POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1107, 20 July 1883, Page 3

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Through our Exchangee. * Mr Pyke, too, has a conscience, and, like * the' member for Dunedin East, his con- + science has been smitten. In the course j of his speech (on July 12), as is well known, g he complained bitterly of the apathetic l attitude of Ministers during the present t debate. He stated that throughout the t previous evening only three Ministers were , in their places to listen to the debate, one t of whom was reading a newspiper, another a yellow-backed French novel, and the v third was asleep. Now, it, has since been j. represented 'to Mr Pyke that his remarks a may have injured at least one. Minister in the eyes of nia constituents. Need I say that I refer to Mr Dick, whose admirers 1 would be grieved to hear that he had taken to reading French novels. Accordingly Mr Pyke, after a sleepless night-, waited on Mr Dick in bis ministerial sanctum this morn* * ing, and, with profuse apolojies for troub- c ling him at such a busy time, proaecded to unoosom himself. Mr Dick was, it is said, -, more saponaceous than ever, and received the advances of the hon. member for Dun- 11 stan with great urbanity. “ I feel,” began Mr Pyke, ‘ tliat I have done you an in- { justice in what 1 said about Ministers ye"ter- > day, and if you think it necessary I shall make a statement in the House to night t.i f th ■ effect that it was not vou who were I guilty of reading the French novel.” “ Oh, s no,” interposed Mr Dick, “it is hardly necessary to trouble yourself”— “Be cau-e,” continued Mr Pyke, without * noticing the interruption, “it was you who I were asleep.” Mr Pish is again in hot water. In reply- i ing on the Gold Duty Abolition Bill on the 16th inat. Mr Seddon referred to the member for Dunedin South “as a political t blatherskite from Dunedin South” The , Speaker called him to order. Mr Seddmi asked it the term “political blatherskite” was unparliamentary. Hi objected to Mr f Fish introducing parly matters into a t motion of this kind. The member for Dunedin South comd not resist the temptation to abuse the member for Wakatipu (MrFergus), who had passed him in the f debate ; and so great is the antipathy | between them that if Mr Fish saw Mr i Fergus going into the same lobby as himself , he would turn hack and vote in an opposite lobby, just to spite him. Tue proposed abolition of gold duty was ♦ discussed by the H mse once more last night ( The question comes up every session, but no new light w»s| thrown upon the subject " yesterday. What *-aa really weighing on , the mines of Ministers was obviously hat J they cmild not, aff >rd to lose the revenue ; ] and wh it was eally weighing with the raining members was that they wou ! d be sent to the right-about at the next election if they did not work up a certain amount 1 of enthusiamin suppo t of the abolition of the duty. ( Demosthenes Dunom, as the member for Waitaki, is called on account of his excep- , tional oratorical powers, rose to make a 1 personal explanation immediately after the 1 prayers were read in the House last night, f It seems that on Friday, when charging the Ministry with corruption and maladministration, firstly because the Hon Mr Oliver has a convenient railway si ling to his pro- | perty, and secondly because “in the district i he (Duncan) came from (a phrase, by the , way, which occurs iu nearly evety sentence he utters) they had been refusedtarpaufios” ‘ —hema le a mistake with regard to the first * charge, as he had since discovered that the < aiding in question was in exsistence two , years before Mr O iver took office ; and ao- * cordingly be asked permission last evening to exolain this. Mr Hamlin (the Acting 1 Speaker) ruled that Mr Duncan was out of t order, as the sittin ' was a special one. Mr , Duncan, therefore, deferred his personal explanation till to-day. Mr Pyke made the cleverest speech de- * livered in the House during the session on 1 Mr Montgomery’s Local Government i motion. The member for the Dunstau was iu good form, and he had evidently worked the subject up with care. He. began his 1 address with some bantering remarks reia tive to the Governors’a at-home on the i previous evening, and hinted that the affair was got no for the special purpose of keeping members from listening to a most important debate. He -evoked roars of laughter by stating that the Ministry instead of attending to the arguments delivered by hon. members, amused themselves by reading newspapers and novels. He noticed one member of the Government deeply immersed in a yellow b ick volume which he felt sure was a French novel. While Mr Pyke was making his preliminary remarks, the Minister of Lands appeared to be in a half doze. The member for Dunstan observing this, said that the boa, gentleman was too obtuse to understand what he (Mr Pyke) was talking about. He then turned his attention to the Minister of Justice, and gave poor Mr Conolly a dressing down that he cannot forget for some time to come. Apart from the humorous matter in Mr Pyke’a speech, there was a large stock of sound common sense brought to bear on the question under discussion. At the termination of bis address, Mr Pyke receive 1 the congratulations of political friends and foes. Mr Barron’s Plurality of Votes Bill pros vides that “ from and after the passing of this Act no elector shall at any election of members of the House of Representatives vote in respect of more than one electorate. At other than a general election of members, no elector shall vote in respect of an electorate unless he shall have been entitled to vote, and shall have voted, in such electorate at the last general election held therein, or unless he has acquired the right to vote therein since the last general election in respect of a residential qualification under the Qualification of Electors Act, 1579.” Mr Barron’s Hours of Polling Bill pro vides that at “ every election held after the passing of. this Act to return a member or members to serve in the House of Representatives in the General Assembly of Mew Zeland the poll, if taken, shall commence at 9 o’clock in the forenoon and bekeot open until 8 o’clock in the afternoon of the same day. The deviaion on Mr Montgomery’s first resolution, affirming that the existing system of central government was negatived by 34 votes against 23. The numbers would have stood at 35 to 22 had not Mr Pearson remained in the House afrer pair* ing, and, accmding to the usual custom in such circumstantea, he voted against his party. The amendment moved by Mr Moss was then put. and lost by 33 against 19. The final division was taken, and resulted in a majority of 10 for Ministers. The result was received with loud cheers and counter-cheers. Mr Seddon, on the second reading of the Gold Duties Abolition Bill, made an eloquent appeal on behalf of the mining munityWhen Mr Pyka’s Gaming and Lotteries Act Amendment Bill comes on, a warm fight may be expected. Mr Pyke’s efforts to abolish the totalisator will be resisted by i a number of members, i On the Gold Duty Abolition Bill Mr i Fergus commented on the state ot the House ■ as an evidence ot the little interest taken in this question. He combated the assertion that if this duty was abolished it would not. secure an appreciable benefit in the rise of

the price of gold to the miner. The true policy of commercial prosperity was to keep open as many branches of industrial pursuits as possible. This short-sighted tax had had ha I the effect of driving the miner into other pursuits, and to that extent at least the colony was liab'e to be impoverished. As a matter of fact the minor had to b en ,r about four times the taxation of the artisan under similar conditions The argument that the tax was only paid in proportion to the success of the individual was had, inasmuch -is it should first be shown that the tax could not he exacted until he had made sufficient t • live comfortably upon That was the principle of the exemption clause in the property-tax The Bill was read a second time and carried bv 21 to 17.