HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Feilding Star, Volume XIII, Issue 26, 29 August 1891, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Thursday, August 27. . The Hon Mr Richardson rose to a question, of privilege. A serious charge* has been made against him at an earlier stage of the session in reference to himself, and the Minister's observations lastnight implied that he knew of certain things which would beto his (Mr Richard- * ' son's) discredit. '~ He now challenged hint either to withdraw ,that * statement ' or support it. The words. were reiterated last night, and were as to Runs 28 and 28a, and 228 and 228A r to the effect thatv if certain secrets were disclosed in re~ ference thereto they. would be to his (Mr Richardson's)' discredit, and also that the* Hon Robert Campbell had'stated that hehad squared the late Minister of Landsv He moved a resolution affirming that the* matter affected the honour of the House and that, a committee of five members be appointed to enquire into the charge and .reporfrwithinten days— The Minister- of Lands said the wordshad been- withdrawn .last night, and he* therefore asked whether this could be a> question of privilege. ' . * The Premier said it was necessary that'the words should be taken down' at the time y ih order to constitute a, matter of privilege.

The Hon Mr Bryce said it was not aquestion of withdrawal, -it was a "question. ~ of a disgraceful charge, and the mere withdrawal of the words,, the charge still- | being considered true, did not alter the- ! position at all. This was a matter that- • ought to be settled. The Hon, Mr Bryce said that they hai now got into a very curious position.. His hon friend had been debarred fromgoing on in reference to a charge madeagainst him last night, and was invitedto proceed ,with a charge made two- - months ago. It was absurd for the Minister of Lands to pretend that he' had withdrawn a charge while he had only done so* as a mere formality, and now repeated it. The Premier : He is disputing your ruling, Mr Speaker. ' The Hon Mr Bryce : The Hon the Preought to be ashamed. (Uproar.), , The Premier demanded the withdrawal of those words, which he said the hongentleman had no right to make. - The Hon Mr Bryce refused to withdraw them r * and said he would take the- " consequences. , At this point the Speaker ordered the: galleries to be cleared, the last heard being a motion by the Premier that the- ' , words objected to be taken down. The House sat with closed doors. ' At 7.50 the galleries were re-opened.' Mr Rees, proposed ".That ..this Houseregrets the words taken down were used ' by the hon member for Waikoto. although qualified as they ware- by the subsequentwords used by the hon member. The motion moved by Mr Rees was then put and carried by 32 to 24. The Hon Mr Bryce then entered the House and said — Mr Speaker, I do not know if I have any right to address yon,, but I think that courtesy will be extended to me by the unanimous consent of the House. I think you will allow me toread now the whole of the sentence I intended to read when I was interrupted by a number of exclamations from tbe House. The sentence was this : — " The hon. member should be ashamed of himself," "in relying upon a technicality to prevent inquiry into a disgraceful chargeagainst a member of the House."' That is what I mean to say. Shy your predecessor in that Chair said I had never once been called to order by tbe Chair. I felt proud of that remark, .and I feel proportionately miserable at having received - a censure from this House. After I sleep upon it, and not. before, I shall consider my own position,, but I regard this cen- _ sure as a most grave thing to me, and I shall, with your* permission, leave the House now. Whether I enter it again will be a matter for my own consideration. The Minister of Lands complained of being frequently accused of discourtesy, and he said_ he waa not aware of being so, . and apologised for such conduct to hon members. He did not for one moment accuse the hon member of corruption, and had not tbe slightest idea of doing so. He * did not see that any second withdrawal on his part would do- any good The announcement by the Speaker that tne iiana ana income Tax Asßessmenfr Sill, had been passed by the Legislative Council without amendment was received with applause.

The Land Bill waa considered in committee. — Art amendment was made in clause 31, which provides a five of i-50 for lighting a fire in or near to a forest,, whereby timber was destroyed, giving an alternative of not more than six months' imprisonment. — Land Boards — The Minister of Lands, replying to Mr Rhodes,, said he would next year bring down a Bill providing for elective Land Boards, but thought they could not ask the House to do so tbis session. — Mr Macarthnr moved an amendment to clause 49, enabling Land Boards to examine applicants " for land on oath, so as to prevent the sale of land to speculators. — The Minister of Lands promised to insert a proviso to the same effect in another portion of the Bill. ' Friday, August 28, The Land Bill was further considered* in Committee. A long discussion took place on Clause 82 which disqualifies married women from. < selecting land, but no amendment waa made, the clause bemg added to the Bill by 34 to 12. Clause 118, " One-third of the price or rent of land to be paid to tbe local authority for road making," provoked a long discus>ion.g.d Mr Macarthur moyed that a third should not be devoted to the maintenance of roads, but he was defeated by 27 to 22„