HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Major Atkinson's Resolutions THURSDAY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2051, 29 August 1885, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Major Atkinson's Resolutions THURSDAY.

Tin Ilonsc met at 7 p.m. Mijoi Hkinson said bofoie moving the lCsolutioui he should like to .isk the Coveriiiuent whether they would take a debit.' on the whole of tho lesohitioiis, oi would they desiie to have a deb ito on e<>o'i of the lesolutions. Mi Stout said it was ,\ mostextraoidm n y leipu st foi the leadei of tha Opposition to ask ( Joveininent how he should move a noconhdence motion. Major Atkinson said he desiied to save tune by asking for one debato. If the Government did not wish to save the time of the eountiy, it was not the fault of tinOpposition. He then went on to descnb. 1 the position of parties in the House and tho position of (toi eminent in reg.ud to then followeis. They weio too weak to c.ury a no-confidence motion against fioveminent, Lint weie strong on nigh to cmnP"l the Ministty to take back all the objectionable measures. The Opposition, therefoie, feeling it vv.is not desu.ible that only one set of men should remain in office, had to consider whether ie was not their duty to suppoit any honest Government as against the piesent Ministry, and they were willing to suppnt either Mr Ormond or Mr Montgomeiy, or •any niemhei outside then own paitv, that they thought would can v on the (tovoiii hi "lit of the countiv satisfactory. Such b'liig the p isitmn of the Opp tsition pmper, they had to coiisidei what then duty to the counti.v was. If the Government debiied to ti eat tho i evolutions us a want of confidence, let them do so. Whatever the issue was, the Opposition would not shi ink from the consequences. He refened to the sp'eohi's of the Colonial Tieasiuei when he came to the colony as a visitor tiftoe i months ago, in which he said ho was l ivpaied to lestoie confidenc and prosperity to thi eountiy, and to leduce taxation. M ijoi Atkuivii no\t lefened to the existing depicssion, which |he contended had deepened gieatly Miice the piesent Govern ment took ofhee. Kefcninßto the btate of the finances, he ad nitled that thoie was deficit in 185.5-M, which had been made a gieat deal of, but by Ins (Major Atkinson's) piopos.iK for meeting the deficit theie would have been a surplus of £100,000. The piesent Tieasiuei came into ofHce with a distinct pledge to lcduco taxation gieitly, and to abolish that most iniquitous impost, the piopcity tax-, but he hid actually incieased that tax on two occasions. He contended thnt inst'ad of u'ducing t ixation Sir J. Vogel had shown adesiie to heap taxation on the country, not only thiough tin* pioperty tax', but thiough the Customs. Such was the resouicc of the lion, gentleman, and his peifoimance of the promises ho made, lli> contended that the Tieisiuei had failed absolutely to cinyont his piomisi's, and th it his utteiancos were simply electioni-eiing speeches. He had not made one honest attempt to fulfil his piomises. He had shown in evei y class of the estimates, except the Colonial Secre tniy's, that theie had been no saving effected. He did not wish to go into all the delinquencies of the Government. He had shown that theio was no loduct'oii of e\ poiiditine, and that the taxation was gieatly iuci eased. He coiisideied that he hid tieated the Government lightly, aftei the gmss |no vocation they had given the House. He refened nt some length to tho Public Woiks Fund, which more nnmedi itely concerned his first lesolution, and ~aid tli>Mo was no difficulty in ledutmg ex peuditrie under this heal if the Govern ment so dosiied. He was asking the House to pass a u'Holution that theexpunditiue for the year 188."i-H(J should not oxceed t1, 000,000, which he considered was perfectly lea-onable. He tnisfed the House would become awake to the necessity of cm tailing expendituie in reasonable limits. If not, they would have to fice a difficulty which he should not like to name. Ho thought tho country was peifectly «ound. It must bo treated by leasonable men, and if they found that they were putting more on tho lcvenue of the' country than it could bear, they should at once take steps to stop such a state of alfaiis. If they vvpnfc on at the rate of ono and a-half millions a year, how soon would it be befoio thoy got two millions ° He might be' told by the Minister for I'ublic Works that it was absurd to keep tho expenditure within the million, but ha thought there was n ttlnng absiud about it. The Government weie not acting f aii Iy to the House, as they haJ been li'ttmg laige contracts since the beginning of tho yeai. He legiettrd that the Government had not taken ono debate for the whole of the resolutions, but he should fuel compelled to speak on them separately. He thought the country was looking to the House to do its duty to the pi e-e»t condition of affairs. He contended that tho result of tho great resoiuce of the Tieasuroi for tho last twolvo months was to issue debentures to lecoup the Sinking Fund, and to increase the propoity tax by an eighth. Speaking of tho losolution before the House, he said theie would be no difficulty in bunging the amount within a million. Tho Government weie bound to show how they were to meet this largo expenditure. <\> to tho reduction of £10,000 that was taken oft the Const ibul uy, he said that it was only under prossuie this was dono. He would simply say, in con elusion, that ho hoped tho Mouse would look at those resolutions fro n a senso of \ duty. Thoro were timos wh'ii they hid duties outsido of parties to pnrform, and he ventured to think no member in the House could honestly say they were justified in incurring an expenditure of m ne than a million. The whole of tho Trea^nei's pro posals went to enablo local bodi -s to obtain bin rowed money to render the r t'\istei>eo possibjo, JJo hoped tho Housa would agro j

to the resolution that tlie oxpendituie from the- Public Works Fund for the year 18S") 81! should not exceed £1,000,000. Mr Stout siid the House and the eountiy would hi greatly disappointed with the speech of the lion, gentlem in. The lion, member was evidently afi ud to put forw.ud his policy as i whole, but moved his resolutions seriatim, m outer toe itch vote 1 -. He would ask whether this w w a manly course to puisne. He thought it was a miserable position foi the le ider of the Opposition to take. A laige poition of the lion, member's speech was devoted to the history of the intiisjuos that had been going o i dm ing the session, and had not touched at all on the lesolution before the House, b 'ing foi the most [tut an attae'e on the ■.jipi'ihcs of the Colonial Tie is nei Rj'etiingto the defeat of the Customs' tauff, li> said they found Majoi Atkinson, a pionouncecl piotectionist, votimr against the Government ptoposals meiely to gain a few votes. He (Mi Stout) contended tint they hid pissed veiy useful moasini's, such as the Hospitals and Ch.uitable Vid Bill, tha Lind I'lll and other beneficial measures. As to the Public Woiks Fund, Major Atkuison had coinpl lined tint the piesent Government had asked for two laiffo votes under this head. He contended that when the lion, gentleman was in office he had frequently inclined liabilities in excess of the votes of the House, in LSSi his expenditure was at the late of t1, 700,000 a yeai. When the present Government took office the l ate of expenditnie they hid to meet was a million and a half, and they had to leduceit to £1,300,000. The him. gentleman had also left the piesont (JovemrnrMit liable to the extent of £1,223..">(i0, and at the end of the yeir they lnd bhown a deciease in those liabilities. He denied that the Government piopos.ili weie either exti.nagant or unfair. Ho contended that instead of inci easing tho expenditure under the Public Works Funds tlu y had decreased. If they could keep the expenditure to one million and a qn liter they would bo UiOio economical th in the late Government had ever been. With leforence to the position of the Ministry, he did not believe that a maioiity of the House was against them. M ijoi Atkinson and otln-is had cuculated l.uge nuiubeis of uisidioii-, ippoits concerning the Colonial Tie.ismcr niuiely to gun ottic, but he (Mr Stout) asseited that if tho lion, gentlem m weu fm nun" a Government to-morrow he would bepcifectly willing to tike Xii J. Vog-1 into his Cabinet. Major Atkinson hid attacked the Treasiuer as a visitor to the colony, and was cheeied by Ins suppoiteis in doing so. If the hon. gentleman I.id moved his lesolutions as a whole be should be able to show a good lecmd in favour of the Government. When the piopertune came he should point out that no Government had evei stiivennioie faithfully to do the w oik of thocountiy than this one. If the House desiied a lepetition of the continuous Mmistiy, let them eject the piesent Ministeis fioni office. He said the Government when the tune came would not be ashamed of the iccoid they would leave b ■hind them. Mi M.tc.uidiew moved as an amendment, '•That it was inexpedient that a discussion should take placo on the Estimates in the foi in of a i ('solution, and that it is inadvisable to l.use tho question of a now loan until the necessity for such a loan had been shown after the Estimates had boon disMi Wak. field defended 'Major Atkinson fmni the '.h n go of the Pienner tint the foiniei was seeking nfhc-, and said that it was notorious dining tho whole session tint Majoi Atkinson wis disinclined to take action against the Government. Mi Montgoiueiy said he had come to the House this session with the deteiintiutioii of giving tho Government a geneial sup poit, but he must confess that tie fi It Kiievously disappointed by tho action of the Government. He intended it to be distinctly unde.l stood that in v otmg against the lesolution it was not because of any confidence he had in the ptesent Government. Majoi Atkinson ie,'ietted that it seemed impossible to the Piemiei to lie •inything but lun splitting. He thought it was unfortunate fm the Government to ha.c c!vis>n mhli .i doubtful siippoiter as Mr Macandievi to move tho amendment. That hon gentleman hid no faith in him (M ijoi Atkin-on), but his speech had shown that he had none in the piesi-nt Government. He thought the amendment had a voiy suspicions look, taken in conjunction with the lefiis.tl of the Premier to take the lPsolutmiis as a whole. Ho daied the P.enner to take a vote of the Housi without the amendment, but he knew the Premiei would not do so. Ho must say with all lospeit foi Mi Montgomery that he did not envy the position he had taken up on this occasion, lie thought it should go toith to the eountiy that Mi Montgomeiy was u'sponsible for keeping tho Government on the benches, a Government which that hon. gent'emaii coiisiikial it was not s.ifo in the interests of tho colony to keep in office. Kefeimig to tho Native Lands Bill, he as-oited that the bill was sent tt the Native AtFaiis Committee, and the n.iti.es wire invited to nuke nny amendiii* its they chose. Ho denied that he had made any attack mi the Tieasiucr. He had moioly quoted the Treasiu ei s speech befoie assuming office, and hid not lefeired in a deiogatmy vviy to that hmoiu.ible gentleman. He also gave an absolute contiadictiou to the I'lennoi's stitonioiit that he (Major Atkinson) had eiicul.ited insidious u-p'>it-> against the C'tloniil Tioisiner. Sii J. Vogel s ud nothing could be more iibsuid than for the Opposition to take Miy ciedit for anything that had t ikeu place dining the session. Th it ahsiudity cul minaUd by M.ij >i Atkinson, a pionoiinced protectionist, walking into tho lobby, against the tuitt piopo-.ds. He had no complaint to make against Mi Moutgoinei v, as it would be unnatuial th it that lion gentleman should look on him with kindly feelings, as he coiisideied that he (Su .1 Vngel) occupied the position in the puty which that gentleman should have tilled. Majoi Atkinson seemed to have a [tooi opinion of his finance, but he had a faculty foi boiiovving other people's ideas, and had no povvci of his own He mul he should refei to the other portions of the lesohitioiis at another tune. In teg ii 'o tin nxtmv igineo dluded to on tln> pnit oi tlic Gnvt mnieiit, he <ji.ot. d fmni ri-tiiiiis to sh.iw th.it there was <\ i<dii<tion of t'i."i,ooo ;in the p e^ -n' X tiM att's H- congratulated Major Atkinson m tho gie.itest piece of assiiianc* t'lii* ''"i'l put 'i'rii n ipeti.ited, as nun of his resolution^ pio|iiHed a leducti.»n of t.W.O'tO \vh >ri' is it was known that ( J.i\ei nui'Mit th»' us"' 1 s hid proposed to i educe tin fit bv *.'?'» 000 s.. th it rhe House was asked to tu'iit it sum of t'looo as a nocoufidence in ition. Theauieniliißiit was th"n put and can ied on a division hv, ."il to 3'). Mi Pyke pmpi<sp<l an amendment, " That the policy of the Government, as disclosed in the Public Wmks Statement, is not satisfactoiy to the House. ' The amendment was put and lost by 43 to 3!). Mi Hislop moved as an addition to Mr Macandievv's amendment, "And until the ( !ov eminent is so constituted as to command tho confidence of the House.'' Although he had been opposed dining the whole of his political life to Ma ]or Atkinson, he did not see what that hon. niembci had done to ostiacise him fioni public life, and he considered that the same wave of public opinion that sent him to Opposition would bung him back again. He should piobably take another oppoituuity to explain his views at groatni length. Captain Russell and Mr W. F. Buekland ■spoke againut tho Government.

FRIDAY. The House met at 2.30. Mr Wakefiold made a peisonal explanation. He said at an eaily houi this mom ing a division had taken place on Mi Bai ion's motion foi the adjournment of the debate. He had -voted on that motion, but was reminded by one of the Government whips that he, eaily m the evening, had paired with the hon Mr Richaidson. His having voted was owing entnely to forjjettuluess, and as tho division vvaw such a cl" c c one ho thought it only right to mako this explanation m oise his vote might be miv undei stood. Mi Sutter lesiuued the debato on Mr Hislop's amendment to Mr Macandievv's motion, and denounced the manucu in which tho Government weie spending the public money. Mr Duncan defended the financial policy of the Government. Mi Turnbull regictted that the inembei for JOgmont, when pioposing his resolutions did not Hiig-gest a remedy for misting de piession. Me oontonded that theie was no means of reducing estimates as at piesent brought down. The only change th it was be mado was a chango of men. Such he considered would be disastrous at the pienont time. They wete told that none of oldei iron In the House, were- to take offic 1 in any new Ministry, but he contended that there novcr was a time in the history of the colony, when the services of the most experienced men were more urgently H^uiredto conduct its affairs than at tho

piesent. Ho paid a high tribute to Uie honesty and integrity of the meiilui foi Ejjmont and hoped yet to be fou id follow ing him. He thought tin ic-'olution-, pio posed by the hon. membei vvvre woit'iy of the senoiis consideration of tho House. Rcfening to the e\tiavngance of the Aliiii.tiy, lie said tint extravagance was forced upon them by their predpccssoi s. He thought the Government h.id made a f.it.il ini^taki* by their action on the E ist and West Coast Rtihvay. H.ul they meiely laid telegiams on this question on the table of the House, they would not h,i\e shikcn the confidence of the House .is h.id been done. Up hnp<>d the debate would take higher ground than it had up to tlu piesent, and tint they would all act for the good of the colony. He also hoped that whatever might bo the result of the present motion, the Government w ould ask for .1 di-solution in older to lemedy the pievjnt uns-atisfaotoiy condition of .iff an s. Mr Guinness said trie membei foi Ghd atone appe.ued to have ap uticul ir avcision foi the goldfiolds, and he lost n > ci inre of condemning the go'dfiJ.iK e\ppnditiue. Ife (Mr Guinness) .submitted that tho q >ldmiuiug industiy was one of the thice Kie.it industues «f the colony, and nab desoivuig of all encouragement possible. He defended the const) uclion i>f the East and West Coast l.ulway. He intended to siippoit the Go\ eminent. Mi J. W. Thomson suppoited Mr Hi»lo|)s ameiidment, entnely agreeing with the .sentiment of it. He had nevei expi'cted any good to come from the elements oE the lnosent Government. He had hoped nj) to the time of the deli\ei y of the Financial Statement that he wot. ld bo able to give thf Government a geneial suppoit, but aftei the Statement ho could not possibly do ho. In voting ,igim>t tho tanff pioposils he was not actuated by any party spiiit whatever, and on many matteis he had given a geneiat suppoit. He might say that lie agieed gonei ally with the lesolutions pio-po-ed. Col. Trimble snpportVd the resolutions. Mi Hniathoitsc said h<* found it necessary to explain the position in which he found himself on the piesent occasion. Having been i chimed as an opponent of the Colonial Tipasiuei, lip had some general insti notions from hi? constituents as to his action. Ho considered the action taken by the Opposition was somewhat inoppoitune, and he did not desue a letuin of the state of afl.urs that prevailed last session. He asked the Opposition if they were successful in the piesent vote, would they be pieparcd to place a stable Government in office. He thought they could not do so. He hoped to see the day when a coalition fiom all sides of the House would take place, so as to foi in a really strong Government to cany on the business of the countiy s.itisf.ict Mil}'. H» contended that to institute such an efficient system of economy it was neceosary that a btrong Government should be in office. He submitted that the Public Woiks policy would nevei have been liiauguiated if it was not undeustood that the Edit and West Coast railway was to be paitof it. He deemed that the lathvay was a necessary colonial vvoik. Mi To Vo considere 1 the resolutions had been biought foi w aid in aspuit of jealoiisv, and he intended to vote against them. The debate was niteriupted by the o 30 adjournment. The House lesunwd at 7 30 p in. Mi TV An lesuined hib lcmaiks and complained of the m.uinei in which the natives hud been tieated m tiie pist. He mentioned that Messrs lJucklaud and Hairihn hid come to him for his vote on the question befni(> the House, and he thought this w,iy of soliciting votes was nnpioper. He intended voting for the Goveiumeut. Mr Hatch could not hec an\ good purpose to be gained by voting against Ministers on t!u-> question, as it was evident by the closeness of the pievmus night h division that no other set of men could ciny on tho Government more successfully than the piosont Government. He them foie into ided to MinistPis, at tiny l.ite till a dissolution was obt lined. He hoped th it a division wou'd be taken, and that the biiMiiess would <.'<> on. Mi Levestini cuticised the action of the member foi Hgni nit in bunging foiw.ud the iPMilnhon. He contendcdth.it it was the duty of that lion, gentleman to show why thi Public Woiks expeudituie should not exceed a million a-year. He deprecated thf tinvvauantable attack made by member .ifter niPinbor on the Col. Tre.i-iner. He felt that the inti in sic worth and value of that hon. member would yet be fully recognised by the country. Referi uiflf to tho motion befoie the Hoiibe he said if tin* member foi Oamaru was successful in his motion, chaos would letuin again. Mr Mo-» saiil he had voted generally with the (Internment this session. It was not because he adni'rcd tho present Ministry, but because lie saw no hope of replacing them by better men. He intended on this occasion to vote tor the amendment. He congiatulated the member for Oamaru on the amendment lie had moved and hailed it as the advent of a new party w Inch might do good work in the colony. Mi Ormond said his name had been used fieely of late, veiy often without any authority on his part. Hon. gentlemen had referred to ceitain combinations in w Inch his name had been umxl. The I'lemii'i had also leferied to intiigues, but he (Mr Ormond) had no hand in any mtiigues. He had been asked to move a no confidence motion, but without any conditions attached to it. He had, howetpi, come to the conclusion that he would nit be successful in moving such a vote, and he lcfraiusd from doing so. He said theio was nothing dishonourable in the couise he had pmsued, and he felt highly honoined at being put in such a position. He wished to say that w hen tho pioent Government dime into office he was one of tho»e « - ho gave the Premier his snppoir. The Ptemier was pledged to the lepoal of thi* pioperty tax, and proposing a 1 uid tix i,i its place. He was also pledged to a i eduction of t! c expeudituie, a reduction of taxation, and a fc rm of local government. He (\ir Ormond) had nevei pm posed to belong to a Libcial paitv, .is he had genor.illy found th.it paity had lnokon the promises they made, and weie libeial with other people's money, but notwithstanding this he had given the Got eminent Ins Mippott, as ho believed them to be cvp incuts of punciple-> with which he agieed. He contended that List ye.n the suppoileis ol the Government weie put in a take position by the legislation they had biought down in the shape of l.iilw.iy compauiesandothei thing;.. The following of the Piennei did gieat violence to their feelings m giving him --upp >rt under those ciicninstances. The Noith Island Rulvvay was only agieed to on the distinct undoi-t Hiding that land for settlement was to h> obtained along the line. Tlu ladw iy would never have b^en agieed to on any othei terms. He knew that many membei s beside himself weie dis Viti^fiod with the Government last session. Then dining the recesn they found that the position of the Piemier was usurped by his colleagues, which he considered was jtn unjustifiable thing. Refeninpto the present session he asked vvheie w.is the measure giving effect to local Government .' Whcie was the land tax which was the main plank in the Pieiniei's pl.itfoim and on which he had got into office? The grounds which tho Government g.we for not biinging down a Land Tax were somewhat extiaordinaiy. They simply meant that the Pieiniei had abindoned all his jnofessions. He contended tliat tlicie was no icdtiction whatever in the expenditure. They had also failed m this respect, m fulfilling their pi onuses. Then, with regard to taxation : last session the Tieasuier had tiken the Sinking Fund, and how was it used 1 ' Meiely to relieve the moneyed claims which he lopiesented. The Treasurer did not put b tck taxation or moneyed claims, but adopted the opposite couise The Treasuier shojld have reconstituted the taxation befoie ho had lecomse to any such mcisiiie as the Tanff Bill brought down this session. That was the taxation biought down bv a Libei.il Piennei, and if tho people of the colony did not lot him know that they would be poor lepiesentatnes of the people. Then, as to local government, the Govern ment had ptoposed to lefer the matter to a committee, but wcio told by tho House that it was not a question for a committee, but wah a question of policy. He contended that the Local ]'o lies J .ill brought down w as a miseiable attempt to bi ibe every local body in the country. That was the way in which the Gov eminent fulfilled the r local government promises. H» hoped the constituents would look into the manner in whioh they had violated eveiy pledge they had made, The Premier had said tht y would leave a good recoid when they lelt office. He had had tho honom to sit in Pailiament for many yeai->, and he never knew a Government who had so ]o r a recoid and who had abandoned all tht ir professions more than the piesent one. Even the Hospital Bill was utteily destroyed by the manner in which the Government allowed it to bo cut up. Government hating thus ab,u»'' -ned their policy still sat on the benohe^ H o wished

to say that when the Government party came to the co idii-ion tint th"y would not support tho Government, a committee of public safety was fouried, and the Government vvete told thpy nui st either abandon then policy or go. The party gave them until five o'clock, but they did not wait till thatti'ite. They took back alt their policy. He considered that was bunging party government into contempt. Tlie Premier had shown by his actions, that he was too weak to tesist the dominant mind of the Tieasiuer. He (Mr Ormond) had remained too long a member of the Government pirty, much to his own diicomfoit, but having been a puty to the (Minmittee of public sifet\, he did not consider it light to come into the Hou-c and Ciitici«o the Government measures as fieely as he might hue done He refused to behove that hoc uise paities weie divided in the House thi \ should submit to a Govern- | ment which hid abindoned every punciple t.iey .I'Ua icd. Ho would gl idly support any Government who would administer the iff in > of the colony honestly. He bohe\i"l it the Government were to b> successful on this_ \ote by a small m ii<n ity tin y would still sit on the benches. He (Mr Oi in mil) would not for a moment occupy tho p i-ition, noi did ho believe any othei liglit-niinded niin would do so. He hid In ard that th" Government were putting out tineats of a dissolution, but would like to ask what they had to go to the eountiy upon. They w ould offer bi ibes in the sh ij) 3 of railways or l oads, but they had nothing olse to go on. He then refeired to the vote under the Public Works expenditure, and saiei the question of railway manatrcm ;nt was one of the most important questions they hid to deal with. Owing unfoitunatoly to tho lite peiiod of the session .it w huh the Public Woiks Statement was- biought down, it would be impossible to deil with the question this yeai. He did not agiee with the piopo->at to appoint railway boaids, although he admitted it was a piopei subject for the House to cmsidei. He thought it would be denied by no one that the management of tho iailw,i>s was unsitisfactory, and mcmb.Ts would have to confers to their const it lents tint they had no chance r.f consul, ling the subject In his own district (Xipier), theie was intense dissatisfaction with the rail w iy management, and the effoits of settlers weie thwarted m evei y dnection. He lecommended many yeais ago that that section of lailway should be let, and he advocited that now. The [ e'tple of Napier would lejoice at having then lailway emancipated fiom the Government, and he thought the pioposat would give general satisfaction. He gave the Minister of Lands credit foi hisdesiie to administer the waste lands of the colony, but he was bound to say that his management of native affairs was most mischievous. He had done much to undo the task performed by Mi Bryce. Mr Ballance had raised hopes in the minds of the natives which could never bo fulfilled. He affirmed that the vote of the House was giv en on the distinct understanding that the Government should, dunng the recess, devote themselves to the acquisition of land along the North Island Trunk Railway. He had it from one of the gieatest chiefs in the colony, Wahanui, that he had never started the question referred to. He(Mr Ornvind)contended that the Minister had altogether failed in his duty. He intended voting forthe amendment before the House, as he believed the Government had utterly failed in their promises to the Hou c and the country. Mi Stout said, after hearing the speech of the hon. gentleman, he could not help regarding him as a disappointed member. The hon. gentleman was not a Government supporter. Ho would like to ask what piinciplo the member for Xamer had advocated in the past. The hon. gentleman had left the Stafford Government bicuiso Sir Donald McLean hid been leiuovcd from the agency of the East Coist Whit was the tixation the hon. gcitleman mentioned ? He d sued that ttpie s'lould b> no duect tixation. As for his local gn eminent scheme he contended that no membei in the Hous> kii"vv whit it in' int. The hon. g-ntlemen w into 1 to .«ffiuu that there should Le no tixitmn on luge landed pr tpeiti'js in Hiwko's Biy. Th ■ uason he opposed the Government wis because the Lmdßill, whichpiitanend to i it 1 ways, did not allow men to gt>t 1 ,nd for tr ig or from inf ints He wished Maon lmds to pass into the hands of lai{.e piopnetors and although tho House might bo anxious to displacd the pteseut Government, they would n -»t consent to follow the li'in. eentleman. The reason of his opposition to the Hospitals and Charitable Aid Bill was because th it bill piovided foi lating, which was so distasteful to the hon. gentleman. The present Government had taken one step in the direction of 1 ical giv eminent tins session by bringing down the Counties Bill and the Municipal Corpor itions Bill. They had aUo introduced the L >c 1 Bodies Bill, which was meant to putwde teforin m the (l i lection of local q >wrnment. He contended th it the Government had'iedeeined the jn onuses they made as to taxation bv the introduction of the Propel ty Bill, which if not a land tix- was a move in th it dnection. He could tell the House, when the division on the bill enneon the membei for Napier would be found voting ag mist it. The hou. gentleman seemed annoyed at not Iwing chosen leader, but he would tell him th it he would get a following ly showing he had moro sympathy with tf." people, and by showing moi e hum initm lan feehn« than heat piesent possessed. lla combited the statements of the member for Napier as to tlie Ninth Island Railway. He would like to ask wheie the men were who were to take the places of tl c Government if the vote weie successful. Ho intended on a fntine occasion to tike up <ho bills of the < invei nmjnt to piove that they weie fianip.l on Libe ,il principle". Mr Smith suppoit'd the Government, as he appioved of then measures and administration. Sir G. Giey condemned the measuies of the Government. He thought evei y word that hid been u f teied by the Piemier that night was the word of an advocate deluding a juiv, instead of the vvoik of a statesman. He said tho Piemier should have endeavoured to liitii.duce a Land Tax, even if he went out of office on it. Government had broken all the professions they had made, and it would be more honourable of the Libeial membei s of the Government to leave the benches that very night, and say they had done with Vogehsin and intended for the futnie to act with the Liberal naitv. The Piemier had built up his pie«ent position by promises he had made, all of which he had failed to fulfil, and the hononiable gentleman had not been six days in office befoie he pioved he was legislating for paiticul.ai* classes He was a tiaitor to the mteiests of New Zealand, and was falsp to his conception of the duties he should pei foi m. The Piemier had said there wasnopaity in the House to take office, but he told him there was a strong patty of which Messis Stout, Ballance and Tole were component paits. He thought such an admission caire w ith an ill grace from tho hon. gentleman. He bad taunted the member for Napier with having no compass to guide him, and desciibcd himself in very glowing terms. He would ask which compauson was thp most likely to find favour with the House. He intended voting for the amendment. Mr Balance had just listened to a -very statesman-like speech for tho member for Auckland City East. He contended that the hon gentleman had done more to wreck tho Libeial Party. [Left Sitting.]

At a recent meeting of the Scottish Land League, it was announced that Henry George received $2000 as an honorarium for his recent course of lectures in Scotland on land reform. Tvv o strangers have been arrested lately in France for making surveys oJLmilitary positions in the neighbourhood of Lille. The strangers had a plan, believed to be that of one of the Lille forts, and a Geimnn chart of the French northern frontier. One desciibed himself as a Belgian, while the other admitted that he was a German. They were assumed to be German spies. Delegates were assembling at the beginning of|July at Stockholm from all parts of the world to attend the international session of the Good Templar Order. Representatives were expected f cm Canada, the West Indies, New South Wales, and New Zealand. The Parliament House had been pVed at the disposal of the local Committee for the meetings. This is the first time in the history of Good Templary that its chief meetings have been held in other than an English-speaking country. The N.N.Z. Farmers' Co-operative Association s new advertisement appears in another column. The well-known keavy draught entire Duke of f, uc plei'f h will be offered for sale at Ohaupo by Mr Burk'and on I'uosday next. The usual servicot at the Hamilton Wesleyan Lhurcli to-morrow are advertised in another column.