PARLIAMENTARY.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3606, 17 July 1880, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY.

(Pbb Pbess Association.)

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES.

Wellington, Friday. Tbe House met at 2.30. BIPLIBS.

The West Coast Commissioners' report would be printed in main. . - In Canterbury a school has been established for instruction in agriculture. It had a landed' endowment of 10,000 acres, and was open to the whole colony. Government was in correspondence with the banks for a renewal of the silver currency. The amount in New Zealand requiring renewal was about £6,7C3. It was not intended at present to amend the Land Aot in connection with deterred payment land; so as to deal under the ballot instead pf at auction. Mr J. Sheehan stated that imputations had been mads against him daring his absence which, when he got the opportunity, he would be able to reply to.; Mr Bryce moved,the second reading of the Maori Prisoners' Bill. He said that when the Government took; office the West Coast difficulty existed in an aggravated form. The £55,000 vote placed at their disposal for road purposes had, notwithstanding what i<ad been said to the contrary, been highly beneficial. Government had shown the natives that on the.one hand they were willing to deal fairly with them, and on the other hand they were resolved upon dealing firmly. Before the House was again called together he hoped to see hundreds of persons settled on the plains, and the difficulty itself completely solved. After removing the surveyors from the plains, the natives appeared to think they were bound to resort to ploughing operations to assist their rights. That was no ordinary trespass. Had they been brought to trial, they would only have received a few days' imprisonment, so that they would have been enabled to return to their district in a body. That would have been, dangerous to the peace, order, and > good government of the colony. What they proposed was to liberate a few of their men from time to time.' By that means they hoped to avert all likelihood of farther dis- , turbance. There was a fair prospect of this difficulty being finally settled, and he hoped the House would be careful to do nothing calculated to destroy that prospect. — Te Wheoro and Tomoana spoke sfisin«t the bill.—Mr Stewart agreed,that its effect would be to deprive the prisoners of the right to apply for Habeas Corpus.—Mr TurabuU also dissented, expressing an opinion that if theyreleased the men, and pointed out the reserves made for them, telling them if they disturbed tbe peace they would

forfeit their reserves, that would hare the desired effect. N Debate adjourned at 5.30.