The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 359, 26 December 1879, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26.

The Session" ■• of the General Assembly, of New Zealand which has just closed must" be looked upon as, in many respects, a remarkable one. > Its duration has not been so long'as might hare been expected,'considering that one Government has been unseated, and its successors narrowly escaped the same fate; also that several measures involving radical changes in our : representative system have been debated and carried into law.

? The first session of the seventh Parliament of New Zealand commenced on the 24th September, and the Houses were prorogued on the 19th December, having thus sat for something less than three months. Sir George Grey was in office at the opening of the session, having just appealed to the country by means of a dissolution. At the earliest possible period, viz., on the Address in Reply being moved, the Opposition untler the leadership of the Hon. John Hall came down with an amendment, involving an expression of want of confidence in the Government " as at present constituted." After a debate lasting about ten days the motion was carried by a majority of 43 to 41. Hereupon Sir George and his colleagues resigned, and Mr Hall undertook the formation of a Ministry. The new Ministiy took office on the Bth October, but were immediately met with a notice of another motion of went of confidence by Mr Macandrew. The Government were evidently in a minority, but by carefully avoiding going to a division on the main issue, and ignoring all side issues, they managed to gain what was all important to them—time. Things went on in this unsatisfactory state till the 24th Oct., when the historical defection of four Auckland members from the ranks of the Opposition gave the Government a majority, and they were enabled to challenge the Opposition to take a division at any time. A painful sort of debate ensued on the matter of this defection, and it was freely asserted that an unholy compact had been made between the seceders and the Government. However, the latter having at last a majority were able to proceed with the public business. More than a third of the session had- now elapsed, and as yet nothing had been done. Let us see what was accomplished in the remainder of the period.

Of the measures of electoral reform which had been promised by the Grey Government, and adopted by their successors, threepassedintolawv, viz., the Qualification of Electors, Registration of Electors, and Triennial Parliaments Bills. The promised Bill to provide for the distribution of seats was not brought forward. With regard to the first measure, it provides practically for manhood suffrage, with the addition of giving a vote in every electoral district to the holder of a freehold to the value of £25. It was over this plural vote that the chief discussion , arose, but the provision was ultimately retained. An unsuccessful attempt was also made to affirm the principle that women (worth £25) might possibly possess sufficient intelligence to deserve being entrusted with the franchise, and a small majority once decided in their favor. But members drew back in alarm at the possible consequences of their temerity, and the £25 ladies were sent back to herd with their impecunious sisters, and remember their vast inferiority to that half of the human race which makes laws, fights, frequents clubs, smokes cigars, and wears t ail coats.

Side by side in importance with the administrative measures abovenamed are those embodying the financial policy of Mr Hall's Government. The Treasurer (Major Atkinson) found himself face to face with a large deficit. As to its amount, considerable difference of opinion existed, and when Colonial Treasurers disagree it becomes almost impossible for an outsider to express a decided opinion. Still there was no disputing the fact of the existence of a deficit. The principal caupe, no doubt, of this state of things had been the very great falling off in the Land Revenue.

Granting the correctness of Ms figures, we certainly consider that Major Atkinson showed great boldness in the remedies he proposed. Such an amount of the deficiency as could be overtaken during the current year he proposed to get rid of. What still remained he would convert into an addition to' our permanent debt, and for the future he would provide against a recurrence of the same state of affairs by that most unpopular of all expedients—'increased taxation. The forms which this increase takes are—increased Customs duties, certain stamp duties, and a, property tax. This last, being a direct tax, will no doubt be the most unpopular of all, but we are by no means sure that it is not the least objectionable of. any. The increased Customs duties will fall, of course, all round on all consumers alike. They will have the effect of checking importations, and thus may very likely not realize the addition to the revenue which is anticipated. But the property tax can only fall on those who own more than £500 in property. Under its provisions a man worth £600 will have to contribute 8s 4d per annum to the exigencies of the State by virtue of. his being possessor of that amount of property.

We must defer till a future occasion any further aotice of what has been done, and stitl more left undone,- in "the session under review.

I In order to give our BtaflE an opportunity of participating to some extent in the holiday season, there will be no issue of the Akaroa Mail on Friday, January 2.

We have again to remind our readers that .the.nomination of three candidates for filling the vacancies in the Akaroa and Wainui Road Board takes place this day, at the office, Duyauchelle's Bay. The retiring , : members are Messrs Williams, Shadbolt, and Curry. We have not heard what candidates are likely to come forward on the occasion.

A meeting of the Akaroa Borough Council was held on Wednesday evening at the Council offices. Present—His Worship the Mayor (in the chair), Crs Bridge, Bruce, Wiggins, and Chadwick. The latter made and subscribed the usual declaration prior to taking his seat. As there did not appear to be any very important business to come before the Council, and the members seemed to feel the influence of the holiday time, it was agreed, on the motion of Or Bruce, to adjourn for a fortnight.

Mr C. W. Bridge will to-morrow hold an auction sale of some valuable land, situated in the town of Akaroa. Full particulars as to locality, &c, may be obtained of the auctioneer.

St. Peter's Church was very tastefully decorated yesterday, in honor o£ the festival of Christmas. All suitable portions of the building were ornamented with evergreens and flowers. Across the chancel there was a shield with the words " King of Kings " emblazoned upon it, while in front of the gallery appeared a scroll bearing the inscription " Prince of Peace." The services at 8 and 11 were conducted by the Rev. H. Stocker, the latter service being choral. Jackson's Te.Deuin and Jubilate were eung, ?and hymns 61, 59, and 60-Ancient and Modern. There was a large ongregation.

Some difficulty was experienced in filling the last vacancy in the Borough Council, as we believe that it was only at the eleventh hour that a candidate was discovered in the person of Mr Chadwick. There is now another vacancy to be filled caused by the resignation of Cr Heuning. We hope that some suitable candidate will come forward in time, but as jet we have not heard of anyone prepared to offer himself. The fact appears to be that when these local bodies are in difficulties for want of funds, there is a difficulty in finding men willing to act on them. If there were considerable funds in hand, there would no doubt be plenty who would be desirous of having a share in their allocation.

We have received a letter from Mr C. D. Rankin, apparently supplementary to the one, he forwarded to the Licensing Court, which we must decline to publish for the following reasons :—l. Our report was merely a statement of what took place before the Court, and expressed no opinion whatever on the question. 2. We certainly never accused Mr Itankin of cowardice, therefore a reply to such a charge is quite out of place in our columns. 3 and chief. We cannot permit our correspondence column to be made the vehicle for charges against individuals who from their position cannot reply in the same manner. If Mr Eankin has such charges to make, he knows perfectly well how to bring them forward in a manner which will enable them to be replied to, in which case both the charges and the answer will have equal publicity.