THE ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 58, 19 July 1879, Page 2

THE ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT.

[PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Tuesday nightWell, the opposing armies have met, and all that appears to have been done so far is to measure the strength of their respective forces. Robbed of two such generals as Stout and Ballance, the Ministerial army is mostly conspicuous for its weakness ; while the Opposition has increased m power by formally electing a leader. Whether the choice is a judicious one I am not pre- j pared to say, but Sir George will have now J lpitted against him an adversary whose boast t has always been that he neither asked for, nor gave mercy. It has been whispered abroad for some time that pll was not fair and square with regard to the abolition of the duty on timber, and that the ex-ex-Treasuter, MrLarnach, was materially benefitted by the measure which has exerci&cd such runious influence upon your district. Sir William, it is said, has fen-etted out a shady point m tlie transaction, and it is more than possible that Parliament and people will hear more of the matter. It had been altoost a foregone conclusion that the senior member for Wanganui was to occupy the Chairmanship of Committees, vacated by the elevation of Mr. O'Rorke to the office of Speaker, but Sir William Fox fired his first shot as leader of the Opposition, and m proposing Mr. Seymour, the hon. member for Wairau, paid otit his colleague, Mr. Bryce.for past services. " You never can tell until tiie numbers are up," and notwithstanding that Mr. Bryce'stood so well m the betting that he was f-eely basked against the field, the bold stroke of the veteran leader " gave him such a turn " that he positively refused to go to the ballot, and Sir William safely landed his man, thereby chonicling Victory the Fi.-st. In the Lords, that antiquated but aristocratic old fossil Sir Francis Dillon Bell — who m his own estimation is a perfect encyclopedia of legislative " convent ualities" — raised a question of privilege, on account of informality' of* procedure the error consisting of proceeding with the business of the Council, before the Speaker of the Lower House had been installed hi office. The objection was upheld and supported by Mr. Waterhouse," but finally the decision was postponed until the Standing Orders Committee had been appointed. Perhaps one of the keenest, while at the same time cleverly -veiled cuts possible to be given to the Native policy was that by the late Premier, who tabled a petition praying that tbe Maori 'prisoners, should be kept m custody until duly tried. Under ordinary circumstances the presentation would have no direct bearing* but tbe well-known "nursing" proclivities. of- the. Premier of his Native pets gave the petition a stinging sigificance which caused it to be received with much more notice than is usually the fate of such j documents. Wednesday night. The gauntlet has beer thrown down m earnest, and the two chiefs have already crossed swords. The casus belli was over the Address m Reply. Sir George Grey is singularly unfortunate m having his relations ■with the Governors on anything but a friendly footing, and the reason for the extraordinary proceeding which has led to the conflict has been laid upon the shoulders of Sir Hercules Robinson. After some minor matters had been disposed of this afternoon the Premier instead of making the motion of which he had given notice yesterday- for the suspension of the standing orders, he asked leave to move, without notice^ that the motion for the Address m Reply should be immediatly proceeded with, although the consideration had been previously fixed for Friday. In justification of^this extraordinary course it was alleged that until the reply to the Speech had been returned to him Sir Hercules would not give his assent to any Bill. As the mail leave.s on Friday it was proposed to pass the Loan Bill through the House so as to despatch the debentures by the outgoing mail. Considering that the application was made without notice, and the course a most unusual one, the least Sir George could have done would have been to give the information sought hy the leader of the Opposition ; but instead of doing so, ho "got his back up,", and hurled the ignominy of the result of obstinacy m the teeth of Sir William Fox. I believe one dissentient voice was quite sufficient to veto the proceeding, but as there were a perfect chorus of " No, Noes," the Speaker declared, .that the mo: tion could not be put. -«".''* : The next business' was Mr. Macandrew's motion for an advertising committee, but the, idefy, did not, seem to. meet with warmth,. Mr. McLean, m particular being very severe upon the Minister, twitting him with his persistent rejection of all advice on the matter as long as he thought his tenure of office was 'secure. In conclusion he would move for an adjournment of the House, an amendmehtwh'ioh was seconded by Mr. Joyce and agreed to. by the Minister, the debate being adjourned for a week. A lengthy debate then took place over a proposition by Mr Macandrew that a select committee should be appointed to consider, and report upon as to the. best means of establishing direct steam mail and paßsenge/ communication with the mother, country The ..member ' Gerald me strongly opposed the' step, while Messrs* Rees and Gishorne supported it. ; 'The -House -divided- upon the question, which was lost by ten votes, the ayes peing -..only twenty-eight, while the noes were thirty-eight. Mr.. WoolcQCk drew the attention of- the House to the fact that m parts of the. Colony the local governing bodies had i greatly, neglected their duties' wit h regard fo the Electoral Act of 1865, and such neglect had disfranchised a number of ratepayers, urging that sorpß action should bo

taken to repair the evil. ' Dr. Henry, Mr. Barff and Mr. Gisborne a"U*agreed with the correctness of Mr. Woolcock's assertion, and the Premier intimated that a bill would be introduced to deal with the matter.