PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1851, 26 May 1888, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

(FIJOM OUtt OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Wklunqton, May 25 Mr P)k* a wo ki;«g up oupport for h's Otthdio Schch)l B 11, whlo'n, however, is expected to pass ia le prcsont form. !•■ ia elated ?ha f « n 'inhi'r of members have intimated to Mr Pyko that they will aiipp rt >Iki Jill if t ; ie fc-t'o is itWered to "Private 5r : ohoo!a BM" thereby i>iv;n<» o'hor d notnin-ktioriß the anma fac.ililiaa y.B i^ropißed to be given by it to Roman Cdthilio Schools. Notice of n mo?t important tn >tl m hna been <>ivon for Wednesday n:xt by Air J G. Wlleon, whl h, if adopted, wiM, without douht, fff-ota very gre»t change In our system of edoo*U>n. The full text of It ia aa follows : — That the present EdnoiMon Aofc aboo'd bo am^dtfd m the following direction (L) Boart* should be aboHeh-'d ; (2) That a Council of Education Bbould be appointed to have control of the educational purt of oar nohool Bvßtem, to oonalst of the Minister of Education, the lußpector-General and, aay five Inspectors (to be ohotnn to represent them by the whole of the Inspectors) bcsldoH other nominated members ; (3) That tbe Minister of Education (should pay all teachers m the oolouy upon a uniform sca'e, and should have control nf all Inspectors, who might btt then movHablo from one district, to another ; (4) i That the several committees ahi.uld bo grouped together to take the duties of the present committees ; (5) That the Minla'or should ba aSle to p»y any person or poraona who would ereot buildings th:.'Hiflolvo», a captation allowat'Ce of £L, provided the number of soholara reaobes 60, and Government; Inspectors are allowed to in^petand cx^minn the schools. A petition nf nnfqu^ character was presented to-day by a number of Chinese fcti'inEf tha*, they view with great Burprise and alarm the provisions of the 'Jhinose Immigration Act, and against whioh they protest. The motion for the suspension of the Standing Orders to permit of the new procedure rules being d'eou&sed found its way to the Order Paper again to-day, but when it should have come forward, wich another tnoti m to appoint a 0 >mtnlttteo tn deal with the petitions of discharged Civil Servants, there wae, as uaua', no quorum. A novel suggestion ia made by Mr Joyce, who is bringing nnder the attention ef tho Government the propiiety, when dealing with compensation lo those officers who have bee>J o impelled to rotire from the service, of ascer'alnlnc from the Government Actuary the capitalised life value of tho ooujpenpatinn aum to each offioer, payable yearly nr half-yearly. Mr Taylor informs me that he has returned his gold naedaPinn free riilw.vy pass to the Minister for Public Works, with an accompanying statement that he does not feel justifud m accepting tho bauble m the preae it financial oondttion of fie colony. The petition of the Chinese residents to Parliament, In addition to setting forth the Alarm and surprise folt at the Chinese Immigrants Aot Amendment Bill, goes on to a»y th»t all Chines;) now ia the Qolony, or now on the way, have been relying on •he treatiej now existing between the Imperial Governments of Great Britain and China, and until these are altered or repealed It la not oompetent for the Laglßlatare of this country to enact the eild Biil. Tbe petition continues tbat even if It was competent it would bo gravely unjust to do ao till aftet due notice had bean given to the Imperial Government of China and otherwise published, ho that the Chinese outside the colony might have sufficient warning. The Ohioeie residents of the colony, or Chinamen generally, so the petition assorts, have novor been pnivud gniity of crime or immorality m proportion greatur than that which sxlsts am >ugßt British ir hibltaMts ; but on the oontrary, U c proved crime aud immorality amongst the Chinese has been muoh le u .s m proportion than th.^t amoogst the British inhabitants m this colony or any English-speaking oouotry, andthatChinose residents m this colony and elae where have been always exceptionally law observing and peaoc-living, and examples of frugality. Rather than bo prevented from coming, they contend that they should be encouraged as men oapable of mining and tilling the soil oi their own account, and wilting to labor at a very low wage They also urve that In&tead of the obj c'lnn which is raised to their coming on pooount of the fuct that they lower the price of prodoc? and manufactar >cs, and therefore of wag«B, they should, be wo'comed, not dreaded. It w&s not true except m rare cases, that the Chinese earned their money m the Colony and went to China to spend it, aud even if true, the British m China did exaotly the BninethJuK. One or two other loss important rea3 n» w»ra o'ao given. Our old friend, the B b!e reading m I Bchools quostibp, is oomlng np for oonsldcratlou again m sevoral forms this session, and Mr Joyco Intends to enquire from tho Minis' er for Education whether he wil), during the recess, prepare a Bill to omtnd thi Eduaatinn Act In the direction of— (I) Allowing Bible readinu m school with a oon°cience cause ; (2) giving a grant of 30a per head m denomi national sohoolo wherein at least 200 scholars shall have attended on evary public echool d»y, aod have bnen Instructed m tho six Btandtrds tncuht In the ftftte Schoola, and h»ve passed the examination of the Government Inspector. I am Informed by Mr M'Kerjfcle that the Hon E Mitcholson has promised to make freight on wheat payable by ectua) weight m a month's time Mr Walker to-day presented a petition from Mr John Ollivier, of Christohnrch, praying for compensation for I'.bb of office as Statutory Offioer. It lo not probable that tbe urn of, fknwood aa fuel will bo adopted on th'e Government lines of railway Mr Menteath is ondoavoriDg to elicit information en to what stops are to be taken to represent the Colony at tho next Paris Exhibition. Tho Premier refuses to inform the Honse when the Financial Statement wtli be brought down, i Wellington, May 26 The report of tho Seoretary of Custom? states tbat the average oost of oolleotinp Ouitom duties m New Zealand wan £2 15. 6d per oont, whereas m Groat Britain it is £4 6s 8d per oent, thd 1b a very largo difference. At various Now Zealand porte tho collection ranged from £2 Is 3d at Wellington (lowest) to £26 Is 9d at (now clcs'jo 1 ) port of Foxton. The oost was £2 8i lid nt Auckland, £2 U 7d at Dunedln, and £2 7s at Lyttelton. The Premier's Fair Rent Bill wai only distributed yesterriby and, to give the House an opportunity of further consideration, its second reading haa been postponed till Taendny, Tho BUI enacia that the leaaeo or leaaor of J&nda ioasod from eny pnbllo authority may apply to Comml?nioners appointed by the Govo^nmont to iix a fair rent whlob Is not the*\ to bo nltered for three years, or the parties mny ft^ree on a fair rent Babjcct to confirmation by tbe Oommlußlonrra. Similarly deferred payments selootora may apply to the Commlogioner to have a fair price fixed. There are provisions foe appeal and ganeral regulations for the carrying o it of the AoK In tho course of a speech on the "Westland aod Grey Education Boards' Bill Unt night tho Minister of Education said that, In his opinion, it was to tho interne of the colony that Education Boards should be abolished, and that it was a large question which would havu t> b? dealt with ohorHy.