HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Evening Star, Issue 4210, 24 August 1876, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

At the afternoon sitting, The Speaker informed the House in reference to Harbor Board Bills, that all BilU of this kind should be introduced in Committee of the whole after notice in the ttfuaj

Captain Morris took the oath and his seat as member for the East Coast, Mr Maceablane moved that in the opinion of the House all persona entitled to pensions firm the Colony should, after the Soth March, 1876,: be pafd sonaliapplication only, at such public office °r offices as the Government may appoint within the Colony for that purpose. Said that the motion was one that looked very wise and good, hut was quite impracticable } and, u the Government would oppose it, he hoped it would he withdrawn. , / Sir E. Douglas suggested that if the motion were made .to .apply to future pen* siona there:would be no Objection;:. , v V-;*

SiSrffi I 6SKy U1«V«(1 - persons residing [at Homeand in receipt of penaions from the-Colony ahonldhave the same amount deducted from ,their as the Imperial Government deducted from per4&U;in,the Golonyin receipt of Imperial pensions. Being himself an Imperial pensioner he had to pay L4OO ont of his salary of LBOO, as Superintendent of Auckland. The Prbmikb pointed eat that the question was one of a very large nature, and should net he decided hastily. He would assure the House that the Government would give their serious consideration to the matter. There was no doubt a good deal of hardship exKrienced in consequence of the laws of the rperial Parliament in the matter of pensions* - * After some discussion, the amendment and resolution were negatived. On Mr Sheehan’s motion,, expressive of regret at thef delay in the construction of the Riverhead-Auckland Railway and urging its immediate prosecution, the Minister fob Public Works deprecated the terras in which the resolution was couched. The government never had-shy other intention ; than to construct the line, but there'had been considerable unavoidable delay in consequence of a proposed deviation and the consequent acquisition of information. The results hadt, justified the delay, as a great : saving had been' made by the altered plans. There was every desire to j.o on with the construction of the line, hut it, would be very impolitic fprthepito give any very short time. They most, first ascertain how much it would cost ti) acquire the land on one route; or the other. The line would have been commenced long ago but for the high price asked for the land, A good .deal of' discussion ensued, but the motion was ultimately withdrawn. On Mr Sheehan moving that the House considers that the provision proposed to; be made for roads ana works in the districts ; north of Auckland is, entirely inadequate to ! meet the requirements and necessities pf those districts, apdveryzhuch smaller than i the share to which districts are fairly entitled, • no regard being had .id area, population, ah'd : contributions to Customs. revenue,'

The Pbemibb said the resolution was one addressed rather to the constituency than to the House, audit it was passed every meniber would be justified in bringing foiward a similar one. It was the mow surprising;: too, that such a resolution should be moved by an ardent Provihcudiat. If the district had been neglected it had been, by'the Auckland Provincial Government, and the first expenditure known in that district had been by the G eueral .Government. Even the present expenditure proposed was an exceptional one, and he did not think it was right to ask the House for too much under the circumstanees. If there was one thing more than another for which the House would reproach itself in the past it would be that they had not several years before given effect to that resolution which was to come into force at the. end of this session.

At the Evening Sitting the adjourned debate on

THE CENTRAL PENAL ESTABLISHMENT at Taranaki was resumed by Mr W hitakrr, who said that as the present financial icpndition .of the Colony did not justify Parliament going into such a large expenditure els would be involved in proceeding, with the erection of a Central Prison at New Plymouth, he would move, els an amendment, that further consideration of the question be postponed till next session. This caused. a long discussion, the Government opposing both the resolution of Mr Murray and the amendment, on the grounds that the present state of the prisons throughout the Colony was a reproach to it, and had been for several years ; that the action of the Government in the matter had only been caused by, a sense of duty that it was absolutely necessary to do one ef two things, pither to build this prison or increase the accommodation of the principal prisons of the Colony, and that the latter was likely to be as expensive as the other; that the question of where the central prison was to be erected had nothing to do with the matter, as in any pase Taranaki, must have its breakwater; that the'financial condition of the Colony had nothing to do with the matter, as it is perfectly able to beEu: all reasonable expense of providing for and carrying on its administration. It was contended on the other side that this was merely au experiment, and that, it would be for various reasons wiser and more economical to wait at lesist a year before moving farther in the matter. The result wels that the amendment was carried by 38 against. 26, there being nine members who usually vote with the Government voting for the amendment.

Mr Woolcock’s motion to relieve the goldmining. industry of the exceptional taxation .now imposed on it was formally agreed to. The question will be more fully gone into when the Goldmining Bill comes on. The other business was unimportant. The Mouse adjourned at 12.45 a.m.

ABOUT THE LOBBIfc-

{From our own Correspondent.) A meeting of the Otago members was held this morning to decide as to the number of counties that should- be established in that Province. All the representatives of the Province now in Wellington, except Mr Joyce, attended. The majority was in favor of two counties, while the others favored four and even five. No deoision was arrived at, but the feeling was to accept four as a compromise. These four are likely to be designed the Northern, Central, Southern, and Interior. Southland claims the entire Water-shed of the Mataura, including Switzers, and will probably get it. There is no truth in the rumored changes in the Ministry. a The Auckland party is thoroughly demoralised, and the supplanting of Sir George Grey by Mr Whitaker un fait accompli.