POLITICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1834, 14 January 1887, Page 13

POLITICAL NOTES.

;(FBOM : OUB'OWN COR&BBPONBENT.) - i .. < • . WBLLiKGTON,.January 7. . „, ... ; LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BBFOBM. - I hear- on what seems to be good authority that it has' been, virtually decided by Ministers to bring In a' bill next session p'rbvidini:.fpr the reconstitution of the Legislative Council on, an extensive, babis. I understand tnat> the, details of the measure shave, not, yet /been definitely settled,, bat that a general janderetandiag^haa been'arrivedjat as to the main* .features of the bill, which are said/to be i: as, follows :— First, a;-e6nsider.able in the i numerical .stren'gth'f^of ythe -Council ia -to,, be,? effected by 'Oofc . filling ' up present or future vacancies until' jthe* minimum number,,; which." -may be fixed,' shall have- been, reached. Second,' all future Legislative o councillors to be elected bj theJSousepf Representatives either by ballot or by direct open vote. Third,' jfchejr. tenure of'Office f tp be limited to a,fixecL,term ot seven or 10 years., .Fourth, provision to be made to avoid a deadlock in the event of 4 difference of opinion between the- two branches of the Legis-, lature, the* mods, probably being , by , , both Houses sitting . and voting together, ". in case of ja, • conflict on any important public question. It, will be observed that this. is. in a large degree a reproduction of the measure proposed , by Sir John Hall, which, however, never came up for serious, discussion. .The bill introduced by Sir Frederick Whittaker, for the reconstruction of, the Council, provided, .for an election by the colonial electors on the Hare system ; but that also fellstiUborn. It remains to be seen .whether the proposed measure will have any better fortune than its various predecessors, or whether it will bimply share their destination— the shelf. I believe thatanalternative plan wilJ be considered, , omitting • ,the elective element, but limiting and reducing the number of councillors, adding a provision against deadlocks. • THE LEADERSHIP OF THE OPPOSITION. From a private but trustworthy, source I hear that it is practically settled that Sir John Hall will stand for. the Selwyn district, his old con stituency, at the nest election, and that his reelection is looked upon as certain. It is said that' active negotiations are still proceeding among prominent members of the Opposition party with reference to the coming political campaign, and that there is every hope of Sir John Hall's election (with the concurrence of Major Atkinson, Mr Ormond, Mr Mitchelson, and other leading members of the party) as leader of the Opposition, Major Atkinson acting as before as first lieutenant. The Opposition are understood to be confident that if Sir j. Hall obtained a seat in Parliament before next session they could defeat the Government even in the present House. THE MEMBER FOB SBLW.YN. It is announced (1 do not know whether on reliable grounds) that in the event of Sir John Hall standing for Selwyn, the present member (Mr Wakefield) would probably, woo the suffrages 6f a Wellington constituency, where he is now being well known through the medium of his paper and by frequently speaking at public meetings and on all convenient occasions. THE REPRESENTATION BILL. It is rumoured that when Parliament meets every effort will be made to slip through- the session quietly and with as little fighting as possible, relegating all moot questions to the general election, which must follow the session. Ministers still prof ess (as they did last year) a fixed intention to push through the Representation Bill at all hazards, but there are many sceptical of .this determination having anym ore substantial outcome than it had last year. If is whispered that soundings have been attempted in a certain high quarter as to the probability of a dissolution being refused until a redistribution of seats have taken place, but that "no bottom" was found. • .; •' THM OWHAOKO 'SCANDAL. It is stated that the Government do not in< tend proposing any further action 1 in regard to the Owbaoka scandal, as they arc quite content to leave the matter as it stands m the face oi

the report of .tho. Parliamentary Committee last session and the subsequent developments 'which have taken place, especially considering that Mr Fenton is no longer in the Government service.

EETIBING OFFICERS.

, The officers of the .Native department who are to rritire so far as yet) settled are stated tobe Judges Williams and O'Brien of the Native Lands Court, who retire on pensions, and Judge Brookfield, who retires on compensation; Mr Wilkinson, Native agent in the Waikato, and Mr Vickare, clerk in the Native office here,both of whom retire on compensation, v Judges Williams and O'Brien retired on pensions' some time ago, but were .temporarily recalled to" full pay and active service, i ' ; Wellington, January 9. . , RECONSTBUCTION OF THE COUNCIL. Regarding the measure for the reconstruction of the Legislative Council, it is stated to be unlikely that the bill will be passed during the coming session;- but that tho question will' be placed before the country in a definite form, and will probably be among the subjects' submitted to the electors at the general election. Timabu, January 9. - ' CAPTAIN SUTTEE, M.H.B. Captain Sutter, member for Gladstone, met his constituents at Pleasant Point on Saturday. He touched lightly upon the leading events of last sossion. Speaking of the finances, ho said he was against further taxation and to make the finances of the colony square, he would be in favour of cutting down the' estimates for. road construction, &c., in the North Island aud Westland. At the close of the address he announced his intention not to seek re-election. His health was not good and he was going to take a trip Homo to recruit. . 'He received a unanimous vote of thanka and confidence.-