The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 1885. THE COMING SESSION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2011, 9 June 1885, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 1885. THE COMING SESSION.

Jt is not often that the approach of a session of Parliament in New Zealaud Awls tj>9 people so much in doubt as to the proposed legislation, and the probable result of fhe party battles that are to be fought, Tjjo Government lias given the Press and the public very little, insight into its policy, and ifo promises to .circulate the important measures during the recess appear to have been honored jn the breach rather thai) in the observance. Except that a fe>v scant details of one or two of them have been gathered by the section of the Press which is on the spot we know nothing of them, although we have tie official assurance that they are all completed. Sir Julius Voqel gave a dim foreshadowing of what he proposed to do jfli bis Local Government Bill during his .stump speeches; but Mr Stout also wfosd on the measure, and there is reason $ Relieve that there were differences betye,en the two. How these were made up, or! whether they have been nwde up at all, has not. transpired, and Parliament and public will therefore have to wait until after the first reading of the , Bill before they can learn anything abo,utits details. Mr Ballance has a measure which aims at the consolidation of the land jtawu, which, if that is its only object, should prove very useful, for the Statue Book is: now cumbered with four Land Acts, and quite a host of others that bear indirectly upon the subject, The various Land Transfer Acts might also be consolidated. Of the proposals to amend the .Customs tariff, nothing definite is known. There is one other important measure, also to be introduced by Mr Balunee, of which something'is known, namely the Native Lands Act, by which it is proposed to establish'.southing like free trade in Native lands, 'A{l (jbe other policy bills have not yet .even Wen ja glimpse of daylight, although rumor fens,'from j time to time busied itself about them. I It will be seen that the Government has kept the public almost entirely jn the dark, although various Ministers have delivered public addresses. Then there is the same amount of uncertainty about the State of parties. The early part 4 last session saw four Ministries, each party Wing two innings, and in the three divisions by their fates were decided the majorities Svej-e very considerable. There is absolutely nothing to show that parties have crystallized, while, ;on the other hand, it is reported that for some time past that section of the Pouse held the balance of power last year has Jjseti. trying to form au Opposition. Sir .Grey, who is one of these, can, at' any rate, scarcely be looked upon as a supporter 1 of the Government, after the bitter attack which he made upon it in his last speech at Auckland. Judging by the tone adopted by Major Atkinson and Mr Bryoe in their addresses to their constituents, they are not anxious to join an active Opposition until they know something o r f the proposals of the Government, and they ,al|o have therefore contributed their quota., towards creating a feeling of uncerl tainty, There will, no doubt, be some warm work; but as the House consists' of three parties, which are pretty 1

evenly balanced, the outcome cannot bo foreseen, and the present Government, or any other that might be formed in case of its defeat, must necessarily exist to a certain extent on Hufferiince.