WELLINGTON.

Southland Times, Issue 1809, 21 October 1873, Page 3

WELLINGTON.

(FBOM OUB OWN COBEEBPONDENT.) October 4. Since the date of my last letter, the most disappointing and unsatisfactory cession that has been held for many years has come to an end. The Ministry still retain their seats, and the confidence which many of the members retain in Mr Vogel personally, and in some of his colleagues, remains uaimpaired. But it cannot be denied that the position of the Government bas by no means been improved by recent events. The disorganisation of parties, so obvious at the commencement of the session, had approached a condition of absolute chaos ere its close. Nor can the majorities obtained by Ministers either in the House, or at the three meetings of their supporters convened "to consider the position," be regarded as giving any indication of their real strength in Parliament. The first party division, on which 50 members voted for the Government, showed in reality a majority of 50 against a dissolution, a measure always very unpopular in an elective chamber. The subsequent action of the Government, in letting matters quietly drop when the Council rejected the seven Provincial Loan Bills, was supported by many who really cared very little about the whole matter, but had a very strong objection to the further prolongation of the session on any pretext whatever. Indeed the course taken by the Ministry was dictated by the sternest necessity — they would have been at once in a minority had they adopted any other. Mr Fitzherbert and the "Wellington members generally are greatly annoyed at the loss of their own measure, and it is easy to see that the disappointment must have been peculiarly vexing to Mr i'ilzherbert, who abandoned bis measure at the request of the Premier, who thought that its presence on the orderpaper might imperil the passage of the other Bills, known as " the seven little pigs." Mr Bunny and Mr Firzberbert, than whom there are not two shrewder men in the House, wished to continue their original Bill on the paper in a dormant state, to be revived, as they said, "in case of accident to the others." But, as I have stated above, they gave way, and when the " accident" happened to tbe others, it was too late in tbe session to bring in a new measure. Not that there would have been much chance of carrying it if they bad. The Council all through the session bas steadily set its face against increasing the liabilities of the Colony more than what is absolutely necessary. Yet Mr Fitzherbert and his Wellington friends are not unnaturally angry, and as, unlike the Otago members, they hang well together, their influence is felt in the House in a very appreciable manner. The session, though disappointing and unsatisfactory, as it is universally admitted, has not been altogether barren of results. Westland has been metamorphosed into a province, and although I am no friend to Provincial Governments, there can be little doubt that the requirements of that district will be better met by the ordinary Provincial machinery than by the nondescript and imperfect form of government hitherto existing in the County of Westland. A remarkable feature in the legislation of the session has been the tendency to make measures of the general legislature simply Provincial Empowering Acts. Such was tbe original Provincial Loans Bill, and the Education Bill, aud a strong effort was made by a section of the House to give a similar character to the Licensing Bill, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Legislation of this kind is utterly unsatisfactory ; it is felt that there is no finality ahout it, and members take at best but a dilletante interest in the details of measures which simply empower Provincial Councils to do that which, with a little ingenuity in evading the provisions of the Constitution Act, they are frequently very well able to do without the permission of the Assembly at all. But the tendency to pass Provincial Empowering Bills is curious, and worth noting as an evidence of the persistent vitality of these in stitutions. To all appearance the day when they are to be abolished is ae far away as ever. Otago and Canterbury were never more prosperous) and thei

other Provinces, each with a vigilant friend at court in the Bhape of a Superintendent in the House of Representatives, manage by one expedient -or another to prolong their political existence. Hut to return to tho work of the session. The connection of New Zealand with the telegraphic system of the world may now be said to be provided for by the Telegraph Cables Subsidy Agreement Act, and at a moderate cost, as it is far from likely that anv considerable amount of the £17,000 annual subsidy will be required. The benefit of this work no one will doubt, though there is nothing sensational about it, nor had the passing of the measure any political significance. The Native Lands Act is another measure which will bear fruit hereafter, providing as it does a simple means by which a Native owner j of land may, with the consent of his hapu, , obtain the individualisation of hia title, have his land surveyed, and lease or otherwise dispose of his special interest, an important step towards assimilating the Maori law of land tenure to modern European ideas. Following the Native Lands Act is the provision for acquiring a landed estate for the North Island, by an expenditure of £500,000 specially borrowed for the purpose — a measure which those who understand the question regard as likely to conduce largely to the settlement of the northern portioa of the Colony, and to prevent the native lands from falling into the hands of speculators, in large blocks, and at a low price. We have then the Licensing Act, one of the most practical measures of the session, placing the control of the liquor traffic in the hands of the persons most interested in the question — the inhabitants namely of the districts in which public-houses are, or are proposed to be, licensed. The Railways Act provides for the practical completion of the trunk system of communication through both Islands, and, as the Premier said, it is a measure which, though it passed easily through the Assembly, cost the Government months of preparation. The Immigrants Land Act Grant is a step, though perhaps a short one, in the right direction. The Californian Mail Service seems likely to be a more business-like arrangement than the last, and, if carried out as it should be, will be a vast commercial benefit to the country. The subsidising of a line of steamers to encircle the coast of the South Island will doubtless lead to important commercial relations between the various ports, which have hitherto been so isolated that it has actually proved cheaper for Hokitika to deal with Melbourne direct than with Dunediu or Invercargill. A good word of the same kind may also be said about the Queensland and Auckland and Wellington service, from which important commercial results are expected. The establishment of a three years' steam service to,', connect New Zealand with the Suez mail service, via Duredin and the Bluff, ought to be a matter of congratulation to all Invercargill readers, rendering as it does the Bluff the first port of arrival and the last of departure for all the news and passen gers passiug to and from Europe by that most perfectly organised and efficient of all the steam services in the world, the Peninsular and Oriental Company's. The new tariff is also decidedly a step in the right direction, and will contribute to distribute the incidence of taxation much more fairly than the old method which it supersedes Altogether the House considered 168 measures, of which 83, of more or less importance, became law. The absence of opposition, and the confused state of parties, while it detracted from the political interest of the session, did not prevent a good deal of practical business like work being done. It is generally felt that the present state of things is more or less transitional, and that next session will probably bring about important changes. Much will depend on the success of the Government in their Immigration scheme, which they claim now to have got into working order, after much admitted failure and imperfection. Should that, and their financial transactions be well managed between this and next year, their position will probably then be stronger than ever. On the contrary, should they fail in either or both of these essential features of their policy, there will certainly be a change next session, but in what direction no one, who has watched the proceedings of this, would rashly venture to say. The prorogation I need not describe to you. The proceedings were of the usual character — crowds of ladies and gentlemen in the Assembly buildings and grounds, volunteer guard of honor at the door, salute of volunteer artillery on the beach, His Excellency and other officers in uniform in a fine carriage, preceded and followed by an escort of Mounted Constabulary, and within doors the usual routine of forms and ceremonies. A brilliant sun and cooi bracing breeze made the spectacle thoroughly enjoyable, and a real pleasure to the Wellingtonians, who delight in holidays and public shows of whatever kind. Then came the crowding down in cabs and omnibuses to the steamers,' and for some hours the pier was by far the busiest place in town, and the previously thronged and lively lobbies and reading rooms of the Assembly buildings suddenly became silent and deserted.