PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1899, 18 July 1888, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

WBiitNaTON, July 17. Trouble Is brewing as to the action or the Government m placing before the House the letter written by Chief Judge M'Donald m reply to the ohargei made against him by Mr Hamlin. In reply to Mr Walker to-day tbe HonE. MUohelnon admitted that Jadge M'Donald is » Civil Servant, and then Mr Walker enquired from the Speaker if it was net an infringement of the privileges of the House that a letter written by a Civil Servant commenting on words uttered m debate by a member of the House should ba placed on the table by command ? Sir Maurice replied that the question was not an easy one to Answer, as the conduct of three persons was implicated, viz , Chief / Jodge M'Donald m commenting on the onndnot of a member of the House, His Excellency the Governor m submitting tbe letter to the Housa, and the Minister for Publlo Works m presenting such a paper. It was not for the Speaker to pronounce his ipse dixit as to whether an infringement of tbe S aiding Orders had taken place, but m a case of th»t kind, In which the conduct of so many member* was concerned, he suggested the adoption of tbe course proposed by Sir Eeklne May m suoh cises. This was that a Select Committee be appointed to enquire Into * the circumstances, and that the House should suspend its judgment until that had bean done. Mr Walkei Intimated that he should adopt the suggestion of the Speaker, and move for the appointment of a Committee to consider tbe question. Ministers are not to be caught with cheff. Replying torMr Taylor to-day, ai to whether there is aoy truth m the rumour that Sir F. Whltaker and Mr Fergus intend to retire from the Ministry after the close of the session on acoount of " urgent private business," Mr Hiilop rattier neatly informed the House that no sach intention bad been expressed by the gentlemen named. If, however, he remarked, any such Intention was made known during the session " the matter will be taken into consideration." Tbe House seemed tickled by the smartneu of the reply, wbloh, of course, meant nothing, and laughed over the manner In which Mr Taylor was sat upon. That everlasting Midland Railway contract is still upon the boards as a toplo of conversation, and it aeemi likely to remain from all appearances. To bring the matter to a bend Mr R. Beeves has given notice to ask the Premier on Friday whether any information has been received as to whether lbs contract has been signed In London, and! if not, whether Government will Insist upon It being signed before the end of the present session.

Daring the remarks of Mr Fish on the motion for going Into supply, that gentleman objaoted to the proposal of Mtf Withy to oat down the wages of working men. He several times referred to the fact that when he was aw»y from Parliament he was a working man himself, and worked b» hard as anybody. Thlo rather ambiguous remark left an impression that perhaps when In Wellington either Me F.ah or the Hocae m general did not work, and Meesrs Fltzherbert and Butohlson took advantage of the opportunity to chaff the member for Dunedin South. Thla brought from Mr Fiah the retort that he knew more about working man than either of those gentlemen, and, a3 a matter of fact, he believed that neither of them had ever done a day's work m their livas. As both of the gentlemen referred to are lawyers, the inference was that they got their Hying* very easily, and the Houae appeared to tje vary much amused In consequence, Mr Moar, the member for Rodney, has struck rather an original notion, which he is urging the Minister for Justice to adopt. He contends that under the pre3ent system of appointment of j.P.'s, who mostly come from towns, gfeat inoonvenlenos is felt by cquotry aettlerq. With a view to remedying this, he suggests that where there are no resident Justices, Poatmttßters or other persons of good repute should be appointed to take dsclaratlonp. If the Government age willing to carry out this idea, he wishes them to give effect to it by legislation this session.

Correspondence, whioh was presented to the Honse to-day, sbovs that at the beginning of the present year a request was made by the Government of India to be supplied with all available Information aa to breeders of horses m this Colony, with their brands, etc., whloh was forwarded In April. In supplying the required facts, it was pointed oat by the Under Secretary that hitherto the breeding of horses suitable for India had been small, owing to the limited demand. If, however, there was an available market In India, and information is to the description of horses required was given, farmers would breed the*m providing. the prices were satisfactory, -,? "A« an inducement to breed, however, it wonld be necessary for the Indian Government to undertake to purchase a certain number of horses yearly at a fixed price, conditionally on their reaching the required standard, and being otherwise suitable; Any Information on the subject whioh was supplied would be publfshed. No reply baa been received to the last letter. ; Wellington, Jqly 18. The debate on Mr Wlthy'a amendment did not conclude last night, and wilt be resumed to-day. It Is generally considered that the amendment, if a division foozled for, will be lost by an overwhelming majority, • ' : ■'■ : ' ■■> ' :> The Committee to whloh .Mr Walker proppaes to refer the question of privilege In conneption with the memorandum of -Judge McDonald, Chief Judge of the Native Land Court, will be' composed of the Speaker, the Colonial Secretary, Sir J. Ball, Messrs Ballanoe, Ormond, Samuel, Downie Stewart, Seymour, and |ihe : mover (Mr Walker): All B.crta of rumors are current a« to what was done at yesterday's meeting of the Opposition, about which members aro very reticent. One version Is, for Instance, that a committee of two was appointed to consider the advisableness of a ncoonfidence motion. Another rumor is that a certain member of the Freetrade party proposed to the Opposition that those two sections ehould join In turning out the Government, and m replaolng them by a Ministry formed jointly by the Freetrade and groteotlonift (qp Opposition) parties* It' is said that thfe wa B agreed to bf the Opposition, 4 but that when the scheme was 'communicated to the Freetraders ail but three 'or fou* refused to agree to It, bq that as this left the proppsed at ll eg In' a iplporlty. the project was" abandoned fie im4 praqtloable, xxh iut.ormal meeting of members of the Opposition was held this morning, but no report wag Received from the BabCommittee of two, appointed to ooneider tho propriety of bringing down a "no confidence " motion. It is now considorad definite, however, that a "No Conflclenqe!?' m^tign w|U not be inovc^ J at any rate at present* as if is foun4 thftj the Proteotionißts and Freetraders are irreconcilable, and that though the Government party are really m a minority, thsy will stand on account of the want of combiuation on the part of their opponent*, Protectionists now deny that any'overtures were rrade to the Freetraders m the direction of forming a coalition againßt the Government, but without doubt something of the sort did take place, and m consequence of the manner m which they were received the prqßosalfj'to oust the Government have been dropped. '