PARLIAMENTARY NOTES. [BY TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2176, 19 June 1886, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES. [BY TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

An Amusing Incident. Wni.uvciov, Wednesday. There was an .unu-itig incident 1 i^t night, discintiii 1^ the ihtfeiPiit opinions sh.in'd in bv tin* I'irriii.'r and tin* Ooloni il Treasurer. The Municipil Corporations Jsill was under discussion, and .1 cl.iuse ptopusmg .1 rnto of fifteen pence in-.te.irJ of a shilling was proposed by Sir K. Stout, who hi.ped the llou«o would .tgrnu to it. Everybody was ««nrpris<Ml, hownvei, when his colleague said th.it he was opposed to lexymg a rate beyond one shilling. He went on to say there were so ni.inv radical changes proposed.in the bill, th.it it would be better to have them mtioducrd 111 a fresh bill, and incorporated afterw.iids. Major Atkinson heio two and enquired with much gia\ity whether the bill was an authorised (mo, seeing that the Premier wished to enable the local bodies to levy a geneial rate of 1s 3d, whilst tlie Treasiuer wished to limit them to Is. He held it was new rxpenenco to hear the 'Pleasure* 1 lee ture his Premier as to the coinse he should pursue. After the laughter occasioned by the Major's remark had subsided, Sir .f. Vojjai said that a Bill was a Government measure, but it was customary for members of Government to express disagreement as to detail. Major Atkinion replied to this that it •mould be in Cabinet and not in a committee of the whole House. He said he wanted to support the Government (laughter) but did not know whether to vote with the Premier or the Treasurer. Finally, when the division was taken and the fiftieth pence was only carried by a majority of one, Sir Julius Vogel, amidst loud laughter, advised the Premier to postpone the Bill as the voting on his clause wjs .so close. Major Atkinson a^ain ro,e and hinted in a good-humoured manner that if the Government wished to retire to consider their position he should be happy to support nn adjournment. The bill then proceeded without further interruption.

Homestead Lands. It appears from a return laid on the table of the House th>t the total acreage of land in each Board District surveyed and now ready f»r oceuption. The homestead system is as follow- : — Auckland 4.">,l(X> acres ; Southland 2988 acres; Westland 05(30 acres. Total, s 1,(554 acres. This is a note attached to the rereturn as follows : — no homestead land can be surveyed until after selection, because the right of selection vatic? according to the number of persons in a family, and they may require from 20 up to 300 acres.

Loans and Local Bodies. Another important local Government measure, the Government Loan* to Local Bodies Bill has been introduced by Sir J. Vogel. It provides that loans may be granted by the Government to local bodies for the construction of roads, bridges, tramways, irregation works, water works, drainage, wharves, etc. Loans are not to b<? granted for either roads or maintenance, but may for a w.i»rk leconstructed after an accident, or an extension to be deemed a now work. Before panting loans the Colonial Treasurer must be s itistied that the Act has been complied with, and a special rate provided for loans may be nncur.ul partly on public works on endovvmenfr> and a special rate, but the latter must represent not le«s than ono half the annual liability for loan. Application for loan* in case of extraordinary damage or for the purpose of carrying out, pi lor engagements to have priority. If the amount granted is not sufficient, a futthcr application may b^ m.ule, provided Hi.it it does not ccceed 10 per cent of the grinr. A borough with not le-is than 4000 inhabitant* may apply for aid in the con-tructiou of a bridge or mam road. The House of Representative* may, by lc^ilution, to lie tv-sod in each financi.il year, declare whit shall be available each year for the purpose of the Act, but if no such resolution is pissed the Treasuier may make loans up to £200,000 in eacli year. The Go\erner-jn-Council may from time to time authoiisc the Treasurer to borrow any monies he is authorised to lend bv the Act from trio Postmaster-General, Public Trustee, and the Sinking fund Commission.

A Storm in a Teapot. Wr.i.UN<;roN, Thursday. The House was treated to a rather excited discussion this afternoon on a question put by the member for Kumara. He asked the Government whether their attention had been drawn to the fact that Dr Davy refused to attend a patient at the Kumara Hospital, notwithstanding that Dr Davy was the surgeon superitendent of the hospi tal at the time, and whethei the lider attached to the verdict at the mqnest on Peter Smith, the patient referred to, had bean forwaided to, and brought under Government notice ? Mr Seddon, as usual, made a long speech in support of his questioe and road a large portion of the evidencn taken at the inquest. He went on to siy that Dr Davy had acted most improperly and carelessly in rcfu>incr to attend the patient, and said that Dr Davy himself had admitted that by his not hivmcf d<>np so he wished to notify to the committee that his connection with the hospital h.td ceased. ' The Minister for Justice in replying to the question sud that Dr. Davy had attended the patient, al though he had severed hi* connection with the hospital. Mr Tole further denied th»t any rider was attached to the veidict, mid said the evidence fully e\onerated the doctor. He said Mr »Sedd<ui should be more careful in making such charges aciin^t professional men. This was qmtn Mimei^nt for Mr Seddon to move the adjournment of the House to enable him to debate the question. He repeited Ins charges ngtin^t the doctor, and said a distinct ruler w.is added to the verdict accusing Or. Da\y of carelessness. Mr Dowuie Stewart then came to the rescue by haying he knew of one case in winch a woman had diet! because a medical man had refused to attend her. After a few words from the Premier in support of hu colleague, the Minister for Justice, Dr. Newman, defended tliemedical profession from the charge made agan^t them. He said it w.u perfectly inotibti<>ns to suppose that any medicil man won'd deliberately leave a patient who he believed to be »erinu*ly injiued without endeavouring to give him home a<si«tance He Mronglv protested against inembeis making such reckle-s charges in the House when they knew thtjir bt.\tcmouts were privileged. The debate, w'nicli lasted a considerable time, was tinal'y concluded by Mr Laniach remarking that ho knew Dr. Davey intimately, and was ceitain he was inca[>able of acting in the nunner alleged by the member for Kumara. The matter then dropped.

The Elective Justice Clause. It was noticeable lust night that Sir R. Stout took charge of the Justices r>f the Peace Act Amendment Bill in committee, although the measme was introduced by Mr Tole and shepherded by him in committee for a whole night. It was surmised that the reason of this is that the Pteimer was not altogether pleased at Mr Toles openly expressed admiration for Sir George Grey's, electiveclauses, which were so ignominously defeated last night. At any rate it is a most unusual proceedings for onp Minister to take chatge of a Bill through committee, introduced by the member of the Cabinet whose department was more particularly concerned.

A Breeze. Wellington, Fiiday. The Justices of the Peace Amendment Bill in the fust stage of this afternoon led to a sharp debate, and narrowly escaped being thrown out on its third reading. The discussion arose through some member calling attention to the fact that certain consequential amendments had not been made in the Bill on Wednesday night, and Mr Tole said he would get this rectified in the House. Major Atkinson protested against this loo^e manner of conducting business. A brisk debate followed on the bill itself, during which Mr Peacock moved that it be recommitted with a view to the consideration of Clause 2, his object being to strike at that portion providing that chairmen of road boards should be justices. Mr Tole at once ro^o and made an excited little speech, in which he strongly opposed its recommittal, and that if there was anything wrong with the bill, the House nas to blame and not the (toy eminent. Mr Rolleston said Mr Tole \v.\s becoming nn apt pupil of his colleagues, as the}' were always di?elainnng responsibility for everything; and putting it on some oixp el-< j . The Premier then " went for ' Mr Rollerton. He paid he adinned his viitiious indignation. Sir Robert thought Mr Kol- ] leston's intention was to re-open the whole question of elective justices. A whole host j of members joined in the disciwaion, but j

(iovernmont gained their point by ft majority <>f fmir, .md tin* bill was paonod. It is never i'\|ject«'l t'> rnifijfc frmn tho Council except in * iiintil.itcd fmin.

Representation. Tin 1 (loveinmfiit lino finally decided on dealing with the repn^fntation que<tion thn session, and al-n with the amalgamation of city olfct'U itc-< Tlip statcnipnt of their uitctitiMtiH \\\ tins respect is to he made on Tuesday.

Education and Local Government. It is jftMier.»lly Miiniised that when th« Public Winks Sutcim nt is tuought d<twn, tlio vote fur sciin-il building thnmnhout tho colony will lx» thtmni nn local bodies. The TrtMMiriT hinted that thi> would \m tha caso a d.iy .ig», by ">.\yuiL' that what wm jienni^^ive one year niignt be mandatory next year.