PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4824, 7 September 1876, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Wednesday, September 6. The Hon. the Speaker took the chair at half-past two o'clock. The Hon. Mr. POLLOCK asked the Government, —If they will lay upon the table a copy of the instructions, if any were given, to the captain of the Luna to search for the wreck of a vessel reported to be floating, bottom up, off the coast between "Wellington and Lyttelton ? The Hon. Dr. POLLEN, in reply, said that a telegram had been received from the Superintendent of Canterbury, and immediately instructions were sent to the captain of the Luna to look for the wreck. He had reported that he had done so, but had not succeeded. There was no record of the instructions. BILL POSTPONED. The consideration in committee of the Eating Bill was postponed till the following day, in the absence of the Hon. Mr. Hall, who has charge of the measure. THIRD HEADINGS. The Warehoused Goods Bill and the Public Trust Office Bill were read a third time. LAND TRANSFER ACT AMENDMENT BILL. This measure was committed. On the 3rd clause, the Hon. Dr. Pollen ■aid that the Government did not see their way to accept the amendment proposed in this clause. Its effect would be to practically abolish the Assurance Fund. With their present experience, it was not thought desirable to have to come to the Assembly to f*et powerto recover. The Government thought it better that the matter should be left as it was for some time longer. The clause was erased. Clause 4 was agreed to. Clause fi was erased, and a new clause (the text of which has appeared) proposed in its stead.—The Hon. Mr. Booklet took objection to the new clause on the ground that it would interfere with existing contracts.—The Hon, |Mr. Waterhousb thought Mr. Buckley had failed to grasp the object of the clause. It was agreed to. A new clause was inserted in lieu of the 6th. (This too has already appeared in this paper.) In place of clause 7 a new clause was substituted. The Bill passed through committee without further amendment. Third reading next day. MARRIAGE ACT AMENDMENT BILL.The Bill was committed. Clause 3 was Terbally amended. A new clause was in■erted in lieu of clause i. Clause 5 was verbally amended and agreed to. The Bill was then reported, and the third reading fixed for the following day. The Council then adjourned. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Wednesday, September 6. The Speaker took the chair at half-past two o'clock. petitions and notices op motion. Several petitions were received and notices of motion given. leave ov absence. On the motion of Mr. Wakefield, leave of absence for eight days was granted to Mr. Sheehan. QUESTIONS. Mr. O'RORKE asked the Attorney-General, —Whether the Sovernment will, during the re-

cess, endeavor to procure a suitable cemetery for tho interment of the dead, to Mupply the place of- the Church of Englmd buryingground in Onehuuga, which has been hitherto used as a public bnrying-grouml, but which has been reported by the vestry of that church to be nearly full, and which has been recommended by the. Town Board to be dosed on sanitary.grounds, and conditional ou acquired rights of burial within th.< graveyard J Tho Hon. Mr. WHITAKER said the whole question of extramural burying should rective attention during the recesi. Mr. TAIAROA asked the Native Minister, —lf the Government will have the sum of £6OOO, with interest thereon, placed upoi ths ■ Estimates, to be paid to the native own-rs of the Princess-street reserve, being rents due up to the issue of the Crown grant ? The Hon. Sir D. McLKAN said that on Wednesday next he would be prepared to give a definite answer to the question. The Hon. Mr. REYNOLDS asked the Minister for Public Works,—Whether the Government has any intention of legislating this session with a view of putting a stop to the system adopted by railway contractor* of driving workmen in ballast trucks in front of locomotive engines ? The Hon. Mr. RICHARDSON said the Government did not see their way to take any legislative action in the matter. Mr. WAKEFIELD asked the Minister for Public Works,—What steps have been taken towards repairing the Rangitata bridge ? The Hon. Mr. RICHARDSON said that the designs for the bridge had been only just completed, and no time would be lo3t in proceeding with its construction. Mr. J. C. BROWN asked the Government, —When they expect to have the railway to Lawrence opened for traffic ? The Hon. Mr. RICHARDSON said that owing to the peculiar nature of the line it was . found not advisable to open a short portion of it, but that the whole line would be opened in about four months. Mr. J. C. BROWN asked the Government, —What progress has been made towards the erection of a post and telegraph office at Havelock ?

The Hon. Mr. RICHARDSON said that as a portion of the railway station W3uld probably be used for the purpose, the telegraph office would be opened at the same time as the railway. NEW BILLS. Leave was given to introduce the following Bills, which were read a first time: —By Sir Georoe Grey To validate Agricultural Leases of Lands at Ohinemuri. Second reading on Wednesday next. By the Hon. Mr. Whitaker—To repeal the Attorney-Generals Act, 1866. Second reading on Friday. RESOLUTIONS. Mr. MURRAY moved,—That if any member of the Public Petitions Committee shall be absent for three consecutive sittings, except through illness, or absence from the House by leave, such member Bhall cease to be a member of the Public Petitions Committee. —After discussion the motion was withdrawn. Mr. STOUT moved,—That in the opinion of this House, the Magistrates' Courts Offices should be provided with the " New Zealand Jurist," or some other similar publication. —Carried. Mr. TAIAROA moved,—That it is desirable that the request made by Tawhiao to the Native Minister, for a restoration of a portion of the confiscated lands in the Waikato, should be given effect to by this House.—After discussion the motion wa3 declared lost on the voices. Mr. WAKEFIELD moved,—That in the opinion of this House, the position of a Government Whip is incompatible with that of Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee. Mr. PYKE said he could scarcely understand what had caused the hon. member for Geraldine to bring forward such a motion, but he would suggest a Blight amendment, viz., that the words " this House" should be struck out, and the words "member for Geraldine" inserted in lieu thereof. He was certain, if it was put in that shape, the phrase being synonomous to the hon. member foi Geraldine, it could not make any difference to him ; but it would make a great deal of difference to the House. The hon. member reminded him of the Nasmyth hammer, which could crack a nut or weld a ton of iron with equal facility. He came down to the House and lectured Ministers, he ventured to patronise veteran statesmen who were old in the art of politics before he was well out of the swaddling clothes of infancy, and then in the same breath he stigmatised the honest working men of Wellington as loafers. Mr. WAKEFIELD submitted that the hon. member "was out of order. The SPEAKER said the hon. member was clearly out of order in referring to a former debate.

Mr. PYKE was not referring to a former debate at all. He was merely referring to the hon. member's versatility, and the hon. member immediately sheltered himself behind the privileges of Parliament, to refuse satisfactory apology to the inen whom he had insulted. That hon. member, who occupied a, seat in that House by the unhappy accident of the returning office having a casting vote, attempted to take both ends of the political rele—-nothing was too vast, nothing was too small for his comprehensive genius. His present desire was to crack a nut; but he had no doubt the hon. member could just as readily weld a ton of iron. Having exhausted his vocabulary of vituperation on the ex-Premier, he now attacked a Government Whip. There was another little matter he (Mr. Pyke) had \ to mention to the House. There was a document miscing from the library. It was a copy of the Timaru Herald, ,in which the duties of a " Whip" were defined according to the views of the highly talented gentleman , for whom, no doubt, the hon. member for Geraldine entertained the very highest respect j and reverence—namely, the Parliamentary correspondent of that journal. But what had , he to do with the hon. member for New Plymouth, either as Government Whip or as Chairman of the Petitions Committee. That was a position entirely unknown to outside persons. It was a matter between the Government and their friends, and the hon. member had no right to offer an opinion upon a question of the sort. In fact when he spoke of the hon. member he could not help remembering a character who was described very tereely and very lucidly in one of Shakspere's comedies. It was that of Don Adrians de Armado, who was thus depicted:— His humor is lofty, his discourse is peremptory, his gait majestlcal, his tongue blled, his eye ambitious, and his -whole behavior vain, ridiculous, and thrasonical. That was the picture drawn by the Sweet Swan of Avon of a conceited, prating, pragmatical coxcomb of his own time. But as Fluellen put it, " There is a river in Macedon, and there is also moreover a river in Monmouth, and there ia salmon in both;" and he might say there was an Avon in Warwickshire and an Avon in New Zealand "also, moreover, and there is a swan in both." He did not think that the Sweet Swan of Avon could have had any foreknowledge of the New Zealand rivers; but if he had been acquainted with the latter and had known some of the things which by the inscrutable decrees of Providence were permitted to crawl between heaven and earth in the vicinity of the New Zealand Avon, he would have discovered the exact counterpart of Don Adriano in the hon. member for Geraldine. That hon. member, in a sort of whisper, had told tho House what he thought ought to be done in. connection with the dual position of Whip and Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee. The hon. member for Geraldine thought the two positions were incompatible, but did not give the slightest reason why he thought so. He (Mr. Pyke) was sorry for that. He really liked to listen to the hon. member. Hi» dulcet voice, like " the lascivious pleasing of a lute, was always charming to his ear;" but on this occasion ho had been deprived of that pleasure because the hon. member's objections had been uttered in a sort of stage whisper. He did not know what the hon. member for New Plymouth would do, but were it himself he would treat the whole thing with dignified contempt. The hon. member had no right to drag a personal matter before the House without giving very good reasons for doing so, and yet he hoped the hon. member for Geraldino would bring down another motion declaring that the poei-

tion of Whip was incompatible with .that of Chairman of the GoldfieldsCommittoe, and ho should be glad to mpet him on that ground. The motion was withdrawn. Captain MORRIS, in the absence of Mr. Sheehan, moved,—That the petition of A. F, Hardy and Mary Hardy be referred to a select committer, consisting of Mr. Tonks, Mr. Williams, Captain Morris, Mr. Lusk, Mr. Moorhouse, Capt»iu Runell, Mr. Hamlin, Mr. Wakefield, Dr. Henry, and the mover; with power to call for persons and papers, and to report within four week;). —Carried. HARBOR BOARD BILLS. The Hon. Major ATKINSON moved that the order of the day for the consideration of his Excellency's message in connection with Harbor Board Bills be postponed and made an order of the day for Monday. He said the Govi-rnment proposed to give hon. members in charge of these Bills Monday, by which clay all the Bills would be before the House. . Mr. ROLLESTON remarked it seemed to him that a bad precedent was being set in respect of these Harbor Board Billß, because the privilege of bringing Bills down by message from the Governor was merely to be used, and then the Bills were to be handed over to the several members promoting them. It was a very unusual course. The Hon. Major ATKINSON said the Government were proposing that course because they were under the impression that the House, with a desire to get these Bills through this session, were willing to treat them somewhat exceptionally. The postponement was agreed to. OANTERBUKY PASTORAL LEASING BILL. The debate on this Bill was resumed by Mr. Rolleston, who was followed by Messrs. Wason, Reynolds, Montgomery, Sharp, Woods, Stafford, and Sir George Grey. The Bill was thrown out. DUNEDIN MUNICIPAL BILL. This Bill was considered in committee, and after a few clauses had been gone through, progress was reported. OTHER ORDERS OF THE DAT. The Lawrence Athenaeum Reserves Bill was passed, and the Lawrence Recreation Reserves Bill was read a second time; also the Dunedin Reserves Exchanges Bill and Dunedin Waterworks Extension Act Amendment Bill.— The Lyttelton Public Reserves Vesting Bill was passed.— Messages from the Governor relative to Immigration and Public Works, Treasury bills extended currency, and consolidation and inscription of New Zealand Loans, were considered, reported upon, and Bills brought in to give effect to such reports; the second readings of the Bills were fixed for Tuesday.—The Masterton and Greytown Lands Management Bill and Otago Educational Reserves Management Bill were read a second time.—The second reading of the Law Practitioners Act Amendment Bill was opposed by the Hon. Mr. Whitakeb, who thought that Mr. Smythies had been already paid £IOOO in full satisfaction of all claims. He asked for an adjournment, to enable him to look into the matter. Mr. Rees had no objection to the adjournment, but he wished it to be distinctly understood that he disagreed from the assumption that the receipt, in whatever form it might be drawn up, would not affect the deliberations of the House as to whether further redress should not be given. Mr. S wanson said the impression the Public Petitions Committee had was that the £IOOO was paid by way of compensating him for past loss, but did not debar him from coming to the House and asking an amendment of the law. The debate was adjourned till Wednesday.—The Gold Duties Act, 1872, Amendment Bill was read a Becond time nem. con., on the understanding that the discussion of the principle of the Bill should be taken on the motion that the House go into committee.—The Napier Municipal Endowments Bill was passed.—Mr. Pykk moved the committal of the Cromwell Racecourse Reserves Management Bill, which provided for the vesting in trustees of certain lands for racing purposes. Mr. Donald Reid and others opposed the Bill on principle, it having been alleged by the hon. member in charge of the Bill, and Mr. DeLautour having informed the House, that the particular piece of land was useless for other than racing purposes. Sir Robert Douglas said hon. members seemed to forget that it was very necessary to encourage a good breed of horses. A few amendments were made in the Bill, leaving it to the discretion of the trustees to say what should be done with the funds, and the Bill was reported, read a third time, and passed. The House adjourned at 12.50 a.m.