GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Evening Star, Issue 3563, 24 July 1874, Page 2

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

[By Telegraph.]

. Wellington, July 23. ine following is the continuation of the donate in the House on the Representative question :

Mr Macandrew seconded the motion because he knew that if the principle of the motion were acted upon, it would be found that Otago was only half represented —Mr Reader Wood combated the arguments of the Premier, who, he said, admitted that the representation was adjusted upon no principle whatever, being merely jumped at. For his own part he could recognise no other basis than that of population, and he would like a? S aikt Mi mo - ion amended in this respect.— Mr O Neill said t >at last year he presented a petition with 2,000 signatures, praying for an additional representative, and the other day presented another petition making a similar application. There was no doubt that the /hames, at least, was badly treated in the way of representation, having only one member forapopulatiouof between I2,oooand 15.000. He was sorry the hon. member had nok moved that the Government be requested to bring in a measure of adjustment this session.—Mr .Swanson thought the Government appeared to think things well enough as they were, and seemed disinclined to mterfere ; hut if hon, members would take his view of the matter, they would make the motion a crucial one, and one that the Government dare not refuse to face. If constituencies returned members pledged to turn out any Government which burkel the question, they would soon see an end of such anomalies as Tara iaki and the Thames.—Mr ■’Conor supported the motion.—vi r Thomson said the member for tiodney had made out a good case, it was lamentable to see the case of the Thames session after session staring them in the face. There was no doubt that the Thames represeuta ives had the sympathy of the House, and for his own part be thought that the hon. member should be allowed to vole twice. The Government ought to bring down a Bill this session for wjustiug the whole question.—Mr Sheehan pressed foi a division—Mr W. Kelly sup ported the motion.- - Mr M'Gillivray thought the repi escalation of Provinces demanded .ireat alteration, and instanced the district of iverton.— Messrs Murray and Bruce supported the motion or vlervyn hop d the motion would be carried by such a majority is would show the Government they must not temporise with such important questions.—Mr Tribe also suuportcd the motion a division was called for, and resulted in 30 for the motion and 33 for the previous question.

Mr Macandrew moved, “That it is expedien that memb rs of Volunteer Fire Brigades s non Id, at their own option, be exempted irom service as jurors, and that the Juries ct be amended accordingly.” He said that firemen, in pursuance of their self-imposed occupation, were liable to be c died out of bed at all hours of the night and day. He tnought no body of men in the Colony was so deserving of the immunity asked for, because they sacrificed their own ease and comfort for the proti ction of the life and property of their fel-ovv-citizens. —Mr Pearce seconded the motion, and desired to bear his testimony to the valuable services of men who, without tee or pay, performed a most important duty, md their only reason for presenting the ■etition was, they found their duties a/jury men interfered with their duties as firemen ~fhe Prem er admitted the matter was deserving of attention, but said it was not a question which could be dealt with in hall an hour. It was necessary that some provision should be made to prevent persons who, to avoid serving on juries, would become honorary members of the Brigade The Government did not like to bring in any hasty measures.—Mr T. L. Shepherd said the captain of the Dunedin Brigade assured him they would prevent members joining the Brigade merely for the purpose of evading the jury service. He wjshed to see the question put to the rote.—Mr O’ onor said it would not work well in small communities. Mr Wales thought a very short bill would • to. In small towns, where the plan would not work so well, he thought they should make it extend to a certain number only, and they should be gazetted.— Mr Luckie thought; that the present jury system should be dealt wuh on broader principles. A good lessou was given by the action of Victoria in the matter by lessening the number of jurors. He thought the Government would act wisely by amending the jury list altogether, and consider the question of juries of four and six, and abolish that which, had come to be considered a solemn sham —vij?., grand juries. —Mr (Jutubertaon could not see any case to justify interference.—Mr Hunter said that to grant the boon asked for w as very trifling. In the case ©f Dunedin it was asked to be relieved of some thirty men out of a population of 18,000 ; and in Wellington, of ab.ut fifty out of 10,000. As regards small communities, it was seldom that juries were wanted there.—Mr Andrew opposed the motion, on the ground that every man should become acquainted with the wording of the jury system.—Mr u’iNeili testified to the valuable services of the fire brigades, but thought the time was rapidly arriving when firemen would be well paid instead of giving their services gratuitously. t»till he would support the motion.—Mr Bryce thought the debate should be adjourned until they learned the nature of the report of the committee to whioh one of the petitions had been referred.— Mr Macandrew offered to have a Bill drafted immediately that would prevent any abuse of privilege, and put a stop to shams.—The motion was then agreed to.

At the evening sitting, In reply to Mr J, C. Brown, the Premier said the Government were alone responsible for the disallowance of the Otago Gold Kepayment Ordinance; but they had no objection to produce all correspondence on the matter.

On the motion of Mr Luckie, the Government agreed to lay on the table all particulate regarding the leasing of a large block of lauq. in Hawke s Bay to Wilfred (Jox. Mr T. L. shepherd moved the second reading of the Oold-mining Bid, upon which, he said, a good deal of attention had been P™' referred to the opposition which the Bill last year met with from those in the squatting interest, Un the suggestion of several members, although they did not give iheir grounds of opposition, the Bill was witndrawn. tie hoped there would be less opposition this year, and that those who did oppose it would place their reasons on record. The hon. member proceeded to explain the principal features of the Bill, which, he said were mostly identical with the provisions of tho Bill of last year, although much shorter. He might summarise the couteuts of the Bill by raying that it was merely a consolidation

of the present laws upon the subject, with the addition of various improvements found necessary by those who had considerable ex. (xrieuce in the working of the existing Acts. For some time past not one word of censure hid been passed upon auy provision of the Bill, except in a small agricultural paper. In conclusion, be hoped that any opposition to tin Bill would be di.-played on the floor of the House, and not in the lob' ies, or in the streets of Wellington and oth r unusual places.—Mr Pyke seconded the Bill with pleasure, because it was a great improvement upon the Bill of last session, inasmuch as it was simpler and less cumbrous, and no doubt, when amended in ooinmittee it would prove a great boon to the mining communities of the colony.—Mr O’RorVe s\id the Government approved of the measure as far as it went, b cause it consolidated various laws relating to the goldfields, and on that account he considered it a Bill they were to some extent committed to. —Mr White, though unaware of any demand for the measure in the district he represented, would give a tacit support to the second reading.—Mr J. C. Brown had no wish to oppose the Bill, which he believed was an improvement upon the Bill of last year, which the House, fortunately, did not pass. He had no doubt that the Bill would receive a searching investigation at the hands of the Goldfields Committee.— The second reading was agreed to. The Wellington ‘‘qspital Reserves Bill and the Wellington Special Settlements Act Amendment Bill were reported wirhout amendments, and ordered to be read a third time to-morrow.

Mr Macandrew moved the second reading of the Otago Waste Lands Act Amendment Bill. Its principal obj ct was to provide for a more efficient administration, and waa founded upon the resolution of the Provincial Council of Otago. It would form no ground for what members called the annual Otago free fight. —lt was seconded by Mr Reid. —Mr Mervyn suggested that the Bill be amended so as to enable the miners .to take up a area of land. Bead a second time and referred to the Waste Land Committee.

Mr Steward moved the second reading of t'ie Oam.iru Hospital Reserve* Bill.—Agreed to, Mr Reynolds pointing out that tbe Government would probably suggest some amendments in committee.

In Tt the Deceased Wile’s Sister Marriage Bid, v!r >teward said he moved for the third time the second reading < f the Bill. In submitting the Hill to the House he would confine himself to a few fresh points in favor of the Bill which circumstances had evolved. When the Bill was first introduced, only one Australian Colony had then availed itself of the Bui, but now there were four, and only recently there wag an instance of persons in the Colony going to Vi toria to avail themselves of the law there ; and if persons in New Zealand saw in that nothing against society or good manners, it was surely an argument that the public of the Colony were not aveoe to tae principle of the Bill—Mr MVlillivray opposed the second reading of the Bill on “wipiural grounds, and because there had been no demand by the public for such a measure. He moved the second reading of the Bill that day six months —Mr * * Borke seconded the amendment, and hoped that would de the la>t session iu which such a Bill would be introduced, although he was aware that sev ral Australian Colonies had departed from tho rule and tradition of the Hume coumry. Me opposed the Bill on two grounds : that it was repugnant to the law <>f England, and utterly abhorrent to people of his own country, as well as of other portions of ttie Empire,—Mr M'Glashan supported the Bill Why should they send away their people elsewhere to avail themselves of the law proposed ? Wny not allow peop'e here the privilege without going elsewhere ? It could not be repugnant to the law of England, or it would not be allowed in those seas. —Mr W. Johnston supported the amendment, on the ground that the bill would subvert one of their nearest domestic relations. Me did not consider that half adoz iu people in the Colony cared to avail ihems ives of the Bill. From his own personal knowledge, he could say it was repugnant to women generally.—Mr J. Shephard said the House had twice affirmed the principle of the Bill, and, he hoped, would do so a toird time, and make the Bill law. He could not see how the Bill affected the moi ality of the people in any way. Mr Stewa; d recommended the House to take the advice of the Minister of Justico, and do the same as the Hoiue of Commons at Home, which had over and over again passed a similar Bill. As for destroying the domestic relations of sisters, he could say that no such terrible results had been developed in Prussia, where s 1 1 ?. . a ‘ aw bad long been in existence.—A division was called for, the result being—For the amendment, 9 ; against, 20. The Bill was ordeed to be committed to-morrow. ihe third readings of the Civil Service Acts Amendment Act, and the Justices of the Peage Act Amendment Act were moved Mr i I’Borke moved the second reading of the Offences Against the Person Act Amendment Act. —lt was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. On the Presbyterian Church of Otago Land Bill, Mr Reynolds moved the second reading. Bead a second time, and made an order of the day for to morrow.

Thc Hmiee went into committee on the Municipal Reserves Bill. After a long diecudsioa, regarding the amendment proposed b y lV “ J - Lillies, progress was reported, and the House adjourned at 1G.45. Mr steward asked whether the rollingstock employed on the Provincial branch railways shall be of such patterns as to allow of tueir being used on the main lines.—Vir Kichardaon was unde-stood to say that at present in Otago some branch of the rollingstock had been available for the main lines and lie believed that that would he generally the ease. J

Mr Richardson delivers his Public Works statement tu-morrow.

In the House of .Representatives, to-day. the second reading of the Plans of Towns Regulation Bill was moved by Mr O’Neill who referred to the previous history of the measure in Parliament since first introduced by himself. The measure was one which ought to go hand in hand with the Public Works policy. By neglecting to pass such a measure, the Colony would eventually incur a very serious loss, without taking into consideration the health of the people of the Colony, which was far more important. Mr Swanson supported the second reading, and said the question involved a great deal,' and was deserving of the attention of the Government. A. little foresight in laying out plans of towns would often save the Government untold gold, and untold misery to the people. —Mr Richardson said he had given the subject a good deal of attention. He had partially drawn up the Bill, buc found it to be hedged

round with so many difficulties that he was assured nothing less than a bill of 1 200 clauses would meet the requirements However strict they might be in Laming Acts they could not stop purchasers of laud creating lanes afterwards ; and often these lanes, as m Melbourne, became most important streets.—Mr Buekhmd considered the -bill utterly impracticable ; the siae of the st.eeta was altogether too large. He hoped the Bill would be withdrawn.—Mr Murray thought such a Bill was much required, and Loped it would be so amended in committee as to make it generally acceptable.—Mr ILomson supported the Bill They ought to take a lesson from the great towns of the world, and provide that their thoroughfares

were wide enough to plant trees on each side, Th» Beach in Wellington was an instance of the necessity for good streets.—The Bill was read a second time.—Mr Vogel said the Govi r ament were confident the Bill in its present shape would retard the progress of the country. However sound in principle, the Bill was theoretica ly one of those measures t iat were likel v to lead to great embarrassraent He hoped the hou. member would not P P mu 1 ‘ be y° u d the present stage. Ihe Oaaiaru Hospital Reserve* Bill was reported, with amendments. Ihe Deceased Wife’s Sis er Bill was reparted, without amendment. Upon the moti'.m for its third reading, the Premier gave it as his private opinion that the population of the Colony would be injured by such a measure. It was quite true that a similar Bill had beeu passed in other Colonies, but it was chiefly owing to the large amount of pressure in individual cases. .1 here ought to be only one law for marriage, and it would be quite time enough to after the present law when the Imperial Parliament did so. A great deal of misery arose from irregular marriage laws, such as the -cetch. He would dissuade members from disturbing social relations in tbe Colony. He would like to see £*ew Zealand attractive to all those persona who had desired to marry their deceased wife s sister.—Mr Pox looked at the question froin a different point of view from the Premier s. What they had to do was to look to the requirements of the people—not at auy religious aspect of the case. Thb question was one that could not be subj ct to individual interference, and the State bed no right to interfere with the liberty of the subject. The House could nob have a better example than the House of Commons and other Australian Colonies. It was only tbe preponderance of the eccb siastical element in the House of Lords which kept such a Bill from becoming the law of England. —Mr O’Neill moved that the Bill be read a third time that day six months —A division was then called for, the result being—For the Hill 24 • against it* 17. The BUI was then passed. * The Electric Telegraph Bill in committee was amended, so that the sender of messages could, by order in writing, and without the intervention of the Telegraph Commissioner, order the production of telegrams. Bills introduced and read a first time Bill to allow the Corporation of Wellington to borrow L‘is,OOo for Waterworks : Weinngton Public Works Bill; Bill providing for the Election of Mayor of Wellington; and BUI to amend the Southland Waste Land Act, 1873.