PARLIAMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 8 July 1880, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

Wellington, July 7. In the Legislative Council to-day, Mr. Whitaker promised Colonel Whitinore to make known in a few days the intention of phe Government relative to the outrages by volqnteer^. The Thames Water §upply Bill passed through Committee. On the motion for the thipd reading of the Native Land Court Bill, Mr- Wilgon moved that it should b§ thrown out s wfyich. after a short discussion was negatived by 21 votes to 5, and the Bill was read a third time, as was the Native Succession Bill, and Native Land Frauds Prevention Bill. In the House of Representatives today, Sir Wm. Fox gave notice that he would ask if an officer employed in the Railway Department was paid a salary of LISOO per annum, and received a bonus from Government of LSOO, and if so, by whose authority that bonus was paid. Replying to Mr. Thpnisopj Mr. Bryce said that no freah negotiations for the purchase of native land had been entered into by the Land Purchase Department since the accession to office of the present Government. Replying to Mr. Finn, Mr. Oliver said it was true that the running of the daily train between Lurasden and .Kingston Jiad been altered tp £i tri r weekly o.ne, tjig estimated saving being L9OQ a year. Mr. Dick introduced the Hawkers and Pedlars Bill. It was read a first time. Mr. Pyke moved that, in the opinion of this House, the balance of the surplus of the Otago and Canterbury Land Funds should be paid to the inland counties of those provincial districts, on the same principle as sanctioned by the House in re payment of subsidies to said counties on account of the ye^r Mr. Hq.ll thought Hcmse had not sufficient evidence upon which to decide the question. He would suggest that the matter be referred to the Public Accounts Committee. The suggestion was adoptedj and the motion to that effect put and carried. Mr. Reid moved, That it be an instruction to the Printing and Debates Committees to enquire in- what manner re-

trenchment can be best effected in the ] cost of the publication of Hansard. He i explained that the cost of Hansard had ; averaged L6OOO per annum for the last i five years. The corrections alone aver- i aged L3OO, and it was thought that some means might be devised to reduce the i outlay. Mr. Bain, in seconding the motion, : said as a member of the Committee he ; would be prepared to go into the matter heartily, but hoped their report and i recommendations would receive more consideration than a similar report received last session. Major Atkinson agreed to the motion, which was carried. Mr. Tomoana moved that the speeches of Maori members delivered in the House be printed for circulation among the natives. Mr. Murray suggested that the motion be referred to the Reporting Debates Committee, to be . considered in conjunction with the remit made about Hansard. Sir William Fox said there was no reason why natives should not have a paper of their own, publishing this and other information. A Maori Hansard, with only the Maori members' speeches, would be a very meagre affair. If they could get a translation of Hansard as a whole it might be good. He agreed with the proposal to refer the question to the Committee. Mr. Hall agreed in the opinion that to make a translation useful it would have to be a summary of Hansard as a whole. The present was a most unfortunate time. If the : natives Could establish' & paper, then'the Government might subsidise it to the extent of giving, a translation of parliamentary proceedings. He supported the, proposal to remit the question to the Debates Committee. - Mr; ; iSpeight thought it unfair to ask the -Maori members to subscribe anything for getting their speeches circulated. Members -as a whole might just as well be asked to bear a similar expense for'the circulation ;of their speeches. After some further debate, the suggestion ifor referring the matter to the Debates Committee was adopted. Mr. M'Donald moved that all correspondence between the Government and the -Land Purchase Office of the East Coast District, or ; any other person, relative to the negotiations for the Mataia and Oarangi blocks at Wairaka, East Coast, be laid I before the House. The motion was put and agreed to.Mr. Turnbull moved that a return be laid before the House, showing the amount of money paid to Messrs. Grant and ForSter, or any other person, for expenses in connection with the visit of those gentlemen to the Colony. Agreed to. Mr. Hall moved that the report of the Controller and Auditor-General on the subject of the payment of L3OO to Mr. Sievright be referred to the Public Accounts Committee. Mr. Wliitaker said that, in connection with this matter, rumors had been circulated connecting the absence of the late Native Minister with this transaction. No such thing was the case. Mr. Sheehan was engaged conducting urgent judicial business which would close that day. He had' every confidence that, when Mr. Sheehan did arrive in Wellington, he would be able to acquit himself, The motion was put and carried. Mr. Hall gave notice of motion for rescinding the order that the House rises at 12.30 a.m. Mr. Seddon moved the second reading of the Members of the General Assembly Expenses Bill.- The Liberal measures, of which they had heard so much, would not be complete without a motion of the kind. As members, they ought to be placed in a more independent position than they were plaged. Jn despite of what had been said to the contrary, he argued that members of the Upper Chamber were entitled to be reimbursed reasonable expenses. They were not put to the same expenses as members of the other Chamber, consequently he had fixed the amount at half that proposed for members of the House of Representatives. He did not care if the amount was fixed at LIOO. All he desired was that they would be spared the pain of a sessional wrangle over this honorarium question, as had all along been the case. Mr, Moss seconded, Mr, Hall acknowledged the spirit in which the measure had been brought forward. It was a mistake to say that the other Chamber represented property, and if they laid it down that members of that Chamber were not to be paid, they would exclude soma of the most valuable members from taking their seats. Still, he admitted that reasonable provision should be made. He agreed with the import- : ance of getting the matter placed on a permanent Tooting, Under ordinary circumstances, he would have supported the Bill, but just now, in the existing circum- : stances, he could not do so. They were cutting down expenses in every direction, and if they were settling the question i now, they would be compelled to fix the : amount at a lower rate than otherwise. . Hence the measure \yould not he a final settlement. Mr. Moss said the payment of members ! had bgen the recognised principle all along. Therefore they were not introi duoing something that was new, but i merely establishing a recognised rule. ; Dr. Wallis contended that a sum of ; LIOO was the lowest figure at which the amount should be fixed. If a working man had the confidence of a constituency, it was but right thg,t he should be placed in the position to come there. He heartily supported the measure. Mr. George alluded to the fact that 1 during a late evening's sitting last session, ; the honorarium was reduced. Next morning, on the becoming known, the utmost was created among members, and they went about crying oqt aboqt what had bgen done, . and the result was, the item was recommitted, and again raised to its old figure. Jt was to prevent suoh an unseemly proceeding as that this Bill was brought forward. In Committee of Supply he intended to move the reduction of the amount by ten per cent. Mr. Murray moved that the Iftll be read that day six months, Mr. Barron gqggeated, to get over the difficulty, that the honorarinm this year of 200 guineas should be reduced ten per cent., but that the amount should be fixed at 100 guineas was not a farthing too much. After Mr. Seddor\ replied, the motion wag pqt carried on the voices, and the Bill read a second time. Mr, de Lautour moved the second reading .of the Dentists' Bill. He said the dentists of this Colony were desirous of raising their profession to its proper footing, and at the rame time to protect their interests.—Put and carried. Replying to Mr. Pitt, Mr. Hall said the Government intended to introduce a Corporations Amendment Bill this session, jt would only contain a few amendments an the existing Act. The House then went into Committee on the Municipal Corporations Act Amendment Bill, various clauses of which were considered, and amended, and the House rose at 12.30.