GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 223, 3 August 1866, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Tuesday, Jcly 10. LEGISLATIVE COU CIL. The Hon. Mr Prendergast obtained leave to introduce an act for extendi* g tlie jurisdiction of district Courts. The bill Was read a first time. The Resident Magistrates' Bill was read a second time, and referred to committee. The Partnership Law Amendment Bill was read a third time and passed. Thursday, July 12. GOLDFIfLDs' ACT. The Hon. Mr MILLF.R moved—"That a - elect Committee be appointed to consolidate and amend the various A cts relating to the goldfields, with power to call for papers and persons, and to. confer with any other committee that may be appointed for a similar purpore by the House of Representatives. The Committee to consist of tlie Hon Mr Acland, the Hon. Mr Domett, tlie Hon. Mr Holmes, the Hon. Mr Menzies, the Hon. Mr Mantel', the Hon. the Attorney-General, and the Mover." The motion was carried. THIRD BEADING, The District Courts Jurisdiction Ex-

tension Bill" was "read a third time anc passed. , .-_ -.. ' CRIMI VAL~ LAW PROCEDURE BILL. This Bill was, on the motion of the Hon. PRENDERGAST; read a second timi and committed. Thursday, July 19. The Speaker took the chair at 2 o'clock. POISON ADMINISTRA ' lON PREVENTION BILL. The Hon. the ATTO » NEY-GEN ERAL moved—" F6if "leave to introduce the following clause to the Poison Administration Bill on the third reading— : " Whosoever shall by any means other than those specified in any of the provi sions contained in any Act now in force in this Colony;attempt .to commit murder, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall: b s liable -at the discretion of the court to ; be kept in penal servitude for life or for any term not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hai d-l'abor, and with or without solitary confinement." • Agreed to. The Bill was. read a third time, passed, and transmitted to the iloi.se 6i' r ße i4Vi>eiitatives. - • '- ; POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS. Mr BALL asked the Hon. the Post-master-General—"Whether it is the intention of the Government to bring into operation 'The Post office Savings Bank Act, 1865.'" Mr PATKRSON was happy to say that the arrangements for carrying out the Act were nearly complete, and Banks would be started in some of the larger Post-offices within a month by way of experiment, previously to their introduction a-11 over the country. POWERS OF SELECT COMMITTEES. Sir JOLLIE said that it would occasion considerable expense if witnesses were summoned from a distance to attend telect Committees. He begged to more—- " That it be an order of the House for the Session that no select committee be authorised to summon' witnesses lefore it who may reside at a distance of above ten miles from the city of Wellington. Unless upon special leave of the House first given." After some discussion, in the course of which several gentlemen spoke against the the motion, as trenching on the privileges of .select committees without good grounds, and as likely to cause delay and trouble in transacting business. Mr'STAFFORD, said that the object of the resolution had been partly attained by the del at.} which had taken place. With regard to the payment of witnesses, it cost a great deal of meney, and that didl not appear to lie considered by the mem-1 ueis ot'seelect committees. After some further discussion, the resolution was withdrawn. THE GOLDFIELDS COMMITTEE. MY BURNS moved—'-That the munIfiv. -P/.—ths— SeMiejla Committee be net <•• nipelle.l to serve olfc. any other ( on mitt e until the report be brought up." Mr C. WiLS ; X spoke against the re-J solution. Mr CARLETON said that ho doubted the propriety of this resolution, according to the rules rnd order of the House. The proper way of carrying out its object would be to move for the discharge of the m< mbers of the oldfields Committee from other Con m t(e?s. The SPEAKER' expressed an opinion Ihit the matter should be referred to thej >.t -ding Oners Committee. : T e motion was withdrawn. OTAGO WASTE LANDS CONSOLIDATION BILL. ; Mr DICK, in introducing a Pill to con--8)! d te an I auu.nu tbt law reli ting to the ■ale, letting, and occti at'on of the waste lands of the Crown wi hi the Provinc* of Olag . sh irtly explain d he object o it. he Hill was read v- fit I'me. The ouse adjourned at twenty mi antes p.ist 10 p.m.

11. U E OF REPRESENTATIVES

CLERKS OF MAGISTRATES' AND WARDENS' COURTS. MR II UG T'l.N, iii the absence of Mr Hradshaw, put the following questions to the Colonial Secretary :-—" • t whose recommendation clerks of the Magistrates' , n I Wardens' Courts on the Go dfields 1 a e been appointed Justices of the Peace, ami whether such appointments are not contrary to rule in such cases j and wh\ honorary Justices of the Peace have not lieen appointed on the Goldfields i" In leply to Mr aughton, Mr Stafford said, Clerks of Magistrates' and Wardens' Courts were not appointed Magistrates without the recommendation of the Superintendent of the province in which the appointments were made. Mr TAFFORD promised to lay on the table a return showing the number oi ounces' of gold that have passed through tie various Custom-Houses for tie year beginning,from the Ist p.il, 1805, and end'ng 31st March, I#{j6, jthus anticipat ing a motion that stood in the name o) Mr Bradshaw.

Wednksday, July 11. the separation question.

asked the Hon. tlu Coliuiil Secretary-;—"Whelher it is the in*f ntion of the Government to propose in this session any measure, to make an alteration in the present form of Government of tlie colony, or of any part of it,

and in doing so called attention to a des >atch, from Mr Cardwell on separation, mda despatch fr m Sir jU gorge Grey on the necessity of some change of Govt rn-an-iit in Ajj k and, and Mr I['ardweH's reply thereto, .mating that on,the point per haps the legislature of -the colony niuJit make some temporary enactments, le wish, dto elicit the views of the Government on the point, for if they did not bring the matter forward, he would do it himself. He had put the question in a wide and general form in order that he might Le at once answered without difficulty. Hi rST FFORD said that he had listened with pleasure to the remarks which had been made, because the question had been thought rather indefinite. It appeared to the Govenment that the question might express meanings which the hen. member had not intended. If it me mt s> paration, the Government would reply in the negative. > o one could accuse the 'Government of want of impartiality in administering the affairs of Auckland; with' regard to want of promptitude, 1 o one was better able to bring forward a scheme to remedy it than the hon. member himself. The government con'd not 1 ring tiny plan xorward, because it did not conceive that it could propose any radical alteration in the form of government at the request of the people of Auckland unless it' was thought to be for the benefit of the whole colony, lie regretted to see the combination which existed among the Auckland members ; but if any scheme was broughtforward within the four corners of Mr Cardwell's despatch, it would receive the greatest consideration. On the motion of \ r TAFFORD, the fo lowing Bill was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time on Tuesday week : —"An Act to rectify certain e rors in the ' Goldfields Acts Amendment A;t, 1865."' On the motion of Mr HAUGHTON, a Select Committee was appointed to consolidate and amend the various acts relating to the goldfields. ; The Partnership Amendment Bill wYs read a first time. 'I he Indictable Offences Bill was read a first time . - - A Bepresentation Act Amendment Bill was iLtroduced by Mr Stafford, and read a first time. The amendments were merely of a technical character. Mr STAFFORD said the Government intended to bring in a bill similar in its provisions to the Provincial Compulsory Land Taking Act, 18G3. Mr STAFFORD said the Government were going to bring in a short Act, defining the position and status of Inspectors of Bankruptcy, and to make one or two trifling amendment?. Mr STAFFORD said in reply to Mr Cargill, that the Government were prepared to assimilate the law hero, respect' irig the adulteration of food, to that of Engla d.

NEW ZEALAND AFFAIR

We featm from tiie 'Home News' tlmtl the following discussion took*p!ace in the,' House of Commons on theH Ota May:—] On the vo'.e of £17,178 for the Govt r lors i and Lieutenant-Governors in the West: Indies and certain other Co'onies. Mr C. Bentinck asked for some explanation of the sum of £I,SCO to the Governor of ew Zealand for the loss of emoluments sustained by him by leaving the more lucrative position of Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. Mr W. I'. Forster said Sir George Grey was in the receipt of a much larger salary as Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, and having been selected as the fittest person as Governor of New Zealand, this sum was given to him by way of compensation for the loss lie sustained by the change. Mr C. Fortescue said the ordinary salary of the Governor of New Zealand was not sufficient to secure Sir G. Grey against loss, and as he had gone at the request of, the Home Government and for the sake of the public service, it was thought this country should pay an additional sum. Mr lenley, Avhile admitting that the Governor shou d be properly paid, thought this vote established a bad precedent. Mr. C. Bentinck thought the explanation of the vote perfectly satisfactory, and asked whether, in the event of the Colony increasing the salary of Sir G. Grey to the amount he had received at the Cape, if the nu ney this c untry had paid would be refunded. Mr Cardwell said there was no intention ! o ask the Colony to refund the money. The vote was agreed to. The following is from the ' Times' Parliamentary report Mr A dderly asked the Secretary for the Colonies, what reply the Government had made to the addresses from New Zealand 'or separation of the two Islands under distinct (iovernments. Mr. Cardwell stated that the answer the Governor had been -directed to return o the addresses was, that the British Government were" not prepared to encourage any expectation that they would be able to advise concurrence in the prayer, at the same time, it was stated, that the Governor had expressed an opinion in favor of some change of Government in the norihern portion of the North Island, he had directed that officer to bring the matter under the 'consideration of his responsible advisers, with a view to submitting to the Legislature of New Zealand such measures as might seem advisable.

ENGLISH ITEMS BY THE MAIL

[ An important decision on the marriage aw las hi'. u pr nounced.jty the Court of Criminal ppeiil in Dublin. A man named Fannm was- convicted of bigamy before Mr Justice Keogh, at the last commission of Oyer and Terminer in that city. ; I. e was a protestant, and his first wife was a pro-tectant-also, but his second wife was a Roman Catholic, and the marriage was celebrated by a Roman Catholic priest. The jury found the prisoner guilty, although they were aware that he had professed himself a protestant within twelve months of his marriage with the second, although he married as a professed Roman Catholic. Mr Justice agreed with the verdict, and sentenced the matrimonial pluralist to five years penal servitude. An appeal against the veidict was made and the Judges in the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction as the 19th, act of George II ruled that a marriage by a priett of two persons, one a roman Catholic and the other a protestant, or one who had even professed protestantism within f twelve months of the second marriage must be null and void. ' The great fight for .£4OO and the cham pionship of England, between Jem ■ act and Joe Goss, came off on the 24th of May, at Longfield Court. The attendance of Corinthians was unustially large, and much was expected in the exhibition of science. The two men entered the ring in splendid condition, and after shaking hands in the orthodox manner they at once commenced business. They danced round the ring, dropped their hands and occasionally rubbed themselves to increase the velocity in the circulation of their blood, laughed at each other loudly, and seemed throughout on the very best oi terms. After an hour and twenty minutes had been spent in such tomfoolery, Mace walked up to his opponent and shook hands, amidst the enraged jeers of the spectators. The affair was proclaimed a draw, and thus, ended the exhibiton of this blackguardly art of self-defence. Both men sold their backers and the pugilistic "roughs" generally.. The Pluladelpha correspondent of the " Times" writing on the 4th May, says : The bottom has been knocked out of the the Fenian movement by the decisive measures of General Mead, at Kastport. This breaking up of the expedition has in turn broken up the entire O'Mahoney brunch. In New York a convention of the "circles" was held, who desposed O'Mahony afier a stormy session, and took possession of the Union Square Mansion. The child murderess, Chariot Winsor, is not to suffer the extreme penalty of the lav,-, although the point of law as to the legality of her second trial has been definitely settled against her, the Home Secretary has decided to spare her life, and co umute the sentence to penal servitude for life. Colonel Hobbs, one of the commanders engaged in suppressing the out-bieak of the negroes in Jamaica, has committed suicide by jumping overboard the steamer Tyne, near Kingston.- His mind had been unbalanced through anxiety arising out of the enquiry by the Royal Commissioners touching the conduct of the commanders and the insurrection generally. Mrs llobbs and three of their children were on board at the time.