GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1416, 29 August 1878, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Wednesday, August 28. In the Council to-day the business was devoid of general interest. PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE. A long discussion took place on a point of practice, in which Dr. Pollen warned Colonel Whitmore not to bring on business without notice, whieh might lead to the imputation of sharp practice. Mr Waterhouse supported Dr. Pollen. The occasion arose through the Friendly Societies Bill coming on on the previous day after five o’clock, when it was the usual hour of adjournment. payments to counties. A return of money received from the Canterbury land fund by the Vincent, Waitaki, and Lake Counties was moved for and agreed to. FIRST READINGS. A Bill to amend the Municipal Corporations Act, 1876, was read, and the second reading fixed for that day fortnight. The Land Drainage Act was also road a first time. HARBOR BILL. The Council then went into committee. When the 25th clause of the Harbor Bill was reached, the Council adjourned at 5 p.m. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Wednesday, August 28. The House at 2,30. PETITION. Dr. Buffer’s petition was again presented, and received. , HARBOR ENDOWMENT BILLS. 1 Mr Hamlin gave notice to ask for leave to introduce five Harbor Endowment Bills, and Capt. Morris gave notice to ask leave to introduce three. Mr Hobbs gave a similar notice for another Harbor Endowment Bill. CAPE EGMONT LIGHTHOUSE. In reply to Mr Carrington, Mr Sheehan said he was not fully acquainted as to the state of affairs regarding a lighthouse on Cape Egmont, which was promised as soon as the Brothers lighthouse was completed, but he hoped to be able in a short time to give an assurance that the work would be done. LAND REVENUE. In reply to Mr McLean, Mr Ballance said he would have no objection to obtain by telegraph from different receivers of land revenue throughout the colony returns of land revenue received during July and August, 1878, in various provincial districts, in order that the House may be informed of the result at its first sitting in September. THE ASHBURTON MAGISTRATE. Mr Saunders asked whether the Minister of Justice knew anything of the antecedents of Alexander Le Grand Campbell before appointing him to the position of Resident Magistrate at Ashburton and Temuka, &c. P Mr Sheehan said he had taken a great deal of trouble to go through the reports of evidence, and he found it would be quite impossible to answer the question without introducing debateable matter. The question had therefore be better raised when the estimates were before the House, when the whole matter could be gone into fully. CHRISTCHURCH LAND TRANSFER DEPARTMENT. Mr Wakbpield asked the Government whether they had received any complaints of the condition of the Land Transfer Departat Christchurch in respect of the delay in issuing titles, and whether they will take steps to enable that department shortly to bring up existing arrears of work ? Mr Sheehan said delays had arisen in consequence of land being in possession of natives, and they had not been able to settle the matter yet. PRISONERS FOE TRIAL AT TIMAEU, Mr Wakefield asked the Government, (1) Whether they were aware that under existing arrangements prisoners awaiting trial at the Supreme Court, Timaru, are liable to be in gaol for any period not exceeding six months? (2) Whether they will accede to the oft-repeated prayer of the inhabitants of Timaru, and of the presentments of the grand jury there, that the Supreme Court should sit quarterly instead of half-yearly ? Mr Sheehan thought he might assure the hon, gentleman that the Government were making such arrangements as, he thought, would settle the matter satisfactorily. FIRST READINGS. A number of Biffs were read a first time. THE RAILWAY RECESS. Upon Mr Bastings moving his motion that the House sit on Monday, so as to adjourn on Wednesday, Mr Baeff took objection. He said he believed 2700 applications had been sent in for the trip South, including ninety-seven pairs of twins. If the Government wanted some time to overtake the work, he would not object, but for a more holiday they might well enough wait till the end of the session. The motion was then agreed to. PUBLIC WOBKS ESTIMATES. In reply to a question, Mr Macandbew said the public works estimates would be brought down to-morrow. SALARIES OP GAOL OFFICERS. Mr Muebay-Aynsley moved for information as to why Government had not carried out the promise made last year to equalise the salaries of the officers of the several gaols throughout the' colony. He pointed out at considerable length the various inequalities in the system of gaol management throughout the colony, both in regard to the hours of labor and remuneration. It appeared to him that the officials of Dunedin gaol were considerably better off than those of any other place. He argued that the whole system should be uniform throughout the colony. Mr Turnbull called attention to the case of Timaru gaol, as an instance of the inequality complained of. Mr Barton did the like as regarded Wellington gaol. Mr Sheehan said the promise no doubt was given, but an attempt to carry it out raised a hornet’s nest about their ears, and they decided to get the House to consider the whole question. He would therefore recommend the mover to submit his evidence to the Gaol Commission then sitting. He would at once admit the justice of the representation regarding the inequality, and if he were a private member, he would feel bound to lay the case of the Auckland gaol before the House. The motion was agreed to. LAND REVENUE FOE ROAD BOARDS. Mr Ormond moved for an address to the Governor requesting that provision may be made for payment to Road Boards of onethird of all moneys that accrued, or may accrue, on account of the sale of land on deferred payment within any Road Board district, since the passing of the Land Act, 1877, whether purchased before the passing of the Act or not. The hon. gentleman urged at some length the claims of a number ot poor hard working settlers, who having located themselves in the Seventy Mile Bush, and who having exhausted their means in settling themselves upon the land, were now unable to make roads so as to connect them with settled districts. The case of those settlers he considered peculiarly hard. Messrs Hodgkinson, Gibbs, and Bastings also supported the mot ion. Mr Stout said Government did not intend to oppose the motion at that stage. He would see that the Houso was supplied with the fullest data, so as to enable them to go into the matter properly, and the committee could then decide what action it would take. If the amount required were not large, and compliance with the motion not calculated to embarrass the Government, he would be inclined to consider it favorably. After a good deal of discussion, Mr Sheehan recommended that the motion should be allowed to go until they got into committee, when the Government would oppose it. Mr Ormond hoped the hon. gentleman would not exercise his individual inlluence with his colleagues against the motion, especially after what the Attorney-General Baid. Tho motion was amended so ae to read for

that day fortnight, instead of that day, and agreed to. CANTERBURY LAND REVENUE. Mr Fyke gave notice to move for a return of all laud revenue received in the province of Canterbury since its foundation till the date of abolition, and its expenditure on roads and bridges in the counties of Waitaki, Vincent, and Lake. HARBOR BILLS. Mr Williams gave notice to introduce three Harbor Endowment Bills. SELECT COMMITTEE. Mr Seaton moved for a Select Committee to enquire into the whole question as to the engagements between the Dunedin Ocean Beach and the Peninsula Railway Companies. Agreed to. RAILWAY SURVEY. Mr Manders moved—“ That with the view of opening up the outlying districts situate between Lake Wakatipu and the West Coast of the Middle Island, and of providing for the beneficial occupation and settlement thereof, it is desirable that a line of railway should be surveyed between Lake Wakatipu and the head of Lake Hollysford on the West Coast, Martin’s Bay being the port thereof on the West Coast.” The motion was agreed to. NATIVE INTERPRETER’S LICENSES. Mr Fox moved for a production of all correspondence, reports, or other documents relating to the suppression of the licenses of O. O. Davis and J. Grindell. Mr. Sheehan said he would accept all the responsibility of these matters, and wished ho had done so before. He might say that all the papers connected with the matter could be seen at his office, but ho had very good reasons for not laying the papers on the table, and for dispensing with the services of the officers referred to. It would have been better they had been dispensed with before, Mr Seaton thought an interpreter should not be dismissed without being informed of the cause. Surely the Native Minister should not be able to do these things unquestioned at his own pleasure. Mr Ormond said that it was not right for the Government to take away a man’s livelihood without being prepared to inform the House what was the cause of dismissal. Mr Sheehan said ho did not like to to give the reason for the dismissal of Grindell, as it would reflect upon his private character, and injure him more than was intended by more dismissal. The Premier explained that Government had not deemed it expedient to make public the information asked for. If it was thought anything improper had been done, an inquiry should bo asked for. The Government would not shrink from any inquiry. Mr Fox considered the reply of the Native Minister not quite satisfactory. If Grindell acted so as to deserve dismissal, it was right to dismiss him at once, but the House ought to be told the reason. Still it was quite possible, if the officer was afforded an opportunity, he might bo able to explain things satisfactorily. No Government official should b- dismissed without a trial. Ho abhorred these secret tribunals. They had enough of that in the old days of secret despatches. Personally he might say he had not been moved either by Davis or Grindell in the matter. He merely moved out of curiosity in order that light might be thrown on the subject. To-morrow ho would give notice for a Select Committee to inquire into the matter. The motion was negatived. retorting committees. On the motion of Mr Joyce, the House agreed that it was unnecessary to report in committee on the Electoral Bill more than the amendments proposed and divisions thereon. EVENING SITTING. The House resumed at 7.30. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. The Friendly Societies Act Amendment Bill was read a first time. SOUTH DUNEDIN RESERVES. Mr Seaton moved the second reading of the South Dunedin Reserves Bill. He said that although the land was Crown granted, he was prepared to show that it had been obtained by fraud. A map purporting to be a description of the ground had been submitted to the previous speaker, but it did not represent the locality at all. He brought in the Bill with the object of seeing that the Dunedin Harbor Board’s rights were not injured. After reading it a second time he would ask that it be referred to the Waste Lands Committee. Mr McLean did not think the House would be a party to taking away from one body land which was Crown granted to it, and giving it to another body. Mr Macandbew recommended that the whole matter be inquired into. Considerable discussion ensued, in the course of which it was pointed out that the land had been Crown granted to the Harbor Board, in consequence of the deliberate action of the House, and if the Bill were allowed to pass, a great injustice would be done to the Harbor Board. The Bill was read a second time. The Speaker pointed out that the land, not being Crown land, the Bill could not be referred to the Waste Lands Committee. The better plan would be to name a day for the committal of the Bill, and upon the motion for going into committee the whole question could be opened up. The Bill was ordered for committal that day fortnight. DECEASED WIFE’S SISTER, Dr Hodgkinson moved the second reading of the Deceased Wife’s Sister Marriage Bill. He pointed out that a similar Bill had passed that House seven times, and the principle was affirmed thirty times in the House of Commons. The law at present was a great restriction on personal freedom, especially upon the poor man, because the rich could evade the law on the matter. Mr Baeff followed by moving that the Bill be read a second time that day six months. Mr Bowen said the hon. gentleman had not said much in introducing the Bill, and what he had said was remarkably inaccurate, namely, that the Bill had been passed seven times in that House, or thirty times in the House of Commons. The Bill had only passed there four times, and had been rejected three times, but it was not to be wondered at that a Bill was occasionally introduced a second time. When it was remembered that there was a clique at homo who spent a great deal of money in order to get this Bill passed, there was no doubt whatever that if there had been any general demand amongst the public at home, the Bill woidd long ago have passed the English Legislature. It appeared to him that the Bill was calculated to relax the matrimonial bonds and bring about such a state of thing as was to be seen in certain States of America, where divorces were as common as marriages. Any agitation in the matter was due to several rich men, who had infringed the law and wanted to bend the law to suit their particular case. Ample evidence had been adduced at home 'to show that the question was not one of the poor man at all. The present law had existed for seventeen centuries at least, and it was only recently that the attempt had been made to alter the law. This alone ought to make members approach the consideration of the question' cautiously and seriously. Mr Stout defended the Bill, and quoted the opinion of Archbishop Tait, and offered to cite the authority of a hundred other divines and eminent men to show that the law was eminently conducive to morality. Ho also cited the opinion of Judge Story, of America, who was strongly in favor of the Bill. It was high time that New Zealand should bo put in the same position as Victoria, South Australia, and Canada. It hud been well said by Mr Hall that the only two bodies in the world who opposed the Bill were the House of Lords at Home and the Legislative Council in this colony, Mr Barton supported the second reading of the Bill, as ho did not see anything objectionable in the measure, but a great deal in its favor. Mr Wakefield could not see that the Bill would have any effect at all on the social J or moral condition of society. While he saw nothing immoral in the Bill, he would oppose it cm the ground that we should not

pass any law of the kind when it was not the law of England. It would be time enough to pass such a law when the Imperial Legislature made it the law of the land. Ho was opposed to any law that would render a colonist of New Zealand subject to the painful position of seeing his wife, if ho went home, looked at as if she was not a wife and his children considered illegitimate. Mr Rees protested against such an argument as to say that New Zealand dare not adopt any legislation unless sanctioned by the ImperiarParliament. It was only people of strong conservative tendencies who opposed the Bill. But, so far as he could judge, the weight of all reasoning was in favor of the Biff becoming law. Mr Moss said that, although his feeling was against the Bill, he could not but ask himself what right had he, and others who thought as ho did, to prevent those who thought differently on this question from marrying according to their inclinations. Dr Hodgkinson having replied very briefly, a division was taken, and the Bill read a second time by 47 against 25. EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENT. Mr Curtis moved the second reading of the Education Act Amendment Biff. He explained that it was to enable twenty-five householders to form themselves into a school district, and that they might call on the Education Board to constitute them a school district with a committee; that the education must bo free ; that the books must bo approved by the Board, and that they shall bo entitled to a share of the Board’s fund. The mover pointed out that the Roman Catholic portion of the community had withheld themselves altogether from the national system of Education. He went on to show how beneficially this system had worked at Nelson, and all sections of the community worked harmoniously under the system. He advocated that it was imperative that the House should take into its consideration a question which so largely affected a section of the community, which consisted of about oneseventh of the whole. Mr Thomson moved that the Bill be rend a second time that day six months. Ho could not conceive that the hon. gentleman should hare any hope of the Biff being carried. The debate is continuing.