POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11229, 27 September 1898, Page 5

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

(Fbok Oto Own Cobeespondent.) WELLINGTON, September 26.' THEPREMIER'S EXPENSES. In regard to tha £146 charged'in tho Post Office contingencies for expenses of the Premier's secretary on tho Record Reign expedi tion to London, references to Hansard, pajtes 633 and 634-, vol. 99, show that'tho Premior iast year spoke as follows:—" Taking the railway and steamer fares,' etc., for himself, Mrs Seddon, and his secretary, and transports of luggage, the amount was £790; gratuities on steamers and trains and at hotels, £120 ; hotel expenses in America, Great Britain, and elsewhere of Mrs Seddon, himself, and secretary, £210. That (the total expenses, including £220 paid out of his own pocket) would be found to total £1970. The number of days ho was absent was 149._ He thought it would have, been preferable if the expenses of the seoretaryliad been charged separately, and if that had been done the account against himself would not haVe, been so large." There can bo nd doubt that the expenses of the secretary were stated to be included in the lump sum of £1750, for at page:94o of the next volume of Hansard a similar statement from the Premier's lips is chronicled. THE NEftV DAIRY EXPERT. Mr J. A. ■ Ruddick, the newly-appointed chief dairy expert, was born in Canada. He went to an Ontario factory, and before completing his first season there, and when in his nineteenth year, he was seleoted out of 34 applicants, to supervise a number of factories, a position which he occupied for seven years; During 1889 and 1890 Mr Ruddick acted as travelling instructor for the Eastern Dairymen's Association, resigning in 1891 to accept a position on the staff of the Dominion Dairy- Commissioner. By means of a travelling dairy, he aided considerably, in the development of co-oporative dairy work in Manitoba, the , North-west -Country, and British Columbia,- and lie was the "builder" of the famous Canadian mammoth cheese exhibited at the World's Fair at Chicago. On the State taking over the Kingston Dairy School Mr Ruddiok became its permanent superintendent, and the school has prospered under his management, the number of students increasing every year. A PROHIBITIONIST AND A PERMANENT ARTILLERYMAN. In a letter to the press, Mr A. R. Atkinson makes a serious charge against ono of tho Permanent Artillery officers, who was recently on. duty in Parliament House. The officer, he states, objected to his conversing in an undertone with a friend in the publio gallery, and threatened 'his expulsion. "Protests on my part," writes Mr Atkinson, " which at first were mild, did not mend matters, and the guardian of the law proceeded to threaten ejectment in very picturesque terms, garnished with oaths, of which one was of the obscenest possible character. My, retort then was to threaten my assailant with proceedings for obi£j£s Js-f^mse if It was persisted in, but

the rejoinder was more powerful still—viz., that I had better leave things, alone, because I was under the influence of liquor. Leaving me stunned with this terrible charge, the officer retreated, and I am still in doubt as to the proper way of dealing with him, and it. But in the meantime it has seemed best to take the public into my confidence and to assure 'them I was neither drunk nor intoxicated, nor what the Police Commission describe as 'in liquor,' nor 'under the influence,' nor anything short of 100 per cent, sober on last Saturday, or on any other day of my life. I was not even suffering from influenza or a ' bad cold and cough,' or ' explosive bronchial catarrh,' all of which ailments have been found by the recent Royal Commission to produce effects which the uninitiated may mistake for intoxication." A GOVERNMENT CAUCUS. ■ The official report of to-day's Government caucus states that the principal matter under discussion was the Old Age Pensions Bill, upon which there was much talk. A clear understanding, was arrived at by the party as to certain provisions of the bill, and it was unanimously decided to endeavour to pass it: ihe Premier expressed the hope that the bill would now be discussed on its merits, and without unreasonable obstruction. The question of the bills to be passed this session cropped up, and it was announced that the party would be called together later on to consider the matter. The Premier stated, and it was agreed to, that certain important bills would have to be proceeded with, however long the session might take. • , THE SPEAKER'S DECISION. The Speaker's decision to-night that the fiouse was still in committee notwithstanding the Premier s order that it should meet at 7.30 to-night for special business, is questioned in several quarters. Apparently, also, it runs counter to a previous decision given bv Sir Maurice, who in 1888 ruled that "when a special order has been made for taking certain business at 7.30 p.m. the debate interrupted at o.JO continues interrupted until the 7.30 business is disposed of." ' COMMITTEE REPORTS. The report of the Publio Accounts Committee on the question of establishing a Pacific cable service, together with the minutes of the procedings and appendices, was circulated to night. It is a closely-printed document of L-.8 pages. The report of the Agricultural Committee on the Orchards and Garden Pests Bill,- together with the.evidence thereon, was also distributed to night. THE RUMOURED DISSOLUTION. The continuous efforts of the Premier to produce the impression that a dissolution is imminent have revived the rumours that were prevalent at and before the beginning of tho session to the effect that he had arranged with the brewers to secure a general election at some time prior to December 5, thus obviating the necessity for a licensing poll. A prominent business man in the liquor trade to-day told me the brewers were pressing for a dissolution. Whether or not, Mr Seddon could get a dissolution is a moot point. He might try for it if the Old Age Pensions Bill as rejected by the Upper House, and go to. the country on this measure and the Master and Apprentice Bill. No doubt this would be a good card to play, because the longer an election is delayed the less chance the Premier will have of coming back with a majority, and at the present moment the Opposition are not organised for an election. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. Though the Premier etated that the Public Wciks Statement would be brought down to-night, it is'unlikely, however, that it will belaid on the table before the telegraph office oloses. ' . . NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY. > The Auckland members continue to be greatly agitated about the rival routes for their railway. A meeting of Auckland and Taranaki members of both Houses was held this morning to consider the report of the subcommittee on the question of the Stratford and_ the Central routes. The sub-committee decided, though not unanimously, in favoui* of the Stratford route. Both sides freely stated that the first question put to the meeting was a straight out vote on the subject of the rival routes. This question had not been raised by motion, and the chairman (Sir Maurice O'Rorke) put it to the meeting purely on his own initiative. ; It was strongly objected to ,by^ certain members, who pointed out that no such motion had been moved, and also that it put many of them in an awkward and unfair position because, while they preferred one route to the other, if they could not get the route:they wanted they would support the other. The chairman, however, insisted on putting the motion, whereupon Messrs Brown, Bollard, and Massey refused to vote, and Messrs Lang and Monk voted under protest. On the yote'being taken the division resulted in favour of the Stratford route by 12 votes to 7. Mr E. G. Wright, who was ehairanaii of the North Island Main Trunk Railway ■Committee of 1892, states that, the evidence was all in favour of the Central route, and the present agitation in Auckland in famous of tho Stratford route was futile. The advocates of ■ the latter were kicking against the pricks. Looking upon the line as a colonial matter, and in the interests of the colony as a whole, the southern members would, ho thought,' combine with Wellintrton in favour of the Central line, . , . :