PARLIAMENTARY.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 131, 22 June 1880, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY.

(From our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, June 20. Since the date of my last despatch we have had singular dcvclopcments. Tim singularity is, of course, not of effect. W o have had a large amount of cry with a very small percentage of wool. Pailiament is once more in the thick of a no confidence fight, and although the result is a foregone conclusion, admittedly so, the conflict is not the less sanguinary. Not to anticipate, however, let me furnish an outline of the events leading up to the present crisis. I have already informed you there wasa split in the Opposition camp, as to who should be leader. What this army of patriots could not settle for themselve, their ex-chief tain Grey has settled for them, and that too without their knowledge or consent. His Property Tax Repeal Bill having been accepted by Government as a No Confidence motion, he became, perforce, leader of the party. They took good care however to restrict his self-anointed honors within the smallest possible compass, and accordingly, at a caucus meeting held on the eve of the Repeal Bill engagement they agreed to support his Bill, on the distinct understanding that the question of leadership should remain in abeyance. Grey however, was equal to the occasion and, when the Bill came on, sacrificed it on the spot, and forthwith, hoisted the standard of a No Confidence motion, around which his party was compelled to rally. In other words, he established himself leader of the party by one of those double-shuffles, in the execution of which the lion. gentleman is admittedly an adept That the proceeding was a surprise, to none more than to those of his own party, was evident from the fact that at the very outset, they were forced to admit themselves wholly unprepared to go on with the debate, and, in pitiable accents, implored a cessation of hostilities until the following day. Grey’s opening volley on the occasion was a characteristic one. It was the old, old song, harped on the old, old string. Need I add that, the present generation of vipers—“ the landed aristocracy of New Zealand ” —were once more trotted out, with all their sins upon their heads, for the delectation of generations yet unborn. Hitherto a kind of forbearance has been observed towards the old gentleman, arising I should think from the sentimental idea of his grey hairs going down in sorrow to the grave. On this occasion however, no such restraint was observed. He was taken sharply to task, his treatment being that of the hoary headed sinner utterly incorrigible. The Premier, by whom his fire was returned, let out on him most unmercifully. It was a speech of cold, cutting sarcasm—every word a thong, and every sentence a lash, beneath which the member for Thames winced awfully. In its further progress the debate has been keen, but not by any means quite so bitter. Two really good speeches were delivered on Friday—Ballance on the one side, and Reader Wood on the other. Hitherto, Ballance has been esteemed a crack shot of the party. On this occasion his laurels w'ere soiled. He made a good, telling speech, but being followed by Reader Wood, whose speech was a perfect gem, racy and sarcastic, completely destroyed the effect of the other. The further progress of the debate is one of those problems which time and patience alone can solve. I may venture to predict however, that it will not close before Wednesday or Thursday, and that the motion will be defeated by a majority of ten or eleven vote.s.

At a late hour on Friday night a document was laid on the table which, I am correct in saying, has been looked forward to with anxious expectation. It is a report of the Civil Service Commission, and there can be no question but that it has spread utter dismay throughout the camp of the Civil Service. It was well known the service of the Colony was a sore part in the good government and administration of the country, but I venture to say, no one ever imagined it was the festering sore, the

hot-bed ofcorruption, the report proves it to be. It was, if I remember rightly, the Hon. Mr Stafford who spoke of New Zealand ns having fostered an aristocracy, not of wealth, but of officials, and the result proves that, in no respect, was the remark misapplied. One example being worth a bushel of theories, I will proceed to the former, presuming for general information, I take it, because it is applicable to your district, and not because it is by any means particularly heinous. As an example, at page 2, the report states : —■ “ In Nelson we found a - gentleman in receipt of £425 a year as Manager of Railways, there being less than twenty miles of railway, on which only two trains a day are running: whilst neither the inspector of permanent way mr the engineers in a roofless workshop appear to have taken orrecpiired any instructions from him. In the same city we found a railway storekeeper receiving £IOO a year, but who had no stores and no office. Wc believe that the supposed duties of both these gentlemen might be advantageously added to the exceedingly small demands made on the energiesof the Nelson station-master, who should be a man of sufficient intelligence and experience to be intrusted with the general control of that short line with its very small traffic. The number of small gaols maintained in different parts of the Colony is a cause of very considerable waste of public money, whilst it perpetuates many other evils in connection with prison management, discipline, classification, and employment. As an illustration of the loss to the Colony, we may may mention that whilst in Auckland we found 15S prisoners, maintained at a cost food of £lO 13s per head, and £2O for superintendence, whilst the actual cash received for each prisoner’s labor being £9 7s fid, and the estimated value of labor given to various public Boards and institutions was £ls 7s 4d per head. In Picton, on the other hand, we found an annual average of 5 h prisoners, costing £23 19s per head for food, and £S3 Is 9d per head for superintendence, whilst the cash earnings were nil, and the work performed for their locality of very little value. In still smaller establishments the cost per head for superintending a prisoner is even still more illustrative of the extravagance of the present arrangement. In Arrow Town, where they seem to have a prisoner two days a month, the cost of waiting on him is at the rate of £2,837 ISs per annum; Westport, £045 7s fid per head ; Russell, £405 7s fid ; Naseby, £317 17s 4d ; Thames, £lB9 10s 10d ; Reefton £152 Is Sd ; Clyde, £llO 2s 2d; and Greymouth, £ll3 10s Id.” The report throughout bristles with examples of wastefulness, extravagance, and utter impotency, and I am very much mistaken if the place which knows some of these snug billet-holders will know them much longer. We have heard a great deal about government by commission. No government of any kind has ever succeeded in bringing to light the scandals this Government has done, and I am prone to think we will hear less odium cast upon a judiciously appointed commission in future.

[By Telegraph.] Monday. Speculation wss excited yesterday by a Cabinet meeting having been held after which the Native Minister proceeded in the Hinemoa direct to Waimate Plains. The minor of a sudden outbreak among the natives turns out to be incorrect. It appears that the natives have fenced in a road line which they allege passes through a plantation which is part of their private property, and Mr Bryce goes there to arrange the dispute. If it is not their property he will turn the natives oil by force if necessary, and if is their property ho will negotiate for the land taken. The allegation that the Waimate Plains road has been the cause of serious loss to the country is denied by Government. Mr Hamlin has been delegated by the Opposition and ’proceeded to the Plains this morning to collect definite information presumably to bring the allegation home to the Government.