PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 490, 19 July 1890, Page 5

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Wellington, July 16. END OF THE DEBATE. The .Financial debate, which was commenced over a fortnight ago, came to an end early last evening with an exhaustive reply and criticism of the speeches made from the other side of the House. The • House then went into Committee of Supply, and Mr Monk moved the resolution arrived at by the retrenchment party, and which was actually the resolution agreed to by the Premier. Mr Monk moved his resolution in a very eloquent speech, and was frequently applauded from both sides of the House. Tho Hon. Mr Mitchelson then made a statement of the views with which the Go- ■< vernment regarded this motion. The-Hon. Mr Ballance took serious exception to the proposal to make a i eduction of £50,000 on the necessary eervices of the country.An animated debate followed, and ex--tended into a late hour, as reported in another column. ABSENTEE OWNERS. Of tho 1,150 absentee property owners'it has now. been shown that these own between them £3,210,489 wortli of' real property, . and £4,847,609 worth of personal property. There are 51 absentees who own estates of more than 2,oooacres and exceeding £IO,OOO in value. Amongst the more prominent are the Hon. A. J. Balfour, Sir Jas. Fer- - guson, Sir Charles Clifford, and Sir Frederick Wild. The most valuable absentee - owned properties are the Clifford and Wild estate, Marlborough, £155,100; that of T. P. Russell, Waipawn, £112,873; 11. R. Russell, Waipawa and Patangnta, £79,488; Mr H. Hoare, Geraldine, £71,136: Joseph Clarke, Tuapeka, £78,401 ; and James Ashbury, of Wallace, £75,700. PREVENTION OF DUMMYISM. With a view to the prevention of dummyism, legislation is to be introduced shortly. The Land Commissioners at Dunedin, Canterbury and Wellington have been in communication with tho Minister in charge of the department, and thc-ir practical suggestions.togethcr with those of Mr PcrcySmith, late Chief of tho Survey Department at Auckland, will be cm bod ted in a Bill to be brought in by tho Hon. G. F. Richardson as toon as the Waste Lands Comtnittco have roported on the question. The chief f difficulty with tho present Land Act appears to be tne ballot system and tho duplication of applications, and these will bo avoided by the legislation now proposed. INSPECTION OF SHEEP. The annual report of the Sheep Inspector for Auckland district, dated April 3rd, etatos : “ The Kaiawa flock, at Miranda, is now tho only one on the infected list-in; ray..,-, districts of Auckland, Wnikawa, andtfp Miranda. These Kaiawa sheep will bo-|\ mustered for inspection next week, and I I v quite expect to find them clean, and to give them a clean certificate. The sheep in the reet of the provincial district are free from serious disease, but those in the im- ' i mediate vicinity appear to be very much infosted with lice. There were about 2,500 . sheep exported to Fiji and Samoa, and 7,104 sheep frozen and exported by the Duke of Westminster and Tainui.” TEE RABBIT NUISANCE. Tho annual report on this subject shows I that during tho year ended March 31st last the total value of rabbit skins exported from the colony was 187,218, Auckland contributing to the value of £46 as against £33 in 1887, £l2 in 1888, and £2,182 in 18S6. The report states that rabbits appear in- ! clined to spread to tho east of the Waikato between Cambridge and Oatu, and that owners of property thereabouts will be induced to tako offective means of destroy- 1 ing them during this winter. It is also re- J commondod that the bonus to the natives J in the King Country should be A MAORI PARLIAMENT. i

Mr Taiwhanga caused considerable amusement in the House yesterday after- A noon by propounding a retrenchment Jl scheme of his own. Tawhido, he said, would accept the office of the Governor of • New Zealand at £1,500 per annum, a Maori Premier could begot for £BOO a year, and Ministers for £SOO a year each, thus effecting at one fell swoop, an annual saving, of i , £40,000. • J*' •: ' PROPERTY TAX VALUATION. Mr R, Thompson proposes to ask the Government (1) if they will give instructions to the property tax department to make valuation rolls of all freehold pro- „ perties thoroughly correct, so that locai bodies adopting those rolls may . have a correct and thoroughly reliable foundation on which to base any caee oflitigation that may be necessary from time to timo for recovery of rates ; (2) will Go- • vernment indemnify local bodies against any loes arising from litigation if it can be shown that such loss has arisen through errors or irregularities in the making up of such rolls.