POLITICAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4742, 6 September 1893, Page 3

POLITICAL NOTES.

♦ — [feom our special correspondent."] WELLINGTON, Sept. 5. A mass of correspondence and papers relative to Miss Finch's retirement from the Mount View Asylum at Dunedin was laid on the table of tbe House yesterday. A very large number of residents in the borough.3 of Brunner and Greymouth have petitioned Parliament that immediate steps may be taken to modify the existing lease of the Brunner coal mine by reducing the royalty to Gd per ton for tbe unexpired term. They also pray that the Government will undeitike the prospecting of the unworked areas or assist the existing company to do so. The Agricultural and Stock Committee have reported on tli9 Fencing Act, 1881, . Amendment Bill, to which they have added a new clause providing that the Act shall apply to all lands held by Natives, other than lands held by them under their customs or usages, the title to which has not been determined by the Native Land Court. The Infant Life Protection Bill was introduced in the House yesterday. THE INCARCERATED SALVATIONIST. In the course of a discussion on the case of the Salvation Army Captain, who came to grief at Milton through cornet playing, Mr Fish said that if all he heard of the nature of the music the Salvationist militaire3 discoursed was true, it was a great pity that more of them were not shut up in gaol. He waa told that the tunea they played in front of hotels with a view of converting the habituds proved most exasperating to people living in the neighbourhood. The frequenters of the Milton Athonamm could not conduct / their meetings because of the strident \ numbers which the3e Salvation Army bands took delight in. SPECIAL PAYMENT. A return Has been laid on the table of the House showing the amounts paid to each member of the Legislative Council

i and Hous3 of Representatives over and above their honorarium during the last three yearß. In the Upper Chamber only six geatlemen were thru recompensed for special services. The recipient of the largest amount paid to any member was the Hon Ropata Wahawaha, who got £910. Thesecondlargestsum was paid to Mr T.W. \ Thompson, who received over £124. Altoi ! pother twenty-two mem bora of the Lower ; Chamber have their nanne on the^ return, but very few received any considerable amounts. Next to M:- Thompson comes Mr Eees with £119 ; after him the Hon J. Carroll with £97, and then the sums rapidly dwindle to amounts of £10, £7, £3 and £2. SIR J. YOGEL. The petition of Sir J. Yogel, that an Act may be passed to enable him to i present hia claim for conjuiission on the £5,000,000 loan in the Supreme Court, has come back from the Public Petitions Com- : mittee, who report that they have no : recommendation to make. NATIVE LANDS. An extremely buifey return has been laid before the House showing the names ' of all Natives and half-ca-tsa in the South Island who have applied fcr 'and recently : set apart by the Govern men: at Waiau, Tautuku, Lord's River aikl L>ke "VVanaka, ; for landless Natives, togc-ther with corres- . pondence in relation to cheaanK-. : LABOUR DEPARTMENT EXPENDITURE. ' The sum of £4129 w«.a <--*\ ;«»de<i by the • Labour Department sa; i y??r on salarieß, : advertising and Bureau expenses. Under : the Factories Act, £1397 whs expended, while the outlay in oonD;V;tion with the Bureau was £3326, less £591 for refunds. [Special to the " Star."] WELLINGTON, Sept. 6. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MINISTRY. This afternoon the Prr-mi^- r will announce in the House the intentions of Government regarding the Native poitfoho. As I stated a few days ago, Mr Seddon himself will ; take the position of Minister for Native '■ Affairs, but Mr Cadman will not take the portfolio of Public Works. As was partly : expected, he will take up Justice and ■ Mines till the end of the session, when a • re-adjustment of portfolios will be ■ made. Under the new arrangement ;Mr Seddon will still continue in ■ the position of Native TVlinister, but . will relinquish the portfolio of Public Works in favour of Mr Cadman. In an , interview I had with the lajrer this morn- ' in? he informed me tba 1 . he had been : offered his old position, but, after a good '■ deal of consideration, be bad resolved not to have anything to do with Native affairs. ; To have taken up the portfolio of Public Works at the present motceut would have < been placing himself at a disadvantage, aa . the work is new to him, so he decided to ' wait till the end of the session. women's franchise. The chances of women's franchise are gloomy in the extreme. It is now definitely predicted that Mr M'Lean's amendment, giving women electoral rightß, which he is going to move this afternoon, will be carried by a majority of three. The opponents of the measure claim the support of Messrs Reynolds, Stevens, Hart, and Holmes. Should this prediction prove correct, the ladies will once again find the doors of the polling booth shut against them. MB VAILE'S SCHEME. Arrangements have been made by Mr Vaile to address a meeting of members tomorrow, at the Parliament Buildings, in support of Mb scheme of railway management. THE STOCK BILL. The driving clauses of the Stock Bill aroused considerable discussion at a meet' ing of the Stock Committee yesterday ; and were eventually modified by a provision that they only should become operative by an Order-in -Council made upon the petition of a majority of the stock owners in any district. This amendment is not likely to be accepted by the Minister for Lands. SIR JULIUS VOGEL'S PETITION. It is understood that Sir Julius Vogel's petition was withdrawn with the intention of presenting it to the new Parliament. * THE ALTERATION IN THE PUBLIC WOBKS STATEMENT. The report of the Public Accounts Committee on the alteration in the Public Worka Statement of last year wbb presented when the House met this afternoon. After fully detailing the facts the report states that from the evidence taken the Committee finds that Mr Seddon did not alter the Public Works Statement, nor was he i/as informed oE the alteration until Oct. 5, during the debate on the motion to go into Committee of Supply. He then asked Mr Blow for an explanation of the error which had been referred to by the Hon E. Mitchelson and the Hon G. F. Richardson, and was then informed by Mr Blow that it was an error, and that he had corrected it. The Committee expresses the opinion that in acting as he did Mr Blow was guilty of a "grave indiscretion." This ends the incident of which the Opposition attempted to make so much by way of discrediting the Premier. The latter is shown to have been absolutely correct in all his state* ments regarding the error. LAND. The Wasta Lands Committee has passed the Land Act Amendment, Gimmerburn Forest, Kyngdon Land Grant and Land for Settlements Act Amendment Bills. The only important amendment was made to the latter measure, and was to the effect that land could only be taken from anyone holding one thousand acres of firet-elass land, two thousand second or five thousand third. THE RATING BILL. The Select Committee on the Rating Bill had a long sitting to-day, and made several important amendments. The Bill as drafted proposed that the rating of the unimproved value might be brought into operation on a poll taken at the instance of twenty ratepayers, but the Committee has altered the number of ratepayers to one hundred, and added a proviso that when the poll has been taken no further poll shall be held for three years. The I Native Affaire Committee has concluded its consideration of the clauses in this Bill affecting Maori lands, and it is expected that the reports of both Committees will be presented to the House to-morrow.