PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1862, 8 June 1888, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

(Fbom our own Correspondent.) | Wellington, June 7 The lobbies are very dall this morning pending the dectahn of the House on the Tariff The general feeling is that there will be a o maiderable m jo'ity In favor of mo^t of the Itema of the Tar ff, bat an eff jrt rn*y be rmde In Committee to hay • a redaction made In the duty on tea If this la agreed it will of onurse mean a proportionate redaction m the amount of subsidies to local bodies, which are to bo paid for oat of this duty. Pi'otecive tteim, however, will moat . likely go • hrcagh without alteration. The debate is Dot expected to conclude before tomorrow night. Now that it has been adjourned members are prepared to Bj.oat all round, and several b'g Sp> ochea ore m contemplation. Up to a certain peiiod of the debate yesterday : t appeared to be the Intention of the Protectionists to let the Freetraders have It all their own way, bat as it went on the fight became more f»oneral, and thoaa who intended to keep quiet will now have their ear. A curious point which la generally over ooked, even am;ngsfc memoirs themselves, ia that Mr Smith's amendment— '• That the Bi 1 be read ft second time this day six montho," was lost last night The Speaker twice put the amendment, and eaid " Ayes have It, amendment carried," and was proceeding to put the motion for the second reading when Sir H Atkinson rose, bat eventually gave way to Mr Baohanac. The general impression Is that the amendment is still on the boards, but on looking op the journals I find it is- entered as being lose. This opens the way for a farther amendment, and it la just possible that one may be moved by the Freetraders to-day, One of the moat noticeable features of the debate to-night was the bitter personal spirit evinced by most of the speakers, who appeared to have come down fully prepared to give vent to all their private animosity which had been pent up for the lait f w sees'oos. It was stated m the afternoon that Mr Allen was going to " rab it into" Mr Fish, with the intention of bringing him oat, and so glvlDg an opeuing for Mr Sooblo Mackenzie to annihilate thah gentleman. Ttiia programme was carried out In Its entirety. Mr Allen was undoubtedly personal, and he oertalnJy got a R "land for his O'iv r from Mr Fish, who slashed a>ound him and made fie most of his opportunities No one, however, w»« prepared for the pointed and painful rcfl <ctions wbioh were made by Mr Maokeraia, and at last, when he said that he would atop, there was aa evident feeling of reWpf m the Chamber, The same strain was taken up by Mr Fcßher } who abused the member for Mount Ida and Mr Meute*th m very plain language ; and sltogaihir the impression conveyed by the wbo'o debate was anpleißant m the extreme. Bumora of a move on the part of the Freetraders were rife all to-day, acd it was stated early iv the afternoon that an amendment of some sort was on the tapis. I enquired into the mutter, and was >- formed that no oovert action was intended j but the ram <r was renewed during the evening, »nd I was positively Informed, by a member who is m a position to be aoonrate, that an amendment to the effaot that the financial proposiJaof the Government are not entirely satisfactory is to be moved before the conclusion of the debate. He states that he was himself asked to move an amendment, but. declined. He refuses to state who will be seleoted The idea of this m ;ve, it is though^ ia to craw a red herring across the scent, and by this means attract attention from the aobj ot, niw under consideration, with the prospact of sowing discord amo-jg the Pro. tectlonlsta. The question of 1h.9 prostitution of young girls m Wellington is still being sidered by the Publio Petitions Convmttee« Up to the present, the evidence has been etrongly sensational, and corroborative of statements already made m <theJ Press here on thß subject ; but two detect V9B were examined today, and their opinion is that the whole thing is groas'y overdrawn, though there m»y be som-i cause for wont has been said. The Committee have not yet come to any conclusion The, petition of Mr John Ol'ivier, Provincial District Auditor, who claims that as he holda his position under special Act of Parliament, he cinnot ba retrenched, has been partly considered by the Committee, but no deoiaion was arrived at. One of tbe happiest speeches luat night was that of Mj \V. P. Reeves, who scored heavily off the opponents of the Government, and made a capital defence of the ! Premier, m the course of which ho j renewed Sir J. Vogel's joke about the one j man who advocated Sir H Atkinson at the elections, and was t iken for a lunatic, fn much better form, though undoubtedly a bold effort m the Houpo, was the Latin joke at the expense of the member for/ Mount Ida, fi . rictritt causa diis placuit, t«d victa Scqbei," — ie., ?' The victorious cause pleased the gods, but the beaten cause pleased Soobiy/' a reference to the fact that, though he knew he would be dofoattid, Scobie Mackenzie had stuck to lub Freotrade colors and joined the losing s : de. The Minister for Lands to-day presented the annual sheep returns. Ie appears that on May 31, 1887, there were 15,1^5,626 •heep m the Colony, wbpli was a decrease of 18,637 as agilnat the previoaa year, there being an increase m all tho Prcvibces except Canterbury of 30L 72Q ahoep A'mwt the only Item of real interest at the proßent tlnae is the announcement that m the Marlboroagh district thore were, on March 31 iaat, 64,7i3 infected sheep. Last winter was very severe on sheep, as was sh'iwa by the short ehearlnga ; but In the North Island there was a largo increase of sheep, wh|oh ax\y be expected to continue, T-no Colony is vow declared to be free from aoab. Mr Samuel has inferaaed me that he bai been made acquainted with the fac. that c pp;r a-id silver ores have been discovered m the Pthia riu-.gp, near New Plymouth, and he is miking endeavoura to have the matter fully enquired into. After emasculating the Government meaoura for dealing with the "yellow agony " m suoh t nnnnor ss to make it uoreoognlanble, tha Lords to-day passed i ho Bill by sixteen votes to nine. The following new oiause has been introduced: — For tbe purposes of this Aot, the term " Chlneso " does nci.lnclqde natural born or naturalised su^jaots of Her Majesty, and m the Act- " naturalised " means naturalised In the colony of Now % saland. A proviso is also inserted to make the Aot apply to Chinese only who have left Hongkong or China slaco Juao 10 next. A oUatß is iuedrted, also, exempting officers or crews of Chineoa men-of-war visiting New ?3aland, while (most of all) it U provided that the Act shall only be m foroo till nexjb session. The clauses whioh prohibit; all Chinese, except those who are naturalised, from voting at any elections, are Btruck oxxiin fofo ; and m one way and another the Bill wears a sadly mangled aspect Jt ia anticipated that there will be a lively ',' go is" whea the cornea before the Houao again. ■ In vfew of t]}Q facj; that there rpay be difforencea of opinjon amoog^t the Pro tectionista ai to the incividua! items o£ the tariff, which, if debated m the Mouse, would be m the interests of the Freetraders, Dr Fitchett and Mr Goldie are arranging'fQr a aorfc pf Cpmm^tteo of Froj-eotionists 1o meet and analyse the wilderness of suggestions ant| objections that have been r ceived by mombors, and endeavor to arrange for a common under, standing when the tariff ia m Committee of the Eouse. This course, it is ant'eipated, will effect a uniformity of ideas on tbe subject,

A. return, printed to the order of Mr B%rroo, as to the amount of departmsntal^ expenditure, gives some interesting figu-ea a* to the resuU of the new p>llcy of ' retrencbmnnt Tho Gubernatorial aa'ary and establishment onst for the year 1887 8 tt-e sam of £9740. as compared with I £10,493 laat y. ar ; Mln's era' salaries and allowances £L 0 404, as asjaiDat £13,036 ; and Legislative (including honoraria for firo re'elons), £32 499, as against £46,572. Toe aggregate amounts for. the various Departments of Ministers show a total reduction of from £2,074, 553 to £2,003.302, the amounts being ac follovia : -Colonial Secretary, £162,727 to £151,839 ; Colonial Treasurer, £54,691 to £35,13 L ; Minister for Justice, £118,571 to £1J 4,608; Postimster-Ganeral, £290,046 to £268,283 ; Commissioner of Customs, £80,751 to- £69,217; Commissioner of Stamps, £30 120 to £24 996 ; Minister for Education, £371,603 to £368,708 ; Native Affairs, £26,836 to £16 Bu2 ; Mines, £32.693 to £20,630: Public Work?, £723 946 to £722,999. An lnoreaße of from £182,569 to £209,999 is down m the Defence Department. The total reduction ahown for the year Is from £2,144,654 to £2,076,035. la rep y to ft question by Mr M' Arthur to-day, Sir H. Atkinson stated that Governmeut do not propose to invite the House to take any special notice of the proposed amendment m the Midland Railway contract. Be contended that no new concession ia proposed aa far aa the Government understood it, but merely that the oompany proposed a deviation In the original, ..whic ll , aw there had been a good deal of feeling over it, they propped to lay on the table of the House, They did not intend either to give any speoial facilities to any private members to bring m any resolution on the subject. Now that Government have announoed their intention of stopping work on the North Island Main Trunk line, both the Taranakl and Auckland members are very sdxlous to have the line between those two districts oirrled through. ]Le*ve of abaonoe for a fortnight, on account of Illness, has been granted to Mr J. O. Brown. Mr Turnbuil wishes thi Government to lay on tha table the report) on secondary schools, m continuation of the reports of I 1885 and 1886. The Shop Hours Bill, University of Otayo Council "Election Bill, and Tram* vraya Act, 1872, Amendment Bill, have been postponed till July 5, The attempt to get questions answered to-day was not successful, Mr Goldie intends to urge on Government the necessity for the prevention of smuggling, which he says is very rife m Otago and Auckland. The " Pross" tonight has an Imaginary yarn about despatches' from the French Consul to his Government being intercepted, la which he gave full details of the fortifications of Wellington. Mr Joyoe to-day presented a petition signed by over 5000 paople m favour of his Shop Hours Bill. Major Rnpata Is enquiring from the Government if they will try to check the visits of Te Kootl to the West Ooast,,, as such visits- tend to Impoverish tha Natives. Wellington, June 8. A rumor is still current as to a probable amendment being moved on the motion for the second reading of. the Customs Dnties Bill, to the effect tl»at the financial proposals of the Government are not satisfactory, and the name of Mr Seddon is coupled with it. The motion which if carried would of couno be a "no confidence " one, pure and simple, is certain to be rejected as it ia estimated that at the outside Mr Seddon would only have 40 followers, while if tho ameadment is not carried it is believed that only 24 or 25 will oppose the Bill. It is believed that Messrs Withy, Beetham, Hruce, T. JVfoKenzie, Fraser, Ballance, Fulton, Marchant, Izard, Wi'son, Seddon, and many more members still intend to speak during the debate, which is now expected to last well into next week. r-Mr~lraTnaCn~arTrreol " trom- South- tli» morning.