PARLIAMENTARY

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2937, 29 June 1888, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY

Legislative Council,

THUBSDAY,

The following motions were' agreed to yesterday in the Legislative Council: 1 -That, in the opinion of this Council a fair interpretation of the provisions of the Parliamentary Honorarium Privileges Act, 1887, and the advice of the Attorney-General, in obedience to which the Speaker certified for payment the vouchers under -which sums of JC2S were after last session drawn for expenses by certain members of this Council as members of the General Assembly, perfectly justified those honorable members in receiving the amounts so paid to them. 2—That, as tlie Honorable the Attor-ney-General lias assured this Council that he had declined to give an opinion whether or notsuchpayments were legal, and as the Government does not appear to have obtained or sought for an independent legal opinion in support of its demand for repayment of the amounts so paid, such demand was premature, and that it is a matter of regret that these suras, or any of them should have been repaid until the right of the Treasury to such payment should have been tested in the Supreme Court. 3. That it is the duty of the Government to prevent the possible recurrence of transactions of so undesirable a character, by introducing a Bill making such amendment in the Parliamentary Honorarium and Privileges Act of last session as may effectually remove all ambiguities, real or imaginary, in that Act. House of Representatives. In the House yesterday, several private Bills were introduced and read a first time. Other business was not of great importance.