The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1892.

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 17, 28 July 1892, Page 2

The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1892.

The Financial debate continues to drag its weary length along. From the reports of the speeches already made by members of the Ministerial party and by members of the Opposition, we have not been much enlightened either on the policy of tbe Government or the intentions of those against them. When the Ministry are blamed for any act of theirs, no attempt is made to deny the alleged offence, but some similar transaction of a preceding Cabinet is quoted in justification. There is no attempt at palliation, but they apparently reason that as two affirmatives make a negative, therefore two wrongs make a right. Very convenient, no doubt, but not convincing. That able attacks have been made, notably by Mr Rolleston, and the terrible Mr Scobie MacKenzie, we do not question, nor that able speeches have been made in reply, in fact we have a Minister's own words that his was " a slashing rejoinder," and therefore it must have been so. Notwithstanding this mutual exhibition of oratorical fire works, nothing practical seems to have been done. The Government have lost nothing, while the Opposition have gained nothing. Iv fact there has only been much waste of valuable time. Mr Allan, the member for Bruce, in his speech the other night, described the Treasurer as a child iv finance, and declares that the Financial Statement abounds, even in regard to matters of the merest detail, in blunders so gross that they would certainly not be made by a boy in the 4th or sth standard. As a whole, the Statement was a mass of dull, doughy matter, with so few merits, that they reminded oneof the school boy proverb about a fig in a mile pudding. Sir P. Buckley has introduced in the Council a Settled Land Act Amendment Bill, whose object is to enact that : " Where a sale of settled land is to be made to the tenant for life, or a purchase is to be made subject to the limitations of the settlement, or an exchange is to be made with him of the settled land for other land, or a partition is to be made with him of land an undivided share whereof is subject to the limitations of the settlement, the trustees of the settlement shall stand in the place of and represent the tenant for life and shall, in addition to the powers of the tenant for life in reference to negotiating and completing the transaction."