PARLIAMENT.

Evening Star, Issue 4162, 29 June 1876, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

[Br Telegraph.]

(From our Special Corrupondent.) •

r n Wellincton, June J». In the House of Representatives at 2.30 p.m. yesterday, .; After replies to two unimportant que* tions had been give;-, leave was given to introduce the following Bills, which were read a: first time:—A Bijl to .provide for the Uaposal of certain reserves in the Province of Wellington and for other purposes, Mr Bunny; tho Warehouses Goods Aot-1876. Mr M'Leaa; aid a-Bjll to amend the Otaso Turnpikes AcVlB75, Mr M'Lean. -V -Io moving the Address in Reply, Sir R Douglas, referringtoAboUtion,saidhefeltperfectly sure if the legislation proposed cave to the country districtsal rgershareof local selfgovernment than they now possessed to work out their own destinies and to settle their ohildren upon the fend, the House would give the Government every assistance in carrying out that legislation. It would be impossible for any Government, at one time, to pa; s an Act which would at once suit their Colony's requirement—it must be done little by little.; but if the Government wer* true and sincere in the efforts they werefmaking to give the country distriots local eelf? fovernments, their measures would be met y the people in the spirit in which they were brought down. He considered the proposed Counties Bill was not * party measure, and he called upon both sides of the House to unite in framing a measure best suited to the wants of the country. He knew there were* in the House many warm upholder* of Provincialism; but he hoped that when they saw that Abolition was anaocompushedfact, they would unite in endeavoring to make the Counties Bill truly local and effective. He warmly praised the administration *>f the Native Minister, which bad been successful up to this point; though he thought the sugar and blanket policy should have oestowed more upon the loyal than the disloyal Natives. ..■>■..--*

Mr Bastings, who seconded the Address, said that hj« came up pledged to support the Government in carrying Abolition intbleSeoL but he would do this this reservation, that the..land fund of Otago Remained intact. That was a sine qua won with! him. Abolition was no new thing with him—he ' had supported and advocated it since 1866, and a long experience of the practical work* mg of Provincialism in Otago had made him a confirmed Aboiittanist. He had been, and

still was, a Separationist, and if the Superintendent of Otago tabled a that effect he (Mr Bastings) would be found among his supporters. He had heard that an affiance had been formed between the Canterbury members and the Government for releasing to the former their runs.— (Cries of " fto.") He was glad to hear this denial. He hoped action would be taken when the leases fell in for cutting up the runs into small runs.

Mr Manders's speech was a eulogy on the Premier; a condemnation of the treatment of the outlying districts in Otago by the Provincial Government, an advocacy of the payment of members, and a complaint of the absence from the speech of any reference to provision being made for the encouragement of mining. The Address was then adopted. Mr Bees moved—"That statements having been made in this House showing apparently that the hon. member for Waikato, Fred. Whitaker, Esq., was at the time of his election, and has continued to the present time, interested in an agreement and transaction with the Executive Government, it is expedient that a Se'ect Committee be appointed to inquire into and report upon the said statements and the facts connected therewith, and as to whether the provisions of the Disqualification Act have been thereby infringed; such committee to have power to call for persons and papers, and to report within three weeks; five to be the quorum. The committee to consist of Mr Rolleston, Mr Stout, Mr Gibbs, Mr Johnston, the Hon. Major Atkinson, Sir George Grey, Mr Curtis, Mr Wood, and the mover."

The Premier opposed it, saying that if the member for Waikato were not entitled to sit he was liable to certain penalties, which could be recovered in ordinary course of law. Mr Beader Wood thought it was the duty of the Government to frame carefully such a Disqualification Bill trat no one could fail to understand its full bearing. The motion was negatived on the voices. Mr O'Rorke was elected Chairman of Committees, Sir J. Vogel proposing him, and Sir G. Grey seconding him in a few complimentarywords. Mr William Wood was added to the Waste Lands Commitee, and Dr Henry to the Goldfiields Committee.

Mr Burns moved, " That the Government be requested to call for tenders for the manufacture within the Colony of such locomotives, carriages, vans, trucks, and other railway rolling-stock, also for turning and shifting-tables, as may be further required for the use of the several railways in the Colony." , Mr Richardson said in reply that the En-gineer-in-Chief had recommended that the whole of the iron work and a certain portion of the wood work which could not be made in the Colony be imported, but more recently he had recommended (and his recommendation had been adopted) that still less material should be imported, in connection with the manufacture of rolling-stock. A' large quantity of that material was about to arrive in the Colony, and in a fews days tenders would be advertised for'for its erection in different parts of the Colony. A large proportion of it would be put together in Dunedin. It was true that establishments had been started in different parts of the Colony, particularly at the extreme end of it, and one or two in .Christchurch, and these establishments were fitted with .a large amount of machinery required for the purpose of manufacturing and putting together rolling stock, but it was out of the question, for some time to come, that if the appliances of these establishments were put together they conld manufacture all the stock required for the railways of the Colony. There was no doubt a considerable amount of work could be done in them, and so far as the Government was concerned they would be quite prepared to call for tenders for its execution,'and, if reasonable, would accept them ; still it would be necessary to import a great deal of work from England. Mr Macandrew expressed the opinion that the Government would find all its work could be done reasonably in the Colony, hoped they would carry the principle further, instead of taking it for granted that we could not produce ourselves such things as Inspectors of prisons, lunatic asylums, and forests.

Mr Brown (Ashley) hoped when Government accepted the tenders, they would take care that the whole of tha work and material should be manufactured in the Colony*

The motion was agreed to. In laying on the table, in reply to a motion by Mr Stevens, a return of the number of savings banks now in operation in the Colony, not being Post office savings banks, the Premier said the Government were opposed to doing away with such banks, and considered such a step would be viewed with disfavor by a large section of the Colony. On Mr Cox’s motion, a return was ordered showing the number of all the educational reserves throughout the Colony, specifying the Province in which such are situated, the acreage of each reserve, and, if leased, upon, what terms. The House adjourned at 5.30. {Per Prm Agency.\ Qn resuming at 7.30, The adjourned debate on the Ppblic Accounts Committee was continued by Mr Btout, who said he did hot want to serve oh the Committee; he wanted Mr Rees on it instead. Sir G. Grey wanted the Committee increased from fourteen io fifteen members. This was opposed’by the Government, and a long, sharp, and in some respects personal debate ensued. Mr Header Wood warmly supported Mr Rees, and considered it an insult to Auck-

land if be was not put on. A division was taken and the motion lost by 41 to 29. Mr Be Lantonr then moved that Mr Reynolds be struck off, so that Mr Rees, might be put on. Mr Rees said it would be a real shame if the Government objected to his being on the Committee. It was an insult to Auckland, and discreditable to the House to do so. Mr Reader Wood followed, saying that Mr Rees was as fit to be on the Committee as he was. It looked as if the Premier was afraid to allow Mr Rees to examine the accounts. Mr Rees spoke with vehemence against the action of the Government, and said their opposition to him would excite the indigna-; turn not only of New Zealand but of the other Colonies and at Home. Mr- Macandrew condemned the high*, handed action of the Government. Mr Swanson wanted to know why the Government was not better represented on the. committee. Mr Moorhouse defended the action of the Government, as Mr Rees was unfit to be on the committee on account of his financial ignorance and offensive declamatory style. Mr Hamlin considered the Government acted tyrannically. Mr Pearce supported the Government, as also did Mr Tribe. ': Mr Bhrimski said Mr Rees ought to have a on committee. * ' Several other members spoke for and against, and Sir J. Vogel replied at some length, not blaming Mr Rees put the indiscretion of his

friends in trying to force him upon the House.

■ The result was that Mr Rees was rejected on the voices, and the House adjourned at 1.40 a,xu. ABOUT THE LOBBIES. [Ft'om our Special Correspondent) Air Wakefield has given notice of motion that the Government sheuld, without delay, assume toe :c ntrol of all railways. . ■ The sudden finish of the debate on the Address in Reply is said to be because the Opposition, by their silence, wished to marls their contempt of Six J. Vogel’s speech, 'This morning Sir Julius was about to rise when the question was put. The ‘Argus ’ makes the following analysis of last night's division; “There are jeighty-six members, two seats being vacant. Of these seventy-two voted, three members .Jiot having taken their seats—Harper, Sheehan, and Hislop— so that the available number of votes was only eighty-three ; or, deducting the Speaker, eighty-two. Those who did not vote were Sir George Grey, Messrs Lumsden, Macandrew, Seaton, Reader Wood, Kenny, Whitaker, and Sey- • mour. Mr Whitaker did not vote for the - obvious reason that he was a party interested, ; and Mr Wood's tender conscience prevented his doing so also as he is a shareholder in the Loan and Mercantile Agency Company. Air O’Rorke, we presume, did "not vote on the subject as he had been a member of the Ministry while the negotiations were going on with Mr Russell, and bo could not now. condemn the transaction, while as a member of the Opposition he could not vote with the Government. Mr Seymour, who is known to be a Government supporter, was absent in Marlborough, and Captain Kenny has paired for the Government with Mr Seaton against. Altogether the division practically meant as a party question 55 to 1 -27«, It is a singular fact that out of the members representing the Provinces of Taranaki, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland, only one vote, that of Mr Brandon, the member for Wellington country district, was .recorded against the Government. The twenty who . voted in the minority were seven Auckland ihembers, one Wellington member, two representatives of Canterbury, and ten Otago members.

For four hours last night the House was engaged in another party fight, the Opposition trying tofforce Mr Rees on to the Public Accounts Committee. At first they tried, but unsuccessfully, to increase the Committee to fifteen members; then they divided en a Ministerial proposition to subTOitute Messrs Reid and Montgomery for Messrs Cox and Kelly, and on Mr De Lautour's proposal to strike out Mr Key nolds's name. The Auckland members talked big about packed committees, injustice _ done to the Province by insulting one of-its members, and the tyranny shown by giving Auckland only one representative oh the Committee. Mr Rees was, as Mr Moorhouse aptly styled it, daringly eloquent. Though disclaiming at the outset all intention of referring to himself, he delivered himself of a most egotistical speech. He fairly lost himself in figures, discovering deficits with ease; and on Major Atkinson smiling thereat, he was likened to a laughing jackass. Messrs Moorhouse and Tribe struck the right nail on the head when they declared that in reality it was not a question of Provinces, but one thoroughly of party. The former pointed to the division last night to show that the minority we're to a man supporters of the fag end of Provincialism. Mr Shrimski, who spoke well, while deprecating the action of the Government, expressed himself a« ; free and unfettered on all questions save that of the "and, and he was prepared to support .the Government on all others, if their views accorded with his. Mr Rowe, of the Thames, who talks with unusual vigor,_bkmed the Government for the unwisdom of the step, which was sure to be viewed with apprehension in Auckland, but he flatly refused to vote for the member for Auckland City East as a member of the Committee, because he knew all his figures were "crooked," and the Premier's figures must be poor if he could not upset those of Mr Rees. Mr Whitaker, in answering the Auckland Provincial party, asked how long Provincial feeling was to interpose between overy consideration. He refused to regard the present question as other than a Colonial one, ind not believing one wbit in the member for Auckland City East as a financier, and having every confidence in the fitness of the members of the committee proposed, he would oppose the amendment. From the Immigration correspondence it appears that, during the present year, only 5,000 adults are to be despatched to the Colony, as follows :—Auckland, 700; Taranaki, 200; Wellington, 700; Napier, 400; Otago, 1,300; Canterbury, 1,300; Nelson, 100; Blenheim, 100; Westland, 200. Dr. Featherston has been instructed at once to dispense with all officers, save Messrs Kennaway, Hoey, M'Kellar, Smith, Burton, Holloway, Cochrane, and the officers of the Scotch Agency. The contract with the New Zealand Company is Ll3 17s 3d per head for adults; children, L 7 16s; freight: dead weight, 20s ; measurement, 303 per ton. The £eotch business is offered to Mr Galbraith. Sir J. Vogel withdraws uncondiionally the charges of venality he preferred against the English emigration officers. The Government proposes to add Mr Mucfarlane to the Public Accounts Committee.

Mr Stout is Sir G. Grey's counsel and Mr Whittaker Mr Mackay's counsel re the Thames election.

. Telegraphic communication was established with is ew Plymouth to-day.