasid' to grant statutory, retarns;, which were absolutely necassary.to ensbie membsri to adequately discuss the Financial Stiteoient.•; The Pre'raier,flcst treated the whole matter as a joke, and then contended that the law had not bren broken; but wheii thia position was broken down by the arguments of Sir Robert Stout and Mr Button he lamely asked, it' any injury had been done by the deUy or if there was any fear of. danger, and declared that the Opposition only wanted the information in erder to use it'unfairly against the > Government. Mr.'Seddou endeavoured to throw of I on_the troubled wafers By, premising to' give the. Houne the 'retprns," togrther with the Financial Statement, on. Tuesday next. Liter on Sir Robert Ktout moved to,report progress from Cornmitteo of Supply, and though the motion was lo3'c, the voting of such nien as Mcesrs J. W. Keily, Th'bm psnn, Crdwther, Masliu, Graham,; M'Nab, &nd Millar ; against the Premier, showed clearly, that at least some of his own party were d:ssai;saed: with;the action of the Governmebt.iu.refusing statdVory returns. Sir Robert Slouii. followed the apove motion up with anothsr to tha offecfc' that ,the Imprest Supply vote bs reduced by £1, a3 the law had been violated, and the House resented the violation of any law ; it ;had.passed. The Treasurer urged that previous Treasurers had acted in the way now complained of, aad he wondered at the fastidiousness of members on the present occasion. After a lengthy discussion, lasting until tha half-past- 5 adjournment, the motion was "Ip6t: upon the voices, and ■ tho: Imprest Supply Bill was passed through all •its'stages and remitted to the Council.

THE TARIFF,

/Last evening 'the Post' published an editorial upon the probable changes in the tariff to which I did not attach sufficient importnnce to tranHmit, bub from a remark of th&Premier, this evening, during the discussion upon the .disclosure of Government business to the press, and the Post in. particular, I think the "statements, contained in the article entitled to special attention. , Here they are: " Yet Me Ward' must get money. The necessity will compel him to ignore the recommendationa of tha Taring Commission in favourof a reductiou of 2d' per 1b in the duty on tea, for the Treasurer will not 'be able to ■ afford it, and the fear of Mr E. 'M. Smith will probably strengthen/him in refusing to reduce the duty on kerosene by one-half. The'commissioners' recommendation ia favour of an extra duty on fruit will plsce Mr "Ward in rather a quandary, as his recipiocal treaty with South Australia will clash with it. We bt-lieve the commissioners reported ag&inst a duty on' coal, but we shail not be surprised to Sad this.moat impolitic and mischievous impost included amongst the favours Mr Ward is to dispense. We are fully prepared te nod him removing the differentiil concession on spirits in bulk and mailing the rata uniform, whether for bulk or Indeed we shall not be surprised if there is an all-round increase in the spirit duties, although it is very doubtful whether this will bring in more rtvenue. On boots and fchoe3 the differential dutieß will no doubt be removed and a uniform—at least 5 per cent, higher than the highest rafca now charged—dubyimpossd. That this will make boots and shoes an unattainable luxury to a considerable proportion of the juvenile population will probably not trouble Mr Ward's heart or conscience. Increased protection to the extent of at least 5 per cent. ad valorem, may also be anticipated on-woollen gcotlo and ready-made clothing. The vexatious difference 'now made in regard to various descriptions of fUnneletts9 and shirtings will probably bo replaced by a uniform duty all round.. Wo do not expect to find Mr Word viewiag v/ith favour the suggostiou to allow harbour boards and local bodies to import cement free for public work», and we may be quite sore that he will indignantly scout the idea of removing a duty on binding twins. There will be tv cectain amount of grim humour in watching the Hon. Sir Steward and some of-his co-comKiisjioners whipped into the lobby to vote against th9;.r o\vn recommendations."

JOTTINGS,

The Minister for Justice aad tha Premier last night announced the Government's desire to nboliiih coroners' juries, and leave the duties to the coroners and magistrates, but tho House by 10 to 20 decided against it, a veto beiag taken ou an ameoiJinsn!; by Mr Beeves ia regard to the Coroners' Juries Bill. ■ .

Sic Rotiert Stout does not approve of ths narrow rtros-ts proposed to be legalised by the Wellington City Streat Bill. Ho oays that if it is ne^esiesry to have 40fd streets Ruch as the bill refers to, at least it shoald bo enacted that there shall not bo less than 68ft space between the honaes on the opposite ai<ies The Minister f^r Thud's ia even stronger on the ■■abject. In his opinion no street should l>a lefs tb&n the present tegal width of 66ft,

and instead of introducing a bill to lagalise the narrow streets Wellington should introduce a Betterment Bill to euablo it to widen them to the orthodox width. This, he consider, will have to be doae sooner or later, and the sooner the bettor and cheaper. The present bill, he remarked, ia simply giving legal recognition to the work of speculators. _Mr O'R-?gan and eight ofchar members of the House have cabled their congratulations to the Hon. George Reid, in Sydney, on che victory of Froetradc iv New South Waleß. ;

" Mr W. Hutchison is to.agk the Goverhmenfc what course they intend to adopt; with regard to new a3ylum buildings'aud impravsraents, iv view of the vecy;Btrong and pertiutnfi remarks of Dr HacGfegor in his annual report just presented to ParlumeuS ?

Mr G.W. Rus^eil is to ask the 'Ministe#'for Agnoullure if the Government considers it desirable to introduce legislation to provide for the marking of frozen mutton as "New Zealand," in order to check the sale iv the Home niarirets of inferior msafc as from We w Zealand • Mr G. W. Unwell 'will ask the Minister for Railways (1) • v/iil . the .Government flaiaify manures manufactured in the colony from blood, offal, &c. as animal m&'nnres,' in order to provide "a lower rata of freight tban now imposed;' (2) will7 they carry m inures sent elirsct from the manufactory to farmers af; a lov?er rate than 'they carry imported''manures, ami thuj appjy in another way tbe principle laid down ■ ih'conhectioh with'colonial cement and coil. ■''' ':'■'•• .- •.: ;; :-- ;. :. ■•■.-■■

Toe Eon, Mr Larnach ;is to ask the 'Minister for;Mj(,eß'if he" will lay oh the fc\ble of the Houso 'Miniog--'lujipgctur Gow'a report on the ai^siorbura goidfitld relatiDg .to the water rights at-the■'Greenland Sifr.mp, made 'after hw iospection of that disfcricV when acoompamed by Mr. H; C. Fuller and others. " . Mr Masasyiwauts the (Jovernment to formulate a scheme for planting those waste lands of the Crown that are not suitable for settlement purposes with forest trees, and thereby keep up a supply of'-'timba'r inthe; colony and at the same Mine: find- work for the unemployed; ' _. Mr Duhcaii is to "ask.'tao Miuister for' Lands if the Giverrimenb intend this session to'make provision lor-granting' aid to dairy factories.