POLITICAL GOSSIP IN WELLINGTON.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7999, 18 October 1887, Page 2

POLITICAL GOSSIP IN WELL INGTON.

(T3LKG«APH't» BY OCX r'JJUU: POKDKnT.^ NATIONALISATION OF pp k""SERVE?. _Tuj:siv.y, OotoUr 17.—Tho Post, 1.. t nuht, alvcrat^B ftron^ly (he nationalisation of ail iho reserves and endowments of the colony, us recently suggested by you in one of >our leaders. PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Fourteen Parliamentary papers have been laid upon tho table of tho House. Moat of these are uninteresting, and will probably not be read by hilf-a-dozen people, yet from 1300 to over 1500 copies of each havo been printed, aud the cost varies from £2^ up to £47 9a (H for printing alone. The printing cost is only given in eight instances out of tbe 14, and the expenditure on these aggregates £154 le G i —perhaps not a titho of tho real outlay. One expense of printing one of tho papers is set rio*n approximately at £47 Oa 61, one at £29 4?, one at x 42 8a Gd. RETRENCHMENT. The Post, referring to the alleged policy of retrenchirent, questions whether any Government would meet with tho support of tho House on the principle that whilst willing to shed every drop of his brolhei's blood, each member will oppose- any ledaction which affects his own constituency. It is stated that retrenchment would be proposed in the civil lisl, the legislative brandies, and the Civil Service from the top to the bottom ; that th^re would be a reduction in the Governor's salary, tho Ministers' salaries from £1250 to £1000, and tho Premier from £1750 to £1250. The amalgamation of Dopartmets, it is reported, will also form part of the policy of retrenchment. HOW TO WASTE THE MONEY. The Post says: —" Twenty-nine private members' bills were given notice of ou Thursday. The printing of theso bills and the time which may be wasted on their partial consideration will probably cose the colony many hundreds of: pounds, and there is not tho smallest likelihood of half a dozen of these measures being passed. IC the House does not commence business in earnest until the lst November, as proposed by Ministers, there will at the outsido only be somo six weeks of session, and certainly the necessar3 r public business will require all that time to transact. Jt will not bo possible to give the usual two days a week to private members, but even if it were, twelve days would be quite insufficient for diacussion in their vat ion? stages of the 29 private members' bills. Probably not more than threo or four clays in all this session can be given up to private members. Under theso circumstances it is reckless extravagance to crowd the Order Paper and flood tho printing ofHcjo with bills which are foredoomed.