POLITICAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6544, 24 July 1899, Page 4

POLITICAL NOTES.

[FKpSI OtTB CORBBSrONDENT.] ':..'■'"! .WELLINGTON, July ,23. . j LA-ND^FOR SETTLEMENTS;- ( \ The inemlSerg : W: the 1 r <?p£o&ti6n "express ■satisfactions ' thieir 'work/In c&mecfciqn i with'"^e;V^nd'" : fOT"''S6tti^nte s 'BiUV''oo'tf of wbicJii they-;claim°to' 7 h'ave tiakeh the;;'stiiig. ■ Tha measure' ; aa f now amended is 'feertadnly mild '' compared t. with? ■ the ' J 6fima&'3 : c Tfe.j J v ßsb' fllgfc T &e \sfiffi|»SHfßS"o l K > M&MW™ emanated from the Government may be ire- j garded a3 somewhat significant, and suggests that the more Conservative section of tihe Liberal party had made itself felt in the lobbies. Mr Wsson's clause enabling the tenant to acquire the freehold would nofc have been carried, but its ruling out of order avoided a long discussion. Ainore awkward obstacle was Mr O'Regan's revaluation clause, which, fortunately for the Government, came under the same ruling as Mr Wason's, that "it exercised the prerogative of tlhe Crown as dealing with Crow<n lands. The member for Buller was naturally chagrined at the fate of his proposals, j and, although admitting the technical correction of the ruling, he claims that similar motions by private members frequently pass unchallenged. Mr J. Allen's amendment reducing the limit of the rate of interest on land purchase debentures under the Act from 4 per cent to 3£ per cent, was moved at the fag end of tie committee stage in the small hours, when ,bed was almost in sight. Under the circumstances, it might have been carried, but, a/s was ■natural, t>he Premier refused to accept a "sprung" amendment of such importance. Mr Montgomery, who seconded Mr Allen, contended 'that it would be better for the polony to borrow the money straight out in "London. Even allowing tfor brokerage, discount, etc., the difference between loan and debentures was abonfc I per cent. As it was, the amendment was only rejected by three votes. THE " NEW LOG-ROLL." Under this heading, the " New Zealand Times " makes the following observations, .based on the Christchnrch Borrowing Bill debate : — " Men do not change their naiture w&en they take up their abode under fi&y^ skies, and politicians do not always adopt new ethics when conditions are altered. People who imagined that 'log-rolling' would die out from the category of political vices when there was an end of intriguing for large expenditure from general Government loans, failed to make allowance for tie persistency of habit in human nature. The bad old practice flourishes to-day, and the Premier was quite justified in drawing attention to it on Thursday evening in the House, as it contains as great an element of danger as it did in former 'times. The vicious principle of " Claw thou me and I'll- claw fchee " is now applied to local borowing proposals, and if a member finds it hard to recommend his ■Bill to the House on it« merits, he experiences littJe difficulty in ' rolling a log,' that is, ia getting members to support his project on a promise to render them a similar service at some future date, or by way ccf requital for past favours." REFORM OP THE LEGISLATIVE . COUNCIL. On behalf of Mr Wafeon, the Premier was asked on Friday afternoon whether he would give facilities for a vote of the House, to be taken on the following' motions : — (1) That the number of members of the Legislative Council shall not exceed half the number of the House of Representatives, (2) that the colony shall be divided into Legislative Council electoral districts, (3) that as vacancies occur in the Legislative Council by effiuxion of time, resignation or death, such vacancies shall be filled up by freely-elected representatives of the people. Mr Seddon, in replying, said that the facilities to be given for taking a vote on this question would depend upon the progress made with business. At the rate they were going he did not think they would have much time to deal with abstract questions, no matter how important they might be. They had now been a month in session and had not passed a single Bill (Mr Taylor: " They w«re not circulated.") The second part of the auestion was brought before the House by" Sir Harry Atkinson, who formulated a proposal, but did not proceed with it. For his own part, he did not agree with the suggestion that the Legislative Council should be elective: He. was of opinion that owing to the natural configuration of the colony, if it was attempted to divide it into thirty-five electorates, as proposed by, Mr Wasbn, the result would be that they would have class representation in the Council. As an old Victorian, where they had an elective Council, he knew that that Council was the means of keeping the colony back for years; It was a very large question; and if dealt with at all, should be dealt with by Bill not by resolution. Seeing tHat the present was an expiring Parliament, he did not think that the matter should be dealt with at all without first referring it to the electors. Regarding tha' third part of the question, that vacancies should be filled up by freely elected representatives . of the people, he did not understand/the meaning of the term. He thought that members were all free men. MISCELLANEOUS. Mr Taylor has given notice to ask the Premier whether the Government will bring in legislation to abolish the privileges at present enjoyed by the monopoly known as the Press Association, with a view to establishing a free newspaper Press.