PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 165, 13 July 1881, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

[From our own correspondent.] Wellington, July 11. Since I last sent you Parliamentary gossip the Financial Statement haa been delivered and has given general satisfaction, although there are those who think soma of its proposals are not altogether satisfactory, bur, taken as a whole, it must be grat fying to the country to know that the Colonial Treasurer is in a positiob to state tbat he is prepared to reduce taxation. Of course there will be a debate on the financial proposals and it is not easy to know until then how they will be received by the House. A somewhat unusual occurrence took place after M«jor Atkinson had delivered his Statement. Itiscustomary for the House to adjourn immediately after it has beard from the Treasurer what his proposals for the year are, but on Wednesdaj evening this rule was not followed. Mr Ballance rose and criticised tbe statement at some length, and his crit!ci3tn was by no means telling. I can imagine a clever, quick aud severe speaker doing What Mr Ballance endeavored to do and can understand that it might be done with good effect, but the member for Wanganui is not good at impromptu speaking, and therefore was not as successful as he might have leen. He was, as a matter of course, followed by Mr Wakefield, who was cot at ail happy either in the manner or the matter of his comments. In fact it was generally agreed that botb speeches were weak, but the galleries were crowded, and there is a certain amount of vanity amongst our sage legislators, some of whom are.pr-ne to speak over the House to the admiring public. However, be this as ii may, the debate was not a success, the speeches were much too long, and lacked that brilliant language and searching criticism which as - rule characterises botb speakers. Yon in Nelson were no doubt pleased to hear that the property tax is to be reduced, in fact the statement generally should be favourable to those partfl of the colony where settlement has not advanced so rapidly as in Canterbury and Otago. The proposals to rate Crown and Native lands should help the Counties and Road Boards to open up your Crown lands for sale and relieve them to some extent of the difficulties they experience owing to the withdrawal of the subsidies, and there ia I think a tdne throughout the statement which is encouraging to j those parts of the colony which have been J unfairly treated in respect to public works, a i desire to do justice to the colony generally, and a hopeful expression that though we have, and are, in financial trouble yet there are good times coming. Perhaps the Treasurer is a little too sanguine as to the future, yet it must be gratifying to all thinking colonists; that in one short year by careful administration we have so changed our posi tion. Your readers will remember that a year ago we had a deficiency of some £700,000 a year, and now we have the Treasurer's assurance that, including the lar.d f nnd, we have a furplus of some £20,000. This, I take it, shows how wonderfully elastic the resources of the colony are and when we think that Itss than 30,000 people paid at a very brief noties something like £300,000 in property tax, we must acknowledge that the colony is ready and willing to meet its engagements with the public creditor. No wonder then, what with the improvements in commerce and the renewed desire for land that the Treasurer should take a cheerful view of the future. The best debate of the session was undoubtedly that on Mr Speight's motion regardiug Dr Pollen's pension. The speeches were both temperate and instructive, and showed that the House contains many able speakers. The speech of your old Superintendent, Mr Sautiders, was particularly interesting showing that he ha 9 lost none of his ability and fire as a debater. The papers relating to the gtaating of psnsions to several distinguished men in the Colony discloses a stato of things, to say the least of it, not creditable to the chief actors, and as far as an outsider can judge Dr Pollen's case ia the best, but the Public Accounts Committee is j going to make further enquiries relating to j the subject, and their report wili be looked forward to with much interest. The Government held a meeting of their supporters last week, but it has not transpired what took place. The press generally are savage that they were not enlightened on the subject, and, therefore, have made many false statements. This much, however, is known that the result of the caucus was satisfactory to the party. Tho Licensing Bill is now through Committee, but will ba re-com-mitted to consider the bottle license: clauses, and the Btrong desire on the part of Otago and Nelson to retain the existing law will, I think, induce the Government to carry out their wishes. The Regulation of Elections Bill is also through Committee, and the. law as now in force is not much changed, excepting that all elections are to be held on the same day. Everybody ia how looking forward to the Redistribution of Seats Bill to see how the Government propose to deal with the much vexed question of representation.