GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 108, 4 August 1876, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

WED>T£SDAY, JULY 26

In reply to Mr Holleston, the Hon. Mr Bowen said there was some misunderstanding as to the tables of payment, on which the Government proposed to insist before resristerino* societies under the Friendly Societies Ace. ft was not intended to have any special tables making au absolute rule for Friend! v Societies to go by. What "the Government proposed wa* ; from time to time, to prepare tables from such information as they obtained, and submit them for the information of the Societies. There were, of course, certain cases in which the certificate of an actuary or life insurance agent would be required. A Bill to alter and amend the law relating to the duties on gold was read a first- time. Mr Murray moved that in the opinion of the House the tenders should not be nccepted for the Central Gaol in New Plymouth till the House had an opportunity ot reconsidering the question ofsiLeofthrf central penal establishment- He thought the site an uudesiSi.ble om for several reasons. The landing* of prisoners would be inconvenient and dangerous, and its adjacency to certain dangerous hapus of Natives was a feature that might lead to grave consequences. From the fact of escaped convicts taking refuge amongst those Natives, it appeared to him that the Buller would be a more suitable place, aad one where the labor of the convicts might be advantageously utilised in the coal mines there. Mr Wason said Taranaki was the most unsuitable place in the Colony. The Hon. Mr Bowen said the Government had examined other plans. It was found that the Suunds wouid not he suitable. They were without tele- ; graphic communication, ancl it would he difficult to find work for the prisoners. At Taranaki food was cheao andthe climate good ; and as they only proposed to build one wing by contract and the rest by prison labor, there ■frould be plenty of employment. Mr Thomson thought it would be an exceedingly expensive erection, ancl the House ought to have had plans and all •other details respecting it laid before •thesn. Mr Rees protested against tho Colony having to keep 200 or 300 convicts in the building of a central prison and harbor works at Taranaki, and for Taranaki's sola benefit. Why not at once say that the Taranaki votes were to keep the Ministry in power, ■a r '. that was why the}* compelled the ■f Usa to go to an immense expendi-''iYi-3 at Taranaki to the disadvantage of thy rest of the Colony, which had equal •claims at least to colonial or national -expenditure. The Hon. Mr Bowen said he felt certain that the House would take no notice of the insinuation of Mr Rees, as they must be getting tired of such inuenrl 03 by that time. jir Reynolds said the Taranaki members knew nothing about the matter, and the Minister of Justice actually tried every likely place in the Colony 8 Wore deciding upon Taranaki. I Mr D. Reid said that i'voin what he B mew, tho land in the neighbourhood of I the proposed site was only adapted B for raising sheep ancl cattle, and was B therefore not the kind of land that the ■ Colony should go to large expenditure B for. Looking at the question from a I financial point of view, he thought it ;■ ou *?ht to be postponed with a view to ■ the reconsideration of the whole matter. B After a good deal of discussion the „B debate was adjourned. B Mr Stevens moved that a system of .■postal cards be forthwith adopted. B The Hon. Mr liichardson explained B that the cards would have been in ■ use before now, if the paper necessary B had been obtainable in the Colony ; but Bin any case they would be in use in a ■ 'start time. B At the evening sitting, B The Thames Harbor Bill, and the ■■-Wth Otago Harbor Bill, and the ■ Warehoused Goods Bill were read a ■ second time. ■ The House went into Committee on .-■' ie Municipal Corporations Bill, and ■Wl o 0 t the length of clause 105 when •■progress was reported. ?■ THURSDAY, JULY 27. '■ ? n l ' tte motion °f v Swanston, vflj 'ihe Hon. Mr Bowen agreed to lay ■"°n the table a return, shewing the class ■"•'•"men exempt from serving on Juries. B On the morion of Mr Sheehan, ■ Sir D. M'Lean agreed to produce a * B^ urn °* ? n *** sums °*' money paifl from Y_b *° t^ me t0 P ro P rietors of the ' Wai- -" ■ ° Times ' newspaper during 1876, J "'B s Wing the date of each of such pay-j'-'■ttents, and specifying the nature of ■the services rendered for each of those B -tor Murray moved — That in the j^-fti-ion oi this House, opportunity s Wld be afforded it of considering any jp,B a Ppointnient which Government may making of Agent-General be--OrM taking* such appointment. iktli 3e -P ren, i er sa^ the Government V "• ■ not discussed the question yet. As n as they had any information to |>r?|Bpe the House they would be happy to RlB^ r r ° 0 " lcoc^ moved — That in the fißy^' 011 of t]i e House, it is highly dethat the gold-mining industry Hrn! *he Colony should be relieved from ||l|B le present exceptional taxes now im-

posed upon it. The hon. gentleman went carefully, and at length, into tlie question, to show tbat gold-mining* was heavily and exceptionally taxed, and while "denying* the expediency or the wisdom of it, argued that the great und standing" grievance of the mining* communities was that they should be treated exceptionally. A long- discussion ensued, and ultimately the question was adjourned for a week. Fill DAY, JULY 23. Mv Thomson asked if it was intended to extend the line of telegraph to Catlin's Hiver by way of Port Molyneux and the Nuggets '? The Hon. G. M'Lean admitted the desirability of the extension asked I for, and stated that Mi' Lemon had been instructed to make the necessary inquiries into the matter, and he would probably be able to Jet the hon. member know the intentions of the Government at a later period of the session. Several Bills were introduced and read a first time. The Waiuku Church of England Site Crown Grant Hill passed. The Juries Act Amendment Bill was committed. Regarding clause 0 (Juries to be allowed fire and refreshment), A good deal of discussion ensued as to whether jurymen should be allowed alcoholic liquor as refreshment. An amendment having- heen proposed that alcoholic liquor should be excluded. A division was taken, and the amendment was negatived by 37 to 24. Mr Reid thought a juryman who could not arrive at a decision withouc alcoholic refreshment ought to be struck off the roll. Mr Stout said it was a new and extraordinary duty to impose upon a Judgp, of deciding what was reasonable refreshment. i\lr Whitaker proposed to leave out the words " refreshment procured at their own expense," and substitute " procured by the sheriff at. the public expense." This being* with a view to giva the Judge controlling power as to the amount of refreshment to be supplied. The amendment was agreed to. After some further discussion progress was reported. The Hon. Mr Atkinson announced that the Premier was unwell, and could not attend in his place that evening, but hoped that he would be able to attend on Tuesday. This placed the Government at some disadvantage in regard to Mr Whitaker's motion. They therefore proposed that the member for Waikato should go on with his motion, so far as making a speech, and that then the debate be adjourned till Tuesday. However, if this did not meet the wish of the r. ouse, the Government wouid be prepared te go on with the debuts at once. In Committee on the Municipal Corporation Bill, commencing at clause I0(i, all intermediate clauses up to 130 were passed without any material alteration. Progress was reported. The evening sitting was occupied in Committee on the Municipal Corporation Bill, clauses up to 170 being got through. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. Mr Touks, member for Auckland City West, took the oath and his seat. A further term of 14 days was given to the East Coast Election Committee before they brought up their report. The Premier announced, on behalf of the Government, that they would not offer any opposition to Karaitiana taking his seat, and would offer every facility to the member for Nelson to bringon his motion regarding that election. The Hon. Mr Richardson made a statement regarding Grey Gorge bridge. He had heard that the two anchor plates which held the suspension bridge in its place gave way last Friday morning, bringing the superstructure into the river 5 but the piers were not injured at all. Since then active steps had been taken to recover the material, and a considerable portion of the iron i work had been recovered. It was hoped I that only a very small portion of the superstructure would be lost. The estimates, as far as they were aware, for the replacement of the bridge would cost about .£IOOO. The calculations as to the strength of these anchor plates were made to allow three times the strength necessary to hold up the weight of the bridge. It was clear, therefore, that either the castings were faulty, or the designs of the bridge, j which were prepared in the head office at Wellington, were in error. The Government, however, intended to have a searching investigation into the matter, and the result of the inquiry would be laid before the House as soon as possible. In answer to a question by Mr Burns, The Hon. Mr Richardson said there were no other bridges in the Colony constructed upon the same plan. Mr Curtis moved that Karaitiana be allowed at once to take his seat. Mr Curtis gave a minute account of all the circumstances connected with the election, and explained upon what grounds the Committee had come to their decision. The Premier explained that while the Government did not entirely concur in the decision arrived at by the Committee, they would be glad to welcome the

lion, member to the seat he occupied last session.

The House then went into Committee upon the Municipal Corporations Act Amendment Bill, and some' progress was made and reported. At the evening sitting*, Mr Whitaker moved his resolutions, which were as follows : — " That clauses G, 7, 8, 9, ancl 10, of the Provincial Abolition Financial Arrangements Bill be omitted; and in lieu thereof that the following clauses to come into operation on the 29th September next, be inserted : — 'And all revenues arising from waste lands of the Crown to form part of Her Majesty's Consolidated Revenue of the Colony. All sums of money and expenditure heretofore charged on the revenue arising from waste lands of the Crown, is hereby charged on and made payable out of Her Majesty's Consolidated Revenue, and ail assets and liabilities of the several Provinces are assets and liabilities of the Colony : provided that cash in hand on 29th day of September, IS7G. received from waste lands of the Crown, shall be expended in the Province in which it has been i*eceived, on such public works (not otherwise provided, for) as the General Assembly shall determine.'" In support, of the resolutions, Mr Whitaker spoke for two hours, travelling over the most salient points of the history of the Colony as regarded the dealings with the waste lands of the Crown, to show that in this Colony, as was the case in all other colonies and countries, the waste lands were always the property of the State. The hon. member argued that the term " compact " was a misnomer, and had been coined since 1556 ; that the arrangement then made was merely temporary and subject to the ratification of the Imperial Parliament, and the Imperial Parliament washed its hands of the matter by declining to allow Provincial Governments to deal with waste lands * that the arrangement had never heen made final, and if it had been it would not have been altered and modified so often as it has during the last twenty years • that the credit ot the Colony was becoming very bad at Home, and our finances had become so entangled ancl intricate that no ordinary mind could get a fair idea of them ; that the only way to get out of our difficulties, simplify our system of finance, and raise the credit of the Colony, was to make the land fund colonial revenue. The hon. member contended that there was no legal or moral obligation, no compact between two parties, to prevent this being done, and that because the South Island had ior twenty years enjoyed the prescriptive right to the lands of that island it was time the Colony received its own, ancl the North Island its turn. Sooner or later the necessities of the Colony must make it come to this. The Premier, in a speech of an hour and a half's duration, traversed the main points of Mr Whitaker's speech, and argued that his proposals were inexpedient, impolitic, end unjust — that, call it what they would, compact or arrangement — there had been a solemn understanding in 1856, and all the legislation since then that affected the waste lands of the Crown was based upon the financial resolutions of that year. So firm was tbe feeling npoD that point that no man dared, with any reasonable prospect of success, propose to upset that understanding. When it was made, the general feeling* was that the North Island had the best of the bargain ; so much so, that a re-adjust-ment had been piovided foi*. While the North gave way to the pressure of circumstances, and sacrificed its land fund, the South put up with all sorts of inconvenience sooner than part with their land at low prices. The Premier quoted the words of Mr Richmond, then Mr Whitaker's colleague, in support of his statements, and said it was mere quibbling to upset the arrangements then made. He attributed the threatening financial difficulties of the year partly to the large sums already borrowed, and partly to-the action of people at Home, who ought not to run down the credit of the Colony. He spoke hopefully of tiding over the threatened dangers. The Premier said he looked upon these resolutions as only a stage towards separation, as hurtful to the public credit, and as calculated to retard all the proposed legislation for the benefit of the outlying districts. He showed how the public works had increased the population of the Colony, and placed her in a better position than ever she was to bear taxation, though they did not think this would be necessary. Sir George Grey, in a few remarks, intimated that he would move for Insular Separation, with the seat of Government for the North Island in Auckland, and for the South in Canterbury ; the seat of the Colonial Government to remain at Wellington. Mv Jiacandrew would oppose the resolutions of Mv Whitaker on the same grounds as he opposed the Government proposals, because both would end in the same thing, and would result in the abrogation of the Compact of 1856. Tbat Compact was confirmed by 20 years of* prescriptive right, and its abrogation contained elements of danger and disaster to the Colony. The principle of the resolutions was communism. Of the two sets of proposals he preferred those of Mv Whitaker, as being

open and straightforward. The proposals of Mt Whitaker were like stabbing a man in open daylight and to his face. The proposals of Government would slowly suck away their life blood as it were. The honorable member for Timaru had supported the Compact, and it would now give him pleasure to go into the same lobby as Mv Stafford, and support the vested interests which that gentleman hud helped to create. Mr Whitaker declining to reply, a division was taken, and the resolutions were lost by 54 to 21. The following is the division list : —

* Ayes :_ Andrew (teller), Diguan, Douglas, Gibbs, Sir Georgo Grey, Hamlin, Lusk, Macfarlane; Head G. E., Rees, Richmond, Rowe, f-'harp, Swanson, Tawifci, Sale, Tonics, Wakefield, Whitaker (teller), Williams, and Wood il. G. Noes : Atkinson, Baigcnfc, Ballance, Barff, Bastings, Bowen, Brandon, Brown J. C., Brown J. E., Bryce, Burns, Button, Oarrington, Cox, De Lautour, Fisher, Fitzroy, Henry, Hislop, Hodgkinson, Hunter, Johnston, Joyce, Kennedy, Kenny, Larnach, Lumsden, Macandrew (teller), Manders, Sir D. M'Lean, M'Lean G., Montgomery, Moorhouse, Murray, Murray-Aynsley, Pearce, Fyke, Reid D., Reynolds (teller), Richardson, Rolleston, Seaton, Seymour, Stafford, Shrimski, Stevens, Stout, Taiaroa, Teschmaker, Thompson, Tribe, Sir Julius Yogel, Watson, and Woolcock.

The House then adjourned till Thursday night, when Sir George Grey will move his separation resolutions.