WELLINGTON.

Evening Star, Issue 3915, 10 September 1875, Page 3

WELLINGTON.

[By TELEOiuru.J

(From our own Correspondent.)

Wellington, September 10. Mr Stout was very obstructive on the Oamaru Gas Sites Bill on Wednesday night. He protested against the reserves being alienated in any way, and complained that alieady the reserves on the esplanade at Oamaru were made over to the Harbor Board, or taken for railway purposes, a second reserve was taken for building purposes, and now this one was being attempted to be cut up. Mr Steward replied that the people of Oamaru generally were in favor of the proposal, and pointed out that the town already possessed 320 acres for recreation purposes. Before the Bill was reported, Mr Stout asked the Government if it intended in future to give Crown grants for roads to municipalities, as was being done in this case, and asked if the Government had read the Bill ?

Mr Richardson said the question was exceedingly impertinent. What was granted waß simply the right-of-way to ensure a second ontrance to the drill-shed.

In moving his motion re coroners yesterday, Mr Bradshaw deprecated the plan in vogue of appointing medical men as coroners, stating that it not happened that the services of such doctors were engaged with tho dead when they should be at the service of the living, and that after promising to attend the living they had performed their duties of coroners and kept their promises some time afterwards, the consequence being that when they diet come, their seivices were too late._ Again, it placed the medical man holding such an offico in a position unfair to his fellow-practioners, inasmuch as his naino was being constantly brought before the public and therefore the public were apt to go to him for advice—in fact, he had a double certificate : one from his college, the other from the Government. Magistrates or Justices of the Peace could well fulfil the duties of Coroners. Another reason why medical men should not act as Coroners was that medical men could give a certificate for the burial of the dead, therefore at any time he could destroy the proof of any wrong, if such had happened, by giving a certificate for the burial of his own patients, while he could cause an inquiry to be be held into the causes of the death of the patients of other medical mon—which was placing the latter in. a very awkward position. Sir D. M'Lean was understood to say Go vernment recognised that there were strong reasons :. gainst appointing medical men as coroners, particularly in districts where there were two or three medical men. In the neighboring Colonies, and particularly in New South Wales, where it had worked well, tho rule was to appoint -magistrates as coroners, and in future the Government would, as far as possible, give effect to the views of the member for Wakaia, and diminish where practicable the number of medical men acting as coroners.

Mr Sheehan said a matter that required immediate remedy was the entirely unnecessary expense of summoning a Coroner's jury, at a cost of from L 4 to LlO, to inquire into the cause of death, under all ordinary circumstances, of the inmates of benevolent and lunatic asylums. Mr O'llorke thought the motion cast a slur upon gentlemen who had satisfactorily performed their duties. Because the member for Wakaia might have a grievance in some part of Otago, that was no reason for sweeping away in other parts of the Colony gentlemen who had discharged their duties to the satisfaction oi the community at large. Mr Bridshaw said, in reply, that he merely brought the matter forward on public grounds. The motion was then agreed to. "Yesterday," says the 'Tribune,' "if our information is correct, there was not one Opposition caucus but two, or, to be very particular, one caucus broke up into two irregular meetings. At the lirst meeting there was discord in the camp, and something like reciimination. Sir George Grey, Mr Sheehan, and the leadeis par excellence proposed resistance word by word, and line by line. The common sense instinct of Messrs Ivollestt n, Montgomery, and Macandrew revolted at this childishness, and Mr Stout averred that he would not speak against time, and the meeting broke up in ad mired disorder. Mr Bunny was very sorrowful and, len-j loudly than his wont, contrived once more to whip up his party, when a sort of hollow truce was arranged and the more demonstrative fell upon each other's necks and wept metaphorically."

It seems the Government means sitting night and di\y. They must have nineteen of their supporters constantly in the House to mnke a quorum, and this number has been told oil' for that purpose. It is not expected that Mr Sheehan's motion to report progress will be exhausted before to-morrow.

The Opposition yesterday made overtures to the Government to allow the Bill to go through committee if the third reading is pressed, but the Government would not consent. Mr Shepherd's Insolvency Bill proposes to vest the estate in the hands of the creditors and a trustee immediately a declaration of insolvency is made, The following are the principal provisions of Mr Ballance's Municipal Borrowing Bill:—A resolution to borrow shall be published four weeks' before the resolution is moved in the Council. One-fifth of ihe total ratepayers may requisition the Mayor for a poll of the ratepayers as to the expediency of borrowing; after the poll, the Mayor shall publish a certificate in the ' Gazette' and local papers, after which the Council may debate on the resolution which, if affirmed, will enable the borrowing. All estates, rates, and properties of a corporation to be charged with the payment of debentures and coupons. Moneys due upon debentures or coupons to' be the debt of the corporation, recoverable by action. No holder to have a claim upon the ordinary revenues of the Pr -viuce or Colony. Building or other benefit societies may invest accumulated funds. The tuither consideration of the Bill is postponed till tho Corporations express an opinion. On the Chairman yesterday afternoon taking his.seat in Committee on tho Abolition Bill, Mr KolU-ston put a question to the Government the answer to which would greatly determine the action of himself and others. Tt had been currently stated in the lobbies by members presumably in the contidence of the Government that the Govemnunt would be perfectly satisfied if the first four clauses of the Abolition Bill were carried, and would drop thereat if they found any difficulty in carrying the financial measures connected with them. It was also reported that they would insist on those four clauses being reported to the House and abandon th'J rest. Before going on further with the Bill, it would be very desirable for the Government to state what was their intention on the subject. Sir D. M'l.ean replied that the member for Avon should not listen to everything he heard in the lobbies—a practice he was too fond of. Tho Government had no intention of doing anything of the kind. Iheir intention was to carry out what they proposed in the first instance, and they would not deviate one whit—they would not be satisfied with only three or four clauses, but would be satisfied with nothing short of the Bill itself. Sir Geoige Grey wished to understand exactly the action ths Government intended to take.

Sir D. M'l.ean faid it was their intention to go on with the Bill to its final termination. He could not be answerable for assertions made in the lobbies. They had not intimated anything to auy of their followers in reference to the financial proposals. Mr Holies ton then went on to criticise the Bill. Referring to the speech of tie Commissioner of Customs, he said his statement that they required a strong Government to watch tho Superintendents was really something .veiy good, and one of tho pleasante;;t things that had over fallen from him. He pictured to himself that lion, gentleman watching the Superintendents during the recess - it would take him all his lime. In the first plare he denied that tho Superintendents or representatives of the people required looking after by the huu. gentl.-inan or by Ministers • but who were those that they

should watch Superintendents? Under his Centralist pnv.Uvities th« lion, "sntlenwi's form was visibly swelling duly, but if hj • 1 ad to watch the Superintendents h>' would soon In-

come attenuated. He sl-mld like to ki.ow what power they had to watch the Superintendents of Otago and Canteihury. In leference it ■'.:<? I 4,000,000 lo.m. he ask-d whether in the whole Parliamentary history "f the Celony there wa:.such an example of plundering a.id bluwicsiiu as exist'.vi in those papcis'.' 'I he i oal interest of tho Colony had Ik-mi sacrificed in the matt t of confiscated land. At Home the.('oyernnr id was meddling and muddling with inmd.'in. tion, and it was not creditable that the\ had tampered with the members of the Assembly in dealing wit.'i the Native lands. It was m-.'.d ness to hand over the control of affairs to men capable of such things —the dangt r was of handing oner thcatfaits of the Colony to bank ing influence and jobbin.r rings. The system of finance proposed by the Bill Wis false and rotten. Take away the Treasurer's B-lis and the Bill fell to the ground. The system t.f Provincial charges was utterly rotten. He intimated his intention of opposing the Bill at every stage. Mr Dignan, iu calling upon the chairman to read the Bill clause by chmse, intimated hi> intention of opposing it line by line. He asserted that the public works policy failed to answer its intentions. They had got some few Hne3 of railway, but none were finished, and those that were ian parallel with roads and rivers. So far as lie was personally concerned, he would resist this atte-mpt to depiive the people of their right-'. E very settler of the slightest degree of* spirit would resist it. When men rose to afilucnciby the public monirs, it was time to resist aattempt to deprive the pen le of the on y happinr-ss men can enjoy —their liberty, ami that liberty would bo maintained and fou..;ht for. On the other aide was the. question of pounds, shillings, ami pence -acquiting u-ni-tory, and set king to get power, lc was painful to hear such narrow minded view.s e\ pressed on the floor of the House.

Mr O'llorke decided that the Bill could be read clause by clause. Mr Shechan, in moving that progress lie reported, characterised part of the Pi ess as hireling. He did not apply that term to the whole of the Press favoring abolition, because he knew some supported it independently, but he was speaking of a portion of the Pi ess who would advocate anything—from abolition to attacking private character—for money.