GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 202, 23 September 1873, Page 6

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

_ Telegrams published in the Dunedin papers give information of the proceedings at Wellington till the 18th hist. They do not possess much interest for our readers. Amongst other items are the following : The Public Works Committee have reported on the petition of the inhabitants of the Dunstan for the extension of the railway from Lawrence to Roxburgh and the Dunstan, to the ellect that the Provincial Empowering .1 till renders it unnecessary, as the Provincial Government can make the railway under it. The correct answer to Mr Fyke’s question a,bout the export duty in bond was that the Government were negotiating for the establishment in New Zealand of a branch of one of tiie Australian mints for the purposes of assay only. In the Legislative Council on the 16th instant, the 1 roviucial Loans Pill was thrown out by a majority of seven; the ayes bciii (T 19, the uoes 12. *

On the House resuming on the evening o{ Wednesday, Mr O’Rorke gave a sketch of the immigration arrangements. He defended the system of granting free passages, the 3 effect of which had been to produce a largo 3 increase in the number of immigrants, I Within the last month 000 people were landed iU Dunedin, and also two vessels with passen- [ gorS had come to Canterbury. Advices had f been received that 15 vessels were now afloat, i with nearly 4000 souls ; five more were to . leave in September, and six in October. [ Fully 10,000 souls would bo introduced durt ing the year. r Several members then spoke on the subject iof the Immigrants' Land Bill.—Mr Webster ; spoke at random. He condemned the Bill r A* having been framed by literary men, and f compared editors to washerwomen. He , spoke of editors as scorchers, southerly bur- [ sterS, &c. He ridiculed the gold-fields meml bers, and said the members of the Ministry j knew more about soiling old clothes, lawyer’s letters, and invoices, than about colonisation, , The House listened in dead silence.—Mr . Luokie approved of the delicacy that had led . Ministers to desire to refrain from producing , Dr Pollen’s speech, “ Wallace Wight”— i.e., i Mr Webster, the member for Wallace—had . surpassed himself that evening. Considering . the festive garb in which he appeared that evening, there was perhaps some excuse for him. The land was the question on which ■ everything in the Colony would hang. Shortly the squatting or large landholding interest would have to make way. If what had happened that night in another place were repeated, that interest would have to bow before the interests of the people. A few years ago in a place where he (Mr Luckie) had spent ten years of his life, Colonel Whitmore had the boldness to say, at a public table, “ What do we want with settlers and storekeepers here ? This is a sheep country, and sheepfarmers intend to hold the land.” As to the sneers of Mr Webster at the Press, was it right, he asked, that such sneers should he thrown out at a class of men who had made their mark in every Colony, and one of them had reached the highest position in tl'rijv Colony ? They rose sometimes, no doubt, from small beginnings, but they had the knowledge to know where to get information, and that was knowledge. If the system of granting land on deferred payments had been established which, as regarded one measure, had been nipped in the bud by the large landowners in another place, whose interests were opposed to if—it WOrud make this Bill much more useful than it was. The prime question now was, the people’s laud for the people, and the people for the land. This question of questions of the land laws would ring throughout the Colony during the next twelve months, and he would do his best to make it do so.—Mr Vogel replied. The Government had to contend with difficulties 15,01)0 miles away. The Colony could well afford to pay £2O for each immigrant. In America, 600 to 1000 dollars per head were given. It was impossible for any Government to carry on the business of the Colony if they were bound to produce all their correspondence. Mr Webster had raised class distinctions. He had said, “You are all self-made men ; I speak from a pedestal.” Nothing is more intolerable. He would nut descend to the honorable member’s level, but would only say that in order to set himself right with the House Mr Webster should come down and make an ample apology. In regard to Mr Reeves’s speech, he would admit that it was a conscientious one, and also an able one, He referred to the comparative Want of success which characterised the period of Mr Reeves’s administration, and said Mr Reeves should not have been so ready to criticise. ? Mr O’Rorke had not really been unsuccessful. ' It would be idle to say that the Government had had no disagreement with the AgentGeneral. They blamed him for not carrying out his instructions, and also for irregularity in his correspondence, but that was a very different thing from the sweeping statement (if Mr Reeves, which amounted to a statement that the Agent-General was not fit for any responsible position. As regarded the general question of immigration, the Government would be prepared to give free passages, as desired by Mr Reeves. Nomination would require to be made by name, and not by occupation. The latter would be very unfair to the labouring population, as any one who wanted labour of any kind could, without incurring any responsibility, swamp the market.—After further discussion, the Bill passed the second reading, and was ordered to be committed on Friday. Before the House separated, Mr Yogo said it would be necessary to make a statement with reference to the Provincial Loans Bill in the Legislative Council. That was one to which the Government attached the greatest importance, and the matter therefore required the gravest consideration. Ho would accordingly request that the House should not meet next day, so that the Government might have time to consider the situation. He moved that the House should adjourn till Friday. The motion was adopted. A special telegram of the 18th says Nothing has transpired to-day regarding the action the Government will take. A meeting of their supporters will be held to-morrow morning. Both the papers here urge the Government to take a firm and decided stand, and adopt measures to force a reconstruction of the Council, so as to prevent a recurrence of such a crisis. It is considered not unlikely that the Government will resort to a direct property or income tax, as the only alternative of Provincial borrowing: and if the Council refuses to acquiesce in this, the Government will dissolve Parliament. It is not likely that an attempt will be made fo swamp the Council, until after the dissolution,