PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1843, 17 May 1888, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

(From our own Correspondent.) Wellington, May 16. Kver since the commencement of the session, Polica Inspectors Sheirman James and Backley have haunted the precinsts of Parliament buildings, and all of them have presented petitions to Parliament asking for farther com peas *- tlon for their term of service. The question of their compensation and retirpment is continually cropping op m different forms, and wa* this afternoon accidentally alluded to daring the discussion on Mr HatohieoD'a question aa to the compensation allowed under the Act of 1886. Mr Seddon will move for » return giving the names of persons appointed to any position m the Railway or Police service Mnca Government took cfEoe and the salaries of BQoh persons, This, it is generally considered, refers to the dismissal of. the gentlemen mentioned, Mid the filling of their places by junior officers, Volunteers will be Interested In the. reply to a question of whioh notice haß been given by Mr Valent' », who enquires If Government is prepar . to restore the unattached Met for V<. unteer officers, which was m force under the regulations of 1883, but whlcn haa been dipcontinued by subsequent regulations, and whethtr Government wi!l extend In applici'loa to officers of all ranks In the Volunteer force. Thy following Billa were introduced and read a first timo today :— A Bill to amend the Employment of Females and otheis Act 1881, (Mr Hutchison) ; Oullfornian Thistle Bill, (Mr T. McKeLZc) ; a Bill to provide for administration of Endowment Kesirvtß, (Major Steward) ; Nelson Fort shire Reserves Bill, (Mr Levestarr) ; the Waime* River Works Bill, (Mr Kerr) ; a Bill to provide for the triennial election of Lloensing Committees, (Major Stewari) . a Bill to amend the Oouniies Aot, 1886, (Mr OidmaD)j Shop Houra Bill, (Mr Joyce). A rather interesting return was moved for by Mr Thompson which was to show (I) the number of case*, if any, m whioh the Oommisaioner haa reduced asßesements under the powers vested ',s him by aeotlnn 81 of the Properiy Assessment *ot 1885, and the amount of buoo reduction m such case ; (2) the names of the pereops to whom each reductions have been conceded. The Premier stated that he had no or j oil n to the first part of ihe motion, but the seooud p-.rt could not be supplied aa tho matter had be n referred to the Grown law t ffioera, and it had been fouud to be contrary to law. Mr Thompson admits' that the motion was simply a " try on," but aa he could not h-ive what he wanted, he atated he would take what he could got, aud th's, it ie thought, will m=>ke interesting reading. The moßt intei esttng sitting of thb session, no far, was held this afternoon, when Mr Beetham's motion came :,h for discussion, " That m the opinion of th a House it is desirable that Government should introduce meanurea daring the present session providing that a portion of the earnings of tot^lisators and theatrioa) companies should be by Act appropriated for the purpose of hospital and oharilable aid." There was a long debate over the question, which was thoroughly threshed oat, principally m consrquenco <<t »n amendment by Mr Fulton, which proposed to tax tho earnings of Iheatthal oomrjanles, and to abolish the use of the totaltsator altogether. This amendment was loot by 44 to 12, and then Mr Feldwick proposed as a further amendment to strike out the part of the motion referring to theatrical companies, and con fin o it to toUJisators This propotal was also die— cusßed pretty fully, and eventually tbe whole thing was talked out, bu r . it ie understood that Government will bring m a Bill dealing with the question this Bt>eaion. During the ee3sion so far no face has been missed more than that of the veteran knight, Sir George Grey, who has not yet attended owing to illnea?. Our great reformer haß not forgotten his old loves, aod though absent m flesh, is with us m epirit. This afternoon Mr Seddon, on Mb behalf, gave notice to Introduce several bills. Mr Tarnbull appears to take as much interest as over m the finances of the colony, which he makes a Bpeolal study. He has on more than me cccaslon suggested the taxation of naoneyo lying m deposit. He is makin enquiries of the Pmrnler aa to whether tho anm of £5,000,000 lying to tho credit of the de j positora m various ban a, which appeals to eecape taxation, cannot be made to contribute to the revenue of the colony: Wellington, May 17. Two Private Railway Bills, fathered respectively by Mr Pyke and Mr Hobbs met with very different fates yesterday. . Mr Pyke carried tho second reading of his Otago Central Bill, with flying colors and a huge rnhjrtriiy of 53 votes to 12, but Mr Hobbs' Kamo-Kawakawa Bill wub rejected by 28 to 21 on an amandment moved by Me Scobio McKenzlo. Really this was the only important business dor c. Mr Fulton waa elected Chairman of the Waste Lands Committee this morning. Mr MrArlhur info-ma ma he will aek for an adjournment for a fortnight of the seoond reading of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Amendment Bill, which 1b sat down as the first order of the day for today. The Bill provides for the subdivision cfWanganuiand North Canterbury Hospital District*, and it ia the intention to send a deputation to the Government asking them to bring m a BUI to permit autonomio subdivision of a district where It la desired by the ratepayers. It lo thought that oppis'tlon will bo raised to tho B 11 as at present, on the ground that when it la agreed to, the promoters would not anpport any general Bill which might subsequently be brought m. Very little was dono li | the|lobbks tj>~ day but considerable anticipation 1b felt aa to the result of the meeting of the Opposition which has been culled for noon. It 1b g nerally believed that no action will be taken m the direction of appointing a leader of the p»rty, but a Vigilance Committee comprising two or three leading members will guide the forluaes of tho party m the meantime. Government are said to be preparing a BUI for the better regulation and protection of New Zealand oyster fisheries Th-ire is au looreasedfealing of repugnance amongßfc members against tho Oloture proposals of tho Government, which it is thought will ba thrown out while the remainder of the new rules of procedure will have a hard fight to get through as the Opposition have tho matter m their own hands, if they care about keeping out of the House when the motion comes on.