WELLINGTON.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 708, 2 August 1870, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

(from our special correspondent.) July 29. The great debate on the financial and colonising proposals of the Government was brought to an end on the 20th. The result was exactly what during the preceding day or two had been anticipated. Although there had been ranch bouncing on the part of those who took extreme views od either side, it had all vanished before the time came for putting the question. On the one hand,' the Ministry had ' given the House to understand that any attempt to force great modifications, either in the principle or in the details of the scheme, would be resented, and treated with direst hostility. The temperate but firm attitude of Mr Stafford's party had convinced them that voluntary concession was much preferable to an enforced retreat from their position. That the Colonial Treasurer would be actuated by these considerations was regarded as a highly prdbable event by those wlio were in a position to judge, and it therefore occasioned little surprise when Mr Yogel, in his reply, announced the intention of the Government to modify their proposals. Apart from any influence which the general direction of the debate may have exercised upon the minds of Ministers, there was the desirability of avoiding any amendment. Prior to Mr Vogel's rising to reply it became circulated through the House that Mr Collins, one of the Nelson Members intended to move an amendment to the effect that for the present year the Government should confine their operation to the One Million, and that the larger question be left over for the new Parliament to decide. Had this amendment been proposed it would have received a good deal of support, and I believe it was understood that in the event of it being moved the Auckland, Westland, Nelson, and Canterbury members would have voted for it. Of. course the intention of Mr Collins did not long remain unknown to the Government, and it was agreed at last that the amendment should not be moved until Mr Yogel had spoken. The wisdom of this course, as far as it affected tho Ministry was soon seen, for as the Treasurer proceeded to indicate the wish of the Government to meet some of the most important objection that had been raised, tho opposition with which they have been threatened gradually dwindled away, aud when he had concluded, Mr Collins dropped his amendment and no one -would take it up. There was no division, although one of the Westland members, Mr Barff, had somewhat ostentatiously declared his intention a day or two before of dividing the House, even if he walked into the lobby by himself. The telegraph will have given you particulars of the concessions made by the Government, and I must say that the scheme as it now stands, looks very much better than it did. The reduction in the amount to be borrowed, does not affect it much in one way or another, excepting that it has had the effect of allaying the scruples of those who were scared by the largeness of the sum. The great advantage which the loHg debate has conferred, lies in the fact that the Government have been forced to see that the Parliament of the Colony will, and must, exercise its powers of control. As the scheme for Immigration and Pnblic Works was first presented to the House, it proposed to give most enormous and unconstitutional powers to the Executive —indeed, had the original idea been carried out, the whole of the ten millions would practically have been left to the inindependent expenditure of the Government. This, however, has been very properly corrected, and it is now proposed that Parliament shall decide on each work to be constructed, and that the expendi- . ture shall be subject to the ordinary annual appropriation. Mr Yogel, in deference to the stray opinions expressed by the gold fields' members, consented to increase the amount for gold fields water supply from L 200,000 to L 300,000. Tho " original proposal with regard to defence expenditure, by which a sort of permanent vote for five years was contemplated has been modified, and this branch of expenditure will be placed under the same check as the ordinary finance of the Colony. Mr Yogel made a most excellent speech — the best lever heard him deliver, and there was but one impression on the minds of members, and that was, that the Treasurer had raised himself very greatly in public estimation as a statesman. He was, as usual, very caustic in his personal allusions, and dealt out several wellplanted hits. He was specially heavy upon old Nabob Wilson, much to that respectable old-fogey's perturbation ; andhe made some very lively sallies against Mr J. C Richmond, taking ample revenue for that gentleman's sarcastic comments on Mr Vogel's "" Christian Martyr" of 1868. Altogether it was a most successful speech, and was listened to throughout with deep attention. I should mention that, with respect to those two portions of the financial scheme which operate prejudicially to Westland — the capitation allowance and the increased tariff — it is not at all probable that the. amount of capitation will be increased, or thab the population will be calculated on another than a general basis. Mr Barff asked the Colonial Treasurer if the Government had any intention of making any modification in that direction, such as the fixing the capitation upon adult males only. Mr Voyel made a nther happy reply. Looking significantly towards Mr Barff, he said that the Government policy went in an entirely opposite direction to that indicated by the honorable member ; they did not wish to give any undue encouragement to persons who came here to-day and were off again to-morrow. They wished to encourage marriageable 3 r oung men like the lion, member to marry and people the Colony, and he (Mr Yogel) thought that the infant born yesterday was as much entitled to its L 2 as the adult male who came in',o the Colony last week. The tariff is to be an open questiou, and will not bo forced on the House as a Go vernment question. The Bills to give effect to the financial proposals hav.e not yet come on for consideration. They were sent down to the House by niessage, and will be discussed tomorrow. After the close of the great debate, a meeting oi those who have generally acted together under Mr Stafford was hold, and some very important additional precautionary clauses were adopted, and

will be moved as amendments. One is with regard to the railway construction. The Government measure really leaves the, power of initialing these works to the ' Superintendents, aud Mr Stafford proposes that there shell be a Minister of Public Works, responsible to Parliament, and supported by a scientific Board ; that before any railway is submitted to the consideration of the House, a flying engineering survey shall have been made of the proposed; line, and that estimates and rough plans eh ill be sul-m tted. Tho object of these sugges'.ions i 3 to secure that the whole' railway system shall in every sense be a "Colonial" work, and freed, as much as possible, from the control or interference of Provincial authorities and Provincial animosities. As 1 understand it to mean, the Government will, during the recess, cause flying surveys to be made in various parts of the Colony, where the construction of railways is desirable ; the Minister of Public Works, with the assist nee ol his scientific board, will decide upon the railways to be proposed, and the House will be asked to consider each measure on its merits. A similar plan will be endeavored in respect to water works for Gold Fields — all being under the Minister of Works Another amendment that will be proposed is with regard to purchases of native land in the North Island, so as to secure proper purchases. It is not anticipated that the Government will resent these further modifications, as there is a most edifying amity now existing between all sides of the House. Men who were not only politically opposed, but even personally antagonistic, have, under some mysterious influence, become friends in aud out of the House. Just fancy Stafford and Fox bandying compliments with each other, and Haughton and Yogel on the pleasantest terms possible ! Bunny, who was at one time a whip of the Stafford party has openly " ratted," and gone in for the present Government. It is wonderful what an approaching general election can do! That part of the. Immigration and Public Works Bill which relates to water supply on the Gold Fields has evidently been drawn up in the most hasty and illconsidered manner, and without any thought on the subject. A meeting of the Gold Fields members has been held, and several important amendments were proposed to and accepted by the Colonial Treasurer, who was present. The alterations were in the direction of affording compensation to holders of wat«r-race3 who might suffer loss through the impounding of the main source of supply, * which power is given by this Act ; and of enabling the Govern nient to either lend money, grant subsidies, or give guarantees of interest to public companies or private individuals who may be willing to undertake large water schemes. Mr Yogel expressed himself quite willing that these proposals should be embodied in the Bill, and promised that he would give effect to them. I expect there will be a sort of scramble amongst the various g.)lcl - producing Provinces for this L 300,000, unless the Government take the administration of the money entirely into their own hands ; but I trust the money |will be expended with. the sole idea of benefiting the Colony, and not merely a portion of it. The readjustment of representation question has not yet come on, bnt notice has been given by Mr Fox to move the appointment of a Committee to draw up modifications of the existing electoral divisions. The Government have adopted a most unusual and undignified course with reference to this matter. In the opening speech the House was told that a measure for readjusting the representation would be laid before it, and what have the Ministry done? They simply propose that the amount of representation of the various Provinces shall remain the same r but that the electoral districts within the Provinces shall.be readjusted. I need hardly tell you that . 3uch a proposition does not seenre support — in fact it is nothing but a shuffle on the part of the Government to get out of the responsibility of submitting a proper and carefully considered measure themselves. They have simply taken the representation as it is-^-thrown it down on the floor of the House, like a bone amongst a lot of hungry dogs. And a fine bone of content! m it has already proved to be. Several little cliques have been formed, and each has rfs particular programme, •■ which the other considers unfair. One thing is satisfactory, that Amidst all the contentions as to which ■ should be the basis of representation — population, revenue, teritory, or what not — all parties are agreed that Westland is entitled to at least three members. One party make it 3.076, and another 3£, so that you can afford to dispense with the fractional part and hand them over to some other district. A very strong party in the House are in favor of reducing the number of European members (I am obliged to use the distinctive term) to 61, so as to leave room for additional representation should any unforseen accession of population occur in any particular Province. I have seen the programme of this party, and they also put dov a Westland as entitled to 3 members, even in the reduced House. My own impression is that the contemplated reduction will not be effected, that there will be a great alteration in the relative representative strength of the various Provinces and electoral districts, and thaVWestland will get its three members. I fancy that Wellington, Nelson, Southland, Marlborough, and Taranaki, will be docked of some of their present number of members — Wellington especially. Mr Reynolds' great Separation resolutions have come to nothing — that ia to say, they have been shelved by the "previous question." In fact their fate <yas sealed as soon as the House had affirmed the Colonising policy of the Government. The discussions, however, did good, and enabled many members, who have beenforemost supporters of the Government, to express opinions tending towards a more stable and compact form of government. Mr Reynolds, however, declares that he will not allow his pet subject to drop through without a vote being taken, and he has declared his intention to move his resolutions again in Committee of Supply. Of course he will do it, so that after- all there is a probability of at least one subject to "go to the country"— or, in other words, to be the means of a hustings cry. ■-*■-■ Mr Creighton inspired some of the - Middle Island members, particularly those of Otago and Canterbury, with a terrible dread by his resolution affecting the Waste Lauds of the Colony. His motion (Fur Continuation of News, see 4tth Page.)

was to the effect that the Waste Lands Bhould be treated and considered as a Colonial Estate for the benefit of the Colony., At present the Waste Lands are treated as Provincial Estates, under an arrangement which is known as l< the compact of 1856" — a compact which the North Island members have of late years shown a strong desire to annul. Every session some move is made in this direction, but Mr Creighton's I motion is the first deliberate and positive attempt to interfere with i,he waste lands of the Middle Island. A very lively debate was, as you may be sure, the consequence, and some delightful pleasantries were passed between i North and South, and although it was plain that the motion would not be carried, still enough was said to show that the great principles which the " Colonial party " have struggled for are becoming every day more and more recognised. It is becoming evident that Provincial Institutions are '* in the way " — that they interfere with anything like a true Colonial, or rather National, policy, and that they must give place. It is now only a question of time, and of no long time either. A very useful measure on education has been brought in by Mr Tancred. It is to enable the utilisation of existing Municipal machinery in Boroughs for the purpose of establishing public schools. It appears to me to be especially suitable to the towns of Hokitika and Greymouth, and should it pass will render it almost unnecessary to have any special Bill for Westland. The debate on the second reading was an interesting one, and pointed strongly to the necessity of the Government taking up the question of education for thie ■whole Colony. The Otago and Southland Union Bill may be considered passed, although some technical forms have still to be gone through. It is rather amusing to hear some of the Southland members now that they have got what they wanted indulging, iv fears as to the intentions of their new Goddess, Otago. They seem to half wish they had not forfeited their autonomy. Last session an Act relating to Hundreds in Otago was passed, and it has ever since been the cause of discontent in that Province. One of the new members for Otago was returned pledged to do all in his power to repeal the Act, and MiBrown, the, gentleman referred to, has done so, greatly to the trial of the patience of the House. Of course every Otago member has spoken on the question, and on two or three occasions they have inflicted three or four hours of squabble and palaver upon the innocent unfortunates who have been compelled to listen. The other night Mr Howorth, who is the most lugubrious "flabby" speaker iv the House, fairly exhausted the large patience which had hitherto been shown, and he was cut short in the middle of a sentence, after two hours talking, by a count out. Mr Brown is an acquisition to the House as a source of amusement occasioned by his wholesale destruction of Her Majesty's English, and he is never tired of expressing his determination to repeal the hated 'Undreds Hact. During this week there have been some interesting discussions. Mr Travers brought forward a resolution in favor of altering the present jury system, so as to make it a sufficient verdict if given by a majority, instead of requiring unanimity as at present. The learned gentleman gave some very ctfgent reasons why the reform should be made, and quoted the opinions of eminent Judges and legal writers in favor of the alteration. The opinion of the House was evidently in favor of Mr Travers' proposal, but it was felt that it was a subject that should not be hastily dealt with. I have no doubt that ibefore long the law will be amended in this particular, more especially with respect to civil cases, and minor felonies and misdemeanors. The debate upon the relations between England and her Colonies has run itself out. It has afforded the opportunity for a good deal of abstract oratory and the ventilation of original theories on the subject, which considering they cannot affect a foregone conclusion are somewhat thrown away. As a discussion, however, it .was high in tone- and worth listening to. Mr Kynnersley made an excellent speech on the subject. In this case as in others the "previous question" settled it. There was a great debate last night arising originally out of a small matter. The Government brought in a Bill some time ago for regulating the duty on gold of inferior quality. This Bill was referred in due course to the Gold Fields Committee, certain amendments were made in it, and it passed its second reading. But on the day before its going into Committee Mr Yogel gave notice of two entirely new clauses, to the effect that on a recommendation to that effect from the Superintendent and Provincial Council of any Province, or the Chairman and County Council of Westland, the Governor may reduce the export duty on gold in respect of such Province or County. Strong objection was taken to the unfair manner in which it was attempted to carry such important clauses, and it was moved that they be referred to the Gold Fields Committee, but the motion was lost. A long discussion took place on these clauses, which had evidently been brought, forward by Mr Yogel to oblige Mr Haughton, for electioneering purposes. They were opposed by Messrs Curtis, Kynrjersley, Hall, Richmond, Harrison, and others, and supported by Mr Haughton and the rest of the Otago Gold Fields members and the Auckland members. The reasons used against it were— l. That it was giving improper power to Provincial Governments ; 2. That no necessity had been shown for the reduction ; 3. That it would give rise to all sorts of complications and fraud, in the case of one Province reducing its duty and its neighbors keeping it up° and generally that the Bill would be a temptatien to gold-raising communities to deprive themselves of the main source of revenue for making public works. A division was called for, and tho result was that the new clauses were inserted by a majority of 26 to 24. Mr Barff voted ■with the ayes. I hear, however, that on the third reading the Bill will be recommitted, and another effort made to expunge the objectionable clauses. The Grey Valley Annexation Petition has cxc.'ted considerable interest, and I am led to helieve its prayer will be successful. Mr Harrison is strongly suyporting it, and using every means to advance it. On Monday last, ho published a long letter in the Advertiser, explaining the objects

of the petitions, and giving a good deal of valuable information for the grievance of those who knew nothing of the district. The petition executed a great impression on the House, when it tvas presented. Mr Harrison handed one end to the Sergeant-at-Arms, and unfolded the whole length in the House. The public petitions Committee referred it to the Waste Lands Committee, and it came before them today, and now stands commiteel to a special Committee of which Mr Harrison Chairman. It is reported that ths Government Avill not oppose the annexation. The Nelson members are said to bo more favorable to it than they were, and that the Commissioners sent down by the Nelson Council to Greymouth have expressed a favorable opinion. Mr Harrison has brought in the Westland Waste Lands Bill, tho Government having declined to take charge of it.