HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Thursday evening.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 643, 4 July 1876, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Thursday evening.

Walla vo alrondy given, in out- issue of Saturday, a short telegraphic account of tho proceedings of Thursday evening, when (he quostion Of ranting " That tho Houso resolve itaolf into ft oommifctee to grant supply, wasconsidera.l. but the spcochos of Mr Wood for the Opposition, and Sir Julim Vogd on. behalf of tho G-jrewiniont, as indicating tha financial programme of cirlvr p\rty ara dosorving of fuller reproduction, and we therefore now c;ivo them : Mr B Wood having been called to order for crtain offensive expressions — blackguardly nould perhaps bo the more correct term — loveilol against the Premier, went on to txnlaia tho position ho held iv ro'peot to Aboliinn. Ba referred at length to what had occurred during tho session of 1874, the recess, and tho session of 1575, and said he was an Abolitionist in ev»ry een3e of the word ; but ho waa not in favour of the tying up and localisation of tho land revenue. Ho was an Abolitionist, but ba weA not a supporter of the Government proposals. t He went on to say that he and other Auckland members did not want to interfere with the other prorinces in their deairo for a particular form of government ; but Auolrfand, on the other hand, did not desire to be interfered with. Auckland had reeprcted, and would still reject, the Compact of 1556, irksome and unfair though it had been ; but at the same timo Auckland wanted a quid pro quo— wanted, in fact, part of tho Customs rovonuo ibr carrying on its looal Government. What the Opposition wanted wna this: That oach provinca should collect its own ruvenuss and pay a contribution to the General Govornmsnt, instead of tho General Government collecting tax's and doling out subsidies to tho province. Ho concluded by saying there never could bo a united Now Zealand, The laws of Nature were above tho laws of legislation, and could not bo moulded to the wishes of nun. What was wanted was four colonies and a Dominion of Mew Zealand. Sir Julius Vogel deprecated such exhibitions of personalities. The Now Zjaland Legislature stood deservedly high amongst tho i legislatures' of tho colonies, but th-ro had never been such a display of personality in the House as during Ihis session, especially that just heard, and he t hoped tho Housa would never witness tho like 'a^aiu. Fur bis own part, ho would not leply to thorn, but would leave them as they stood.; (Applause) lie then went on to say that it was not usual to make a finauchl itatoinont in the speech from tho Throne. Full inform ition on that question would be given on Tueslay. In tho meantime, he might inform tho hun gentle* mnn that although theestfimles of la3t juv had oloii ratlvn 1 sanguine, the revenue skived an morjaso as compared with lust year's revenue.

(Cheeri.) Tt w\g very repivhonsiWe fo- iiioitibprs to make ftabcuents dctrimenl il to the i-i-fcere<> I.1 '. of the country, &uc'i in os^ertinc; fianupi t,l failures, and so forth. "Parly dispute* sliuul I not be iUlowe'l to carry hon member* away n> far. A3 for the lion member's "it.itcueat of whir lio desired for Auskhud, and hh talk about tho land fund, it was o&sy to see (.hat tha object of the hon Tuomber was to show there were all sorts of diificulties in respect of the pettlement of the land question s^auJin^ in Lho wav of tho Abolition of Provinces. Now, tho faot wis, there was no &uc!i difficulty existed, and us ho did not intend to bo dra>vn intj a land question discussion that evening, he would maroly say sach would be found when the Government proposals were brought for ward. Having painted out that in 1574 the hon member for Parnell was more eager for abolition than anyone else, so eager that his only desire was to sweep away the provinces on any condition*, and accounted for the change by the fact that another Auckland member was not required in tho Ministry, tho Promiar went on to say that the Government would not touch the land fund of tho Southern province! and the Auckland provi.iro had no right to expect it. If Auckland had a poor land fund, it was her own fault. If the Southern provinces had large revenuei, it was becau»o they exacted Urge price 3 for their lands. Anyone who supposed Auckland could ask for a share of the proceeds of land which was sold in *he Southern provinces for £2, while its own land Was sold for next to nothing, mu^t prooeod on a rory one-siJod prinoiple, something like that of " what's yours » miue, and whati mine if my own." Ke had heard lately a great deal about what Otago was going to do and ■ what Auckland was going to do. It seemed to him that Auckland City was regarded ao the Province of Auckland, and Dunedin as Otago. [Air Wanders : Hear, Hear.] As for the idea of two provinses — that was absurd. The Middlo Island, for instance, would never accept tho form of Government Otago might choose to give it. What tho country required w«s this : Separate loeil government for the cities, and separate local governments for tho country districts. They had had onough of joint gor eminent. City looal government and country local government wer<s all that was wanted, whatever name it might go by, without any intermediate form of government between them and the General Government. That was the end of the whole thing, and it would bs better to continue the present form of Provincial Government than to aUtempt to build up another intermediate form of Government. (Cheers.) The motion was then agreed to, and the House adjourned.