POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XX, Issue 1415, 24 December 1887, Page 3

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

(From tha Dailies.;

Sir Julius Yogel on Thursday afternoon charged \lr Macarthur with acting as the mouthpiece for the Government, and with making motions in their interest. The member^ for Manawatu indignantly denied the impeachment, and said that instead of it being usual for him to move on behalf of the Government of the day, as a matter of fact be had never tabled a motion for any Government, wi h one <sxcf ption, anH that was for the Ministry of which Sir Julius was a member. Oq that occasion he was invited to ask the Committee to strike out from the Supple mentary Estimates an item which had been placed there at the solicitation of one of their prominent supporters, and which Sir Julius Yogel had not the courage to oppose hims If. The Souse evidently enjoyed tha tables being a-» com pletely turned on the member for Christcharch North.

The Minister for Lands maybe congratulated on having passed through both branches of the Legislature the Land Bill and the Public Bodies' Powers Bill The latter measure deals with endowments and educational reserves, and as under both Bills very large measures of relief ire provided, settlers may indeed have a jubilee. In the Public Revenues Bill Mr Wilson moved the addition of a clause making it penal for any Government to exceed votes passed by the House • hut, at the Premier's suggestion, it was withdrawn, the Premier undertaking to deal with the matter next ses3ion.

Personalities were exchanged between the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition on Wednesday afternoon. In discussing the question of the committal of the Loan Bill, the Premier alluded to the fact that he had delayed proceedings earlier in the day for Sir J. YogePs convenience. Sir Julius pointed out that the loss of time at the tnorning sitting was not due to him, but to the fact that the House had decided — irregularly he contended—to sit at 31 a.m., without any such notice being given on the Order Paper. In any case Sir Julius asked to be allowed to withdraw the thanks which he had so gracefully expressed to the Premier on his arrival at the House in the morning. " You had better do so," carelesely replied the Premier, " for I do not value them." The ex-Treasurer, however, shuffled out of hi 3 position by stating that he would not set the Premier a bad example. When the Property Tax Bill was in Committee, Sir J. Vogrl moved to increase the exemption to £2,500, but this wa3 defeated by 33 to 14.

Some of the gentlemen who have been posing through the session an rigid economists have been busily engaged during the past few days in pestering Ministers for grants for their local roads, bridges, and railways. Two or three of the gentlemen in question hail from Otago. Mr Scobie Mackenzie had a tussle with Mr Downie Stewart yesterday, in the course of which he expressed his supreme contempt for the kind of jargon in which lawyers manage to en warp Acts of Parliament. Mr Mackenzie suggested that a committee of intelligent journalists should be employed to knock this legal jargon into decent English.

The personal estate of the late Sir William Macarthur in England has been proved at £120 000. By his will he bequeaths £60,000 to charities.

The Berlin "Post" estimates that the Russian force ori the frontier exceeds the German and Austrian by 171 battalions, 100 squadrons, and 45 batteries. Fears of a European war are on the increase, owing to the report being revived that the Russian forces have made a further advance in the direction of the Galician frontier.