THE LOBBIES. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1421, 11 August 1881, Page 3

THE LOBBIES. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Wellington, Last Night. > Town Districts Bill: The Town Districts Bill has been reintroduced by the Colonial Secretary, and is down on the , Order Paper for second reading. Like the Representation and , Railway Construction Bills, its present position on the Order Paper is* not well assured. ;It is in many respects a bill similar $o .that, of last session. , The Estimates. ' Attempts havec been' niade to "reduce the Estimates, but these have as y&t ire-; suited 'in nothing mdre decisive' than a fruitJess'-waste of 'time tod' energy. ■ No one believes 'in. the sincerjtyi of these*endeavours j these are simply made as a / keyin'ote to ' th^ sretren^hraettt! tfofig ibat wiirbe sung at tbe r huBtiuga.'''The latest move in this direction emanated from that

doughty champion of social and administrative economy, Mr Murray. On this, as on many other occasions, he lifted up the voice of one crying in the wilderness. His demand was for a £50,000 reduction, and on being challenged to indicate the I direction in which such reductions should be made, Hansard and its abuses came in for a large share of adverse criticism. There is no doubt but that this has become a most expensive institution, and what makes it the more questionable is the persistent effort made to increase rather than diminish the cost. The great abuse of Hansard is the encouragement it gives to mere rag-bags of the Seddon and Speight type to waste time and bore the House to death. A judicious condensation has often been mooted. The first Hansard, which did not cost a fraction of the present vote, was framed on that principle, and it has the merit of being one of the mosb readable Hansards ever produced in New Zealand. A Breeze. A spanking breeze arose this afternoon on the small pox scare. A. new set of quarantine regulations were enacted yesterday, which enabled the Sydney steamer to come direct alongside the wharf. This was too good an opportunity to be lost by the self -constituted guardian of the public well-being, Win. Hutchinson, and without preliminary notice he was up in arms demanding to know the why and wherefore. The scope permitted by a mere question not being wide enough to speak on, the formal adjournment of the House was moved for enabling members to have it out. Broad insinuations were made that the new regulations were a concession to the Union Company, m contravention of public safety. As a matter of course that was too much for Mr McLean to rest quietly under, and in answer to a challenge thrown out by Sir G. Grey he disclaimed all complicity with the new regulations.