PARLIAMENTARY.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 152, 23 September 1876, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY.

v,;! i r ■ ', * r r ' ~[PER PRESS AGEKCY.J HOUSE 'OF. RE PRESEXTATI VES. Wellington, September 20.

The House resumed at 7-30 last night on Mr Macandrcw’s resolution (namely, that the Abolition Act he held in abeyance until the people of Otago determine as to the form of selUgoveriuneut most suitable for them.)' The debate was' kept: up 'until 1.40 this morning. The speakers werechielly Otago .representatives. -- It' had been .arranged some time before rising if the speakers of minor importance on. each side could- be,-prevailed upon not to speak, a division ..Would-be; taken ; but more spoke than was expected. |' .. Sir George Grey, Messrs Held, Burns, . Stout, W. Wood, and Shrimsld supported the resolution. ' T;; . m The arguments to a great extent were repetitions, namely,., that- the request of Otago .‘was. .reasonable ; that it was unr: statesmanlike.to coolly.ignore the wishes of : a ' hundred thousand people. It was ■sofdid- ,: tb ‘have a l 'system-of 'Government diasedfon -a*money principle as the-Premier did ihlsayingfhatLOtago will’be.no wfyrse off. ; ; i: she t ...will, have- - tiiisj that, :; ftncl • jthet oilier. The resolution was . not . intended as a vote of want of confidence. The Govenjinent was good , enough,.. andj if " tiii ned ditt'on’thiS''tliey 'would'' be put in to-morrow.j I; Sir"George Grey threatened tojmake a similiir AppUaP oif beliidf of Aiicklaml, and said the only outcome‘Of' Abolition was an upstart, moneyed aristocracy., and a nation of down-troddeiTseifs. ' , j - Messrs-fManders aud : Pyko, thoiigb opposed to the resolution, did hot vote. -> The, Premier, Messrs, Ife.ynolds, Wikelicld, and 1 BKf!lf, , ',al^q ,, sp;olle > ! j against jtho resolutions. Practically ; the ! resolutions amounted to a vote of Want of confidence. 1 Tt wbiild be dangerous, to reihit’tile question to fie people of Otago, aod give jtho provinciahsls an' opportunity of manipulating another ■ i The result .would not be the verdict of the people. The resolution Was lost by 87,t0 24.• r /The House met at 2,30,* V --■ -j A Bill to repeal the New Zealand FoVegt Act was introduced, and read a first time. The principal portion of the afternoon was occupied in; discussing.the following : (notion, by Air Larnach.:—l. Thdt this House Will j to-morrow, resolve itself into a Committee of the whole to consider an address to His Excellency the Governor, praying that an additional sum may; bo placed on the Estimates, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of members of this House ih connection with their Parliamentary ditties'during tlid present session. 2. That such additional sum be estimated at the rate of £3OO for each member. ; The -Premier said that the'’ Government would’ oppose tlie'motion when it came oh in Committee. " ' - j ' "Mr Burns gave notice r to move that members bo, allowed 20s per .diem from; the day Parliament opened,till it,prorogued. ’i’lie Speaker put the first resohr ion singly,, and the discussion on botli sides was animated. ‘ ", ' ’‘A • division- was fa ken in favor of ; flip. ..resolution,by 36 igaii.ist 20, several having voted fpr-tho first reso'utionwho said they wouldniot Vote for the second.. - Tiie. Speaker--.left,the. chair,at 5.30 u.m. Last night a very.long discussion fo- k place upon the Maori Representatives Act Amendment Bill. ' A mi tuber .of members' warndy supported-' giving the Maoris seven inemb-rs instead .of. four Us at present. ..Others .a'nmg v objected ti< the 'double power of voting now. enjoy.-d by Maoris, j': The Government War!fold the bill with-drawn-until ’they could consider the Whole niaiter of > ix'presentatidn—European ami ■Maori—during the recess. , At length all (lie': elaifaes of the .-W were struck out except the eighth, which was amended so as to .secure, the s-ats of the ■ present Maori members during this Parliament;; ■ - ■, ■ - , ' j .

The House a Ijonrned at. 1 a.ih i ;The lion'se .met at half-past two,o’clock this afternoon. ‘' ' : j , !Sir George Grey gave notice to move for introducing a hill, the aim of which means trying for Triennial Parliaments. ; - Mr Baitings moved that-free passes on •railways, be issued to the members of both Houses of Parliament; ‘ ' ■ m ~ This >: . lech To considerable disc nation. Those in favor of the motion quoted other colonies, and the province of Otago; as instanced where the practice was deemed to he beneficial, and said That, as every member of the House ought to be as well with the natural‘features of the country as they could conveniently be, these parses would enable them to prose* cute Their: enquiries in that; direction.; It was’also .alleged that of those who had free passes 1 in,Otago they did not abuse tlio use of them; on | the contrary, they didj not avail themselves of them to anything like' tire' extent that might reasonably be; expected in .'fact, they scarcely used them at a/l. It was also contended that instead of it being paying lout of .the public purse, it was more .likely to cause the receipts’to increase. ~ ~;... -■ I

]\lr Stfir£or<l moye.cl as an antenVJmcm t that jn embers should also have free passages ‘'-try- steftmers and coach,' and that th'eir hotel hoard and’lodging should be free. ■ Jj This raised a stqrni of indignation from' Messrs Hoes and Burns. • , The Premier opposed the motion, lie "thought the ' privilege was - likely to be turned into' a means of enabling members who lived in the country to: come in to their business daily , by train, cheaply. The-tickets were likely to be used chiefly on the local lines. ■ - It was contended on the other hand that besides the : good salary paid' to Ministers, “ they had travelling allowances rs well as free passes," aiid they seemed to begrudge members who were also-in the service of the' country. - ; The discussion at length was settled: by a division, the motion being carried by 38 against 24. . .; ' r , ; - ! After considerable discussion,•i.tlje gratuity .of two year’s salary was granted to: ’the"widow of'the - ,late. OoionCl St. John, notwithstanding th'e fact that the Government, opposed it., .. On the interrupted debate on the question that the House considers that the provision proposed to be made for roads and works in the'district North of Auckland is entirely 7 inadequate to meet; the re-

quirementa and necessities of those districts, and very much smaller than the share to winch those districts are fairly entitled, regard being had to the' area of population and contributions to revenue -the House immediately went to a diX s.on and the motion w as carried by 03 t0 nga ‘ n °PP°sing. 1 he House adjourned at 5.30.

. The Bonsc n ? ,-oocl JfeHS: made in the Indcmmtv Bill bv tl, n r. • idConacilj.- rfto proceeded against the Government. A bill authorising the dssUe of penny post, cards, was read a - flrsfetime. The Honoranuni question caused some disc,.* sion, Ilie.liomier announced as there was a general wish for‘ah’extra allowance n!toro SBl £ l:In co, iseqnenee of itsprotracted r.rar&^r c “ "’° uki «■*•*> two mitttlbf tei P° Bt P°™d until,.in Committee of Supply A y(ien b e ' proposed that 1 members of each -House ivce ve the samd. amount. A very: long dS uss on tiotie^s^Am°A u P on GieYjhw PractitlS Hill niend i Ueil fc iIL Ultimately c ause 1 eh, the fourth # r P cl l . An-Imprest Supj- 6 moved for to-morrow. The House adjourned at 1.20.