Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1872.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1395, 7 August 1872, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus j urare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1872.

The instalment of Parliamentary Papers to hand by the last mail is so large that even to enMmerate their titles would occupy a large portion of our space. Our contemporary, the Herald, having satisfied itself that the Government really contemplate the removal of the Parliament to Christchurch, cast about for reasons in justification oi the step, and has found two. The local news papers are more independent than those of Wellington, and the debates would be better reported ! The Lyttelton Times, the property of a member of the Government, is generally looked upon more as an exponent of the views of the Executive than an independent journal; and the expense of removal (modestly estimated by the Herald at £6,000 !) would be rather a high figure to pay for mere newspaper reports, over and above the cost of " Hansard." The Evening Post of the 2nd instant contains perhaps the most extraordinary leading article on *he Permissive Bill that has ever appeared in a New Zealand journal. Ii is mainly a compilation from hostile speeches in the home Parliament, with one or two comments of English papers thereon, and the few original sentences bv m hich the whole is bound together evidence either downright ignorance or the most wilful perversion of facts. We give one specimen : —" The House of Commons is nearly unanimous in its hostility to the Permissive Bill." The last division on this Bill in the House of Commons took place on the ] 7th May, 1871, with the following result: Ayes, 136 ; Noes, 208—the opponents of the Bill actually being unable to obtain a Wothirds majority. There was a gain of 21 votes in favor of the measure from the previous division, taken in July, 1870, vhich division also showed a gain of 21 votes on the division of 1869. On the last occasion 102 constituencies

gave the Bill their undivided support— Manchester heading the list with the names of its three members. Scotland, Ireland, and Wales gave a majority in fovor of the Bill of 70 against 38, or nearly two to one. The Welch vote was 14 ayes and 6 noes. These figures not only show ihe Bill to have a large proportion of the support of the English Parliament, but that it is making steady progress despite the enormous opposing interests. The Post says the promoters of the Bill are "ignorant of the first principles of statesmanship;" that it is an "absurd and pernicious measure," "again and again denounced by men eminent in the science of government." Against this rather vague reference may be placed the names of some of the most profound thinkers of the age—Thomas Carlyle, for instance —whose opinions on this point, however, are not likely, by any chance, to appear in ihe Evening Post. The Hawke's Bay Special Settlements Act, the object of which is lo give effect to the important series of resolutions passed last session of the Provincial Council, was introduced in the House of "Representatives on the Ist inst,. and passed its first reading. Tn the Resident Magistrate's Court thih morning a fine of five shillings was inflicted upon an individual who had been indulging his, ta>te for liquor. His Honor Mr. Justice Johnsron is at length on his way to Napier, having left Wellington this afternoon in the C.G. p s. Luna.