PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1865, 12 June 1888, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

(FKOM OUR OWN OOBKKSPONpBIJT,-).. >' , •,>'!> Wbluw&tq£< Junedl. The Midland railway: wort™, now being I carried out on the West Coas^-are making good progress. Nine wller. of tb,s., line from Brunnerton -towards Ohriatohuroh Are finished and ready (or opening. jFhe running from, Brnnner ton towards Nelson will be completed to Nelson dre«k, a" dlstanoßof eight miles, by. the end of July or early m August It may bruited that the last monthly progress paymeo.tiQ.ade by the Company on aooonnt of aontraota was over £4000. The monthly poymeota have never fallen ' below that flam "ilnoe the work Btitrted, and have been as high as £10,000. It will be seen that, despite the difficulties of j aegotutlon, the Company 1b not by any means doing nothiog. It is understood that there'll no doubt that the Oommittse appointed by the Upper House, to oonsldar ' the answer to be given by the Government as to graphing leave to the Company tc*. lisa the Abt system la crossing Arthur's Paw, will report lr» fayoqr of tbe.talegram which the Government propose to send. The member for Ashbueton a&ks me to oorreot a slip m the Press Association's report, of l\[s ■ apeeoh ; on ■, thja' Firnnolal Statement on Thursday night. EJe was made td say that he approved of 'taking away the subsidies from local bodies, What he did say was that they were granted on a defensible principle, that they shonld be permanent, as m Victoria, bat that he disapproved of the Treasurer tacking them on to an nnpopolar tax, thereby apparently Inciting the House to get rid of subiidles to avoid the necessity of .the tax, A good deal 6f talk is going on In tha lobbies (n referenoe to the statement made by S^r.pjwniev Stewart m hia tpptoh on Friday night, Iti whJoj&he pointed put that through the delay on putting the Joan on the market the •urn, of £62 000 had been lost to the colony. He explains It to me by stating thaUn March arid April Hitock was op to 103£, and the loan at any rate oodld have been fhated at par, wbioh means a direct loss of lid per cent, or* no the whole loan of £2,000,000, £50,000. The sum, of £400,000 whloh was stcured •From the Bank was obtained 'at 5 percent, and if this had been taken up with the other loan it cou'd have been got for 4 per cent, or L per cent leas, whjoh m three years, means, £l2,ooo, .' The Freetraders are anxious to get the Customs BUI into Committee, as they hope, In oousequeaoa of dlssensioui amongst the Protectionists, to be aljle'to 'Virtually kill the t aritt Thff Protdotlonlft^ however, a,re detetmlntid to. oiroanvent Ihls, .by holding a oauouß beforeband, at whioh they will arrange as to voting <!ii bio? dpon eaoh Item, though they miy disagree individually' with some items, and m thia way secure tholr object. ' Tho Chinese Bill having been passed by the Upper House, a message embodying tho alterations made fh It has Been reoolyod by the Speaker, bqt he (jannot well bring thorn before tho House during tha present financial debate H« will do it immediately the Bill is deaty with, an 4 a II yely debate is anticipated. The Premier is anxious to h§va lt\a £f ilf pagsad m aqa-^ sequence of a clause oomla? Intq' forge which limits the number of Ohlneie passeogera on a steamer to a certain parfiout^ Ago on eaoh 100 tons of oargo. WewiNatON, June 18, Stagnation prevails m the lobbies mnd there is absolutely nothing stirring no if, pending the decision of the House *s to the Customs Tariff Bill, Mr McGregor is orpeoted to resume the debate to-day, as o.n h|a mo^oo |t wag adjoqr^ed uL Friday, and after him there' irp quite % uumbor of big. wiga on both tides to apeak. It Is anticipated that the division will not -be taken bafore to-morrow night at tho oarlloat and poasibly the debate may go a good deal farther; This suits the books of the^'Freetrade party' -exaotly, m they are proylog for the thing to bang about «s long, as poaslble iv .order to permit them to get In amongst the Protectionists, and bow dissension as to. the items of tariff bynrhfuh meno* they hopy to neutralise its effaot. 1 I learn oti goqil Authority that It Is tholr Intontiou to try fiud keep the debate going on as long m poHsible. ■••<.. There It soaie ia'k of Mt Seidon having found out a method hy which heo»n tuovo an amendtheat to tae motlaa fot tU* second roaditig somothiog ia (his way-i-i " But the GosnoUl' proposals of the ftovernm mt ara not entirely safsftotory." [ hivi) good authority for siylqg, howjvjr; th*t tho Sp-^'t^r will ndP'paVtnlt inch 0 bo mvei, and i:i any ijaia'it'U lot with Uu auppo t of th>.i ffceeirader^ vbo ara u,t •»' »~vjrii jlo working with Afc