POLITICAL ITEMS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1233, 31 March 1880, Page 3

POLITICAL ITEMS.

Tho following interesting items appear in tho New Zealand Herald, having been derived from a private source It is pretty generally understood that Mr. R- G. Wood will join the Government, as the Auckland representative in the Cabinet. It was for some time thought, subsequent to the recess, that Mr. Sheehan would cast in his lot with the Hall Cabinet, but nothing now is heard of the alliance. From what I can gather, I should not be surprised to learn that when the House meets, Ministers will bring in an amended Counties Act. In many provincial districts the Act i 3 wholly unsuited to public requirements, whilst in other counties the amount of expenses for management leaves but little for tho real work which the framers of the enactment contemplated. In the proposed new bills extended powers of borrowing are talked of, consequent upon the state of the exchequer being such that all subsidies must be stopped in the future. The heavy annual appropriations for Police and Resident Magistrates will receive careful consideration before the House meets, and the well-informed here state that a number of these officials will be done away with, with the view of extending the judicial districts, and decreasing the total number at present employed. The Government will insist upon the "great unpaid " taking their fair share of Police Court work, failing which his Excellency will be moved to remove them from the Commission of the Peace.

The enormous expenditure of heads of departments travelling all over the Colony on official business has now reached to such a heavy amount that it must ba curtailed, but in what manner or in what shape these allowances are to be lessened 13 not yet agreed upon. The retention of Chief Judge Fenton in office will dispense with the order of Ministers that the Native Lands Court, its Judges, and officials, were all to be located in "Wellington. Judge Fenton always fought against the removal of his department from Auckland, and now that he has re-entered on hi 3 duties, matters in that respect will remain in statu quo. It is now generally understood that arrangements have been completed between the Government and parties interested in the Patetere lands, that upon certain conditions the former will relinquish their liens on the lands. The exact nature of the conditions is not positively known, but I should not be surprised to find that setting apart a certain percentage of the whole area in suitable sections on the deferred payment system will be a first consideration with the Government. There is one thing clear about the Patetere land, and it is this, that, the Assembly when it meets will require full details of how the matter has been disposed of.