HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2047, 20 August 1885, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

TUESDAY. The House met at half-past two p m. Mr Macarthur gave notice to ask whether the Government have received any intimation as to tho resignation of the Agent-General, and if so, whether they have entered into negotiation with any person as to his successor. Sir George Grey gave notice th.it toinottow he would ask Government whether they intended to undertake the construction of the K.ist and We*t Coast Hallway, so as to connect Christohmch and Hokitika. On the question being 1 put that the resolution fiom Committee of Supply lie lep >rted to the Hou^e, a long discussion ensued. The resolutions weie then lepoited to the House. On the motion for committal of the Otago Dock Act, ISB3, Amendment Bill, was carded after a long debate. Mr Tole moved the thud leading of the Coioneis Act, LSO7, Amendment Hill. Tho Bill was then lead a thud time and pashed. Mr no.ll.ince mo\ed the ooininitt.il of the Lnnd Bill. He said the Bill h.id been subjected to the cemest loutiny by tlie Waste Lands Committee, and hocoiisideied the ainendincnts made by the committee had on the whole greatly nnpnned the Bill, although some of them would no doubt be objected t>. He then detailed the nature of the amendments made by the committee. Sir G. Gicy said he had listened with considerable disappointment to tho spcedi of the Minister foi Laud*-. HecoiiMdeicd the Ministei had m>t understood tho amendment-, mule by the committee. ,H' S imn opinion was tint Ciown lands weie the propel ty of all. Ho contended tli.it the most iinuoiis conditions weio imposed under this Bill, not only on defeued payment settlement, but on those connected with village settlements and small fauns. He consuleied the piesent Mmistiy weie deserving ofceiisiue foi not fuliilling the jiionnses they in ide as to imposing .1 land tax, and ho scvou-lv lil lined them for having &hi nuk iiom a task which would leni'.'dy the evils he cnmpl uued of. He held the opinion that in the piesent time of depiesoion (io\einment buy up some of those large estates which weie at piesent lie i\ ily moitgaged, and let them out on peipctu.it leases. In tins m inner l.n ge ti acts of countiv, in the Smith Inland, especially, could be tinned into populous distiicts. He thought such a plan as he had sketched out would c.uiy peace and happiness into many hoine>. He should take a fiuthei oppoituiiity of speikinp on tho bill as it passed th tough Committee. He thought the Mews he had put foith were worthy the adoption of the House and the countiy. Mr Stout also agiced that tho Crown 1 mds should be the common propeity of all, but not without payment, as suggested by Sir Geoige Grey. He asked what right they had to give away Crown lands to particular individuals? He contended that condition of payment should be affixed to common pioperly. He thought if the doc time was adopted that Ciown lands were the common piopmty of all, that individuals had no ritrht to that pioperty. He understood Sir G. Giey was opposed to the pcipetu.il leasing system, and yet he ad located th it system m his speech. He considered no scheme moio d.ingeious Mian for the Government to go to piiv.ite owneis to puicha>c their linds. Ho said Sir Geoige ('ley had pioveuted the land ta\ being imposed by the in inner m which In* had gone about the countiy sneaking on the to\. He contended tlnit the lion, member hid by his .11 Linn del.i\i>l foi ye.ns any hope*, of a land tax brin o r imposed, as he had thoioi.ghly ,-daimed tho 'cuintiy on the subject The lion, membi'i had frequently taint .1 th' 1 piesint Govcruuent on tins hoad, but lie ( \l\ Stout) as-suited that he li.id not g.vi'ii any is-istmoe whatevci to vi, rds pissing lilier.d m '..sines of any kind. Me tlv night th" in re fact of the present Government bringing down a Bill was sunV'H'nt f<r Sir G •• »< Giej f to vote aj; mist it, even if such <t Bill was brought down on tht* I'iies .ihoc.ited bv tho lion gentle'iiui him- l lf \«. f'»r hi reurirks on the Bill I'sdf, he (Mr *•*••„„(;) thought theie was nothing in them that h could reply to, as Sn Geoige Giey had not nnsteied t'-o contents of the Bill. Mr J. Maikcimo thought tho Bdl now before the House was of great value, inasmuch a» it icpe.iled no less than sixteen statutes. Mr DovvmeStewait regietted that such an impoit.iut Bill had not been befoie the HoiibO at an e.nlier penod of the session. He depiecated <i perpetual system of tinkering at Div laud laws, which had donemoie to duve aw.iy capital fiom the colony than any other cause. He hoped the Bill would not pass till it w.ii very carefully scanned by the IFoiisp As for the MacKen/.ie clause, ho thought the idea might be good, but it was veiy clumsily earned out. He hoped, if the Bill passed this session, it would be allowed to lemaiu the law for at least five oi ten years. The House went into Committee on tho bill. In clause 2 Sir George Giev moved to stuke out the woid October, and inscit November, and the time when the Act shall come into force. The amendment was canied by 44 to 27. Clause 12 was amended so as to piovido that the Governor in Council may assign or change names of places or localities. Sir Geoige Gioy moved a fuiHier amendment, " That the Governor, with the consent of the local anthoutics, nmy as iign the names of localities," but afterwards withdiow it, so as to make it apply to altering the names of places. The amendment was lost by 38 to 20. A lengthy discussion ensued on cl.uisp i?S, pi oviding foi bicach of Land Act punishable by impiisnnment. Mr Downie Stew.ut moved to inseit "That any pei.ion guilty of .i bleach of tho Act shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding tTiOO, in addition to a twin of uupusoiimdit not exceeding thico nioiith'*." The amendment for £")00 ))enaHy v\ is lost on division by .T» to 25. The clause was amended by inserting th<i wnid "wilfully " bofoie tho woids " guilt y ol conumttiiig any bieach of th(> law. ""Tlie committee divided on the question th it the clause as amended stand pait of th' 1 oill. _ AycK, 37 ; noos 20. Tho clause was canied. ClaiißO Jl4 for tho establishment of Land Bonds, being i cached, Mr Scobie McKonzio hooed the Go\ eminent would consent to i eport progrcsti, as it was nearly 1 a.m., and the Land Board clauses woie veiy liupmtant ones, Consideiablo discussion ensued, in which

Mr Ballanco and Mi Stout urged that tho committee should go on fnrthei. Mr Holmes Imped tho (io\ eminent would t>how some backbone, and po on with the business. Mr Donald Reid eventually moved tli.it progress bo lepoitcd, as he deprecated hasty legislation of tin-. Kind. Aftei half .in horn's discussion, Colonel Tumble suggo-ted that the clauses lelating to the Land Bond be postponed, and some otlu'i clauses be taken. Mi I3.ill.inci 1 ngieed with that pioposal. Sn (J. Giey lioped piogross would be repotted, as membeis weie not piepired to discuss tho most unpoitant principles of the bill it such a late hour. The motion for lepoiting progiess was put and l"st on a division oy 34 to 18. Clause-. 34 to 42 were postponed. On clause 42 being l"'t, bir G. Grey moved that theconsideiation of the clause be postponed, which elicited .mother discussion. The postponement «f clause 42 was lost ou the voices. Su (i. Giey m >\ed to lepmt progiess, w Inch was lost on the \ outu t s. On clause 48 bei'ig ie icheJ, Mr Ballance moved to lepoit piogiosh, which war agreed to. The House lose at twenty minutes to 2 a.m. WEDNESDAY. The House met .it 2 30 p m. Rcpljmg «■<) (niestuuis, it w is stated thtt the Government had lecived no liitim ition as to the Agent-Ueneial'*. icsignatiou, ; that the whole matter of pnvato sidings on railways was to be ie-consideied by the Government; tint nifoimation as to the intention of Government inspecting the Hast and West Coast l.nhvjiy would be found in the Public Woiks M.\t'Mi, L nt. The House, went into committee on the Pnn city Law Consolidation Act Amendment Bill which passed through the committee w ith an additional clause. The House wont into committee, on the New Plymouth Exchange Competition Act Amendment which passed without amendment. The House went into committee for furthei coiisideiatiou of the Luul Bill In clause (it!, in the case of foifeituie, i>av mint to be m the di-cii'tum of the bo.nd. Mr Don dd Xi id took e\te)>tion to this clause pointing out that groat h.udslnps would icsult to small holdeis, who in case of forfeituie would lecene no compensation for lmpiovements.. Mr Scobie McKen/ie moved to omit ft ou) the clause the woids subject to the appiovalof Government. The amendment was lost on a division bj> 41 to 10. A long discussion ensued on clause (>4, pioviding that lea-es etc. to be Mgned by the commissioner and covenant and conditions as to vent, tr.uisfeis etc., operate as if inspited in all crises. Mi Donald Reid moved to sti ike out the words "cveiv lease and leases shall be .subject to covenants e\piessed by the Propeity Liw Consolidation Act, 1883, in relation to payment of rent, and distress." Mi Balance agreed to accept the amendment, The House rose at 530 p m. The House resinned at 7 30 p m. Clause 70, that tho boaid may hold an enquuy and cancel the lease or license in certain cases. Mi Pyke moved the following addition : "Provided always that the bo.ii ds have discietionaiy p >wer to dis peiise with peisonal lesidonco ou satisfactoiv leasons being given for non-iesi-dence.'' During the di^cns-um which ensued, Mr Pyke t-aid the laud lawh of the colony woie penal laws, and he should in all cases treat this bill not as a consolidating bill, but as a nieisine to amend the law. lie alluded t> the compulsory action of the Otago Luul Boaid, wheie a gul was piovented fioni sleeping in hei father's hou-e. Mr Stout said that in tho case alluded to, theie had been a deliberate evasion of tho law. Sn (Jeoige Giey said the people in respect to land weie no bettei than slaves. They weie c impelled to pay for thenland, and then nil suits of haul conditions and lestiictions weie imposed on them. Thi'j had no lepiesentation on the land bonds, for the members of these boa i da weio nomin ited by the. 1 uidowners. Mr Kolleston said the effect of Sir (i. Giov's tuguments v.as to do a-vvay with conditions being imposed. Su (i Grey said he was niging m favour of conditions w ithout money payments. Mi Iveas did not think that uuifoim conditions of lesidonce f>ifii\yeais would be calculated to advance settlement. Mi Pyke contended that the niesent Minister of L'inds as well as the late Minister weiemeie theorists and had no idiiiofthe piopei way to settle tho people <u the land. Speaking of the piesent system, he .said whole families weie driven to leave tho c.ilony because of the h.iiahnes^ of the lmds lio.ud, of Otago. Mr Ballanco sni-l the object of giving the boards tho powers eonfeued on them was to piovent dnminbiii H» hoped the committee would not accept the amendment of the meinbsi foi Dun tan. Aftei some fmthci discussion, Mr Pykes prov ision was finally can lud on .a division by '.V> to 34. ' Clause 7<> pro\ iding that on foi feitme the Defjnod Payiiunt Coni-nis-ioivM miy mi.foi anoais. Mi Den Id Reid moved th it clause be struck out. The amendment wn . lost by 35 to 24. In clatiseiO'i, tuoviding th il if there arc seveial iipphcati >ns the land is to go to auction, Mr Ivc»s moved that in the event of two persons applying for one section the land shouli go to the poi»on inst applyii)!!, and making it a penal olfeuce to wiongfully vvoid the application as to the tima when they were leceived. Mi Ballance s-aid that would not be pract cable. Mi Duncan suggested thit "public coin))etition by tendoi" be stiuck out, and " ballot" inserted. Mr Ivess accepted this, and witluiiew his amendment. Mi Duncans amendment blicited a lengthy discussion, and was lost by 38 to 27. (L>ft Sitting.)

Pi:rry Dyvis, the oiiginator of the celebrated " Pain Killer," has for the past 15 yard lieeu an inmate of the Mercer County, l\i., almshotae. He i" insane A majority of the London School Iknrd has just lefined pei mission to tin 1 managers of a Jewish school m the East End to open their plajgtonnds on Sunday Tin: largest gun yet made is liemq con atiuettd.it Woolwich Aisuial. It will weigh 12 >0 tons, idlmmuc 1-Sft Sin. in length, aivl .Ift. win. in d..i.m'U'V .\t the laigest pirt, ami have a l(i null bore. At Nteynmg, a cow man, hung annoyed by a little hoy, in icvengc tied tiio child to the hind legs of the cow. The terrified animal bounded away, and the poor boy met a most cruel death. The cowman is charged with manslaughter. The degradation ot women among socalled civ limed nations probably teaches the lowest depth in Saxony. The American Consul at Dicsden, in a recent report to the State Denai tmeut, gi\es a giaphic pictuic of one phase of life in Omiany in the following language :— " I have heard it estimated that women and dogs, harnessed together, do more liaming than the railroads and all other modes of conveyance ot goods united. Hundreds of small waggons can be seen every day on all the small roads leading to and f torn Dresden, each having a dog for the 'near hoiso 'harnessed, while the 'ofF hoise'isa woman, with her left hand grasping the waggon tongue to give (Unction, .mil the light hand passed thiough a loop in a rope which is attached to the a\le, binding her shoulder. Thus harnessed, woman and dog tiudge along together, pulling niiiaculous loads m all sotts of weather. Tin: piogiess ot (science dining the last hunched yeats is icreiwng a piaitical illustration just now at New Y'oi k off Port Morris. In IS7O the Hiitish fiigate Hussar sink at the spot with a million sterling on boaul, which was to ha\e been uvd for pa) ing ancais due to the Huti&h troops. A few unsuccessful attempts have been made from tune to time to mover the money, but it i& o^ly quite lately that the full resources of science line been turned to the task. The Hussar is under ninety teet of water, and is covered by a mass of mud and stone to a tuither depth of some si\ty feet. When all this has been dulled thiough, theie is to be an elaborate annngeineut of suction pipes, poweiful enough to diaw np stones font inches thick, and if these fail, a laigc pipe five feet in diameter, will be sunk to the true bottom of the nver for men to work m. The inevitable company — the " Tieasure Trove Company "—" — | which has the job in hand look confidently to " strike gold " at an early date.