PAELIAMENTAEY.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 302, 26 June 1895, Page 2

PAELIAMENTAEY.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. (Per Press Association.) Wellington, June 25. Tho Council met at 2.30, and soon after adjourned for the purpose of presenting the Address-in- Reply to the Governor. On resuming the Council adjourned till next day. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2.30. Mr McNab gave notice to introduce the Licencing Act Amendmeut Bill. Thirteen new Bills were introduced and read a first time. Sir Robert btout moved, as a matter of privilege, that tho question as whether Sir Geo. Grey is a memher of this House be referred to a committee. Hon. Mr Seddon contended there was no necessity for setting up a committee. To do so would be to stultify the House and cast a refl.ectijn on the JSpeakor as well as on Sir Ge<>. Grey himself. Messrs Button and Crowther opposed the motion. The motion on division wa^ re jected by 45 to 8. The motion by the Premier that a committee of fifteen members be appointed to take into consideration the existing duties of customs and excise with a view to ascertaining whether any changes are necessary was carried by 34 to 22. Sir Robert Stout resumed the debate on the Address in-Roply. He thought the speech j,ur, into the Governor's mouth was a very lamentable production. His opinion was that every single item of the policy on which Government prided themselves last session had proved a ghastly failure. The UousuU scheme, Advances to Settlers scheme, and Land for Settlement scheme, including the Cheviot purchase, had all failed. All schemes of the Government to deal with the unemployed were utterly futile and valueless, and they are ntrtf facs to faco with the unemployed difficulty as great as it had ever been before. In fact, everything Government had touched had lamentably broken down. The colony did not require an extra Mioister. He condemned the proposed arbitration in the case of the New Plymouth bondhold ers as a monstrous and unwarrantable proposal. As to the tLree p3r cent loan he pointed out that the small and unimportant, colony of Western Australia got their .£750,000 loan on more favorable conditions than tbe one million and a half for which Mr Ward had received such praise. Tbe Hon. Mr Seddon complimented Sir Robert Stout on his speech, as it was free from the animus that had characterised other utterances of his, Referring to Sir It. Stout's remarks respecting Mr Ward's speech before the London Chamlei' of Commerce, he said that at the time Mr Ward spoke there were actually £2,970,000 of securities in London, and Avu'.ii were on their way to the amount of £105,000, so that when the Treasurer spoke there were actually more than three millions of securities, ot which J!l,287,000 were free. As to the surplus, he thought Government should get every credit for the balance-sheet they had given to the colony under such adverse circnmstnnces. He spoke in defence of the Agent-General and Treasurer from the attacks made against them respecting raising the loan, and asserted that if the railway and postal and telegraphic assets of the colony were sold to-morrow they would be more than sufficient to pay off the whole debt of the colony. Mr G. Hutchison said that instead of a surplus the colony had gone to the bad last year to the amount of over £100,000. Mr G. W. Russell defended the Goyernment. Mr Crowther, Major Stewart, and Mr McLachlan also spoke in favor of the Government policy. The debate was adjourned and the House rose at raidnieht.