THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Southland Times, Issue 1623, 23 August 1872, Page 2

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

: SPECIAL XKIiEGHAMS. '. Wellington, August 20. In the House of Representatives today, Mr J. D. Ormond, Minister for Public Works and Immigration, made a financial statement with reference to the | departments of which he is head. He said the balance to credit at beginning of last year was L 810.025. This had been reduced by discount and expenses, L 49,27 2; interest and sinking fund, L 33.750 ; buildings, English agency, &c , L 8044, leaving L 719,957 available for public works. Of this there had been expended for roads in the North Island, L12i,868; and for roads on the West Ooast goldfields, L 32,380. The total expenditure on railways was L 212,287. There were twelve miles of railway opened, costing abo.ut. L 49,200 ; '386 miles surveyed and prepared at a cost of L 19,21 2; 254 miles were let, and 50 miles were in process of construction, on which L 103,348 had been paid. Plant for railways and' for Waitaki bridge had been paid for to the amount | of L 40,537, In the purchase of land in the North; Island L 49.664 had been expended, for which 403,815 acres had been acquired. 801 miles of telegraph line had been opeDedat a cost of L 58,297 ; L100;000 had been contributed to Road Boards, and L 46.656 had been spent on immigration. For Greymouth protective works, water supply, development of coal mines, and refund, of stamp duties, L 6511 ,; departmental expenses — including L 7184 for salaries arid expenses of engineers — L 16,610 ; leaving a balance unexpended on 30th June last of L 75,684. The Colonial Treasurer (Mr Yogel) delivered the financial statement tonight. He commenced by remarking that he had a more agreeable task than that which devolved on him last year, for he had not now to speak of deficiencies or of impaired reTenue. When, last session, he reviewed the results of the year 1870-71, be led the cohimjtt6e> to . understand that on the close of the accounts for that year there w-mlTd be a deficiency of £76,912, (?) together with £70,000. of overdraft, making ' } - a itdtal anticipated deficiency of £136,000. He was glad to say that the deficiency proved to be only £122,000, or £13,000 less than was anticipated, that reduction being mainly owing to savings in connec tion with the reserve fund. The House authorised the issue of Treasury Bills for £45,000 at one year's date, and a like amount at ,two years' date, partially to cover the deficiency, the balance to come out of current revenue. It would be found that the current revenue of the past year had performed its part of the bargain, and provision would be made this year OUt of the revenue to meet £45,000 increasing bills due this year. With respect to loans, £66,000, under the Wellington Debts Act, had been negotiated in Sydney at a clear net. premium of two per cent. He believed that that was the highest amount ever obtained by public negotiation for any of the Colony's debentures unguaranteed by the Imperial Government. Of the Immigration and Public Works loan, £850,000 had been negotiated, and of the Defence and Other Purposes Loan £i 50,000, making together £1,000,000. That amount had been negotiated at home at a premium of 4s 2d, after deducting accrued interest, which must be considered a very favorable negotiation. Inclusive of the £150,000 recently negotiated, there had been raised under the Defence and Other Purposes Loan £635,000, of which there was charged under the second schedule of the Act, to Auckland £50,000, to Taranaki £6,000, to Wellington £17,000, and to Otago £90,000. By turning to the second schedule of the Act, hon. members would at once see the nature of the various payments under it. The total under this schedule was £163,436. Under schedule I. there had been expended £295,588, together with £18,327 for discount and charges, making together a total of £471,352, and leaving a balance of £158,000 available for expenditure. Of this £158,000, £150,000 was in cash in London, £300 in cash in the Colony, and £7,900 under advance in the Colony. Of the Immigration and Public Works loan there had been altogether £1,600,000 raised. Adding to that Bum £27,204, being moiety of the stamp duties, the total | was £1/637,294. Of that sum £711,611 was expended up to the 30th June last, leaving a balance of £925,684, of which £850,000 was in London on the 30th June, £40,666 was in the Colony in cash, and £35,017 was under advance. The items of expenditure under the Immigration and Public Works Loan were, interest and Binking fund, £209,000 ; departmental expenses, £24,000 ; roads in .North Island, £120,000 ; railways, £241,000; water supply, £2000; purchase of land, North Island, £49,000; immigration, £42,000; telegraph, £58,000; coal mines, £500 ; payments to road '

i i , ji . ■ i i . ii i ■iii _..jb boards and provinces, £100,000 ; Grey-, mouth protective works, £3000 ; discount: and charges, £39,000. Before concluding his remarks concerning the" loans, he wished hon. members to understand that • provision was made for payment during the year of £66,000 sinking fund on Colonial loans, and £40,000 on provincial loans. Those payments represented the sum which the Colony and the provinces provided for reducing the public debt. On the 30th June last, there was £440,000 in the trust fund, of which £387,000 was invested, and £50,000 in cash. On the 30th June, 1871, the amount im the trust fund was £343,000, so that it had increased during the year by £98,000. The Post Office Savings Bank fund had increased from £294,000 in 1871, to £365,000 in, 1872. .Those accounts, it should be clearly understood, were kept entirely distinct from ordinary revenue and ordinary payments, and he had taken the strictest precautions to secure that the interest-bearing accounts were sufficiently covered for all ( accrued interest. He would next speak lof the revenue of the year 1871-72. , The I actual revenue of the year was L 1,007,000 against L 990,000 estimated, and L 936.000 ! the actual receipts of the previous year. There was therefore an increase of L 71,000 over the actual receipts of 1870---71 j and of L 17,000 over the estimates. The Customs revenue showed an increase of L 25.000 on the estimates, and of L 42,000 over the amount actually received during the previous year. The exports during the year had exceeded thoee of the previous year by L 1,180,000, and the imports showed an increase of L 427,000. Amongst the exports gold increased L 135,000 over the previous year, and wool showed a considerable increase both in quantity and in value. The stamp duties had yielded LSOOO les3 than was estimated, but on the postal revenue there was an increase of L2OOO over the estimates, and the receipts of the telegraph department showed a small increase. The total revenue of the year being L 1,007,000, there was to be added on account of credits to votes, L 200 0; Treasury bills, L 90,00 0; deficiency bills, LlOOjOOO; making: the total receipts of the year," L 1,199,000. Still in addition there were assets amounting to L 62,009, so that with receipts and assets the total for the year amounted to L 1,2 61,000. The year's increase as regarded revenue and the events of the year as a whole showed a revival of prosperity in tne Colony. Gold mining was improving, wool increasing in value, the land revenue had been largely increased, building was going on all over the Colony, not only as regarded dwellinghouses, but as regarded erections for business and manufacturing purposes, and generally much more attention was being given to manufactures of various kinds. With respect to agriculture, he was under the impression that the State did not know much of what was rea,l\y being done, or give to it the assistance that ought to be given. During the five years ending 1871, there had been a coatinuous increase in the value as per' head of the population of the agricultural produce exported from the Colony. The expenditure during the past year for Colonial charges was, according to the appropriations, £565,000. The supplementary expenditure upon Colonial account amounted to £35,000; capitation allowance to provinces, £200,000 ; excess of payments to provinces, £31,000 ; deficiency bills paid off, £60,000 ; liabilities from 1870-71, £62,000 ■; ;.p;tyment to special fund on account of a liability of the previous year, £20,000 ; half amount of stamp duties paid to Immigration aud Public Works account, £37,000. Those sums make a total of £1,014,000. There were?, .still due liabilities on account of interest due in Sydney on the Ist July, and interest and sinking fund payable in London up to loth July, amounting to £109,000; reserve fund, £14,000 ; miscellaneous, £13,00$; deficiency bills, £100,000. Adding all those items together, there was a total of £1,250,000 expenditure, which, deducted from the total amount of the revenue, left a balance of £10,000 with which to commence 1872-73. Stating the matter in another way, the figures stood thus : — Assets, £247,000, against liabilities to the amount of £236,000, thus leaving the same balance of rather more than £10,000 with which to commence the year. It was lo be observed that the full amount authorised to be issued as deficiency bill 3, namely, £100,000, had been issued, but the greater portion of the amount did not bear interest, being merely a nominal overdraft at the Bank. £40,000 of the amount had been taken by the trust fund. Some objection waa stated last year to allowing the Government to issue £100,000 of deficiency bills, but in reality it was of no assistance to the revenue. The greater portion of it waa represented by advances outstanding from the consolidated fund ; the full amount waa more than represented in the assets. Hon. members would understand that after paying the deficiency bills, after providing for the expenditure unauthorised of last year, after providing for the full expenditure of the year, after providing for the reserve fund, and for all the liabilities and engagements known to the treasury, after having in fact provided for interest and sinking fund due in London up to the 15th of July, or fifteen days beyond the close of the financial year, there still remains a balance of £10,500 with, which to commence the year 1872-3. The Treasurer next described the proposed changes in the system of keeping the public accounts according to the plan which would be submitted. The Controller-general and the Auditor-general would be associated together aa Commissioners of Audit, and the Paymaster-general's account would be abolished. The new system had already been initiated to some extent, although it would impose upon the treasury au amount of check to which it had not hitherto been subjected. The department would learn to accustom

itself to thai check. The new system would answer the double purpose of securing the full authority of Parliament over the expenditure, and of enabling accounts to be made up more promptly than hitherto. He had prepared some interesting statistics comparing New Zealand with other countries. . Taking the rear 1869, which was the latest for which returns could be found, it appeared that the revenue of the United Kingdom was L 65,000,000 sterling, of which less than L 24,000,000 were obtainedlunder the customs, and L 20,000,000, the amount of the excise, as represented by the duties on spirits. During the same year the total amount collected in New Zealand, including the taxes collected by the ProTinces, was £902,000. If there was the same taxation in New Zealand as existed in Great Britain, although the English customs tariff would not of itself yield so much as that of the Colony, the total revenue would be much larger than it was at present. Stamp duties in the Unitad Kingdom represented 6s per head of the population, or nearly fifty per cent, more than New Zealand. A comparison of the quantities of high dutied goods consumed in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, showed conclusively the wealthier comparative condition of the Colony. Of spirits there was consumed in the United Kingdom per head of the population per year, under one gallon, but in New Zealand the average was two and onetenth gallons; tobacco, one and threetenths pounds per head in the United Kingdom, New Zealand two and sixtenths pounds per head ; wine five-tenths of a gallon per head in Great Britain mglintt »il-teutb.B in New Zealand ; tea, throe a«d four-tenths pounds in the United Kingdom against seven and onetenth pounds in New Zealand ; coffee a little under one pound per head in the United Kingdom as against a little over two pounds per head in New Zealand ; •ugar, forty-six pounds per head in the United Kingdom against sixty-seven pounds in New Zealand. The English tariff would have yielded in New Zealand, £643,000 as against £823,000, actually obtained here for customs duties, but if the xtther taxation bore the same proportion to customs duties here as in the United Kingdom, the total revenue of New Zealand would have been L 1,200,000 in 1869, aa against L 894,000 actually received during that year; but besides the local taxation in the United Kingdom amounted to over fifty per cent, of the general taxation, while in New Zealand the local taxation was very much less. The secret of the apparent heavy taxation in this Colony was to be found in the fact that the rate per head of the value of imports and exports was considerably higher than it was in the United Kingdom. During 1869, the value of imports into the United Kingdom represented L 9 14a 4d per head of the population, and the exports represented a value of L 7 16s per head, but in New Zealand during the same year the imports representeaLlS 4s per head, and the exports Lls Ss per head. Hon. members would recollect that our imports represented not* ''merely consumable or perishable goods, but articles of lasting value and means of increasing wealth. During the five years ending 1871, the total value of our exports was £24,000,000, of which £5,650,000 was the value of non-consumable articles, so that to that amount articles of permanent value and means of increasing wealth were added to the colony. By another return, it appeared that for the year ending lat April, 1872, the value of import* into Great Britain, less the value of re-exports, represented £8 3s per head of the population, whilst in New Zealand during the same year, and under the same conditions, the imports represented £15 6s per head. The British produce and manufactures exported from the United Kingdom, represented a value equal to £6 6b per head, but the value of New Zealand produce exported from the colony represented £17 16s per head. During the same year, the post office revenue in the United Kingdom was equal to 2s lid per head of the population, as against 3s 4d per head in New Zealand. The telegraph revenue amounted to 5f d per head in the former case, and Is 9d in the latter. The population of England and Wales, in 1861, showed a proportion of males between the ages of 16 and 65 equal to 28 per cent., whilst in New Zealand, in 18vl, the proportion between those ages was 37 per cent. Turning to the neighboring colonies, it appeared that the per centage of persons between the ages of 21 and 40 was 38 per cent., as against 29 per cent, in New South Wales, and 29 in Victoria. The increase of population during the ten years ending 1871, was in New Zealand equal to 165 per cent., as against 46 per cent, in New South Wales, and 36 per cent, in Victoria. During the same ten years, the increase in the population between the ages of 21 and 40, was 162 per cent, in New Zealand, and 38 per cent, in New South Wales, while in Victoria there was actually a decrease of 10 per cent. A comparison of the exports and imports showed mo3t favorably for New Zealand. Leaving on one aide imports, re-exports, and the value of re-exports, the result ■was — Victoria, £14 4s per head ; New South Wales, £12 9s ; New Zealand, £21 16s per head ; or, if the native population were included, £18 4s per head. Taking exports, the figures were, Victoria, £14 10s per head ; New South Wales, £12 16s per head ; New Zealand, £19 2s per head ; or, including the native population, £16 8s per head. If the principal products of the colonies were considered, the result would be more strikingly favorable to New Zealand ; thus, upon the average of the five years ending 1871, New Zealand exported gold to the amount of £10 8s per head per annum of the population, against £7 19s in the case of Victoria, and 10s in that of New South Wales. For the same period, New Zealand's average export of wool was equivalent to £6 9s per head, as against £5 7s for Victoria, and £4 19s for New South

"Wales. The export of agricultural produce and timber from New Zealand for the same period, was equal to 13s per bead of the population per year ; from Victoria, these exports averaged only 3s 4d per head, and from New South Wales, 10a 6d per head. A further sum must be added in the case of this colony for flax, the exports of which, including; the native population, was equal to 4s lid per head. Much had been said and written respecting New Zealand's oppressive customs tariff, but if the Victorian rates, including ad valorem duties, had existed here, and if the values were entered the same as at present, we should have raised as customs revenue during 1871, £781,000, against £731,000 which we actually I raised. That disposed of the allegation as to the higher rate of taxation in New Zealand as compared with Victoria. It was to be borne in mind that the Native , , question had cost New Zealand £5,000,000 sterling in the shape of expenditure more than would be required in a colony situated like Victoria, and that fact showed how great the resources of this colony j really were. It was alleged that the cost of Government here was heavy. Of course, the rate per head of that cost was large, because the population was small. It was especially to be remembered that the smallest aggregation of population ' asked for, and expected to receive, all the conveniences which, in older countries, j were only expected by large communities. Still, the comparison of the departmental cost of government was favorable to New Zealand. Taking the financial year 1871 -2, the colonial expenditure in New Zealand, exclusive of ink rest and sinking fund, amounted to £594,000; the expenditure of the several provincial governments for Civil Service purposes, including education, police, gaols, harbor, and miscellaneous, but excluding public works, was £251,000 ; together, those sums made a total of £34ti,000, against an expenditure in Victoria for like purposes of £1,415,000. Turning to the proposed expenditure for 1872-3, the total amount on the estimates was L 933,830, showing an increase of L 21,000, on the appropriations for 1871-2. That increase was principally represented by increases in permanent charges, such as L 50.000 for interest on L 90,000 of Treasury Bills, and Ll 1,000 interest for Defence and Other Purposes loan. Other items going towards the increase were the additional amount for members' expenses, cost of buildings now become a colonial charge, and the expenditure on account of the Manakau lighthouse. There was also an increase in the expenditure of some of the departments, such as the telegraph and the land registry. Hon. members, in looking through the estimates, must decide for themselves what they would consider as reductions arising from there not being any necessity to continue certain services or officers. To the expenditure Set dowo in the estimates, there must be added L 208,000 for provincial capitation allowance, as against L 200,000 last year ; the moiety of stamp duties receipts to be paid to the Immigration and Public Works fund ; L 40.000 Treasury Bills falling due during the year, L 45,000 being the second instalment of the deficiency stated last year, and leaving only L 45,000 to be cleared off next year. There must also be added a sum of L 21 f OOO which it waß proposed to pay to the Immigration and Public Works fund, in addition to one-half of the stamp duties which had been paid over to that account, the L 21,000 being calculated to represent fairly the amount of interest and sinking fund on the payments made for works completed, aud on final payments. This would make a total expenditure of L 1,060,000. It should be remembered that the capitation allowance to provinces represented LB.OOO more than was paid last year. It was proposed also to relieve the provinces from payment of LI9OO a-year for salaries of provincial auditors, and L 23,000 a-year, the cost of inland mail carriage. These sums together would represent a payment of L 32,000 out of the consolidated revenue to, and on account of, the provinces, more than was paid last year. It was not proposed to continue the extraordinary aid of L 50,000 which was last year granted to the provinces in consideration of its being alleged that there were engagements to meet which required that amount, but L 50,000, being the same aa last year, would again be paid to road boards. The estimated total revenue of the year was L 1,076,000. The principal items were — customs, L 820,000; stamps, L 80.000; postal, L 5,000; telegraph, L 3,300; judicial fees and fines, L 32,000. It was estimated that the stamps would this year yield LBO.OOO, although several remissions would be proposed, namely, the annual license fee on companies for the promotion of industries and colonisation, such as meat- preserving companies, saw-mill companies, steamboat companies, tramway companies, immigration companies, public hall companies, and fishery companies. It would also be proposed to remit the stamp duty upon cheques of friendly societies, and upon receipts given to them for moneys disbursed by them, and to remit the duty on all conveyances of land in trust for religious, charitable, and educational purposes. It would also be proposed that the stamps on receipts should be reduced to one penny. The postal revenue was estimated at L 3,000 more than last year. Notwithstanding the contemplated reduction of the postage on newspapers to one halfpenny, so many newspapers were now sent by coach, which would, no doubt, be cent through the post under the reduced rate, that it was coasidered the reduction would not diminish the revenue of the department. The total estimated revenue then, was 1/1,076,000, or an increase of L 86,000 on the estimate, and of L 68,000 on the actual receipts of last year. Adding L 10,500, the amount of the surplus with, which the year was commenced, there was a total of L 1,086,000, and deducting the total proposed expenditure L 1,060,000, there would remain L 25,000 surplus upon the year. A portion of that surplus would be required to meet

supplementary estimates and unauthorised expenditure. It must also be remembered that when the estimates were commenced, the report of the select committee on public buildinps had not been received, which report contained a recommendation that a considerable sum should be expended on the repair of buildings. Provision for that expenditure was, of course, not included in the estimates. On the other hand, there would certainly be during the year savings on votes, and he was inclined to think that if the House should desire that a further payment should be made in aid of the Immigration and Public Works account, such payment j could be made out of the surplus. In conclusion, he thought he need not apologise for the paucity of novel features and new proposals in the Budget. After the changes during the last three years, it i was gratifying to be able now to dispense | with further large alterations. This was the fourth consecutive session in which he had made the financial statement. When he considered the period covered by those statements, he could not but congratulate the committee upon the present improved condition of the affairs of the colony. He hoped that he had avoided creating in the minds of the committee anything like an impression that the Government took any credit not belonging to them. The great revival of prosperity in the colony was due to a power higher than that of kings or people. All that the Government claimed was, that when there was a disposition to despondency, they set themselves to do that which seemed best calculated to restore confidence, and they called upon the people not to be discouraged, but to arm themselves to contend with their difficulties, and to hope for a brighter future. That that future had shown itself in such bright colors was due to a power beyond all governments. The Treasurer concluded by moving a resolution that it was expedient to reduce the stamp duty on receipts to one penny. The resolution was agreed toby the committee, reported to the House, and adopted. The House then adjourned. The delivery of the statement occupied two hours and a quarter. August 22. In the House yesterday, Mr Stafford, in an able and moderate' speech, moved his want-of-confidence resolution. He referred to the absence of Ministers from the seat of government ; the basty San Francisco mail contracts ; Mr VogeJ's bringing out Mr Brogden without any data for the construction of railways ; the neglect of the Government to profit by the information stored up in the country, and the advice and information of the Provincial authorities. He said the present Government had added LIOB,OOO annually to the unfunded debt of the Colony on the Civil Service alone. The unfunded debt had been increased from L 276,000 to L 710.000. Mr Stafford spoke of the Premier as a mere memory of himself. The speech was loudly cheered when Mr Stafford resumed his Beat. Last night Mr Fox replied to Mr Stafford. He said that the resolution was vague, and not sufficient to turn out a Ministry which had been in office for yearn. The statements of the Ministers of Public Works and Finance were utterly at variance with Mr Stafford's assertions. Telegrams of a most satisfactory character had been received from all parts of the country within the last few hours. (Laughter.) The Colony had not superseded the Provinces in colonisation, but merely overshadowed them. The Provinces exercised the same powers as they always did. (Oh ! and laughter.) Mr Stafford had alluded to the Treasurer's brilliant imagination, and want of ballast, but the difference was that Mr Stafford possessed neither. He would ask what scheme Mr Stafford had ever invented for the benefit of the colony. In 1868 he had led the colony into two wars in one year, and had neither prudence nor foresight to make any preparations. Mr Fox then traced the history of the San Francisco mail contract, and contended that the House had condoned the faults of the Government in exceeding its powers. The San Francisco service had been neither inefficient nor unsuccessful. (Laughter). That service would yet prove a great blessing to the colony. (Laughter). He felt proud of having been one of the Ministry who had inaugurated that service. The members of the Stafford Ministry had absented themselves from the country. The Ministry had always availed themselves of the advice and assistance of the Provincial authorities. He denied that two members of the Ministry had seceded. Mr Waterhouse bad only joined to assist the Ministry during the session. Mr Sewell had seceded, and divulged the fact that there were serious differences in the Cabinet, which should have been kept secret. The immigration scheme had been a failure hitherto, but it was attended with difficulty, and the Government had not had time to develope it. The scheme was extended over ten years. Mr Stafford had not touched Native matters, and had exonerated Mr M'Lean. If he had any hope that Mr M'Lean would take office in any other than the present Ministry, he was authorised to say there was no possibility of such a thing. He (Mr Fox) was quite willing to continue to serve the Colony, but if the House carried the resolution he would retire into private life. (Cheers.) The speech was considered weak. It was full of attempts at witticism, and not so temperate as Mr Stafford's. Mr Donald Reid compared the sneering character of the Premier's speech with Mr Stafford's. The San Francisco service would have been more beneficial if the vessels had been English. The only policy Mr Fox had ever brought forward was the division of money amongst four Superintendents, which had excited universal division. He wondered how the Premier could read his own speeches of previous years without laughing. He | had gone into office on the Provincial

policy, but bad gradually reduced the payments to the Provinces, which would soon disappear altogether. The Government showed ignorance of business in entering into unintelligible and extravagant railway contracts. The contract under which Mr Brogden received 5 per cent, merely for advice was injurious to the interests of the Colony. The attempts at immigration by the General Government had been a total failure, especially in Otago. The estimates of Mr Blair showed that the railway works in Otago could have been constructed 20 per cent, below Mr Brogden's contract. He (Mr Reid) had offers from Mr Forest to construct railways at 15 per cent, below the price paid to Mr Brogden, and find ample security. The reply was that any works not let to Mr Brogden would be submitted to competition. Messrs Proudfoot and Co., of Dunedin, had offered to construct railways at 7i per ■ cent, below the engineer's estimate. The | saving in the case of Mr Forest would have ! been L 17.927, and in the case of Proudfoot and Co., L 12.750. The engineer's estimate for the Invercargill and Mataura railway was L 45,643, yet the papers showed that it had been let to Mr Brogden for £86,697. (Loud cries of oh, oh !) The loss on railways in the province of Otago would amount to fully L 60,000. The Government would urge that they were bound by the action of the House, but why did they not vote with the minority who objected to the acceptance of contract No 2. They were entirely responsible, and their excuses were only admissions of failure. He referred to the increase in the Civil Service, condemned recent political appointments, and hoped that the Government would come forward and deny the statements which were made ID the lobbies that several of their supporters had been promised appointments. (Hear, hear.) He felt sure that the feeling of the country was in favor of reform. (Loud cheers). Mr M'Giliivray said that the immigration scheme had been a failure ; that the i Agent- General was not a good man of ' business ; but that the Ministry had done a good deal of hard work, and should be allowed to remain in o&ice. The administration was bad, but he would like to see prospects of better before voting for the resolution. (Cheers). He opposed the Government for the very reasons which formerly induced him to support them, and he would oppose any Ministry which acted in the same manner. The affairs of the country had been allowed to drift ; they had been left in the hands of a few TJnder-Secretaries, many of whom were utterly incompetent. The Ministers all remained away from the seat of Government, while the Colonial Secretary was kept at work like a horse in a mill, and signed documents he had never read. He knew of his own knowledge that at one time 600 letters lay unopened in the Treasury. Several heads of departments did not attend in their offices until 11 o'clock. The Civil Service expenditure was extravagant, and a sweeping reform was required. The Hutt railway, if thrown open for tenders, would have eo*fc L 1,200 per mile b^low the price at which it had been let to Mr Brogden. The Foxton Tramway was badly situated. He objected to handing over the whole colony to Mr Brogden. (Cheers). He was surprised that the Government had not immeditely refuted Mr Reid's statements in re the Brogden contracts in Otago. (Cheers). If they remained silent it would be construed into an admission of the charge. He condemned government by wires. The Ministers of Public Works looked after their own private affairs, instead of devoting their time to the interests of the Colony. If they continued the present system of Resident Ministers they would have to appoint one for each Province. After mature consideration he had come to the conclusion that if the Public Works and Immigration scheme was to be economically or beneficially administered, it must be entrusted to other hands than the present Ministry. Parata, a Native member, expressed his intention of voting against the Government. (Cheers.) There were a great many Natives against the Government, who had not fulfilled their promises. The Native Minister looked more after European interests. Troubles amongst the Natives had arisen from Europeans who spoke to the Maories. He hoped that the new Ministry would be composed of men not speaking Maori (Cheers). There was a Hong pause, interrupted by cries of " Government, Government." Mr Bathgate proposed an adjournment, which was negatived on the voices. There was another long pause, during which the Ministry were in consultation. Loud calls on the Government to reply were made from all parts of the House. After a long delay, Mr Tribe said that the resolution was premature. The Government had not had a fair trial. Their policy had only been commenced ten months. (Loud laughter.) The Opposition wanted to step in and reap the advantage of the labors of the Ministry. He believed that Mr Brogden's monopoly would be for the benefit of the Colony. (Laughter.) It would bring^capital to the country. Be quoted the lines about being off with the old love before being on with the new, and praised the Government finance. Mr Reeves proposed the adjournment of the debate, which was agreed to on the voices. I Messrs Reader Wood, Rolleston, Williamson, and Fitzberbert will speak against the Government on different subjects. The defeat of the Ministry is absolutely certain. Later. In the House to-day Mr Reeves made a long speech. He admitted that a considerable saving would be effected if the railways were submitted to public tender. He said the estimates quoted by Mr Reid were understated. The contractor's i profits were only L 7,588 on the Clutha

Railway. The General Government had always studied the interests of the Provinces, and had worked cordially with the Provincial authorities. Mr Curtis, in the course of his speech, showed that Mr Brogden's estimates were L 23,000 above the engineer's estimate. The natural course would have been to submit the work to public tender. The Government appeared to believe that they were bouad to let contracts to Mr Brogden at any price. He showed how unnecessary delays and expense hac! taken place in regard to the Nelson railways, and referred also to Mr Brogden's contract for the Picton and Blenheim railway, as exceeding the vote of the House. The original vote was L6f1,000. It was let for L 75,000, and with stations, &c, the total coat would be L 95,000, or 50 per cent, above the vote of the House. j The absence of Ministers caused coni tracts to be hastily entered into, without { consultation. The present Native policy • was the obvious one, and would be pur- | sued for the future. He would vote for j the resolution. Mr Bathgate said he was not a political gladiator. The first part of the resolution was unfair in itself. It should have directly expressed the want of confidence. (Laughter.) He had got all he wanted. (Great laughter.) He was satisfied with the Government explanation.