GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 373, 15 July 1874, Page 5

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

:? n "'. V :'" "' . '■ ' "-" 'WwxmuTciir, July 7. m Mr Keynoto, in *ply *> ** ' O'Noill, rethe reduction of duty on Australian £~l!r >»id that this Colony only received 'STSJBe reply, frem Tasmania, to the regarding reciprocity which had KMn sent to all the Australian Colonies. In the meantime, it was impossible to take *ny •etion nntil the question • of . reciprocity had ' TfarK^ri^™^ for Debt Abolition Bill -. faad'fc ie'oond time— the Government iatimKtiiiA that sufficient time would be, Riven j» atiMn to consider its previsioM betor* thVtlird reading. - ' ■ i < f& ,"£!&- Legislative Council to-day the ltoual SeMional Ceffimittee was appointed. Mr HrtWVt Campbell gay. notice of his in*•■**<&'tiomerfbw t» move an address in J«ply to .bis ExwlUnoy's speedb. Tke followin t Bill* were read a fir.t time :—lnspection ,»»£, Regulation of Machinery ; Offeiices,, against the Person ; Amendment of Ja^icett of the Peace Amendment Act. lir Waterhpnße suggested that at the commtacement of the ; session, Bills should be in the hands of members at least a week . before th« second reading. This was agreed is tke ease of the three Bills Tead. 1 - ' July 8. Mr Reynolds, in replying to Mr O'jNeUl regarding the establishing of a light-house at the Three Kings, said inquiries had shown the site to be unsuitable, and another one would be erected in a more suitable plaoe. Mr Vsgei, ip answering a question put by Mr Wakefield regarding the reduction of Castoms duties, »nd equalising the revenue •y taxing land and property, said if the Go Ternment had such an iatention it would refain item , making known the fact earlier than possible, so as to avoid the dangerous and injurious, amount of speculation which would naturally follow. -In reply to a second, question, the. Premier said an approximate census of tne whole Native popuLion was thsn.ia the hands of the Govern™?ne P foUowing Bills were read a first time : —The, Regulating of Mine* Bill, the Municipal Ba^erves Bill, Electric Telegraph Act Amendment BUI, Post Office Savings Act Amendment Bill, and the Wellington HospiUl Reserves BilL The Premier explaied that the Telegraph Amendment BUI dealt chiefly with the production of telegrams in courts/of justice and offences against T2SBsft2& - Address to Her Majesty offering cengratulations on the auspiSou. icasiot of the marriage^f the > Duke rf Edinburgh, as being a matter of special mterest to tne people of New Zealand-His Sival Highness having twice visited this cSonv-aßd expressing an earnest prayer for *^_ Voeelsaid He hoped no needless oppomtionwoSd be raised against the Imprest Supply BUI? to be brought down to morrow, Wat-raJSe commented on the absurdity rf New Zealand being different to other Colenies re the deceased wife's sister ques*°An address ef congratulation on the marriage of the Duke of *dinW h . w " Sf*! l^ MT Campbell, in mo™»g tke Address in 2& visit every portion of the Colony of New Zealand. It was not like Australia, Sh^h had one great .centre of population. S thought tfeeV.Uie works^ were very weUcarrild but during thepa*t year. All wiilSle means should be applied to effect of works akeady far adraced. Immigration should" be increased ra?h« than deceased. Fifteen thousand Bouli had been brought in from July, 1873 tothe end of March, 1874, at a total cost of ' Llo.per head. The return from them paid L3O ta L4O. per cent, on the cest. tie thought in. two or three years the populati«n would be a million. He estanated the customs at L 300.000 over the estimated reTenue. The Life Assurance bonus scheme was premature. The accounts should be sent to » first-class actuary in England to ascertain the real position. New Zealand- would be a great manufacturing country. The Polynesian, trade should be directed, here, as it would supply abundant raw material. He did not anticipate any very serious differences between the two houses. The Council's services were not sufficiently known. lhey had saved the country L 1.600,000 last session. They followed the example ef the Australian bqloniei,to« much. T* e <^ y «»S eilt .f t NN l W Zealand eouli ,teach them better than be tauriit.— Mr Miller seconded.— Mr Waterhouse made. a rery alarmist speech on the prospects of tbe country, and said His H.xcelUnev'a SDeeeh contained nothing. During {E £ce.s P Ministers tiaa been feted, the Premier banqueted, *nd important negotiations carried on with the heads of the Provinces, multing in large sums of mon.yto.gpw«iMd to several Province. TW would be a snat fight this session, on a subject of wkick no mention was made in the speech, the Provincial borrowing. In rt Imtmgration. he considered the present policy of thexGoTemment dangerous in the extreme, aod that they had broken through constituWl Jmits last year. L 250 00Q was voted for the introduction of 12,000 immigrants Up to the end of- 187'3, as soon as Mr Yogel took over the' Immigration Scheme, 3,50 unmisrants were ordered, at a cost "of over L7O 000, besides the introduction^ unmierants, and there was not any lower price in wases Every immigrant required te be -housed, and for- the first twelve months demanded labor, instead of . supplying it. In a short time the crash must come, and he believed it very close. This prosperity was not owTng solely to public works, but to three causes : Ist, the rise in the value of the natural products ; 2nd, the confidence erte.bli.hed thereby ; 3rd, the public works policy. These, appearances were, however, deoeptive. Back returns showed, we were owin£ LlO per cent, per head. Tightness was already obßervabi* in the money market. There would be no fall in the revenue, but neat stoppage of private enterprise of every End. ' Me thought the Polynesian scheme was' probable. ' ■ ,- • . ... Dr Pollen said the stream of immigration could not be kept up enoagh. If the Government fcadLnot sent for * larger number than, authorised, it would have incurred censure. . , , „.. .-„ . . Colonel Brett praised the >.ative Minister, and condemned the Volunteer force as lnetfaeient and useless. • . Captain Eraser drged the importance of trade with Polynesia. Mr Campbell combatted Mr Waterhouse' _, nmarkl on immigration, and upheld the Government in their conduct o* that depaf t- ""*'• . Jul/9. IntheHomieof fopresentfatms, Mr Steward aiked whether the attention of theGeremment had been directed to a

difficulty which had arisen on the Maorewhehua Goldrtelds, and the" case pehding as between Messrs Bortou and .vPMaster and hlowe and party, on the Bubjeot of the pollution of streams by mining operations ; and whether it Was theiutentiou of the Government to bring, forward a Bill da < ing the present session dealing with the question of riparian rights.— Mr Yogel auswered that it was not the intention of the <auvemment to "bring in such a measure during the present suasion. Mr M'Gilhvray aßked whether the Engineer in-Chief had made any report upon the harbor at Kiverton, which he had visited during the recess ; and whether such a report would be laid upon the table of the iiouae. — Mr Jttichardson said the Provincial Engineer had reported on the Work, and the Colonial Engineer was ready to report as ■oon as informid that he was desired to de ■•• In replying to a question put by Mr Williams, Mr Richardson said that the Government had under consideration the question of erecting a new Court-house and Customhouse at Hokianga. Mr o'Neil asked the Premier whether the Government intended this session to introduce any Bill to amend the .Representation Act, .1871.— The Premier said the Government did not intend to do so. The question was one which should not be interfered with, unless upon very good grounds, or something more than a few trifling inequalities. 'The following Bills were introduced and read a first time : — Bill to amend the Conveyancing Ordinance ; Bill to amend the Canterbury Domains Act, 1872 ; Bill to Extend the~Tinae for registration of Births in "Certain Cases; Bill to amend the Marlborough \Vaste Lands Act, 18 7. On the motion of Mr C. Parker, returns of imports and exports between New Zealand and Tasmania, between 1870 and 1873 inclusive, were ordered to be laid upon the table. Some debate ensued upon Mr Wakefield's motion for a return of cost of providing the 'Handbook of New Zealand,' distinguishing the literary labor and the cost of setting up the type ; also to state whether .the type was d stributed or not. Mr Wakt field, m his remarks, sharply criticised the mauner in which the book was compiled, aa not doing full justice to New Zealand as an united country, and not being put in such an attractive form aa would be likely to have a beneficial effect upon the class of men required by the Uol >ny — Mr Yogel exr lamed that the trouble and labor entailed by the production of the book had been so great that, had he been aware of it before- he took it in han i, he should not have readily burdened himself with' so onerous a duty. It was impossible for him to ; do anything with the mass in manuscript. Only a few proof cqpies of the book had been struck off in New Zealand, ■ though it was intended to have printed a greater number than was at first struck off. Unfortunately the type was broken up before the order was given. He was sorry a larger number of copies had not been provided for the Colony, but he had been expecting that a supply would have been received from England beforo the session opened. lie hoped they would be out soon for distribution. — The return being opposed, a division was called for, the result being 11 votes for and 29 against. — Mr Yogel then said he would furnish a return of all the different payments made on account of the book before the end ot the session, only a few having as yet been made.

On the motion of Mr Sheehan, a return was ordered of all business transacted by the District Court of Napier since the appointment of the present Judge. On Mr Gillies moving his motion for the pr©duobion of Qorroß-poudpniiP. rp]a.b\ng to Judges Ward and Chapman, he thanked the Government for so readily and courteously acceding to the request. — The Premier hoped that the whole matter would be allowed to pass into oblivion as soon as possible after the information should have been supplied. He did not consider it necessarry that the docu amenta should be printed and appear upon the minutes of the House ; but he would lay the necessary papers upon the table for the use of members only. —Mr Fox thought the quarrel between the Judges a very petty one as it stood, but it' was not necessary for the public to interfere in it, as no complication or anything detrimental to the public interest was involved in it, though perhaps it might suit many Otago people to hear more of it ; but one aspect ot the case which he thought the House should search more into was by what means the 'Otago Daily Times' became possessed of the contents of those telegrams, which were admitted by the Premier to bear a close resemblance to the originals. It was perfectly certain that there had been either gross negligence or a grosß breach of faith by somebody, because he was assured that neither of those engaged in the quarrel had in their private capacity furnished the information. He must, therefore, conclude that it found its way to the ' Times ' through the Telegraph Dep rtment, though be had no reason, irom his acquaintance with the department, to doubt the honesty and trustworthiness of the operators in such matters. Mr Fox then referred to various ways by which telegraphic information sometimes leaks out, , instancing a case where seme important financial information was taken off the wire in transmission by a parson listening through a wall, who took the substance of the message, and operated for speculative purposes. The Premier had spoken of matters as if it was like the Juniuß Letters, or the Man with' the Iron Mask; but he felt certain, if the House would follow the matter up, they would succeed ia stripping the iron mask irom thts brazen face of the right person, and discover the means by which the telegrams appeared in the 'Otago limes.' Mr Fox referred at some length to another telegram mystery in which the same paper figures. Ihe information had, been supplied by its Wellington correspondent, and he regretted his connection with that matter, /luring his visit South. He felt compelled to characterise the affair iv such a strong term as a double-dyed transaction. Unfortunately they had never yet been able to discover how that_ knowl dga escaped the Government ; bnt '" he had no doubt he wouid havti been able t^do so had the correspondent in question carried out his threat of entering an action for libel. He was sorry he never was afforded the opportunity of extracting the evidence regarding the channel by which the information had leaked out, by means oi judicial examination in the witness-box, and so discovered the guilty party. It was clear that, unless the recipient had been guilty of sheer negligence, there must haye been gross negligence on the part of the department. He hoped Mr Gillies would more fora committee to inquire into the higher part of the question. ' It was one in which the pablic was more directly interested, and it would enable the House to discover whether the affair was the result of a breach of confidence, or want of precaution on the partfof the recipient. * After referring to the case of Macassey and Bell, he said the telegrams should not be kept, any more than the letters 1 it in the rost office, and, except in the case of busine- B, telegrams involving Urge monetary interests, all should, be destroyed as soon as , ossible. — Mr Gillies hoped the members would not be led astray by the ingenious I : speech of the member for - Hangitikei but would ascertain whether there was any truth in the charges of gross favoritism made by one Judge against another. The telegrams, though called impudent forgeries by one per son, wen; admitted to be substantially correct by another/ As 'for the Insih'uatidiriflade againit the department, it was the first time

he bad beard of such a thing, in connection with this case. The mover, had said f'he Otago public felt considerable interest in th« question, but on public grounds alone it was impossible a question involving such grave charges should be allowed to sink into oblivion. — The documents were ordered to be produced. . The Nelson Loan Bill Wa s read a firat time.

The Imprest Supply Bill for L 250.000 went through a stage. Drafts of the following Bills, sent down by message from the Governor, were reported to the rtouse :— Bill to amend the Supreme Court Judges Act, 1858 ; Bil^to make Provision for the E<tablishmenl of State Forests, ana the Application of Revenue derivable therefrom; Bill to amend the Law relatin* to the Civil Service ; Act to amend Westland Loan Act, 1873 ; Act for amending the rost Office Saving Banks Act 1867 • Act to repeal New Zealand - University Act,' 1870. t The House then adjourned,.,, In the Legislative Council, Y'-^r , Mr Waterhttusd— in moving 'that ln the opinion of the Council the mode of selling and drnposingof land, tfnderthe * ew Zealand Settlement Act, should be regulated by Act of the General Assembly, and not, as at present, by regulations made at the will of the Government of the day- 8a id th« regulations as to the sa:e of land had never been adhered to, and too '-much discretionary power was left in the hands of the Government. _ He instanced the sale of 150,000 acres m the Waikato to Cox ; and what might have been the result of the negotiations with Vesey btuart, i n the sale of a large quantity of land in the Waikato to ussell, Taylor, Murdoch, .-and others, at 3s 6d an acre, the character of the negotia,tions was. i^ contravention of taeregulati -ns, and it wouldbe neAry to validate it by another regulation. He tuou-ht discrer tionary power* should be limited, and full publicity given to land tranaactiooa- Tne Colonial Secretary said the statute gave the Governor m Council power to make regulations for the disposal of all lands, except by actual sale, provided they were publish d in the 'Gazette.' heeing*that a'larae discretion was necessary duririg the recess, he thought the Legislature *homd not arro^te too much authority in such a matter In re gard to the sale of a large quantity «.f swampy land in the Waikato, the money bad been uaed to make valuabe roads through the district itself -Colonel Kenny asked if the names of all persons interested in, and circumstances, ot each transaction should be pub ished. He had heard of land sofd by the Government at a low price being repurchased by a Melbourne firm at I much higher rate, and converted into valuable property. -The Colonial Secretary said the information could only be supplied by a reholuti.n being passed . J t W o U i d be as absurd to mix up the names of all private persons interested m land transactions as in the repurchase by a Melbourne firm. He would hke to see much more swamp land taken up m . t , ne s " xn . e ™y-Mr Wfcce house, in reply, aaid o^xn di S ore 6 i ovary powera should be lett to the uovemment but they should be stringently debarred from having any option as to giving publicity to all transactions, or as to tae minimum price por acre.— The motion was agreed to. Mr Vaterhouse mored, without remark, that copies of all corresponience and telegrams which passed between the Government and Judge Ward, in refereno-e to Judge Ohapman, be laid oa the table. — The Colonial Secretary said the Government had no objection.

Tk tr • July 10. ifie House w Committee considered a resolution for an Imprest supply of L 250.000, payment of salaries for carrying on the work ot the Government. The Premier said there was no urgent need for this, aad he only asked for it on the ground that the' money then Spent was without authority. In conneotioa with this question the Premier intimated that an alteration in the present practice oX not discussing the tfstiiniues until alter tne statement was brought down was exceedingly desirable for promoting the despatch of bus me s. The present practice wa3 without precedent Another usage had grown up of late years of members abusing the privdeges of debate wuen iv Committee of Supply, by talking upon every conceivable topic, whether relevant or not. Mr speaker said that many greac changes were being mad.c in the Imperial Parliament. Owing the almost impossibility of overtakiog the pablic business, privileges of members m regard to private business had to give way betore the superior claims of the public. He hoped to be ab.e to propose soon as near an approximation as possible to the present practice of the House of Commons as would be deemed advisable. *iv c ;£ remief > i* 1 moving the second reading of the Electric Telegraph Bill, explained that its chief object was for making more effeciive tne provisions against injury to telegraph lines, aud protecting the offic rs of the department from actions at liaal for sending libellous telegram.. tie thtmgat the leltt graph uffiue should be looked oa as a piece oi mechanism?* the same as the Post Office. Ihe most important part of the Bill was in regard to calling for telegrams for the purpose of inspection. The Act provides that telegrams should be provided only on the consent of- the sender or receiver, with the exception of general cases, where telegrams should be producible oa the decision of the Commissioner of Telegraphs. It was very hard to have to bring in such a measure at aIJ, because it had not been, found requisite to da so in other countries. It was clear that the practice had lately been growing up in iNew, Zealand of attempting to make tile Telegraph Office a medium for obtaining legal evidence. JSfot long since a great innovation was made by an order of a Judge of the Supreme Court to inspect all telegrams, without particular ones being specified. The Premier referred to the case of Macasaey v Bell to show the danger «f the practice of ordering the production of 'telegrams, by affording an. opportunity for iegai practitioners ot fishing out something upon which an action might be founded. It was obvious, by the conduct of the Judges at Home, as shown in several recent cases, that they determinedly set their laces against the practice of ordering the < production of telegrams, and had positively retused to grant an order for that purpose. It was unsafe to allow the matter to rest in its present unsatisfactory state. The whole question should be finally put beyond doubt by legal provision. Their" present object should bethe placing of telegrams on the same footing as letters. He hoped fche time was not far distant when fac-Biiuile telegrams could be sent by a process which would not require the operator to read the telegrams at all. The plan had already been tried on a small scale successfully. — Mr fox hoped the Government would at once secure the public, by laying it down that telegrams should not be kept. If, as the Premier had said, they would soon not have to copy telegrams at all, they had better tecognie ihe principle at ouce. It was desirable that some precaution should be taken to prevent the oecceoy ot telegrams being violated. At pr.sent the operators were" liable, to heavy penalties for divulging the . contents of telegrams, bu. there was no penalty upon a third pet son outside the department wao became- .acquainted with the contents of any telegram aud divulged them. He would move an amendment that would remedy this, to the effect that tl^e Government should also endeavor to devise some means by which the primary offender, in divulging telegrams,

should be forced ,evea , to indemnify the p.arfev giving such information, as, was done by the commissioners appointed to inquire into the trade union affair* at Sheffield — Major Atkinson said the House agreed as to the necessity for such a Bill.; but it seemed to him, if the desire was to assimilate the Telegraph Department to the Post-office, «, good plan would be to compel the operator, as soon as ever the message w*s taken off, to enclose it in an envelope addressed to the person, and then pat it in the Post-office — Mr Gillies wouid not oppose the second reading, but he thought the measure contained a coneiderable amount of what might be called panic, legislation He failed to see any gre it necessity for legislation in the matter, because the general practice of Judges at Home was decidedly against ordering *the productieu of -telegrams, except in very rare cases. The suggestion of Major Atkinson should be simplified, and the whole question ought to receive the consideration of Government.—The House then adjourned till Tuesday.

In the Legislative Council the business was merely formal.-— Mr Luckie obtained ten days' leave of absence. Messrs ftolleston and Montgomery were granted absence for a week each.

In reply to a question by Mr Steward, regarding a lighthouse at Cape Wanbrow, Mr Reynolds said he could nut recommend the House to make an appropriatiou, in the face of the report on the matter by Captain Johnston. 4 In reply to Mr Sheehan, he said the Government were preparing a Bill to remedy certain defects in the Native Lands Act, 1873.

Mr Wakefield asked whether any steps were being taken by the Government to brinji the murderers of Sullivan "to justice.-— Mr VogH said the whole object ot the Government, and those in charge of the Native Department, was to obtain from all people of the Colony due respect for its laws. Beyond that, he could give him no information

The Municipal Corporation" Gas Bill, and the Bill to amend the Wellington (Special Settlements Act, 1871, were read a first time.