ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 339, 3 September 1875, Page 3

ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT.

"lam a roguo if-1 <i« not think I' was deigned tor the helm of JiUte ; I am ao mil of ..uiinbJe s'tratCKeui!, that.l should have ordered altars, and ciii ried.ft against ti.o stream of a fm;tiuii, willi as'niu-'h euse a»;a skipper would Liver dgaiust the wind'.-—" The Goblins." The.abolition debate is ended, and a division on the second reading, of the bill -<ha* haen yincialists were found with courage to gq lijto theilobbyj::. fifty: two s<j>ine are pledsfcdbtb-■cote-aeainst fuiaherjor.ogress being-niade, and a number of the"batanQe"JwiUaiao vote-.. against a third reading, unless able while in Committee to get a place for their own individual idiosyncrasies. But for ' Hansard/ this speaking and speaking would have been spared. It is notorious that the rank and file were speaking half the time through empty benches to the constituencies. The Government, as was anticipated, came out badly in debate—all they could do was to screech at their opponents for not offering an alternative. They thought The truth they spoke did lack some gentle-

ness And time to speak it in; they rubbed the sore When they should bring the plaster. This was strangely out of .place, as the Abolition Bill alone was under consideration, a bill bringing in an era of destruction, not. remedial-' building-up. MrStout .said " The Opposition Were asked for their bill, but it-was not their place to Ercparo one. Their opposition to the ill was a sufficient platform for them, and i it was the duty of the Government to shew that the present change was necessary."—The bribery thrown out to the country in the Local Government Bill appears to have been equalled, if not surpassed, by the bribery to members to pass it and its elder brother. It.has been asserted, and not contradicted, that Mr. M'Glashan is to control the Waste Land department of Otago; that Mr. Inglis is to bo satisfied with a Resident Magistral cy. Mr. Macandrew must have been very strongly pressed to forego his convictions or he could not have said " that, under the proposed change the;pfobability was he would\ie offered a much more-' secure financial appointment'thaji he how held." -Lawyer Buckley, speaking at the Hatt meeting-in Wellington, ..said, "He, had.beea> carrying about in his]pockets the Abolition 1 and LbealGovernmeint Bills, •and looked aveßthehi with the eyes of one accustomed, to study such things, 7 but had been totally- .unable.to: understand them„; _andye r f 'they were-asked to-abolish the Provinces." The report goes;.on to say, "Mr; Eush asked: Are you bot.Provincial Solicitor ? Mr. Buckley: I. am. - Mr. Rush : That accounts' for it. "Mr. Buckley: And I also received an intimation that I should remain so for the remainder of my life if I chose to be a good boy." It is to bo expeeted a good many intimations of the sort have been, carried about by the Ministerial sycophants.—Mr. Takamoana had also something to say on Abolition. The only people he heard accused of doing evil in the Colony were the General Government, It was through them mortgages had been, introduced. If he heard a debate going on to make the Maoris and Europeans one people he would be able to see a prospect of discussing this "question. He would like to see Sir George Grey made chief of the Maoris. —Sir Cracrc ft Wilson, better known as the Nabob, got merry about emasculated Superintendents and the like, which apE eared to be the more venomous as he ad his sermon as well as text all written out for him, and endeavored, according to his lights and Mr. Speaker's forbearance, to read it off the manuscript. He went out of his way to attack M r. Moorhouse, a former Superintendent of Canterbury, and Mc. Macandrew. For this he was fairly skinned by Mr. Reeves, who thought"Si£Cracroft was anexcellentperformer upon a trumpet— his own trumpet. The reference to another; Superintendent (Mr. Macandrew) in a deliberate, manner was a wanton, unprovoked, and cruel; attack, upon a gentleman who had not the power to defend himself—who had com-, mitted aii error long - by the public," who evince always somethingof the-divinity that forgives/ As to what he had said of emasculated Superintendents, it was known that ho (Sir Cracroft) had asked the'people to elect him Superintendent without salary," but ihe people would not have him at the price. —Mr. Macandrew had something "to say in his speech about the Gbldfields: " The member for the Dunstan has given us doleful accounts of the way in which the Goldfields of Otago are treated by the Provincial Council. It is utterly hopeless to attempt to argue with that hon. member, who thinks there are no other interests than mining in the Province. I ieel sure the miners themselves will not be slow to discover that if they had but little under Provincial administration they will have infinitely jess under Colonial administration. It will benoverydiffiCultmatter.to show that the Colonial Government received large revenues from the Goldfields, while a comparatively, -small amount found its way into thecoffers of the Province, The Goldfields.r C ost*the Province much more than has been received from them; at the present time the Province' is paying £20,000 a year at least upon that portion of the Provincial debt which was incurred for opening up Goldfields. All the outlying districts and Goldfields will find that if the Province has chastised them with whips, the Colonial Government will chastise them with scorpions. How any man with the,slig!itest knowledge of the amount expended on the Otago Goldfields—though I admit -it has been inadequate to our necessities can lav the flattering unction to his soul that the amount will be exceeded is utterly beyond my comprehension. . If the bill becomes law, those settled districts having the greatest amount of rateable property will get the lion's share. The deluded miners will soon wake up to'find that they have been most egregiously sold." The above extract is taken from the telegraphic message sent from Wellington by the Dunedia 'Star's]'' CQrreiI)onden.t. That paper has-this 'year,' as ast, excellent telegraphic reports of Par*., 'liamentary business, far'excc^tliag J"ili:accurary and detail any published outside Wellington.—ln reply to Mr. Mervyn, Major Atkinson said "it was the intention of the Government that the Goldfields.. revenue should be locally expended." On another occasion Mr. Bowen said, "-Goldfields revenue was given solely .-to the Goldfields, because it was thought right that the revenue derived from the Goldfields should be used in giving facilities for miners' work." As explanatory statements qf fornipr Tjaguity, wljat. are'they worthP" W-h'aVw : '>eally .]meant ?" Wha't reason is shewn for keeping up a process

of taxation simply to return the whole of what is raised ?.. Joiur of the money ruined must stick somewhere during liio process o£collection. Sir George G-reysaidat .the Hutt meeting, speaking on the principle of returning money to localities ia widen it has been coiltea-d, " What I contend is this, that fl'it (money) is not warned for tlie State, it i*.n.pity to take it t'rein yo.u by taxation. You n»:ist understand that the-;process of collecting it is'an'expensive one, and that much otthe.paop§ystjck.s tc, ■tiH-vimods baud's "tlirbugTi" Vliicfi. i : t .pasr ses."—T.be.ro has b.eea- 'jitile tivfnq -pro.? gress in the ordinary business of -the session. "The .'Goldfields Amendment Bill No. 1 passed through Committee, and was read a third time without "any alteration. It now lias to take its .chance in :the Upper House.. —We should apologise for placing Hon. Legislative Councillors last this week. It is not their fault they have nothing to do. The Hon.' Mr..-Chamber-lain was, however, last week equal to the occasion.' He. moved, " That it be an inr ; struction to the House Committee to prevent draughts of. air entering the -Chanv. ber." After discussion this interesting motion w'as carried >. and then lion, gentlemen rose to; the situation and slaughtered the. Deceased.Wife's Sister Bill as heretofore.,; • " ■ ■ ' :*;"- - ~ •*■ '* :. <£< l.