PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1858, 4 June 1888, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

J (From our own Correspondent.)

Wellington, Jane 2. Seldom, If ever, m the political history of the Colony has there been such confusion worse confounded as there is at the present time. With the proposed tariff j and other financial proposals of the Government before them, parties were about as mixed as they make them ; but with Me Ormoud's motion, and others to alterthe 6scal polioy by Messrs Marohant and Beetham, there is snob a conglomeration of oppoaite interests that one gets into utter fog when trying to see to the end of it. All day on Friday the position was becoming to some extent settled, for while a large proportion of Government supporters had decided to vote against their financial proposals, the Opposition had for all praotical purposes made up their minds to support the Ministry. This s-aa m a measure straightforward, as it secured the passing of the tariff. But at the same time, the Government were In the position of having to carry their proposals by the aid of the Opposition, who might at any moment turn and rend them. Then oomes the bombshell of Mr Ormond's, whioh apaetn everything, and Riven the Government an opening for quietly sllpplDg out of what they proposed and so getting back the support of their own members. Nothing oould be more Ingenious than the construction of these apparently simple proposition?. No lis plain enough, and provides for the raising of the school age to six yeirp, and the consequent saving of £25,000 a year ; a proposal which, under the circumstances might seoare the support of the House. No 2, however, is most ambiguous, and I repeat it to show the foro9 of my remarks :—" That the payment of subsidies to local bodies ba abandoned, In order that a saving of the duty proposed to be raised on tea may be secured. " This, at first blush, would be understood to mean that tbe duty on tea is to be abolished m order that the local bodies may go without their subsidies. But more careful members see ia (t a pitfall for the unwary, which is likely to effect the abolition of subsidies to local bodies, and still permit the rising of the tea duty It will be noticed that the motion sprcifi cally states that the payment of subsidies shall be abandoned, but at the same time it does not provide that the duty on tea shall be abandoned also. In this point lies tbe sting from a Protectionist point of view- If the motion for abolishing the ! subsidies is carried, it is estimated tint there will be an amount of from £20,000 to £25.000 to operate on m the tariff, which, if Freetraders hove the working ' of it, will assuredly be taken off the pro tective duties ; for the tea duty is the last whioh will be touched by them The ' same thing applies to the £25,000 to ba ' saved by the raisin? of the school age and there will thuß be a total of (say) £50,000, which the Freetrade paTly would be at liberty to operate upon m tbe tariff. This brings tbe natural question, will the Premier submit to this alteration, or stand by the tariff as proposed? a ] question which at present no one can , determine, and on which hinges the whole position Both sides of the House naturally express a totally opposite opinion, and every member one meets has ' a different version of the matter. Rumor ' has it that » prominent Ministerial 1 supporter baß intimated that Government j will resign rather than c.irry their tariff j by the aid of the Opposition ; while at the ] ■ame time, the Opposition (or the Pro- j teotionist portion of it) is ready to analat the Government m every possible way if the Goveramenf deolde to stick to their guns and take the consequences. Tho < general opinion Is that they will carry out ( their tariff, and this tbe Opposition say ] tbey will do. Ministerialists, however, { assert that tbe Premier is only too anxious to have the motions of Mr Ormond carried (including the funding of the deficit) even if he voted against them 'j his would mean, if the party is strong enough, that the tariff would be remodelled by striking out the proteotive duties, and taxation on the poorer classes would be Increased on tba ordinary articles of consumption, while nothing would be done to Increase the taxation of property. In this connection, however, it is pointed out that tbe country members who voted for tha abolition of subUdtas to local bodies would be catting their own throats. And so the thing goes on. At every point there is a stumbling block, and no one can eea the end of it all. It Is authoritatively stated that there was no collusion between Mr Ormond and the Freetraders m bringing on hh motion, and that it is uncertain as to whether they will support him ; and as most of them are country members thlo aoatlagency is by no means certain. Many of them also voted laet session against the Bohool age being raised, and there again they would ba awkwardly situated. This, then, is the position, which is about as clear as mud ; and any one that can predlot the ultimate Issue now is far-seeing Indeed. Both sides are watching eaoh other, and possibly before the House meets on Tuesday there may be overtures between the Government- and the Opposition as to what shall be done. At any rate, till the Government know what the Opposition will do, and vice versa, neither aide will care to sot decisively ; and es nothing has yet beon done la the way of holding a caucus by either party, we shall probably have to wait till Tuesday to see whioh vi ay the cat will jump. If I may venture on a f arecast of the upshot of the complicated poaition into which affaire have now drifted, it is this : That Government will Btick to their tariff, and thai nine out of every ten of the Opposition will stick to tho Govern - ment. As a matter of fact 1 am reliably informed that the Premier has been ap pro ached by the Opposition, and was today assured by the delegate that the Bupport of himself and twelve otber Protectionists could be relied on, to assist the Government if they will adhere to their original propqwls, In reality tho Govern* ment may count on the support of thirty of the Opposition, at the very least, m tho matter ; and it is estimated tnat of their own party thirty are also prepared to swallow the tariff; There would thus be a crushing majority to carry it through as it stand?, should Government so desire. It is believed that twenty members have shaken off their allegiance from tho Government, and will be prepared to join with the Freetrade Oppositionists m opposing the tariff. As to the intentions of the Government, I have just been reliably informed that though they will be divided on the propoaal to raise the school a^e, they will steadily oppose all tho other propr-sals of Mr Ormond. While there cap be little doubt that these resolutions originated with Mr Ormond himself, it ib pretty well underdto d that the Government were acting m concept with him when he brought them into the Hou°e. This much, at any rate, Is evident, that ten minutes after ho had given notice of tho motions, printed slips were available, and paper and Ink were perfeotly dry, showing that they had been printed for some hours before. There Is naturally a good deal of speculation as to why the Government appeared to take up the resolutions so readily. A plausible reason is given this afternoon. There bad had been an attaok on the Government by Mr Seddon, and Mr Smith hadalso announced his iutentionof moving " that the Oii3toms Bill be re&d a second time that day (j'x months.'* Naturally, these both being prominent Oppositionists, Government took this as an Intimation that the Opposition as a whole were against them and their tariff; and knowing that the Premier had already alienated the Freetraders of his party, Mr Ormond" b motion was brought m bb affording a meaus of vetveat. The poaition waa considerably a.Usred,, nowrivor, by'tbg proceedlu^ of th,e evaulcg. It

was then Cleirly shown that In wishing to have the dtb»te on Mr Ormond'a motion taken at onoa Mr Seel don nan playing »» lone hand, and as tbe Premier Is now sure of the support of the Opposition, it ia stated that he will stick to the tariff. Wjeilikoton, June 4 I understand it is definitely decided the Hon Mr Oliver will represent the colony at the Chinese Conference and will leave for Australia to-morrow. I am informed that a meeting of members interested In dairy factories ( will be held this morning to meet Mr McOallum, manager of the Edlndale Dairy Faolorp, at the euggeetlon of the Minister of Lands, to discuss the question of the position of dairy factories, Mr M'Callum is travelling for the benefit of his health, and the Government gives him a free pass on the railways, to give him an opportunity to enquire into the position of factories m the North, and his report is highly unsatisfactory aa to the way things are managed there, the price paid for milk and ho on. The idea of the Minister is, that if agreeable to members here, the Government will appoint Mr M'Calluir temporarily to go through the districts m which factories are, and call meetings of farmers there foi the purpoße of giving them hints for their future guidance. The appointment wou'd be only temporary, pending the result of the Agent-General's appointment of a permanent officer