HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 39, 14 August 1895, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

WAIKARAPA MURDER CASH. The House met at 2.30 p.m. Mr \V. Hutchison asked whether the attention of the Government had been called to the recent verdict of the jury i in the charge of murder against Somerville in tlio Wellington Supreme Court. He said it appeared to him that a serious miscarriage of justice had occurred iv that can.:, and he would suggest to the Government that .some means should bo taken whereby a mistake of that kind should nob occur in future, and that insanity should be more clearly defined. The Premier said it was a most scri- ( ous matter, but the attention of Government had not been specially directed to the matter beyond seeing reports of the trial in newspapers. He asked Mr Hut- | chison to give notice of his question, so that the Minister for Justice could make inquiries into the whole circumstances. The Speaker read a letter from Sir John Hali, asking that Parliament would be pleased to accept from him a jTOih-ciii o£ Her Majesty the Queen. j The Premier moved that the thanks j of the House be given to Sir John Hall for his presentation, and that the portrait be hung in the corridor between the two Houses. He mentioned that through the kind office of Lord Onslow, the Queen had giycii special permission ; for this picture being copied from Auge- ] lo's jubilee portrait of Her Majesty, which, it was understood, was the one most favored by the Queen herself. Captaiu Russell seconded the motion, which was agreed to. The Premier gave notice to move on Thursday, "That a Select Committee of six members bo appoiuted to confer with any similar Committee of the Council, to examine and report upon the Bank of New Zealand Estates Company and its relation to the Hank of Xew Zealand, to enquire how iv the Colony's ink-rest the two institutions can be best separated to show that the earning power of the Bank of New Zealand may be increased, its stability insured, and its usefulness ex tcuded. The Committee to consist of Captain Russell, Sir R. Stout, the Hons. J. G. "Ward, and John McKcnzie, Mr Buchanan and the mover, and to report in one week." The Premier moved that the Local Government Bill be discharged from the Order Paper, as he found the Bill would have to be introduced by the Governor's message. — Agreed to. II .^A.VCI. V L J)K DA TK . Mr Millar resumed the debate on the Financial Statement. He thought something more should have been done to solve the unemployed question. The proposed increase in the Tariff would be felt most severely by the workers, and he was opposed to that. Mr Crowthor did not consider the present time opportune for raising the Customs duties, because the people were getting less wages now than formerly. He was assured the proposed increases meant .£T>O,OOO instead of .£-10,000. Mr Wilson complained of misrepresentation in the Budget. There was no doubt the new tariff was going to raise taxation. Mr W. Hutchison did not know what led the Colonial Treasurer to tinker with the tariff of the Tariff Commission, which was an honest attempt at compromise between Freetrado and Protection. Mr Sannders advocated more retrenchment in the Civil Service. He regarded the proposed tariff as a cruel one, and suggested the raising of revenue duties instead of merely protective duties. New Zealand, he said, would never be prosperous till it was a Freetrade country. Mr Masscy condemned tlic South Australian and Canadian treaties and deprecated the \vay hi which country settlers were being over-taxed by the new tariff. Mr O'Regan defended the Advances to Settlers Act, but disapproved of the sum spent in acquiring lands for settlement, which he thought was opposed to the progress of the country. Messrs McLachlau, Thompson (Marsden), and Flatman also Ejpokc. The debate was adjourned, and the House rose at 2 a.m.