MONDAY, DECEMBER 20.

Otago Witness, Issue 2286, 23 December 1897, Page 28

MONDAY, DECEMBER 20.

In the Legislative Council to - day fcwf Governmeot me»fl Q reSj the M»lt«S and Apprea*

fcice Bill and the Aliens Immigration Restriction Bill, were killed. The Cyanide Gold Extraction Bill and the Native Land Laws Bill passed,, and two minor measures passed through Committee.

la the House of Representatives fco - day ,phe Premier announced tbafe if an inquiry was decided' upon concerniug the complaint by Tudge Kettle respecting the a b back made on .him by the Minister for Lands the correeponjience would not be produced, but if an inquiry was not held the correspondence would be laid before the House. There was the usual rush Jbowardfl the close of the session in passing legislation. Eight local bills were passed, and the Railway Classification Bill and the Knpiti Island Reserve Bill were passed through Committee. • Progress was reported on the Eight Hours Bill. The House w*s still sitting when the telegraph office closed at 2 o'clock this morning. LOCAL BILLS PASSED. The Wellington Boys' Institute, Bill,. KohuIrohu Foreshore Reclamation Bill, Wellington Education Bonrd' Transfer Bill, Bluff Harbour Board- Empowering Bill, Borough of Lyttelton Enabling Bill, Nxpier Municipal Corporation *nd Harbour Exchange of Land Bill, and Invercargill Racecourse. Trustees Empowering Bill were read a second time, committed, and paised without amendment. BAILWAY CLASSIFICATION. BILL. .The Government Railways Classification Bill «nfes committed. Clause 3, maximum' pay of crosiingor bridgekeeper. — Mr G. HuTenisoN moved to increase the pay from 6a to 6s 6i per day. — The Hon. Mr Cadman refused to accept the amendment, and tbe Chairman ruled it could not bs put. Mr Pibani moved a new clause to enable length of service to be taken into consideration , when objections are made to the classification list. — Carried. ■ Mr Millar moved a new clause to the effecb that nothing shall prevent any person employed in any position in the department from attaining to any other position in the service. — Carried. The bill wa« ordered to be reported. THE CARTERTON MEETING. There was a great deal of lobby gossip to-day touching the position of the Premier and the Government. The general opinion is that the Premier's speech at Cartertou was a confession of defeat. He said, in effect, that the Opposition had prevented him from passing his *' policy " bills. But that is the very thing for which a parliamentary Opposition exists, amd when it iff strong enough for that purpose and defeats a Ministry in that position the Ministry usually resigns. A DESPATCH KEPT BACK. The withheld despatch from the Secretary oE State for- the Colonies to the New Zealand Government on the subject of the Aliens' ■Restriction Bill excites a good deal of curio: r'-y. The Legislative Council wished to have ib produoed. The Minister for Education, conducting, tbe Government business in the Upper House, said it should be produced subsequently. He said it was not "convenient" to produce it at present. The question is asked, Why ? T-he Council refused 'to proceed without it. The general surmise is that the Secretary of State had something to say to (he New Zealand Government which they- do not* cure to publish. i OLD AGE PENSION 3. • The Old -Age Pensions Bill was duly killed to-night in the Council, as I predie'ed it would be more than a week ago. The forecast of the division list scot j ou proved a very accurate one, one member (Mr Montgomery) voting differently from what was expected, and increasing the majority against tbe bill by 2. OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. The House tat all last night and till 3 o'clock ttiis afternoon in Committee on the Technical Education Bill, the opponents of the measure being engaged in a struggle to preserve the i?S*»grity of the national system of education aj\.Mst; the encroachments of deuotninaticiialirm as proposed by the present Government. The proceedings last night and early this morning were at times of a disgraceful and farcical nature. At one stage Mr Hogg, who is a eort of political asteroid revolving round the Premier, made, a . violent speech, in which he hurled all sorts of terms at the supporters oE the amendment to. the Technical Education Bill. These were protested against, but the epithets were rued ia order. Mr Firani subsequently referred to the •' audacity " of the Premier, which brought up Mr Hogg -with a point of order. Th« word was ruled in order. Thereupon Mr Pirani applied to the member for Maaterfcon certain terms which had been ruled in order — such as " bigot," " political' cacldism," and " infidel "—" — somo of which Mr Hogg had applied to his opponents. Mr Hogg raised another point of order by the indignant question, "Is it competent for an hon. member of the~ House to deliberately stick out his tongue at another P "—" — (Laughter.) The Chairman asked Mr Pirani whether he had pat out his tongue, and Mr Pirani said that Mr Hogg had called his tongue a. foal one, and that he wa* going to prove to him that it was not foul. In response to cries of " Withdraw," Ml? Pirani intimated his willingness to withdraw his tongue. — (Laughter.) This morning the Premier said be would sib there till Doomsday if the bill was not allowed to go through. He would withdraw the £25,000 on the Public Works Estimate* for technical education, Mr Fisher • "Hear, hear, Dick," and laughter. At a later stage Mr John Hutcheson, the classical Labour member for Wellington, who some time ago told the House there was " not a steam trawler in the colony fib to tow a louse off a tarry jacket," now termed Mx Hogg a political "etoucher," which the Chairman ruled wob in order as it was not in the dictionary. The Premier explained the term to the House, comparing it as follows : " Stouch, stoucher, stouchest. " — (Laughter.) Mr Hogg assured the Housa that he took the term as one of endearment. — (Liughter.) Mr J. Hufccheson said that if the Premier, in spite of the great things he had done for the country, succeeded in his action tier would be execrated by the citizens of New Zealand. At one time last night Mr Carson, speaking to an almost empty Chamber, said he would not occupy the House more than a few minutes, as all the arguments in the world' would hare no effect on members- who had gone out, but who would return in tima to vote as .directed, and this is what our House of Representatives (which the Hon. John M'Kenzie, Minister for Lands, is fond of calling the highest coutt in- the land) has come to. j JOTTINGS. l The. aheep rates collected during the year ended March last amounted to £19,616. The annual' cost of m*iataining the Shoep department is : — Salaries of inspectors ot stock, £9421 ;, yeteriDary surgeons, £786 ; quarantine, £250 ;— .total, £10,457. Travelling expenses of inspectors, £2342 ; veterinary surgeons, £466 ; estimated expenses in connection with sheep returns, &c, eradicating diseases, laboratory Work, quarantining, officers' and clerical charges, £3402 ;— total. £16.667.

A return regarding the number of mea appointed to the Permanent Artillery from 1880 to. 1897 shows that 178 men residing in Wellington were appointed, 51 ia Christ-church, 3G in Danediu, and 30 in Auckland.

The House to-nighfc got into a. perfect; tangle over the Bight Hours Bill. Mr Smith's amendment could cot be found when wanted, and no one seemed to know what was the position. Mr John Hutcheson, a strong Seddonian, caused some surprise by stating that the principal opposition to the bill came from the members in the Liberal party, and that he was sure no factious objection would have been offered by the Opposition. The real opponents o£ the Eight Hours Bill and other progrcsiive meat ares were, he said, to be found in the Liberal party. Mr Tanner, also, Was severe on the Premier in connection with this matter ; and Mr Symes, another Government supporter, said that the secretary to the Workers' Union in Wellington had circulated atrocious untruths in regard to him in his electorate. The Premier evidently wants some soit of an Eight Hours Bill parsed, but does not wish it applied to Government: employees. The Reserves, Endowments, and Crown and Native Lands Exchange, Sale, Disposal, and Enabling Bill was read a second time and considered in Committee The bill comprises 36 clau es. The preamble of the bill recites its purpose to be to make provision for the exchange, sale, reservation, and other disposition, of certain Crown lands, reserves and endowments, and for the investigation and settlement of certain matters ratting to Natives and their lands. Power is given to sell and exchange' ©ro-wn and other land, and to make reservations for acclimatisation purposes, to deal with lands in Nelson, Picfcon, Knikoura, Akaroa, Christchurch, Canterbury, Obago, and Southlaud,