The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1876.

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

The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1876.

One of the most extraordinary proceedings of the existing very cxtiv.rodinary Parliament, has been the latest course that mein hors have taken wilh regard to recouping themselves for loss of time in their Legislative labors. It may not be generally-'known that the last assessment that they,-placed on their; services was £l5O a session each, with travelling expenses to and from their several dwelling .places.' ; As these Are calculated on a very liberal scale they swell up. the cost of the whole .very, considerably, and they will of course be paid during the ■piyscnlj session* The above valuation might he thought pretty high as the majority of members, go, but, Mi*. Lariiach, with a modesty peculiar to himseT', wanted to add £3OO bach, making member’s value £450, for the present session, the only ground for such an absurd proposal being that it has been so far profitless ’and disgraceful. This happily, seem to have been'averted, hut the Government, with a weakness that is specially discreditable to them, have agreed to raise the honorarium to 200 guineas a member, an evident sop to the many Ccrl ©ruses that have been worrying them for months past. There are some eighty odd members, and the latest 'assessment will impose on the colony no less a sum than, in round numbers some £17,0J0, in addition to -travelling costs. This, bo it borne in mind, for no other reason than that a few obstructive idiots have prevented the business of the country being proceeded with, and because other members allowed them to so obstruct, all hands are to be rewarded with another 50 guineas each.’ If the House do agree to these extra paynun' s, as seems noiv all but certain, a very bad precedent will ho established, and the charges of self-seeking that have been so freely preferred against many of the representatives',will’ at least have some grounds for being levelled. In round numbers the cost of this session, for expenses of members, will not fall far short of £30,000, for in addition to the above estimate for members of the House of representatives, the Legislative Council has to .he considered, and as both are equally paid the whole sum will come to within a trifle of that amount.