HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 91, 14 October 1896, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Wellington, October 13. The House met at 2.30. Mr Seddon, in a leugthy speech, moved the second reading of the Bank of New Zealand Act Amendment Bill He contended the result of the Select Committees' investigations had been beneficial, but at this juncture he did not propose eithor to defend or to accuse. The Committees had found the Bank of New Zealand was now in a thoroughly sound condition and that under ordinary circumstances the colony would not be called on to pay anything of the guarantee they had given. The Premier proceeded in detail to explain ' the measure, a full report of •which will be found in another column. Mr Hutchison contented himself by reading the minority report which the Banking Committee refused to receive. Mr Bell protested against the haste with which the Bill was being forced on the attention of the House. He held that Mr Watson should be permitted to go before a jury to decide whether he had been guilty of such misconduct as justified his engagement being cancelled. The debate was interrupted by the 5.30 adjournment. At the evening sitting it was proposed to put the Banking Bill through all its stages before the House rose and at one o'clock this morning the debate on it was still proceeding.