Tuapeka Times. AND BOLDFIELDS REPORTER AN ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1883. MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume 27, Issue 950, 27 June 1883, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND BOLDFIELDS REPORTER AN ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1883. MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Parliament has fairly got to business, and in the course of this week and next, unless the Opposition intervene vrith> obstructive motions; the whole policy of the Government will be before the House and ihe country in the Financial and Public Works Statements. *The Colonial Treasurer intimated on Friday the principal measures intended to be introduced, independently of the Bills which may be necessary to give effect to the proposals embodied in, the State-, ments, and we note among them several, apparently by their title, having an important bearing oh local government institutions and social questions. The session, up to this time, has been by no means ie quiet and uneventful as the

first, -jfew days generally are. The debate, on Jh& Addrera-in^eply was, pTiaracteris^Dy a very : bitte^Nraei^l/: by Mi* Montgomery in his! capacity} o? leader .of the Opposition, buj he entawjlf 'overajojot the ,tiaark?itt charging thp>Governlißnt s 'witJ / corrupt alloi»tidnlo'th^; Public Worfeif appropriation^ ana was"' even rebuked by thatfJfparagon of virtuous patriotism, Mrst. W. Green, heretofore one of his warm supporters. Sir George Grey evidently intends to 'playhis'own hand agairr this year; and the few remarks the .made in the debate, referred' exclusively to some 'supposed iniquities committed by the Government in connection with the opening of Kawhiao Harbor and the establishment of a township in that locality. Sir George has also, as our readers are aware, given notice to move at the earliest possible opportunity that a land, tax be imposed. This is a sort of opposition notice to that of Mr Montgomery, who proposes to bring~jn a Bill to repeal the Property Assessment Act and the Property Tax A ct. We do not imagine that either of the honorable gentlemen are in earnest, or, that they have the least idea of succeeding j but itiif manifest that they are' not acting in concert, and the general belief, is that they ars never likely to do 50. .. It is ridiculous to suppose that Sir George would consent to play second fiddle to such a politician as the member for Akaroa ; whilst the Canterbury and Otago irreconcilables -will never willingly accept Sir George s as leader, knowing full well- that his, 1 attainment to office would mean an Auckland Ministry and a purely Auckland 1 policy. The Address-in-Reply was agreed to without any amendment being proposed, the counting of heads not appearing favorable to Opposition ambitiqn ; but the chance of the party was- to come. Mr UV Fitzgerald, once a Minister and Superintendent of Canterbury, now and for some years holding the office of Controller and Auditor -General, at a high salary, and who has, for some reason or other, been connected with the past Parliamentary history of the Colony,, has a special "down " on the present Colonial Treasurer^ and .has been, it would seem, biding his time to do him an awkward ttjrk -« The : PubliS Revenue Act, 1832," afforded the desired opportunity. lUiis Act provides that the appropriar tions, presuming Parliament is -to meet, shall extend over two months of the next financial year but no'longer ; so.Jthat if the meeting is delayed beyond May, no moneys can be issued -and paid for the pußlic seryice until the House of Representatives has passed a resolution authorising the same... Parliament could not be. convened this year in May, for the very sufficient reason that the buildings were not ready for the reception of members, and the Treasurer therefore very properly provided for the public service and the payment of outstanding liabilities on public works by obtaining on "imprest the money from the.Public Account on May 31st. The Controller could not refuse his certificate since the requisition was* perfectly legal,. but he addressed a /-'memorandum to the Treasurer, in which he roundly charged him with evading*." the law," and added a number of unnecessary and impertinent remarks. - This document was, however, laid before Parliament, and, as the Controller no doubt anticipated, was seized upon as a fine point against a Minister. Mr Montgomery forthwith made a direct attack by moving a vote of disapproval of the transaction reported on by the Controller, and of especial censure on the Treasurer, but he could only induce twenty-nine members to go with him into the lobbj j whilst the Government, although many of their supporters were absent, mustered fortythree. The name of Mr J. C. Brown, the member for this district, does not appear in the division-list , on either side, but vpry ;probably he, may * have paired, and the list of pairs has not yet, to our knowledge, been published. . Mr Montgomery showed great want of sound judgment in taking the action he did on the memorandum of the Coni troller yrithout at least awaiting the explanation, which, it was clear, the Treasurer was bound to give of a document containing allegations apparently of so serious a character. Had he awaitad the explanation, or applied himself to study the Public Revenues Act carefully, lje would ha, ye avoided exposing his own ignorance and leading his party into a veritable trap. The whole case lay in a nutshell : for good and sufficient reasons Parliament could not be called together at an earlier date than June 16th, and the Treasurer therefore but did his duty in providing for the June, payments by means of an imprest. • Great-inconvenience, and, in fact, serious loss would have resulted all over .the, Colony had he neglected to do so. xWe do not know how far the division-list on Mr Montgomery's motion can be relied upon as indicating the relative strength of parties in the House, but there is little doubt that Ministers have a, substantial working majority at present;. [Whether they retain it "must of course depend, in a great measure, on the nature' of their financial proposals.