PARLIAMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1013, 19 July 1879, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

"Wellington", July 19. On the Legislative Council meeting yesterday, sonic formal business was transacted. and then Mr. Robinson brougnt a,, a <iMc^ri..ll or jn-ivilcgo. A Wellington paper" had published an article accusing : Councillors of running up scores :it, JiolI lamy's, and going away without piiyiug. , Mr. Waterhonse explained that when drawing attention on the previous day to members leaving their scores unpaid, lie had not alluded to Councillors, but 1 members generally. Colonel Brett said no Councillor owed a farthing, but some members of tiie Lower House were in arrears. Mr. Scotland u-'-.nod (ho aviiclo a blackguardly production, beneaih notice, in reply to Mr. Hall, the Colonial Secretary said that Government: could not bi-intr in* the Cattle Trespass and I-'eneiug wills this year owing to the pre.-:-: of work. In reference to the Speakership of the Council, Sir F. D. Bell read. lhe request of Major Richmond. a L.ior from the Premier to liim. in which the i'reniier i :.-;ad bo must sink' private to public consideration, and support tho appointment of some one else. Colonel Whitniore considered that the letter would bear no improper interpretation. It was a recognised rule in England for Government to bestow patronage on political friends. The matter dropped alter some discussion. The Address in reply was moved by lur. Buckley. In the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, Mr. Carrington inquired D if eel-tain reserves of hind were promised to be given to the natives within the coni fiscatcd boundaries of Taranaki, and if so, 1 when the promise was made, and under what authority. Mr. Sheelian replied— That is one of the promises made by the previous Government which has not been fulfilled. 1 In reply to Mr. Carrington, Mr. Shee- » han stated that Government did not intend 1 paying Volunteers during the unsettled 5 stato of native affairs op. the West Coast, but tlioy expected to bo able to employ them in public works very soon. Several other questions having been answered, Mr. Macandrew told Mr. Beetham that the Wellington-Woodville railway to Masterton was expected to be completed by the 22nd of March, the date for finishing the contract, r Several Bills were introduced and read s a first time, and the Protection of Convicts 3 Hill having been read a second time, the i House adjourned until half-past seven • o'clock. i On the House re-assembling in the evening, Mr. Shanks moved the Address ■ in Reply, making a speech in which he - generally concurred with the statements ; made in the Governor's speech. Referring i to native matters, he said he thought all ; would agree in saying it was absolutely necessary in the interests of humanity, as well as in the interests of the natives themselves. that they should be taught lu regard the law ot dip colony _ as being - paramount to any other consideration. • The West Coast troubles, he believed, - rested with the Government of 1307, in . having taken no stops to utilise the coni fiscated lands. lie extolled the wisdom - and sagacity of the Premier and the Native : Minister in the management of native i affairs. He congratulated them on the i increased development of the railway system, and the increased revenue derived [ therefrom. Tho estimated increase :n - that revenue was, he believed, perfectly : reasonable. Great credit was due to the : Ministry for the state of preparation in i which they met Parliament, seeing that : two of their members had resigned just i before Parliament met. s Mr. Reeves, in seconding the motion, ; said the programme set down in the : speech was one which should recommend [ itself to all. He was sure it would com- • mend itself to the country, and he repro-

of want of confidence. Sir William Fox then rose, and ver generally condemned the actions of tin Government, and criticised their . pro gramme, which, he said, was the same a. that of last session. They were then al ready to aid the Government in carry in; their measures, but tliev were not passec into law. There was no-Opposition, bu all they succeeded in doing was the passim of a wretched land tax which, in nin< months' time, could, not be collected, aiu the funeral meats of last session had beei again put forward to do service at thi: session. The circumstances of the Colon] were too grave to enter upon the ameliora tion of our social condition until they liac first decided who was to conduct tin administration. The Colony was in grea: danger of a native war, and the finance; were in a serious condition of disorganisation. Over 150 miles of the West C'oasi the natives were in a state of disaffection. He stood to arraign the Government in : variety of charges of incapacity and unconstitutional proceedings. There were serious prospects, and no time was to be lost in placing other men on titer benches. The Ministry had made a great failure. Whatever branch of administration they worked at, public works and everything else, showed utter incompetency. Then conduct had been characterised throughout by unconstitutional proceeding. The Government had entered into railway contracts at extravagant rates without Parliamentary sanction, and the Minister foi Public Works told them he was proud oi what he hud clone. Here again the railway waß to have been made at the Thames and the sum of LIBO,OOO appropriated, and the Premier completely changed the purposes of the House. Then again tilt other day an attempt was nude to get this address framed without allowing the House time to solve its contents. The emergency which was supposed to exist ii: regard to the raising of public funds must have been known for a 16ng time previous. What was the duty in that ease but to call this House together, and allow sufficient time to discuss the question ? The Premiei was growing more and more autocrat-it every' day. First he showed this deportment towards the Cabinet, then toward; i his House, and in another case toward; the Governor. They had been told thai no Cabinet meeting had been hold for a very long time, and thca meetings, wher they did take place, were conducted witl great irregularity. These proceedings hac tended to set up personal government it the Colony. Great pretensions were made about the rights of'the people, but thos< rights were to be cast aside for one individual. He referred to the disorganisation of the Civil Service, and con dernned the appointment of Mr. Luckie. He then referred to the dispute wliicl had arisen in the Cabinet, mentioning the quarrel between the Premier and Mr. Ballance, and said tin remaining Ministers had hard times, ant had to eat humble pie. He referred a length to the acln>'iiisi«ii>iyn oi nativi affairs, which he very generally con dernned. He thought the country fivn end to end had nude up its mind tha some greater administrative minds thai those upon the benches would have to b< entrusted with the Government of tin country. He concluded by moving—- " That the House would beg to submit t< his Excellency that, in order to socun satisfactory results in the deliberations o Parliament, and to. facilitate the prope: discharge of the functions of the Government, his Excellonoy's advisers shoulc possess the confidence of this House, anc we deem it our duty to represent to hi: Excellency that, in the opinion of thi Mouse, his present advi- r " fc-vo s< neglected ancl misman:. rhe Colon; that they do not possess the oonf: .lcaco o this House,' 1 Sir George Grey l.uc! ih • spec t< which the House had j;:listened was considering the circumstances of the case a piece of great buffoonery, and one whicl was altogether unworthy of the occasion, He had been charged with unconstitutiona conduct, and otherwise with having abnse( the functions of Government. He wa ready to meet these accusations, and ti. show that the real object was to bind hitr. down to satisfy the revenge of individuals, lie tlion referred at length to his conduct with reference to the Land Bill. He said what ho objected to was that these lands should be locked up in the hands of a few individuals. He believed one large company held as much as GOO,OOO acres. These lands were worth, in round figures nine millions of money. Supposing tha these vast areas of land were broken u] into small farms, how many families wouh ho comfortably settled and enriched The other accusation about the Loan Bil was equally untrue. For weeks befor the Assembly met lie was led to beltevi that it was necessary to send Home ; proposal by the mail leaving on the lOfcl of this month. That understanding wa come to with the managers of the Bank: and others. He had ncit known til Wednesday ih.it the Address in reply wa not to have been taken up that day. It wa on the morning of that day ho first understood it was not to be moved until Friday He saw the Governor, who objected ti assent to the Loan Bill until the Addres: had been replied to. It was undo; these circumstances that he asked thai the debate should be brought on at once. Regarding Cabinet meetings, of which sc much had been made, he had never at any time declined to hold a Cabinet meeting when he was asked to do so. Whatever Mr. Ballance may have stated to the contrary, he could assure them that it was absolutely untrue. Ho denied the assertion that when they came ir-fco otlicc native affairs were in a satisfactory state, and in controverting that assertion ho alluded to the Sullivan murder. Every word of the assertion that when the Government came into office, they could have done as they liked, was absolutely incorrect. They came in with a hostile House, elected unclgv their opponents, and a hostile Governor. Although it was believed that the Ministry were in a minority, Mr. Gisborne in a moment had stepped'into the breach, although he had twice refused office in prosperous times. In like manner Mr. Thompson never hesitated a moment. This showed what the Liberal party had to defend in the self-sacrifice and devotion of its members. The land speculators, from whose grasp the Government proposed to wrest native lands, would cf course oppose the Government, but the people of the colony would stand by the Government in putting down the disgraceful system of dealing with native lands which had so long prevailed. The Government also intended to make those who had acquired enormous tracts of land, rendered valuable by public works expenditure, contribute fairly to the revenue. In respect to what Sir William Fox had said about Mr. Sheehan, he could, say that he had never seen a man of a kinder heart. He had never seen a man who attended to the natives in the same way. He had endeavored to secure justice for the natives. He (Sir George Grey) had acted with Mr. Shoehan, and the honorable gentleman—Mr. Sheehan —infinitely surprised him in his disposition and goodness of heart. He had striven to get triennial Parliaments, representation by population, and other matters, but the member for Wanganui and his friends opposed every liberal programme, for which men could lay down their life itself. He was determined to fight to the last for the privileges of the people of ISTew Zealand. He condemned the foreign immigration encouraged by the last Government is a wrong to the people of the Colony. Ee did not fear the result of the present iontest, and was content to trust the people of the Colony. The question now 'or the people was whether they should J ;rasp and now have or not have those

to which they were entitled. Mr. Rolleston rose next, and said the House had a right to expect something better than angry declamation, an appeal to the gallery, and a barefaced statement that certain statements were untrue. Ho thought that the House was insulted by the speech just made by the Premier. For the last two years people could have been placed on the lands of Canterbury 011 the deferred payment purchase, and yet the Premier had neglected to do so. Mr. Rolleston then dealt with the conduct of native affairs, which he characterised as an entire mess. He said the system must be entirely wrong when a man such ;is Wiremu King (Matakatea) came to be in Wellington gaol, a man who had saved the lives of many Europeans. Mr. Moss said the speech of Sir AA . Fox was a tissue of personalities. He rebutted statements made in reference to the cavalier conduct of the natives at the great Maori meeting. He made an earnest appeal on behalf of Sir George Grey, and his claims to confidence and the respect of tqe country. Mr. George moved that the debate be adjourned, which was carried at 11.45. The House then adjourned till Tuesday.