PARLIAMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 460, 19 October 1877, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

(UV TKIA'AiUAVU.) WliliUNllT >N, Oct. 19. In the lloiiso of Representatives yoHter-' .lay, ' Mr. Roes brought up the report of tho Disqualification Committee re, tlie case of Mr. Wnitaker, to t;iu ell'oct that Mr. W itakt r had not, been dieqnahii d by liis cotiii'ctioti with the I'iako swamp s transaction. .Mr. Rocs intimated that liu\ dissented from the report of Committee, lij A lengthy discussion took plac-i over an|| Imprest Supply Bill fpr L2J0,000 brought)«, down by Lue Government. Tile discus-!] sion was somewhat warm on both sideß,|? tho m-mbers of the Ministry, and Major! Atkinson iu particular, strongly opposing f t .e granting of tue amount asked for. | Mijor Atkinson proposed'to reduce tho f sum to LLOO,OOO. During the discussion, ['■ tho ex-Colonial Treasurer denied that! there had been any uuder-estimate of tho | Provincal linbilitis, to which statement 1 Sir George Gr..y replied that ho had al- 1 ready discovered a di licit en tho I'ro- i viucial liabilities of L 273 000. Eventu- 1 ally, on tue motion of Mr. Rees, a com- | promise was effected, an Imprest Supply | Bill forLloo,ooo being passed through all | its stages. I Iu Committee of the whole House, | after some further discussion, | Mr. Wood's motion to reserve land to i present value of L4o,ooofor the construe- 1 tion of a branch railway from Kdeiidaleto | Fortrose, and to have a survey mado j during the recess, was carried. An address to tho Governor for LfiOOO, to pay the legal expenses of Stephen Read and others in defending gold-mining rights, as recommended by the Goldiiclds Committee, was also agreed to. The Local Option Bill was postponed to Wednesday next, when, Mr. Fox stated, he would take the decision of the Committee iu regard to Mr. Ballancu's compensation clauses, and said, if they were carried, he would abandon tlio Bill. Tho following Bills were read a third time and passed : —Wanganni Harbour Endowment and Borrowing Bill, and The Canterbury Rivers Act Amendment Bill. The Strath-Taieri and Clyde Railway Bill was read a second time, and The Christchurch City Reserves Bill was reported, with amendments. The House was adjourned at 12 40.