POLITICAL NEWS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2025, 30 June 1885, Page 2

POLITICAL NEWS.

[ll\ TFI Kf.KAPH.— SPKCIAI COKIII <%PCNM)KN T 1 The Government and the Property Tax. Wn i iN(.ro\, Thk motion yesteid.iy by .Mr Thorn Him for the mciravp of tlio Property Tn\ is regarded a« one of direct u.inf of conhdr»ncr in tho Mmiitiv, hut I h.i\o Mr Tlioin«i>n'' ttHsuiniico thnt ho had no such intention on moving it. The courno he piir^iird nns taken wholly on Inn own reKpoimbilitv, without consultation of .my kind His idea w.is tli.it Minwteis niiffht re then way tonecrpt the motion, m which C.isii those objectinii.ible now customs ! dutioß would not be lequned. Iftho (»o\eminent pcisivt m rt^.iuhnj; the motion ni »nn of no confidence, Mi 'I homson intends to withdi.iw it, as it is not tho object to make it .1 p.uty (juestion.

Intentions of the Government. Thoio .ire sovcial uinioiiis aflo.it .ih to the course the (Tovcrnnicnt will adopt if their policy bills .ue lejeeted by tho House. Many members consider th.it tlic l'le.i of ,1 diisoliitinn is ,m absiiid w.iv out of the difficulty, and thnt Ministoi.s themsehes are not likely to risk Mich ,i coin so, as they would Buffer most by ,vi .ip|ie.d to the country on account of the nnner^.il condoiHUAtion of their fiu.uici.il pioposals. Others are ofopinionth.it HirJ. vogel is siniply m\itinp defeat, «o that he can throw orer lm prewent collcipnes ivnd pndr.iTour to brintf about a coalition with .Major Atkinson wlio has about 30 rnliablo followers in the House, Sii J. Vogel been credited with 22. A^nin it is thought not unlikely th.it fis Minuter-* are well awnre that there is no desire to turn them out tbirt nenßion, they may take ad\ ant.tge of thic, And precipitate a crisis by insmtinp; on their mc.»»ures being passed. The meeting will no doubt come to twine definite dceinionon those matters.

; The Financial Debate. 1 The first great debate of tins sesmon, '< which was looked forward to almost as ' eagorly an tho Financial Statement itself, • whh dull <md di»appointing in tho oxtieine, and although \aiious re.iwms are »i*»Hi^fin.»cl for it* fuluio, nobody M-cmcd able to - account for the half he.v ted mannei winch tho leaden of tlic House last night addiessed themseluM to tho task befoie them. If the lound of cheeis winch greeted Majoi Atkinson on iism o ' to speak was any cnteiion of wli.it was expected of him, his supjKirtprs must h.ue been far fiom satisfied with the mannei in which hnfr.unid Ins indictment against ministers. [ M.vjor Atkinson's tone all thiough seemed , to implj th.it ho was either lending a i forloin hope, or th.it no definite .iction » was likely to lennlt fiom his speech. As to • tho latter inference it w.is of course ; well known that the Leader of the Opposi- , tion h.id no intention of concluding with a • hostile motion, and it was probably owing I to this circumstances that tho Major's s usually aggrevino manner and readinoss ; of npeech m attack wore not so apparent, s Some, of hi« prominent supporters j assert that he acquitted himself admirably [ in what he undertook to do, as ho was not mnting a no-confidence motion, but simply • reviewing the Fnancial Statement ; but the fact remains that on a Mibiect of Mich importance to the country Major Atkinson h I lead olf was not by any means ono of his ■ lhippiett effort-.. The same icm.uks upply i to Sir Julius Voxel's leply. In f.vet, the Tie.isnrur w.c< seldom to such dis.uivnn- ■ t.tge .ts on this occasion, and the bantenmj and flippant manner in which ho replied to tho most telling points made by tho member for Kginont would have been highly entertaining if it weie not so manifestly out of • place. To do him justice though, Sir Julius appeared sninewliat "out of sorts" last night. Boides, his painful affliction, winch ntill compels him to address tho House in a sitting posture, mam the effect 1 of Ins Hpeech on big questions of policy. When Mr Wakeheld lose after the supper 1 adjournment, the galleries and the House f iUelf were Htill well tilled, his speech being looked forward to as a means at all events [ of enlivening the debate. Strango to *ay, ! tho reality again fell short of expectation, ' as hii last night's deliverance wan not to bo ' compared as an oratorical effort with his brilliant wpoecli on the i3udaet<<cist year, whun he held the House alnuist spellbound 1 for a couple of hours by his readiness and well polwhcd sentences. His speech last | night was no doubt the best one we had, but lie was not in ins happiest vein, and the 1 House seemed boicd by the whole business long befoie he concluded.

Rifle Match. Monday being an "oft day," the Press (i.iilery intend having a day's outing in the shape of a, rifle match between sides chosen fiom the (Jallery of the House of Representatives. The match is between special f'.ultamentary correspondents and Pat hamentary repiesontativesof tho local papers. The following gentlemen will compiiso tho respective teams : —Spccml correspondents : Messrs K. K. X. 'Iwopenny (Otago Daily Tunes), T. Morrison (W.ukato Times), Y. Hamilton (Lyttelton Time*), J. A. l'hilp (Auckland Star), Whitely King (T.ir.m.iki News), W. K. Bishop (Westpoit Tunes.) Local Pross lepresentatives : R. T. (Jillon (Kvening Pout), J. Humphries (Piess Association), J. Oakley liroun (Kveniug Post), A. I!. M.insford(Kwniiij,'Piess), T. i»undas and P. (JaUin (New Zealand Times.)

The New Tariff. Wkm im.iok, Mondaj'. The meeting of members opposed to the tariff was hold this morning m the Paihamentary Buildings, but was not nearly so well attended an was expected, only about 2."> putting in an appearance. Mi Vincent Pyke was \oted to the chair. Nothing particular was done except th.it the resolutions passed at the committee meeting hold last week were adopted. It was resolved that the resolutions should bo placed beforo Ministers by thu chati man and Mi Pearson, who ucted as secietai>, and who, by-the-way, only a week or two ago moved the Address in-Reply. Auotliei meeting will bo held when tho reply of tlio Ministry t<« the deputation is known. The present analysis of the House is th.it 51 mombcis out of 87 (which is. tho total voting power that can l>e exercised at piesrnt, owing t<l illnt.sK of ineinl)i'is and tlio two vacancies) arc pi c) >ared to oppose the tantT, even if such opposition nhnuld mean the icsignation of tho Mnusti v.

Sir J. Vogel's Claim. According to the Litest Lobby kohmp, overt nre- li:i\ «• been made to the leaders of the Opposition by a prominent (ioreinuicnt supporter to asccituin whether the Opposition would lie willing to voto tliu mini of Jt!i>2."Jo, claimed by Sir .lulius Vo^pl fm negotiation of the lo.in of 1X7!) SO, tho idea being that if Sir Jtiluut' "cl.unn" are nettled on co for all ho would tm^r.itc to one of tho other Colonies, and m.iko hi- w.iy back to the Old Cnuntiy. The ()[>poHitidii of coUrso saw through the little game, and lefimcd to onteit.iin the propoM.i), although they con-ider it would bo a cheap hnrgain fur tho culony in tho loiiß i tin. I tinderAt.ind the whole <inc-ti<iii of the TruaHiirerV claim will be opened up (lining tho scKHion and deculed definitely one way or thu other. Kmn./in --.iys Sii Juliu-> in vriy anxious foi a sc ttlemeiit, ah» w.mtH t«. "cut" tho wholtj conu'iu, lieinir unuhlo now to cany eveiythm^ In fore him in tho Hotno a- he w.a- acciitomed to do in the old Vo^eli.m period.

County Matters. A iiipetijiK of members inteiested in county iimtteia wib hold this morning, and about 40 attended. The proceed ings lasted a considetable time and gave use to a long discussion, but, tho meeting eventually bioke up without ally dofimttt tesolutioii being arrived at.

Rumoured Split An the Oabinot. An apparently w«ll-founded nimoui vr.m afloat to day th.it Sir Julius Vogd and the Premiei had regul.irly " bust up" on Saturd ty, .md the runioui was spread all ovei tin- city and geneially b'lievcd up to the tnni> of wilting. However, nothing liioie w.ii licaul of the atf.in, and it is thought tho little " imntiudct standing," if •my did occui, has l»eeu iquared.

A Report Denied. Tlio I'iciiiiti Ims denied the tmth of tlio repoit 1 -.ent jnn ye*terd.iy Unit lie i-> about to be marie (Jlik f .Justice, but it is ficcly rttnti'fl tli it otii- of tin- chiof objects Mi •Stout li.ul in \i''\v wlii-ii lie iiio\(>d forwnrd at tlio l.iit nlpction was to ni.vko tlio iVltorncy (Jonci.iKhip a stepping htono to tho position of C'luef JuutH o.

A Political Skit. " FulF," the humorous writer of " OigarettCH " in the 10s oiling Pruns, lion tlic follow - ing in to-night's imme in, reference to ttiu rumours that nro now filling the iur, and which I Hont you ye«ter<Jny :—": — " 'Thoy way .Stout in to be Chrof Justice, and Atkinnnn is to joiiv VogoL' ' Who says ho? ' 'Oh ! tho ma.ii in the street, and ho is always rif{ht you know.' ' ' But is not Sir James Pi fiidergaxt Htill alive and ablehcidicd.'' 'Oh i yes, he's (initu well, tliauks ; good, foi ton .voivrtimuiu wyik if ho

mi chooses. The Bench is favourable to longevity. Thero's no intention uf killing off Sir Jamei to make room for Stout ' 'How is it jjoing to ho managed th«n*\ 'Oh ! they talk of nuking it uoitli.Sir.T.unes' whilo to retire by increasing the judgessalaries and pension?.' ' Whew ' that's com ing it ationg theso hard times Hut do you think the thinif will goo?' 'N<>; I fancy ' not, I dun t beltcvo the Major would bother liiniHolf In join Vi>gol now. Lint hphmidd it wouldn't soit him, but now tho Vof»el bubble h.is pretty well buiht, jind thn gulduii gl.unoui "fndod aw.iy.' " The Press Rifle Match.

The riflo mnteh between the special cor lexpnndent* in the Picks and P.irli i tnont.iry repro-.entiiti\oi of tho local IV-km took place this aftcmoun. Tho match ro lilted in a win for tlin local Press, who scored 211 pciinU a^'uimt 112 contributed liy their opponent-*. Tho hig!ic<t on each *<ide were (»ray, who m.ido J7 points for the loc.il men, and Moni-oii who tupped the ■score fur tho " spi ci.ils " w ith r>or >0 points.