PARLIAMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 750, 5 September 1878, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

Wellington, Sept. 4. In the Legislative Council to-day, Dr. Meiizies moved for the correspondence, ■fee., in connection with the Otago High School Act. Agreed to. The Juries Act Amendment Bill was read a third time, and passed. . .The. Gouncil then went into Committee, when the Rabbit Bill, Dangerous Goodß

Bill, and the Civil Service Bill, were considered; The 'first two were reported with amendments, and the reading was fixed-for Wednesday . next. The. Civil Service Bill was reported without'amendments, read a third time, and passed. The Committee then proceeded with the unopposed clauses of trhe Harbor Bill, the 95th clause being reached. . At the adjournment at- 4 p.m., the Council ad- ! journoc! to Wednesday, the 11th inst. In the House of Representatives .on Tuesday night, Major Atkinson made a long speech upon the Land Tax Bill, criticising the Financial and Public Works Statements. Be considered the Bill was merely a tax I upon capital invested in land. Their great object was to get land settled, andanything burdening that must retard settlement. He disapproved of the scheme entirely that was embodied in the three Government Bills. What Government ought to do would be to bring in a general property tax, and he hoped the House would compel Government to withdraw these sham measures, which were quite unworkable, and bring down a property tax. Mr. Stout followed in a speech of considerable length, in which he combatted all the arguments and statements made use of by Major Atkinson, and defeuded all the points of the Government policy, defying the hon. gentleman to table a distinct motion to test the matter, and let t em go to the country on it if defeated. No Government that ever held office in the Colony proposed so many radical reforms in one session, and as they had carefully considered them, and having made up their minds upon those measures, they were prepared to stand or f:JI by them. Messrs. GU'bs and Hursthouse having spoken against the proposals, Mr-. Ballance moved the debate be adjourned till 11 o'clock next morning. This evoking opposition, and the Speaker saying it was an exceptional proceeding, it was wit sdrav. n, and the House adjourned at 1.25 p.m. September 5. In the House yesterday, Mr. Ba.rH' pr: sented a petition from 150 Catholics of Hokitika, praying that they may be placed in a position to av.iil themselves of the provisions of the E lucatiou Act. Mr. Pyk" moved for a return to be laid before the House showing the amount expended by r-he Provincial Government of Canterbury from the d ite of the settlement of that Province to the date of Abolition and the inauguration of the County system, on roads, bridges, and other public works, within that portion of the said Province which was now comprised within the Counties "of Waitaki, Vincent, and Lake ; also, the amount of land revenue received by the Provincial Government of Canterbury during the same period, The hon. gentleman went on to show how much the above Counties had spent, and were spending in these districts, in bringing them into communication with the rest of the world, and far more for the benefit of the Canterbury district than that of Otago, and as some sneers had been thrown out concerning the money these Counties received from the Canterbury land fund (only a portion of which had been spout as indicated) he cal'ed for this return in order to show what Canterbury did for these districts when the land was within her own boundaries. Mr. Ballance said the Government would endeavor to provide as complete a return as possible under the circumstances. Mr. Woolcock moved for a return of the total area of land alienated from the Crown during the pist year, for which the sum of L 1.440,824.440,824 4s. sd. had been paid, as set forth in the table. Mr. Sheehan stated that last night he had received a telegram from Waipa stating that a Maori woman had been mnrd red. To-day lie learned that the woman had been murdered by two Maori aien, an 1 that it w an ordinary murder, and had no politic d significance whatever, and he had given ins ructions to have the murJi-r. rs arrest-d and brought to trial. The New River Harbor Endowment Bill was read a second time, and referred to the Waste Lands Committee, to be lealt with in whatever way it was deckled to deal with all the Harbor Bills in Committee. The remaining business on the paper being Government business, the House adjourned.