THE LOBBIES. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1400, 23 June 1881, Page 3

THE LOBBIES. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Stationmaster for Taupiri. Wkli-isgton, Lnst Night. Mr Whytk is making efforts to get the Government to appoint a sstatiomnaster .and telegraphist at Taupiri. He argues that Messrs Whitaker and Russell's coal trucks loud there, and also nearly all the goods forwarded to the .Swamp Company, and that the place is othcrwi&o important.

The High School Reserves. The High School Reserves return asked for by Mr Whitaker has been produced. It is as follows : " No real piopcrty has yet been dealt with under section 7 of the High School Reserves Act, 1880. The Tnnsmi High School Board ; the Otago Boys' and Girls' Board; and the Southlaud Boys' and Girls' Board have been informed that the Governor will be advised to sanction the sale of their endowment reserves, on the Government being satibfied with the upset price of the land and other conditions of bale, and on receiving assurance that the piovisions of sections 10, 11, and 13 of the Act will lie strictly regarded. No mortgages have been given by the trustees of any of the reserves under section l'J of the said Acb. The Southland Boys' and Girls 1 High Schools Boaid have been informed that the Governor will be advised to sanction its bori owing a sum not exceeding £1200 from the Bank of New Zealand on the security of the sale of the reserves proposed to be sold, and all other revenues and income of the Board.

The Gaming and Lotteries Bill. In the Legislative Council to-day, the Attorney-Ueneral introduced a bill intituled '"An Act for the Suppie&sion of "Betting and Onming-houses, and for the jtfore Effectual Abolition of Lotteries. "'

The Licensing Bill. It is now Generally understood that the Licensing Bill will not pass. It h;is been aheady badly cut up. The extreme temperance paity aie entirely overshooting their mark. >ir W. Fox has tallied the following new clauses ;— No certificate toi any soit of licence can be gi anted it the memoiial against the granting of same be signed by a majonty of the ratepayers within the district be presented to the Licensing Committee, the genuineness of such signatures to bo Aerified on oath or declination in the nature of an oath before a, Committee by the peison in -whose presence the same may h.ivc been signed. If such memoiial shall not contain a sufficient number of signntmes, the Comt sh.ill excirise its di«eietion in granting or lefusing such certificate under provisions of the Act, as if no such memorial had heen pi evented, piovidcd such memorial *>h.ill be deposited with the Clerk of the Licensing Committee at least 7 days before the day appointed for the fritting at Mhich the- application is heaid Any person who m.iy h.ive been iniurrd, either in peison or pioperty, in fans, ln.vinten.vnee, or otherwise by the diunkcnness, habitu.d 01 casual, of .my other pei^on, may sue toi and recover full damages fioin any dealer m intoxicating liquors wlio habitually, or in the paiticul.u instance fioin mlhcli the jluni.ige has ansi-n, h.ne .sold intoxicating liquois to tiie poisons w hose diimkenucss slwll have caused such mjuiy, and it .shall notbenecess.uy to piovc that the pci.son .so .sued was the only one 01 the last who Um\ supplied -such intoxicating Ikjiiois in the paitieular ease " The following new clause has been tabled by Mr Pitt :--" An accommodation license shall authorise the licensee to sell jur intoxicating hquois on his pieimscs, Ah'd such licence may be gi anted on terms oi rtpanmg or keeping in lepair any load or bridge in the vicinity of such piennscs, keeping .1 fcny or pio\iduig good accommodation for traveller-!, ol - on such other fctsrnis as the Licensing Committee .shall Ifchmk fit, including the payment of a fee not evLcedmg £20, to be h\ed by the committee." Mr Sutton has tabled a new clause T)io\idin<_' for the sale of hquoi between J 2 and 2\and S ami 10 p.m. on Sundays provided the opening oil Sundays shall be at the option of the licensee, and no public bar opening to any public Ihoioughf.m; shall be open on that day. MrTole Jus tabled the following new ulauso .—". — " A confectioner's license shall authonse e\ery penson a\lio shall keep a refresh ment bouse and shall puisne theiem the ti.ulc of a confectioner, or -■bhall keep open such house as un eatinghouse, for the pui pose of selling li^ijois 1x» lie consumed therein, to sell liquors to be consumed with such victuals during such times between the Won is of 8 m the morning and 8 at night, as the Licensing Committee may direct, provided such Eiceusee shall not keep any public bar or taproom on .such premises."

Parliamentary Sketches. Everyone in New Zealand has heard of ill* KoWfc Stout, lawyer, freethinker, c\--Attorney-»Jeneral, and propuetor and loader- writer of the Dunodin Eiho. Well. Ahib gentleman lias been adding one more tstone to the monument of Ins fame by writing an article in his newspaper, in which he giavely discusses the propriety ot His Excellency Sir A. Gordon wealing — what do you think— a cocked hat ! ! T-j'o contends that, <at the reading of the «Ju eeii's Speech, the Go\einor should aland with uncovered, pote whilst he assm.es his faithful Pat iiai»J/snt of his mudyiug adnmation of everything And e\eiybo«ly, and of his intention to do ail soits of 'things for the benefit of the human lacu. "He says that if Sir Ai thur's lo\ c tor a cocked hat is so strong that he will not lay it asi4<'« then each loul and commoner should pm.e«t liimselt on such ovtaMons als>o arrajed »u pocked hat«. T3sc matter assumes the #iw r e 4 confttafcujional impoitance in the uyes> of \h' Stout, md Sir George Grey wants e\eryone to haw a cocked hat, in order that their dignity may be upheld. Fancy a tew of the so-called "Liberah" seated on Jugh-backed stools in cocked hats, and •with a harp in theiV hawte, singing Uiyinns of praise to Sir George (Jlpey, and you lsave a pi etui c of the New &e&!aud ultra-Radical in Paradise. By the way, talking of the Governor, it :nay be inlerettting to your readers to know that it is pretty well settled, that Sir Arthur Gordon is going to Auckland to meet the youn<r Prince ai Wales. There will be a gay time in the Queen of the .'Soutli. and Wellington ladies are biting their fingers off through envy. The Hoi«e has gone quite off its head on the Sobriety question Old Sir William finds no difficulty in Dairying almost anything he likes in the Rouse, and committed in the teetotal line the Uou, member ■whom up to the present time, the suspicion of teetotalisca has never tainted, having bean wishing with frantic eagerness to impose pains and penalties o.i the publicans, who seem for ti»fe present to be regarded as the root of all evil, and denouncing with outstretched arm, and flashing eye the demoralising efteeis of the wicked traffic. So they have made the Licensing Boards elective, and they have knocked family hotel licenses on the head, and then create 1, in their new-born New Zealand wisdom, an indep.nito cumber of »ly grog shops by permitting &a.y person on payment of £1 to take out # Ucense for the, sale of (( New Zealand iw&svt" so-called, of some kind and the ihir/wy «kwtonrier will find no difficulty in gewaiis»g^*:|)enny\vorthofgreaeB^!ipfcji-

ing and vitriol, called grog,in the backapartment Sir William encouraged by hissuoccss next made an onslaught on Bellamy's, ond is about to move, as I write, a motion that no liquor bo sold therein, but the gentlemen who were so apxious to make the people virtuous are certain not to take quite so strong a view of matters in their own case, and I prediot that the worthy knight will fail. I met one of your membors the other day hurrying to " the largest wooden building in the world" in a state of some excitement ; and on enquiring the cause, he informed me that he had just heard from Waikato that 10 per cent, was to be deducted from the pay of the Cavalry, and ho was off to see about it. I thought it quite possible that such was the case, as I heard of an instance where a boatman whofae charge was 10s had kept back from him a certain sum on the ground of the 10 per cent reduction. But on meeting the member later on, he told me that Mr Rollchton knew nothing of the matter, had not authorised the deductiou and would not do so. The miatake appears to be that the requisition from the office in Cambridge was only made for the pay lob& 10 percent., and that amount was forwarded. Local Government Reform. Ministers are earnestly considering the question of Local Government reform. This matter is forming the principal topic of conversation in tho Lobbies.