PARLIAMENTARY ITEMS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 396, 14 October 1876, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY ITEMS.

{From ou;' Exchanges.) ■ COUNTIES B.iLL. The whole Couuties Bill haying gone through Committee,' ou the motion that it be read third time, Mr. Stout moved ; the adjournment of the debate in order to' have, the amendments in the bill printed. ' This was lost.by 29 to IS. ' Then began a series of formal protests against the third reading. The following members spoke in terms condemnatory of the bill,, dieting confusion and widespread dissatisfaction from its operation :—De Lautour, Hodgkinson, Bees, Henry, Sheehan, Burns, Grey, RoHestou, B. Wood, W. Wood, and Stout. Mr. B. Wood moved another adjournment, and Mr. W. Wood moved that the bill be read that day six mouths, but both were lost. Ultimately the third readihg : was carried by 37 against i 6. ... ..."',; 'HEP SAL OF THE FOBEST ACT. , _ .Wellington, October 6. Last; night the Forest Act was'repealed. ; ■...■ \ . . Mr. Sheehan, in his speech, said: " The promoter of this measure is dead politically: let us repeal the whole bill in order that it may be said, ' His works do follow him.' " Sir Julius Yogel waited in Bellamy's fo.r result of division, and was much, crestfallen that the. pet measure which led .to Abolition was so unceremoniously repealed. Business is proceeding very slowly. The _ Estimates have been recast and reprinted. ." SAINT VINCENT .COUNTY."' A delicate compliment was paid to Mr. Pyke in tbe House of Representatives .(says a Wellington contemporary). On a discussion as to the propriety of the name " Molyneux" for Mr. Pyke's own county, Mr. Thomson said that although a political opponent of Mr. Pyke-s, r he had great pleasure in proposing that the name be " Saint Vincent County." On a division this was carried by 27 to 22. Mr. Stout then proposed, in order that there might be no mistake, that the word " Pyke" be aaded, and Mr. Andrew wanted to know if it was spelt with an " i " or a " y." The second proposition waa lost on a division, 19 voting for and 31 against it. It was intended to pay a similar honor to Mr. Manders, but the matter was not proceeded with. At a later period of the sitting, Mr. Fitzroy complained of Otago members not settling the names, &c, of their counties outside the House, and coming down there to have a free fight on the subject. Both the Hon. Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Burns felt aggrieved at these remarks, the latter gentleman remarking, with more vigor than grace, that Canterbury members " think nobody else is nothing." GOLDFIELDS SEYENUEsV A telegram, in the 'Press' states that the goldfields members had an interview with the Premier, but their account of it is not very clear, except that it was satisfactory. The principal point of agreement was that the goldfields revenue is to be handed over to the Counties, not as a subsidy, but as a matter of right, except at the Thames-. ,

BtTNEDIM' DBILL SHED BILL. Last night, during the debate on the second reading of the Dunedin Drill Shed Billj Mr. Pyke described the hon. member for Dunedin (Mr. Stout) as " a burning aud shining light of the local Legislature of Otago." Mr. Bt,out remarked that in 1871, the period to which Mr. Pyke had alluded, he was not a member of the Otago Provincial Council, and Mr. Pyke retorted, "What a happy thing for the Council," his remark being received with considerable laughter and applause. After the division on the second reading on the usual proposal to go into Committee, Mr. Pyke, in reply to a characteristic speech from Mr. Stout, said thatliis; hon. fWend was evidently not a military man, for he could not disconnect from his idea of land being set aside for ipJl.itary purposes the'necessity .of erecting a fort. He might assure Mr. Stout.that it was not intended to bombard Messrs. Sargood's warehouse, and it was very necessary that there should "be a military site in Dunedin, to bold in check the'" rabble mob" who hold meetings and defy constitutional authority. ■■>,-.--.■ Mr. de Lautour, who followed Mr. Pyke, said that the hon. member for tlieDunstau hadno cause to be-alarmed, for on his arrival in Dunedin he would doubtless be received with " showers of bouquets." A LONG SESSION. The / "Wellington; Argus' ;saya : "If it be true Sir George Grey has telegraphed to Mr. Lusk to return to'Wellington, and that in obedience to the command of his chief. Mr. Lusk is to.leave Auckland on Saturday, it is evident that the Session is not "likely to end so soon as some peoples expect, and as nearly alt hope. Sir George ; Grey must contemplate some further trial of strength when he is thus summoning his forces together, and we really do fear that the prorogation is notiiktily to take place this month after all."