BARBED WIRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2171, 3 October 1895, Page 21

BARBED WIRE.

In striking off the Is per cwt from barbed wire lesfc evening, the operation of that vote was to make it Mill liable to the duty under the act of 1888, which was a higher one. This evening, to make ifc free, ifc was necessary fco add tbe article to fche free lilt, and this being foraja'ly mooted aad fche qu.'xffcion pat, the Tremier e'ested to go fco a <*triikn, aud wes iiguaJljr defeated by 33 to 22, and the impaafc was absolutely removed. PATENT MEDICINE 3. Lasb Monday evening, when the 40 per cent, duty upon patent medicines was being conB! c'ored, the Treasurer promised Captain, fiussell thafc he would consider later tfce reruovAl to tbe fre a litt of some of the preparaliors of acknowledged v*lue by the faculty. This evening, iv consonance, preaum&bly, with this pr rn'fa, the Treamrer moTed fco add fco tbe free list malti*e and ohlorodyne The xnccni-cr for H.iwko'a Bay a*ked for fche same con!-i»it>rati( n for hypoi>h«Bphites at.d Parrish'a food, wb'le Mr Earn^ha* pleadid fo- <raultioa cf cod liter oil, in which he w»h Blrorgy kujjporte I hy Dr Newraao, who declared ilie j>reparjv'ii/ii ntc ssary fco fcl.c iuvnlid pcor aud tbnfc it was u«ei from o>e end ot New Z<<ilbik\ to the otber. But fche Yr..a?uier wouid h^va none of them acd they wero c»ef: out by 33 fcj 18, so thafc with the exc<ptions named the public will now have to pay 40 per cent, ad valorem on alt patent ai.d proprietary medicines from abroad, which is 15 per c*-t. iv <-xcess of the impost under the act of 1688. A SCENE There was a so*ue in the House t^iis morning, the. central figure of wh ; ch was fcbe member f*r Clutha v who some we<-ks »go gave nctice of hia infctttti'>« to move thai fe» cii-g wire nfvould bo ftdmitted duty free. In Ibis w»y ho b^d as it wero) p' g^ed off ft claim, and naturally h*d no wibh that it should be " jumped" by »Mjl-oJy else. H'jwever, wtvon fche it- m wm ie*«hed thii morning ttij w*s dono iv eflyofc. Tho meui-r for Clulha and M»pr Steward rose simultaneously, and, notwithstanding Mr MhcJrer.au--'« notice of motion, Mr Ji.yce, the Ac'ir-g ChHinnnn of Oom«nit<«€F, ctvlJcii oti Mr Str ward, who, in piopoting fcho extmpti'ui of feri'if.g wite, renia-k-d (h«ifc ho iii(.>v<hl mdj ai"sy willir.giird to cct-uu pu-ci- g>o<U. Wt«n Mr Wsok-iJ7.i.-'n turn \o sp^ak c»mi: h<- adcui't*'! t!ii\fc Mr iStcward h d opposed toltvii g<nHls in yhbo, but had sal s queutly voted cgnhisi his (Mr AlnckeuzieV) motion to cxcin^fc fo fnr«, piints, &«. He was further showing that Mr S**w»rd w<vs out in his e«tima*.e of wh»t the coi\ret«ion on wire wtukT amount to, rofirring inter alia in an incident of the T«riff Commit it n, \?h«ie".pon the chaimi'an said he was wMi^eni-g from tLe subject, o* wbich Mr Mhckoi re obfc.-vefl tbat he w-** merely rtplyi--g bo 'be remarks nude by Mr S'eward. Wr Joyce eaid fee could not allow that. Thereupon Mr Mackenzie charged the Chairman with unf ain\c si m porxni<Ting a Government snpiwrt^r fc> wai.d-.* over the mi jecS -while de«) ing tho Ft\tn.^ latitude to a u.iin'ji r of the Opi* siUon, crwi wh»n it w«8 ueutft^ry to th-j Bta'-cmrjjt of bi« ewe. Mr J:)}ca called up?n Mr Maoktnzt« to withdraw, but Mr Ssackcnzio refuei-d, decjflr-uy thafc wbafc he had B»id was 3>eHectly trae, and that hie hide of tho House Tec'ived no jusMco whatever. At fcbi* cries of '•Ordnr, order," "Ch-».rr, chwir," r**«.unfl«d tbrovgHoufc the Chamber. The Cbairoann Bgain called on Mr M*ck«iz»e to with^rMT, l)ut th». member for liulha d«fi*ntly dfcliuod, •once moi-o d< cUriug tbivt what h* ba4 *»id abaut the Obavneo wa« perfectly tru». JFor a time the int«iiHAy of fche position w«a extreme. Tha C l<m«J Ti^ewarvt w«s called on to moves lint the Ch»ir should ex.>m -c ite moet avrful authority, but ev«u then Mr Mackenzie re»olir ( el> refused <o t'kc back biicouturi-aciwus wen's. Afc last bia chi-. f, CJap^niu R'i*Htll, ■expre'sed a hope th«t, even though Mr Manit nz'e felt that he bad been ui.juttly treated, Jie would conform to tbe rnle« aud bow to the ruling of the Chair Tais having beau done by fche member for Clutha, the fcultrust incident of the session came to a close. BANKS AMALGAMATION. Th' re is » change apparently in the n*pecfc of the baniing qu stion, and ifc is now stated thafc tbe Culonisl B»nk will probably accept tL« terms of the Bank of New Zealand. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26. In the Legislative Council to - day fche Cer.su* Rill was introduced and read a firsi I time. - TLe Fencing Bill w»s r« po t«d from Committee. An attempt by the Hon. Mr Reynold* to obtain informntion eoncecfciug the Poritua Asjlum »ff*ir waa not Buocestful, but the Cu!i nial Secretary promised to have something lo say on Tuesday. PKPLIKS TO QUESTIONS. The Hon. Mr REYNOLDS a-kud the Colonial Becr<- ary whrtber he will Uy on the t^ble copies of all memoranda, also di'p*rfcmtn |p al or other coiruspoudencs, with Mr Arthur Bell or any other enfc,ineer-in-charge in reference to the Porirua Asylum, and also reference to the dismissal and reinstatement of, or the engineer's recommendation^ to dismiss, fche inspector of works. The COLONIAL SECRETARY paid, in reply, that he h*d no opportunity of seeing the Premier that day, therefore he had been unable to obtain the information asked for The Hon. Mr REYNOLDS asked the Colonial Secretary whether free railway passes will be granted to wives of members of the Legislative Council when they accompany their husbands to Parliament. Tho COLONIAL SECRETARY, replying, said he would bring the matter nuder the n< fc cc of the Minister for Railways aa toon ad he could obtain nn opportunity. The Fencing Bill was further considered m Committee. In clause 25, the Hon. Mr MAOGREGOR'S amendment to strike out the provision compelling those passing through swing gites to clos» them was lo«fc on the voices, and fche clause was agreed to as printed. Ti» Hou. Mr MACGREGOR moved a new clause, the effect being to enable a person to tree* a dividing fence of a description different from any fence mentioned in Bcheduie A after

giving 21 days' notice in writing to hia neighbour. — The clause was agreed to by 15 to 7. The Hon. Mr MACGREGOR moved a new clause, 41A, its effect; being to divido the cost of fencing between the landlord and tenant under cartain CDndi.ions. — Tho clause was lost by 16 to 4. I Tha Hon. Mr MACGREGOR moved another new clause relating to defence of action, which was agreed to on the voices. Progress was reported, with leave to Bifc again. Tho Customs and Excise Duties Bill has at length passed the House ot Representatives. After the Pastoral Tenants' Relief Bill bad been reiufcroduced by message from the Governor, the Colonial Treasurer brought down anofcker s*t of tariff resolutions, imposing a duty ot 5 per cent ad valorem ou nearly all imported machinery. Those were evoutually passed, and a change made in tha dates during which a duty of Id per 1b is imposod on apples and pears. After a brief debate on the motion for the third reading of fche bill, the measure was passed in a very thin House. THE TARIFF DEBATE. After the closing of the telegraph office j yesterday morning the debate oa the free list was continued, lsr Willis getting home with a motion to exclude oatdbourd matchboxes, on the ground that Eivfficieiit protection had ' alre;-dy been given to the imtch industry, and ! that tliofie boxes should be made in the colony. '< An attempt by Mr Eimsfcaw to increase the j amount of hou- ehold furniture and effects a persoa may bring into the colony free from £100 to £200 was defeated by 34 to 17. Bub Mr Maigey was more successful in respect of j Kapcr and binder elevators and aprons, which will now come in duty frtie. A departmental j j amendment placed on fche list spirits for xuat*u- ! facturing perfumes and culinary and other essences, nnd the Commissioner of Customs w*s given discretionary power to admit free apparatus and appli*noes forteachiug purpose? , tbe reservation being mado in order to admit necessaries for t«;bnioal schools. Major Steward made a di^i>ilied appeal to have organs and other ercle-iastical appurtenances- bu eh as vestments, lecterns, and communion vefsels — admit^d free ; but the etep Ir. m \ln t-tib iine to the ridiculous was m»de by Mr Fiaiman, who Kiggi*«t«d including Salvation Army instcu«Ht-r>t«, aad both propcs^ls were lost on tbe voioei. After tbe CoiimUfcee bad agreed to clume 6 wh^ch gives the CointnisMoner of Cuftomß K>le power to decide any application for th<; ix'<npticm of shirting*, Mr G. J. Smifcii'd provi*o giving a rig.it of appeal to fche Buptew-c Cvutt l>eii\4; loefc, progress w«s reported on the bill. It was junfc iivo minu'es to 2 when Sir Ma-nice took the th*ir, aud the Tre«suriC at wwo moved to recommit tho bill to de«l wivh Mr "Clutha" Mackenzie's fruit Rmenduionfc, Mr G. J. Smith's reruisMon of duty on Turkey twilU, and a new cUu«e. by the Colonial Treasurer, which would ee.ttle at onoe tfee question cf refund to tLce who paid higher du!i>B than the rutts aft<rw«td 1^ fixed. The House was in to ttmper at that hour of fche morning to take so U'ge on order aftsr haying fat fcil' 3 o'clock fcwo morning* running. Finding thftt the Goven nvnb wouM not adjourn a 6miU s^newj-.1l of «m hour's duration was s>fc up \ t y Wcfsrs hla<kct>z\o nnd Buchirian, the fi -s>l-tttoao<i prol-C'tiny aqi.iufit fche tiut'Vs of tbe Tici'Smrr in i.lfc- m|j'i< g to thwftit a twice-r-'ixp.<cd <'cci-im of the llon^e rr-si<ecling thß fvdmi.iti'rti r«f iiuifc during eerUin mouth<:. At length tho bll leached tlie recommittal ht*ge pfc 3 o'clock. The leader of fche Oj>p ►ition had triei at 2 to extract a promise trcm th'». PrenHfT thafc the Ci>mmittee would get awaj »-fc 2 30, bu«. without avail, and by 30 to 21 defc«t'.Hi a motion by Mr G. J. Snuith to adjourn. Tue Treasurßr's ntw cUuse »s to no ivfutid i^vfl'ied, and th<> Committee settled down to fruit, the difcus^ion on which was v»ried by m< fciona ,t° report pr g>eia and that ihe Ch^irmetn leave the chair. But ultiniafcely a comprewtise wafl arrived at between the nn?nibf r for Clu'ha end the Prnmlcr, by which fche peiiod during which nvpl*s wid poirs will be «diutted »t a ill per ib *as aIU-r«d frt-m April 30 to July 14 and from November 30 to December 31. Tuis <.b*Uo'e ucHjotktwd, there still remained prints and lurk«-y tffirli. Mr D. J. Smirh <kcl«imed ngM'r«fc the unfairness of the Trweur*r'a action in trying to rescind an itoyoftfint resolution in a thui H-<use *t guch an hour (3 30), and at lonftfi <be member for Wnirwapa moved to fcHl tbe bill. Th? Committee wn« g«fc'ing dtn^wous, and tht voices warned the Premier that the thing had goo* far e-nottgh. He thorftfocc compromised wiA Mr Smikh by promtfring t-hat fche reeolufci«» (which was bri.-flj to put Turkey twills and »s*toa priofcs under 4d back fco 20 per cent.) was agreed to. H« wou'd h«ve the item reetfnuaifcted at ivoxfc siitiig in a full Hou*r>, but the other members were nofc to lenient as fche meml)Of for Christ-church, and refived fco i>as« Sir Ward's motion. This rather I eirrpris<»^ »6 well aa annoyed t-he Governmeiifc, but fcbe Trer\fmrcr fcot^t away the brenth of Mr Orowthw by naming that the defeat did nofc amount to much, us fche clause would have been imprflcticnb'e aud unworkable, which caused the member for the northern tity to give fche Ttea-nrer a bit of his mind in rather vigorous English. Aft-r a great deol of consultation between Me<srs Smith and T. Mackenzie, the Treasurer, fche Premier, and the experts tbe clause wu fi<i*lly redrafted, and on the awnrance that ifc satisfied Mr Smith, the Committee pa-Fed ir,. Progrt*s w,s then reported, ' and leave giv»u to w again, th<* weary members getting away shortly beUrc 4 30, and jutt as there was a suspicion of dawn !>pjiearing in the east. ANOTHER NEW TARIFF. The following additional tariff resolutions were submitted to the Ilonsa this afternoon :—: — 1. That in lieu of tbe duties impoped and exemptions created in respect of the under-mcu-ti'intil ai tides by "The Customs and Ktrhe Ihiticp Act 18S8" or any previous resolution of this H'lusc the wd articles fhall be subject to a dm,y of 5 per cent, ad valorem od and after the 27tb of September 1895.:— Machinery for dairying purposes, excluding separators and coolers. Machinery for agricultural purposes including cbaffcutrers, corncrusbers, corushellers, also articles used in manufacturing the same— namely, chaffcuttioe knives, tilt rakca, fittings for threshing mills, iorginßS for ploughs ; but excluding reapers and bindei-3. Printing machines and pressfß. Machinery of evry description for mining purposes including machine pumps, but excluding machinery for gulil saving purposes and processes. Machinery for flour mills, woollen mills, paper niilh, rope and twine making, dredging, saw milling, planiDg, and wood working (including lathe 6), oil refining, boring, aud also machinery for refrigerating or preserving meat. Soda water machines, also machines for aerating lintmrs . Machinery for stamping and blocking tin, portable eneiucs on four wheela with boilers of locomotive type, also traction engines' 2. That the undermentioned articles shall be exempt from the customs duties on and from the 27th day of September 1895 :— Reapers and biuders, materials fov manufacturing agricultural machinery namely, reaper knife Eections, fingers, brass and steel springs, malleable castings, disca for harrows, mould board pi tea aud steel share plates cut to pattern, bkeith plates, separators and coolers for dairying purposes ; provided that oxcept where specifically men-

tioned neither steam engines nor part of steam i engines nor «tci\m boiler* (Und or marino) shall I be dcßineil to be m.ichineiy or lu.vebinii) within i tbe meaning of tlm resolution. EXTRAORDINARY RULING OF THE SPEAKER. The action of the Speaker in connection with the question of which Mr Duthio gave nofcic3 regarding Mr Arthur Bell's letter touching the Poriraa Asylum scuulal has given rise to much comment. It will ba remembered that at an early period of tbo bow on Mr Duthie tabled a motion on the subject, and the Government used aU the resources at their command to prevent the motion coming up for diflcu»skm, and it now stands at llie foot of the Order Paper, in such a position that th»ra is no chance of it coming np. No d'lvib!; the Government linve been chuckling over the success of their manoeuvre*, but Mr I Arthur Ball's letter, which has bfea published M over the colony, has let the light of d*y in upon tho action of the Premier ou this snbj-ct ; , and one would suppose thit the Premier would take the first opportunity of meeting the grave charge arising out of that let'er. Bat hs has not, and now when Mr Duthie puts a qu-stion relative to Mr Bell's letter the w»y is blocked again, but this time ifc is dono by the Speaker, who adopted the course of rulbg the question out of cr<Jer. No one dispute* that it is the riijhfcfciKl duty of the Speaker to deoide as to tho propriety of questions bsfore allowing them to appear en tbe Ordrr Paper ; but I venture to think that a more extraordinary reason than th^fc ntftted by Sir Mnucice O'Rjrke has uevrr be«n givi n— mmoly, that the subject had be n commMited on in the Evening Po:fc If this is to be are»son for objecting to a question, there can be litUe doubfc that a large proportion of tho que^iors put in the House without demur should have been ruled on*; cf order. After reference to authorities and consulting those f«mi'i»r with procedure, I feel sure that the Speaker's action in this instance has bven eueh as to justify the vory forcible rcraarlta that lave been made regarding it. Ifc is specially ii!if.,rtunr.tt for tiio Speaker tba*, thiß plioird have occurred iv a case in which tbe Govcrnmert h&ve shown so much anxiety to avoid dipclosure. That the ruling is qnito wrorg feemß to be generally udiivtfced. lam inclined to think that the Sp -alter must have misapplied a rule which forbids a member in putting a que^ion " to read a letter v.hicL Ins app'ar> d in the public prdsx, when in the opinion of th« Spenker it is not uecesßfcry to make the quot-tioa intelligible or to elicit the information sought." This ia, I believe, the fulleflt tx ent to which the rule on fche subj :cfc goee, and ifc is obvious that ifc oan have no application to this case It is to be hoped that the roa'ter will not be allowed to res\ for it is ecsentia.l th»t the Speaker should be absolutely above all suspicion of exercising the authority enttusfced to him by ths House in the int^rpst ! of the Go-.'«rn«oenfc, »nd S-r Muutice woild do well to take the fi.-sfc oppoctunity of explaining and justify. ng his action if he can. The maifcer, you may be aesured, will hot be allowed to reet where it is, and today, in the Legislative Council, the Hon. W. H. Reyuolds aeked the Culonial S«cref.ary whether te would Uy on the table copies cf all numwinda and corrwipo^dwice wilh Mr Arthur B -11 in nfvivrc-j to the Po ir«a Asylum, and a'e i in r«-U'i f 'tice t^ tlw 1 dismi^stl and r- in*ta f«n:cit of, or tl;e tn^inter's n-ominf ndufciou to dismiss, the inspector of works. In doing ho Mr Rcyn Ida siid that a ltt'er of Mr Boll's had appeared in the Evening Pott of S<p embor 21 d-nying a certain etafcainput made by the Prtmier iv tbe Houbo of Representatives, a».d he (Mr Rc^nulds) could Lardly bi-litsve Mr Seddon would have mado the stfttdiieufc attributed to him had ho been awarrt of any psprvs in the Pubic Works department beating out Mr ! Beli'fi assertions In the interest of the Premier, I and out of fairness to Mr Bell, these papers should be kid on tbe table as early as possible, so thafc the blame, if blame there was, could bo paced on the right shoulders. Sir Patrick Buckley, in reply, said fiat owinj{ to the Ute ] sitting of fche previous iiigkt he had nofc b.^en able to 6eo tho Pieuaic, but be hojied lo be able to give Mr RejnokU a satisfactory roply on Tuesday. A SHARP PASSAGB-AT-ARMS. A very sharp p\Sßagc-at-arms occurred early ir-JJie afte.-nofrti between the Premier and fche lead*r of the Oppa«iMi'n, in which the Premier's b st friends could hardly ontend thifc he bfcowid up to great advautage. The trouble arcsCT over some adverse critlei-nn by Captmim Ruißell as to the administration of justice in conntc^ion with what is known a« the Wood- ! ville citil».-steftling oare. In dt fending fche j authorise fche Premier significantly &uggeeted thafc Captain llu^tll had better ke?p qniefc upon this matter, as facts might be brought to light which ooeu red wbile CftpUin Rurs^ 11 was in office whioh would be an " eyo-opc-nor " to the public as to the admini»trat;on of fornoer Govt rnmentfl. This br<<u^ht the leader of the Opposite nbo his fee* 1 . He s*id if the Premier had nny charges to make against him he shou'd make them opei.ly.and not in the sn««ik»Bg w»y he (Mr Seddon) was now adopting. Tho Premier re.plied, "The hon. memb-r is tco sensitive." Captain Russell : "No, st ; but I havo a ser.ss of honour." The Preanar : "Your sense of honour is dull occasionally." This caupod some dis'-urbance, and the Speaker intervened. Captain Rui-sell, however, interjected, " I do nofc wish him to withdraw, Sir, I as my senße of honour is so difft r?nfc from his." Tbe Prtmier then explained that he was nofc referring to the leader o? tho Opposition personally, bub to fche administration of sonne previous Governments. "Th^n you make no charge against me ? " asked Captain Russell, and the Premier replied, " No, certainly not." The m*ttcf was then allowed to drop. THE DEBT OF THE COLONY. The Hon C. C. Bowen has had compiled by the Audit Office a va'uable return showing the annual debt of the colony for 10 year*, from 1886 lo 1895, anil, in moving to-day that it ba printed, he tt^fced that his reasons for asking for it were that there wero c ins bant discussions a's to the actu»l amount of the national indebtedness from year to year, iucludiug fche permanent and floating debt. In the ordinary tables published by the Treasury it was nofc easy at. once to see what the whole liability is after deducting the accrued sinking I und and securities held by the Treasury. The period covered by tbe return included several Administrations which succeeded each other after the great publ : c works expenditure had ceaaed, and gave at a glance some idea of the progress of tho national debt under what maybe ctlled normal conditions. It has increased from £32,061,057 on the 31sb March 1886 to £39,952,032 this year, so thafc in nine yearß tbe increase was £7,690.975. Tho rate of increase, however, hivd no' by any mraus been sX tho tame r&te. During the three years 1887, 1888, 1889 the debt iccrea»ed by over five millions. After thafc there seemed to ba a determination to pull up, and for the next four years (1890 93 inclusive) the increase was £1,300,000, or at the rote of £325,000 a year. But during the last two years the increase bad been more than doubled~the total for 1894-95 being £1,577,000, or at the rate of £800,000 a year. Thus duriig tho decade there had been no year, even when the oolony w&a supposed to bo polling up, th&t

there had not been an increase in the national debt;. Even now when the colony is snppohcd to bo cariying on its public works policy out of surplus revenue the colony is going to the bad at the rate of £800, COO a year. Ifc had also to bo remembered that this increasing indebtedness had nothing to do with the adv«no«s to «etfclers, which will largely hid'cane the iudcbUdncss, and would have to enter into future returns. THE SUPPOSED ANTHRAX OUTBREAK. Tho Stock department has received a telegram fiom Mr Giliuth, veterinary surgeon, siting thit ho ba-s visited Mr Moloiiey's tarm in tlu Waikato, on whioh it was lutely ivp >rted iv our telegrams th*t an nuthivak of nnthrax had occurred, and has satis.fi I'd hims-lf that there is no such disease amopgit tbe cattle. There has csttainly been some lnottatity, and the inspector is now making investigations as to the cause. PASTORAL TENANTS. The bill of the Minister for Lnn.is to afford relief to pastoral tentmts of tho Crown and others who have suffered exceptional loss of live stock by reason of Ibe unexampled severity of the winter of the present year, pwliculivrly tbe heavy falls of snow iv the South Island, has been circulated. Tho bill provides that the Land Board shall inqviira into the application* for relief and report to the Minister. The conoeasons are to consist of tha remission of Ih* whole or part of one year's rent, the extension of the terra of lease, the surrender of the lease and the isfue of a new leewse, or th« ruminsion of tho whole or part of the eheop tax pny*blo on September 1, 1095. The relief to buffwrers who are not pastoral tenants of the Crown is confined to coacjjsior.fi in connection with the sheep rate. ROCK SALT. Mr E. M. Smith, with bis usual enthusiasm as far as local indus'rUß aro concerned, has lately been berth ring him'elt to pea what may bo done by the Government to assist iv converting an alleged discovery of rock silt in the vicinity of Raglan iuto a pr.>fllabtc iu-diM-try. A Mr M'Lean, who cUinn to have nia'lo tha discovery, ba« applied to the Government for a bonus f«r tho encouragement of the indu'fciy or fur rights over the ground. If it proves to be Ccowu ltnd he wants a lease, and if Native laud he dt-siroa assihtance in acquiring it. The Minister for L-mris has the matter under consideration. JOTTINGS. Thirteen petition*, coraiug from various parts of the colony, with 916 n\ra»i attached, were prcsentfd to-day in favour of tho introduction of th« Irish N*tioual Scriptute Text Book* into the Si-ato echcolf. Tae Public Aceounrs Committee have expressed their regret at the retirement through illhealth of Mr Saunders, and hftfl placed on record its appreciation of hia sorvictu.