PARLIAMENT.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3885, 16 August 1873, Page 3

PARLIAME NT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Pbidat, August 15. The Speaker took the chair at half-post two o'clock. CONSTITUTION OF TABANAKI. Major Atkinson's Superintendent of Taranaki Empowering Bill waa committed. Mr SHEEHAN waa opposed to tinkering provincial institutions. They had quite a sufficient variety already. People would shortly not know where they -were. The bill was it*teuded to assimilate the Constitution of Taranaki to that of Marlborougb and Hawke's Bay, which, it was said, had worked well. It had not worked welfin Marlborough, and the cause of its working well in Hawke's Bay waa not owing to its inherent excellence, but to the happy choice that had been made of a Superintendent. Mr O'CONOR moved an amendmenf, making the operation of the bill general. It was only permissive in Taranaki j what harm could be done by making it permissive also in other provinces. The question was put and negatived on the voicos. The bill passed through all its stages without amendment. MINING- ON PRIVATE PROPERTY Bill. Mr BRAD3HAW moved the second reading- of the above bill. It was copi«d from the Victorian Act on the subject. Mr COLLINS moved an amendment, tbat the bill be read a second time that day six months. Mr Bunny, Mr Andbew, Mr Gn mes, Mr J. Shephaed, and others supported the amendment. Mr Macandbetv, Me Shbehan, Mr T. L, Shefhebd, Mr O'Conoe, and others sup. ported the second reading the bill. The question that the bill be read a second time was negatived, on a division, by 37 to 19. Mr MBRVYJST moved that the bill be read that day week.

Mr O'CONOR moved the adjournment of the debate. Mr YOG-EL said the Government had no objection to the adjournment of the debate. He thought, however, that the provisions desired should be introduced into the Otago Waste Lands Act, and made special for Otago. the debate was adjourned to Wednesday next. MEETING OF HOUSE. Mr YOGEL, to test the feeling of the House en the question, moved that Uie House at its rising should adjourn till 7.30 on Mondir evening. Mt BUNNY remarked that there wn< i> bull on Monday evening; they should meet i 1 the afternoon instead. Mr WHITE opposed the motion. I' found it impossible to read the bills a>. papers without some spare time being allowei. for the purpose. It was too soon to begin sitting on Mondays yet. Mr RICHARDSON said the Government were indifferent on the matter; they wished to be guided by the House. Mr GILLIES opposed the proposal. He thought it would not have the effect of shortening the session, but of lengthening it. Members would come to the House less prepared than they would have been otherwise, and would consequently talk more, but less to the purpose. Sir J. C. WILSON spoke in support of the proposal. The question, whether the House on rising should adjourn till 7.30 on Monday, was put and carried on a division by 41 to 8. WATEB BTTPPLT. The House went into committee on the above bill. On the motion of Mr RoLLrsrON, who took charge of it, it was amended so as to be made applicable to all the provinces. The bill was reported to the House with amendments. DEEDS REGISTRATION. Mr FOX moved the second reading of the Deeds Registration Bill. It was to provide that persona entitled to Crown Grants for land, but who had not received them, might deal with the laud as if the Crown Grant had been issued, and that deeds made in the past dealing with such land should be valid. Mr BHEEHAN hoped the second reading of the bill would be postponed. He had received advices to the effect that it would upset several titles at present unquestioned. He would agree that the bill should be read a second time if the committal were postponed for a week. The bill was read a second time. LICENSING BILL. The House went into Committee on the above bill. The clauses as far as No 6 were passed without discussion. That clause was to the effect that collectors of rates and other local officers were to give assistance to the Resident Magistrate in the carrying out of the bill : it was objected to by several members. Mr G. B. PARKER moved that the chairman should leave the chair. Major ATKINSON hoped Mr Parker would withdraw the amendment. .He was not a supported of the bill, but he thought it would be very undesirable to burke the discussion ac this siagp. He thought the bill should be constructed so as to leave it optional with such provinces as desired to adopt it to do so. Mr SWANSON agreed with this view, but thought the principle should be carried still further, and the matter left to the provinces altogether. In Auckland they had an excellent permissive bill already. Mr FOX said the Auckland Bill, as regaried the police regulations, was an excellent one, and that part of the present bill was copied from it almost verbatim. Its weak point was the permissive prohibitory part. It enabled two-thirds of the householders, male and female, to prevent the licensing of any special house they pleased. That would never work. To expect people to leave their business to agitate about prohibiting the opening of every publichouse was like expecting them to burn down their houses to roast their sucking pigs. What he wished was to enable two-thirds of the residents in any distiict to say once for all that no publiohouses should be established in the district. Mr COLLINS would support Mr Parker's amendment. He believed that the elective licensing boards were a mistake, and would produce results directly the reverse of those anticipated. Such boards would be under the control of the publicans, and by their means the number of public houses would be increased. Mr FOX remarked that the suggestion was one which had been brought before the Imperial Parliament by a long-headed Scotch member, Sir Robert Anstruther, and had been received with much favor. It was not a vague theoretical one. He urged the house to go on with the bill. If the whole bill could not be carried through, he would be satiefied with such instalments as he could get this year, hoping to get others again. Mr CUTHBERTSON said it was a most objectionable system, in his view, to raise discussions on the principle of a bill when it was in committee. By passing the second reading they had uffirmed the principle. Mr O'CONOR, as one of thoße who were anxious to see the bill passed, protested against this method of throwing obstacles in its way on each clause being put. Mr HUNTER remarked that be had not spoken on the bill on its second reading, because, as a hearty supporter of it, it had seemed to him unnecessary. It paesed almost without dissent. His views on the subject were much in unison with those of Mr Fox. He was not, however, sanguine about seeing the measure pass as a whole, and was glad to see that Mr Fox was ready to accept instalments? He thought this system of raising opposition on each clause waß very objectionable. Mr PARKER had no intention of raising opposition clause by clause. He wanted to teat the question whether or not the bill should be thrown out, once for all. Mr BELL thought Mr Fox's remarks a» to his willingness -to accept instalments of the bill must commend themselves to the goodwill of the House. The portion with reference to adulteration should at any rate be passed. Sir J. C. WILSON would support Mr Parker's amendment. He thought the second reading had been passed merely out of courtesy to Mr Fox. Mr FOX could not express much gratitude for Buoh courtesy. The hon member might keep such compliments in his pocket. Mr BUNNY certainly had not supported the bill out of courtesy lo Mr Fox. No doubt they had all a high respect for that gentleman ; but from the manner in which he (Mr Fox) had always referred to himself in the House, he could hardly be expected to support a measure purely out of regard for him. He supported it, not because he thought it would work, that was to say the prohibitory part of it, but because he thought if twothirds of the residents in any district did think fit to Bay that there should be no publichouses in the district they had a perfect right to do so. Mr SWANSON wanted to know what.position the Government intended to take up in regard to this measure : they Bhould not make such a mystery of their intention. For his part he did not think it was desirable to remove the publichousea off the face of the earth, but to endeavor to render them better and more respectable than they were at present. Hotels were wanted more for travellers than those who stayed at home. It was, as a rule, more agreeable to live in a hotel than in lodgings. He had lived in one hotel all the time since he had been in Wellington, and had been most oorufortable. He never wished to have better treatment than be had experienced there. Mr M'LEAN remarked that the hon member appeared always to be anxious to know what the Government intended to do. That had been very clearly explained by the Premier SDmo nights previously. The.members of the Government would be guided in the matter by fcbeir individual discretion.. For his part, he would vote for every, olnuso of it. He did not apprehend that it would produce

any mischievous financial results. It could not come into operation rapidly enough to do bo. The hour being late, it was suggested that the usual adjournment for half-an-hour should take place. Mr TAIAROA objected to the adjournment. It was inconsistent on the part of members to go out and drink whisky and then come in and vote for teetotalism. (Laughter.) Mr ANDREW moved the omission of clause 6, enabling resident magistrates to call upon local officers to assist in carrying out the provi.-nns of the bill. It would place provincial olii "era under the authority of a Geaeral Govern Mient official, introducing a very objectionable orinciple. Mr CUTHBERTSON al B o urged the omission of the clause. Mr FOX objected to this. Clauses 7 and 8 were postponed. On clause 9, which defined the descriptions of licenses which might be granted, there was a good deal of discussion. Neither bottle licenses nor bush licenses wore included among them. On Mr SHEEHAN'S motion, progress was reported, and the debate adjourned till Wednesday. The House adjourned at 0.30 a.m.