THE PAST SESSION.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 142, 31 October 1868, Page 5

THE PAST SESSION.

The business done in the House ofßepresentatives during the session.; which .was closed on Tuesday weeky ih.a|f follows There was one writ issued'after ;tHe session commenced, and fourteen during the recess. There wei’e fourteen sejeekeomraittees on public bills, and seven standing:gpmmifteeS. There were seventy-nine -bills which origi-. nated in the House; twenty-nine which, were brought from; the Legislative Council, and eight introduced, by Message. Thirtysix Bills received the Royal assent during the session, and forty-five on the day Parliament was prorogued. Forty-five bills which had been introduced were either dropped or rejected. Hone of the bills passed have been reserved for her Majesty’s assent; There were no private bills introduced during the : session. There were ninety-seven petitions received relating principally to private The House met sixty-two times, and sat 466 hours, twenty-nine of these being after midnight. The average number of hours was seven hours and forty-five minutes, being a near approach to that eight hour system, which has been adopted by less exalted classes in the colony. The House never once had to adjourn for want of a quorum. There were 284 notices of motion given, and seventy-eight orders for papers. There were 109 papers laid on the table by command of his Excellency, and fifty-two in return to orders. There were seventy-one papers ordered to be printed, and 97 that did not receive this distinction. There were in all 132 reports from select committees. Erom these facts the public will gather that the House has been- pretty well occupied during the session, but we trust that we cannot say of the work of our members, “ that Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” They got through an immense amount of business, but whether of a useful or useless kind, we have not the means of determining. The most important information has not yet, however, been furnished to the public, and that is the amount of money which all this work costs the colony. THE ACTS WHICH HAVE BEEN PASSED. The following is the title of the several acts which were passed during the session, viz. : —Mete Kingi Paetahi Election, Imprest Supply (Ho. 1), Interest on Money, Pawnbrokers, Treason-Felony, Public Houses, Bishop of Hew Zealand Trusts, Bridges and Ferries, Trignornetrical Stations and Survey Marks, Bills of Sale, Mortgages of Stock Registration, Provincial Audit Act Amendment, Westland Representation Amendment, Helson and Cobden Railway, Imprest Supply (Ho. 2), Lunatics, Printers and Hcwspapers Registration, John Jones’ Land Claims Act Amendment, Petty Sessions, Offences against the Person Act Amendment, Canterbury Rivers, Marriage Act Amendment, Registration of Electors Act Amendment, Escheat, Distress and Replevin, Goldfields, Companies, Conveyancing Charges, Provincial Appropriation Validation, Weights and Measures, Provincial Lawsuits Act Amendment, Hgaitahu Reference - Validation, Hew Zealand Post Office Act Amendment, Customs Regulation Act Amendment, Tauranga District Lands, Colonial Forces Courts-Martial, County of Westland, Treasury Bills Regulation, Provincial Acts Validation Act Continuance, Public Revenues, Bankruptcy Act Amendment, Public Domains Act Extension, Public Debts Sinking Funds, Protection ■of Animals Act Amendment, Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment, Otago Surveys Correction, Resident Magistrates, Russell Military Grant, Law Amendment, Gold Mining Claims Drainage, Hawke’s Bay Land Regulations Extension, University Endowment, Distillation, Municipal Corporations Amendment, Immigration, Courts of Law Trust Moneys, Green and Spencer Land Claims, Deeds Registration, Constabulary Force Ordinance Amendment, Indemnity, Consolidated Loan Provincial Charges, Wellington and Hawke’s Bay Public Debt Apportionment, Westland Public House Ordinance Act Amendment, Canterbury and Westland Public Debt Apportionment, Hative Lands Act Amendment, Treasury Bills, Goldfields Act Amendment,' Otago j Roads Ordinance Amendment Ordinance Validation, Electric Telegraph, Reserves Release, Confiscated Lands Revenue Appropriation, Juries, Williamson Compensation, Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough Rivers, Otago Education Reserves Abandonment, Miners’ Representation Act - Amendment, Otago Road Boards Endowment, Marlborough Reserve, Leasing, Government House Site,. Interpretation, Hative Lands (East Coast) Appropriation. BILLS WITHDRAWN OR REJECTED.

The following bills were either withdrawn or rejected : , • : , : ~ > In the Legislative Councils —Pencarrow Lighthouse Land Bill,- Road Hoard Bill, Pre-vention-of Fraud in tlie Sale of Certain Ar^

clea Bill, Bakers and Millers Bill, Dunedin ‘Waterworks Sale Bill, Marlborough Reserves Bill, Law Practitioners Act Amendment Bill, Regulations of Elections Act Amendment Bill, Otago Settlements Bill, Hawke’s Bay Crown Lands Sale Bill, Land Claims Final Settlement Bill, Land Drainage Bill, Canterbury Appropriation Ordinance (Ho. 2), 1868, Validation Bill, Auckland Gold Duty Bill, Court of Appeal Act Amendment. In the House of Representatives.—Police Offences Bill, Westland Waste Lands Bill, Disqualification Bill, Land Claims Arbitration Bill, Dunedin Cemeteries Bill, Libel Bill, East Coast Land Titles Investigation Acts Repeal Bill, Legislative Council Bill, Otago Gold Fields Representation Bill, County of Westland Act Amendment Bill, Civil Service Act Amendment Bill, Pro vincial Government Bill, Provincial Legislation Powers Bill, Crown Lands (Nelson) Leasing Act Amendment Bill, Thames Goldfields Representation Bill, Medical Practitioners Bill, Adulteration of Food Amendment Bill, Awatere Shearing Reserve Bill, Government Reserves Leasing Bill.— From the Independent. [The Acts specially affecting this Province are those in italic.]

Rotal Agricultural Society op England. —The Grand Annual Show of the above Society, which has been so judiciously held this year at Leicester, may be considered as one of the most successful on record, 96,653 persons having paid £6.740 Is. sd. for admission. The field trials of tillage implements lasted a week, under scorching weather all the time, and watched by large numbers of agricultural and other spectators. The horsedrawn ploughs have been through the most severe ordeal that they have ever known. The judges have taken the greatest possible care and pains, intently watching every furrow, measuring and testing the work with rule, square, and level, clearing away the cut soil for an examination of the unmoved bottom, taking by draft- dynamometer the motive-power required to draw each implement, and finally inspecting the parts and construction of each selected plough. And moreover, the condition of the ground has been such that no second-rate tool could possibly gloss over a piece of work that might be pleasing to the eye, but wanting in soundness of execution. The result of the preliminary, second, and final trials has been to give Messrs. James and Frederick Howard, of Bedford, the lion’s share of the honours; Messrs. Ransome and Bims, of Ipswich, a second place; and Hornsby and Sons, of Grantham, a third place, but considerably lower down in the scale of awards; whilst other makers are commended or nowhere.—London Daily Telegraph.