WELLINGTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 1242, 18 September 1875, Page 6

WELLINGTON.

September 4th.

The AbolitioH Bill is not much farther on than it was when I laafc wrote, as all that the House has since done has been to agree to tha report of the committee of the whole which considered the Governor's message transmitting the supply clauses of the Bill. The debate on this lasted Thursday and Friday, and would, probably, have lasted longer had not the Government turned ! gul/ry about Mr Brown's amendment and impressed absolute silence on all their supporters on Friday night, leaving the Opposition to talk until two o'clock in the morning, when the division was taken, the Bill being advanced this formal Btage by 37 to 15. Sir George Grey's speech was a tiresome repetition of the nonsense be haa already talked on several previous occasions about the liberties of Her Majesty's subjects, and the perfection of Provincial institutions, of which the House is absolutely sick. Sir Donald M'Lean became highly excited when replying, and Btalked about, and gesticulated, exactly after the most Rppr >\ ud style of Maori oratory. Of the other feijc.chce, that of Mr Montgomery was the wci.rlitioit, and it will tax the Colonial Treasurer's ability to the utmost to reply to his figures, ami the arguments based on them. Mr KeaJer Wood also marie a long and very able speech. The feature of the debate, how. ever, was the announcement by Major Atkinson as to the change of front resolved on hy the Ministry. In my last letter, I said Mr Mduandrew, by his amendments and projKiacd BiLb, had placed the Government rather jn a fix, but no one expected they would have ♦' caved in" at once in the way they have. I believe the decision to do so, and to add two move; to their list of Constitutional Bills, was not arrived at without a good deal of opposition from certain members ofths Cabin«t--opposi-tion which indeed at one time threatened a break up. To ri5Y that the amendment made by Major Atkinson" astonished the Home i» very faintly to represent the feeling it occasioned. The Opposition were in no way con» ciliated, while the Government supporters, or at least a good many of them, were disgusted and almost dismayed. There can be no doubt that by thus cbangingfront, Ministershavemade c, great mistake, and more than ever endangered the passage of the Bill on which they nave staked their existence. The Ultra-central party are very much disgusted at the Boards of Works proposals, contending that «ucb. bodies ' will be but Provincial Councils under & new tiaine, while their existence will defeat what they look to as one of the best parts of abolition - - the placing of the land fund under the direct control, and (subject to the appropriation, of the General Assembly. The northern members nlso. on whichever bide they sit. will join with the TTltra-centraHsts in opposing the locaiisatjw vl tUe education endowments ana m wu.

trol of education. The Otago members of course approve of this, but most of them, I think, doubt the sincerity of the Government in making the proposal, while all doubt the power of the Government to give the proposal effect. At any rate, the fact of the Government at this stage of the contest bringing down these new proposal is generally accepted as a very practical admission of the crude ill-considered nature of their first policy, and is affording a strong argument in favour of further time to consider the whole subject. When Major Atkinson announced his new Bills, Mr Stout and Mr Wood at once tu'ged that until these were before the House the Abolition Bill should not be proceeded with, but no notice was taken of the suggestion. Next night, Mr J. C. Brown moved it as a formal amendment, and his doing so the Government chose to resent as a breach of the agreement made between the whips as to the order of the debate, and so they and their followers sat looking very sulky, but resolutely declining to speak. The motion for going into Committee will be made to-morrow, and I expect that another long talk will take place on it. When it does get into Committee, the real fight will commence. Although Ministers say they abandon nothing, I fancy they will not in the slightest degree fight for fully half the clauses of the Bill. At any rate, it is generally understood that they will offer no real objection to the excision of the clauses relating to the boundaries of provincial districts, nominated Superintendents, endowment of municipalities, and issue of Treasury bills in lieu of land fund to those Provinces which have none. Each of these amendments will certainly detach some followers, and if the emasculated Bill ever does emerge from the Committee, the probability is that the number of its supporters and admirers will be woefully small on the third reading. I believe, indeed, that the majority of the Government party would be heartily glad if the Government could, or would, drop the Bill now, for they are all getting heartily tired of it, and everything else is, of course, postponed. > In the Council there was some little talk on Friday over two Bills of special interest to Otago — the Goldfields Act Amendment Bills, Nos. 1 and 2. The first is Mr Shepherd's, as to the pollution of rivers for mining purposes. This was taken charge of in the Council by Mr Bonar, who made a capital speech in its favour. Dr Pollen also supported it, but in a most half-hearted way, damning it, in fact, with faint praise, pointing out all its weak parts, saying some clauses were unintelligible (they were drafted by the Solicitor-General), and generally showing that he would be glad if the Bill were thrown out. One important amendment, he said, he would try to make — that is to charge the compensation payable to the riparian proprietors against the goldfields revenue, instead of against the land revenue. Mr Waterhouse supported the Bill, and Mr Holmes tried his best to get it thrown out, but failed, the second reading being carried by 17 to 1L The objections were very weak — that it had not been initiated or recommended by the Provincial Council, that it was a subject which should be dealt -with by the Government, not introduced by a private member, &c. The Bill now stands referred to a Committee, when it will probably be a good deal faltered. The second is Mr Mervyn's Bill, dealing with the deferred payments question, and it, too, of course, was strongly opposed, although not successfully.