HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Southland Times, Issue 4412, 30 August 1882, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Monday, 28th Aug. After the closing of the telegraph office at 1.45 a.m., the discussion of the direct steam service resolutions was continued. On clause 7 Mr Johnston accepted Mr Fish's addition, requiring the contract to be submitted to public competition. Mr Stevens moved the insertion of words requiring the vessels to have a freezing chamber to contain 250 tons of meat or dairy produce. Lost on the voices. Mr Seddon moved an addition requiring Parliament to approve of any contract. Lost on the voices. .Clause 7, as amended by Mr Fish, was then passe J. The House resumed, and the resolutions as a whole were reported, and, on a division of 52 to 9, were agreed to. The H ouse TOSP> a * 2 a.m. until noon today. ; Tuesday, 29th August. The House met at noon. Th© protection of Telegrams Bill was reported from the Legislative CoupcU with iimendments, which were agreed to. ■ Replying to Mr Sutton,. Mr Bryce.. said that the government understood that the petitioner, Walter Shrhnpton, was satisfied with the action taken, and that there was no £ urlhei intention of joking the opinion

bfthe'CJoui-t of AppeaV'aß"to,;.;*wheihefc;the natives' land "duty paid by him was 7 carrectly assessed by. the Chieih Justice. — Replying to Mr ! Pyke, Mr: Bryce' 'said the i Governmerit considered the police were and that, no-adtfition to ' the present rales of wages., was coptem- ' plated. The claims of long sefvice/rnen were at present under consideration.—-Re-'■plying: tcT Tttr Wright, Mr'"DlcS"'said 'the" Government would be prepared to take si eps Itojsupplyipnblic libraries with copies of a , ; treatise oh the grape vine by Dr Frederick Mr Dick said* a subsidy for libraries would be proposedf on the Supplementary Estimates, and if; passed would be distributed among the; libraries without deTay, ''care being taken! that small libraries would have a fair share \ of -the surn.i^-Replying to Mr' Thomson,? Mr Rolleston saidvj the expense of' forest conservation' was so great that; .the Government could not consent |to j timber licenses being made county.- fe- j venue.— ln reply to Mr Tole, Mr Dick j said that in the case of Wren, of Auckland, ' chnrged with, embezzlement, a miscarriage of justice appeared to have taken place, ■ and amendments in the Larceny Act would : be made, so as to meet the requirements' of simalar cases. — Replying to Mr Feldwick, Mr Dick said it was so late in- the session that the Government did not propose ,to press .the Bankruptcy. Act this session.. The bill would be circulated during the recess, so as to enable the mercantile public to form an estimate as to its provisions. — Replying to Mr " Steward, Major Atkinson said that the ten per cent, reduction had been generally restored on the salaries of officials. The House adjourned at 1 to 3.30 p.m. The House resumed at 2 p.m.] Replying to a question put it wa& stated that the attention of the Government had been called to the proceedings of the New Plymouth Harbour, on 25th July, when, without a quorum they resolved to expend a portion of the Board's funds in the purchase of land from the Public Hall Company, Major Atkinson said that he believed there was a doubt as to what constituted a quoram. Apart from that the Government could not be held responsible for the acts of any local body but the trustees of the 25 per cent, of the land fund weie all responsible men. The Marine Engineer had not made an official report ou the progress of the work but had communicated to him (Major Atkinson) an opinion that work was being fairly well carried on, although there had been some unnecessary extravagance in the mode of procedure. During three or four months the work had been kept back by bad weather and the Board had kept on its full staff as they could not be readily replaced, they had however, been engaged in other work. — Re the petition of Byrne and others the gold helds committee reported that another person had a prior claim. The following bills were introduced and read a first time. — Amnesty Bill; Murimotu Rangipo Agreement Validation Bill ; and Greymouth Native Reserve Bill (Bryce). The Counties Act Amendment Bill was introduced by a message from the ActingGovernor, and read a first time. The following bills were read a second time : — Te Aroha Township ; Borough of Hamilton Boundaries ; Auckland Museum Endowment ; Explosives and Dangerous Goods ; Law Practitioners. Major Atkinson moved that the second reading of the Roads and Bridges Construction Bill. Ho explained that tho main feature of the bill was, the setting* apart of money by Parliamentary vote, and leaving it to be distributed by self-acting machinery. Whatever opinions might be formed of its details he had no doubt they would agree with him that the provisions of the bill must be accepted as a guiding feature of their administration, unless they are prepared to take over the main roads and provide for them by the annual appropriations. Mr Montgomery objected to the mode of finance proposed. He desired to see a more complete severance of general and local finance. The whole thing was designed to place the local bodies at the mercy of the Government, and he hoped the measure would be thrown out. Mr Wynn-Williams objected to the bill, and Mr Sutton supported it. Mr Bathgate strongly condemned it ; contending that £100,000 would not meet the requirements of the case. He would rather see the local bodies allowed to go into the money market to satisfy their own wants than see the General Government do so and then dole out to them. Mr Hurst, Captain Mackenzie and Mr Smith supported the bill ; subject to amendments in details to be made in committee, and Messrs Moss and Holmes opposed it. The debate was interrupted by the 5.30 adjournment. Evening Sitting. After the adjournment, the debate was continued on the Road Construction Bill, which was supported by Messrs W. C. Buchanan and Fergus, on the principle of half a loaf beiDg* better than no biead. Messrs Pyke, Hutchison, de Lautour, Macandrew, and Seddon strongly opposed the bill. Mr Dodson supported the bill, as meeting the requirements of the country. Mr Joyce denounced the bill as a delusion. Major Atkinson having replied at length, the second reading was carried by 34 to 17. When the telegraph office closed at 1.30 a.m. the House was still discussing the bill.