GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2228, 29 September 1875, Page 2

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

[PRESS ACffiNdY.] ( Welmngtoit,"' £ept.' '28. On the House resuming. at half-past seven, last evening, it was arranged that the Estimates be proceeded with at once, any debate upon the finances, of. the Colony to' be reserved ; until sucE time as the ; Treasurer deHvered his supplementary Financial Statement, rendered 'necessary by changes made in i th'e J 'A i b I dn > ti6n Bill during its progress through Committee, v : ■;•;■;■;■' : ,: : ./j-';"'' " r: ' ::!ta A good deal of discussion was raised by Mr.Murray, who said it was .rumored that the Government intended to get the Estimates passed before bringing down the rEepresentatiyes Bill, which, ■was at length cut, short by the Treasurer assuring the House that the Bill would be submitted about the middle of the present week. : r . In reply to questions from the Opposition regarding how the!- San Francisco mail service item was to be dealt with, Mr Reynolds said he would: bring down^jrV resolution upon the question similar to that tabled and discussed in the New South Wales Legislature. . ESTIMATES.' ' ' In Class i, "LegislativeCouncil,Ll3oQ," for. the present year, against LBSOI last year,-agood ; deal .of- objection was t&ken to severaf items,, showing an increase ot LIOO in the salaries of >the Chairman of Committees, clerk, and" assistant-clerk. In each case any increase was negatived, and the salary of ■ the Becpnd assistantclerk reduced from LI 5(5. to Lloo.._jjhe .whole vote,i L29,220^ less '• thesel redttc* tions, then passed..; ■ ■.. , : ..f\ 1O" " Executive departments, L19,Y56 145." A long discussion ensued upon .the^ item " L4OO, salary for Mr Fox| secretary to the Premier, in the course 1 of which was opened up Sir Julius Vogel's mission Home, and the amounts he had since drawn for. The vote eventually passed unaltered. "Stamp Department, L 4030," alao passed without any alterations being made. i The House adjourned at 1.16 a.m. RBMOVAIi OS 1 DUTIES. .- ,; r-. < The House met to-day at. 2.30. : ; 'mj 1 Sir George Grey gyre notice to/intro* duce a Bill to remove the duty upon tea, coffee, sugar, and flour. Ten days leave of absence were granted to Messrs Stout and Wales. * -*■ v The Government promised to consider the desirability of legislating for gases of lunacy through excessive ftrinkirigr' ' '-' '■ ' Consideration of the report on the Abolition Bill was postponed till 7.30, in consequence of two amendments proposed by the Treasurer. The debate wa^mumel upon the Qaali«

-cations of Electors Bill by Mr Sheehan, who objected to the Bill, as disfranchising diggers, and unduly interfering with MapTiirepreaentation. He moved' that it be read that day six months. The discussion wa3 kept up until 5.30, when Mr White, who wa3 strongly opposing the Bill, was cut short in his remarks. : The following members opposed the Bill :— Brown (Ashley), Wi Parata, Katene; Grey, Williams, T. L. Shepherd, Takamoana, Wakefield, O'Conor, May, Mr Rolleston gave notice of an amendment to enable Maoris to vote under the Bni. / . ' ■ . ; . _,;.; .; . . The following were strong supporters of the Bill :— Pyke, P.earce, and Tribe. Mr Montgomery gave a qualified support. Those opposed to the Bill were mainly influenced by the provisions compelling miners to register as other people ; not as at present, allowing them to vote upon the miner's right. Those in favor of the Bill contended that miners did not want any special privileges, and were quite content to be placed upon the same footing as other people." , ' ' A few disagreed with granting the franchise to lodgers, and a strong feeling was evinced during the debate in favor of more extended or manhood suffrage. ; a~ COAL CONTEACXS. Harrison asked the Defence Minister ''why, 1 in calling for tenders for coal for -the Luna, he had not invited tenders from Coal Companies in New Zealand. Mr M 'Leah replied that the custom was to contract in Wellington, but when . the Luna was- at Greymouth or the Bay . of Islands she should coal there. The contract at Wellington was 35s 6d per ; tonj ; •.:;.:::-:■ ■:.. ;■:. ■; ■. Mr Harrison said that he believed that it could have supplied at the same price , from Qreymbuth, and it was the duty of tfte' jSpwhmßn^ to foster native induav"trm:. : ; ■ "•/ . :..- ' : ■'...." ' : . ' . , - „ JHOOHSTBTTBR WATEE-KACE. Mi '-Harrison asked' the Minister for Public Works i what was the reason for ' the 'bpntiiiued' suspension of work on the ./Hb'chstetter^Racej and drew attention to v the cruel position in which the workmen and their families had been placed by the non-payment of their wages, and urged ' that the Government, should release some : of the money in their hands for their relief. He further stated that the incomprehensible delay in the construction of \ the race was causing great distress and . disheartening among the population in the / Grey Valley, and he assured the Goverri- . ment tbat>i unless some evidence was at once shown that the race was to be pushed iony tie district would lose the best of its population. • . - : .. . r In, reply, Mr , Richardson said that all the difficulties had arisan from the con- . tractors getting into money difficulties. The Government were compelled to reJtaiirin; their 5 hands a certain proportion of the' contract money as a check on the 1 and they could not allow it to fee' released. ' They had some time ago ■.wdered .that a sum of money due to the !. i !contract6rs..should b.e paid to the workmen Vby ,^he engineerl The Government /had, after much trouble, and with a de- . eireto facilitate the works,, arranged to transfer the contract to the sureties of the original contractor, and had agreed to advance ninety, per. cent, as the work progressed j and he expected that active operations would soon be recommenced, .and, probably the grievances of the workmen who had petitioned him would be remedied. THE ABOLITION BILL. , ! On the House meeting at 7.30, and on "' Major Atkinson moving a new clause in the Abolition Bill, of which he had given /notice, ' Sir George Grey alleged it was an in- < fraction of the agreement come to, and with a view of consulting with his party, moved an adjournment, failing which, he * 'moved that the whole Bill should be recommitted, which the Government stoutly objected to. ... The discussion is still proceeding.