POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1296, 30 September 1876, Page 16

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

[By Telegraph.]

Wellington, September 21st. t Mr Burns ,to-day, moved that there be laid before the House a return showing the number of reserves set aside for the city of Dunedin, the number leased by the Corporation, the terms on which such leases have been granted, Including tne number of years rents derivable ■ from same, and the manner in which revenues derivable from the same have been disbursed. - Mr. Stout moved an amendment that the motion be applied to all towns in the Colony. • The Hon. Mr Whitaker said that the Corporation need net give the information if it liked. Mr Burns said what he complained of was that one of the public could not get the information unless through a Councillor. He wanted to Bee this remedied. After some discussion, Mr Burns withdrew his motion.

(from our own correspondent.)

To-day Messrs J. 0. Brown, Bastings, Larnach, Robeit Campbell, and John Cargill ■waited on the Minister of Public Works, to urge that the railway to Lawrence should be pushed on so as to be opened by the end of the year, in order to bring down this season's wool. The Hon. Mr Richardson referred them to the Engineer-in-Chief, whom they saw. They stated that if the railway •was opened, 6000 bales of wool which would otherwise go into town by dray, would be brought down; and they urged that, by an expenditure of not more than LSOO in carting rails over the Round Hill ao that the permanent way could be laid on the other side before the tunnel was finished, the work. could be much expedited. The Engineer-in-Chief could not be said to promise to have the whole line open, or to adopt the suggestion of carting over the Round Hill The gradient was too steep on the Dunedin side to allow trucks to be unloaded, safely ,on that side of the tunnel. He, however, promised to have the line open as far as Havolock by the end of the year. The payment of members question is likely to be Amicably settled by all parties agreeing to make the amount £200 this session. Sir G-. Grey ib expected to npeak, to-night advocating the principle of paying members, and urging that the question should be settled by Act. Sir (Jeorge G-rey has given ,notice of a Bill in favour of triennial Parliaments. Sir G. Grey to-day, through Mr Dignan, withdrew a notice of motion given some time ago calling the attention of the Governor to the fact of his responsible advisers having been chosen in contravention of law. Last night Sir G. Grey postponed for a week his Permissive Abolition Bill. A number of the Government supporters are Tery much annoyed with the attitude of Ministers 6n the, payment of members question. Mr Montgomery's Disqualification Bill has been re-printod, with the' amendments recommended by the Disqualification Committee. ;It is understood that the Waste Lands Com-

mittee ; recommend a still further increase in „ the . price of land in several Provinces, as an amendment of the Waste Lands Administratinn Bill. The annual report of the PGBt Office Department has been circulated. It announces that the introduction of penny post cards has been decided on, and that the cards will be issued as early as practicable. The net cost to the Colony, of the 'Frisco service is shown as L 28,060 2s 5d for the year, and of the Suez service L 7093 10s 7d. The balance at credit of depositors at the end of the year in the Savings Banks was L 727.295 7b Bd, being an average of L 29 17s 9d per account. The number ?f Post Offices in the Colony is 647, with 783 officers employed. The revenue for the year amounted to L 122.495 3s, or with amounts admitted to be due but not recovered to L 136.430. The expenditure was L 139.321, mxde up as follows :— Conveyance of mails by sea, L 72.74 3; salaries, L 32,13 5; inland mail service, L 29,770.

Wellington, September 23rd. The Amended Counties Bill was circulated this afternoon. The number and descriptions of the Counties are left blank, to be determined upon in Committee. Each Council may determine by resolution at the first meeting that part of the Act shall not come in force in the County. If such resolution is not passed, the Act is deemed to have come into force in the County. If passed, the provisions of the Act as to merger of road districts and relative to ridings and outlying districts, extraordinary business, Council Committee, payments into County fund, and the whole of the sections from 100 to 200 inclusive (dealing with rates, accounts,' loans, contracts, bye-laws, public works, charities, &c), are not to have any force in the County. The Council may at any time thereafter, by resolution at special meeting, adopt the whole Act, which shall come into force on the next day after the passing of the resolution. The resolution cannot afterwards be altered or rescinded by the Council.

(fbom otjr own cobrespondent.) Wellington, September 25th. The Counties Bill is to be gone on with tonight, and to-morrow the Financial Arrangements Bill will be brought down, and a kind of general statement of policy will be made. In all probability the date cf abolition taking place will be extended to the Ist January, the Provincial Appropriation Act being extended to that date, and the elections of County Councils taking place in the meantime. Sir George Grey has given notice of a Manhood Suffrage Bill. Mr Bastings has given notice of an Address to the Governor to recommend provision for the Tapanui Railway, by setting apart 60,000 acres in the Waikaia district, the proceeds of the sale of which should be devoted to the construction of the line.

Sir R. Douglas has given notice of a new clause in the Disqualification Bill, prohibiting any lessee of pastoral land, or any person interested by mortgage, lien, or otherwise, on Buch leases, from voting on any any measure effecting the leasing of waste lands.

> Wanganui, September 25th, The nomination for the seat vacant by Sir Julius. Vogel's resignation took place on Satur-

day, when the Hon. W. Fox and Mr John Wargar were proposed. The poll takes place on the 27th inst.

(prom oub own cobrespondent.) Wellington, September 26th. Messrs Seymour and Rolleston made verygood speeches last night on going into Committee on the Counties Bill. The other speeches were not remarkable. All that was done last night on going into Committee was purely formal, being merely the substitution of Ihe amended Bill for the original one. To-day, however, the House has got fairly at work at the Bill, but no great progress has yet been made. The Financial Arrangements Bill will not be ready till about Friday. The Government intend taking Wednesday as a Government day, for the remainder of the session. The Provincial Appropriations Extension Bill will extend the present appropriations to some time iv December, so that the Counties may get to work, but the date of Abolition coming Sato effect will not, it is now said, be postEoned at aIL How the appropriations are to c met when there is no Provincial revenue, remains to be seen. The Bill is to be circulated to-night. Even amongst Government supporters the Counties Bill is regarded with disappointment, and no great favour. The Boundaries Schedule is not yet published.

(from oub own correspondent.)

Wellington, September 27th. The Provincial Appropriations Extension Bill is a rery short one, simply providing that, subject to any legislation during^ the present ssssion, the provisions of the Provincial Appropriations Extension Act, 1875, shall continue in force until the Ist December. It comes on for second reading to-night, and will probably occasion a good deal of discussion. Probably an effort will be made to extend the existence of the Provinces to the end of the year also.

Some 34 clauses of the County Bill were got through last night, one or two being postponed. A great number of amendments were proposed, and there were several divisions, but the only important amendments made were > in clause 14, where the nuirber of electors required to petition was altered from one-third to onehalf.

The Government announced, in reply to a question, that they would oppose the Law Practitioners Act Amendment Bill, intended for Smythies's relief, in all its stages. The new Estimate will probably bo circulated to-morrow.

Mr Pyke is introducing a Bill to repeal the Act passed at Shepherd's instance last year to deal with the question of river pollution by gold mining operations. The Bill will be opposed by several gold fielda members. In the Council, the Hon. Mr Campbell is to-morrow going to mova that the financial condition of the Colony demands the serious consideration of the Legislature. The Government to-day promised to extend the telegraph to the Nuggets and Catlin's River, on being guaranteed the mere expenses of working the line. # Sir George Grey's Triennial Parliaments Bill pimply provides that unless previously dissolved, each House of Representatives shall exist for threft years and no longer.

Invbboaroill, September 27th. The following memorial to the Premier is being largely signed : — " We, the undersigned inhabitants of Invercargill and neighbourhood, having heard that 17 of the Otago members of the House of Representatives have requested the Government to proclaim the whole of Otago a single County, beg respectfully to represent that such a step would be detrimental in the highest degree to the interests of the Southland district, the commercial centre of which is Invercargill, and its shipping poit, the Bluff, and we earnestly hope that the Government will oppose td the utmost this mischievous proposal, the result of which would be to entail upon the district for an. indefinite period all the worstevils from which it has hitherto suffered under the system of Provincial centralism, and from which we hope we are now about to escape under the promised system of real local selfgovernment which your memorialists understand the Government desire to substitute for the Provincial reghre." Upwards of 70 signatures were appended in twonoura.