PARLIAMENTARY NOTES. [BY TELEGRAPH-SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2186, 13 July 1886, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES. [BY TELEGRAPH-SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

The Case of Mr Steward. Wellington, Saturday. Thr chief talk of the Lobbies, as might be expected, is the Seioct Committee report, preferring such serious charges against Mr Steward, t,he member for Waimate, in connection with the sale of railway debentures, but judgment is of course suspended till tho House takes some action on Wednesday. La«t night* Times refers to tho subject and says :—": — " The repoit as it stands is undoubtedly a very serious onp, which if endorsed by the House would render Mr Steward's continued presence in the Legis. latnre decidedly undesirable, but in the vety face of their own report, it appears that the committee have either gone too far or not far enough. Either Mr Steward has acted corruptly or he has not. The report implies th.»t he has done so, but refrains from making a direct charge against him. It implies that two other members of tho Lower House were in some way in collusion with Mr Steward in his improper conduct, but ag.iin the charge U not plainly stated. This, we think, is decidedly unfair to all the parties whose names are introduced in connection with the affair."

The Representation Question. It wa^ decided at an Opposition meeting yesterday, among*t other matters, that the representation question should be brought before the House on the motion for going into Committee of Supply. There is a l.irge number of motions already on the order paper for intercepting "Supply," so that the fir->t member who succeeds in catching th« Speaker's eye will have the privilege of moving his paiticular motion before any other member can do so.

The Gold Duty. Tlie Premier received a deputation of gold fields members this morninc, who urged him to bring down another Bill to reduce the duty on gold. The Premier said he would consider matters and give a reply on Tupsdiiy next.

The District Railways Scandal. Monday. The sensation of the se«sion so far is undoubtedly the repoit of the District Railway Committee, and scarcely anything eNe is spoken, of. Judging from present appearances, it is not at all unlikely that some unli'oked for complication* m\y rosultfrcm the debate. If the House should deliberately adopt the roport of the committee, a vote of tviwire will certainly be passed on the Colonial Treasurer, and consequently on the Government of which he is such a prominent member. In that case it is pointed out tha*. the only constitutional coiina open to the Go\ eminent would be that of resignation. It is already repoited that an amendment will be moved by a Government supporter to the offoct that the evidence taken does not justify the conclusion arrived at by the committee, and if they .succeed in carrying out this, it will of course dis pose of the whole atfair ai far as the Home i«j concerned. On the other hand, it will be an extremely awkward thing for our members to propone, seeing that the committee (which is practically a jury) is composed, as in this instance, of men whose names were submitted to Mr Steward himself, and not objected to by him, have agreed on their report with remarkable unanimity, the only dissenting member being Mr Cadman. and he only dissented from a portion of the report. The evidence taken by the committee has been circulated to-day, and copies were applied fnr in all directions, so that members will be fully cognisant of all the details before the debate on Wednesday. Mr Steward's action Jn«t se*sion, when the District Railways Purchafing Bill wan before the House is just now strongly commented upon. It may be as well to state that when the Bill wa-< before the Public Accounts Committee last year the committee struck out the Wai mate line from the schedule, their reason being that it was altogether unremunerative. They found that trains were run on the line twice * week, and the earnings for sixteen weeks were only £110, whilst the expenses were £126. The House thereupon passed the Bill with the Waimate line omitted, but Mr Steward managed to get the Bill recommitted at an early hour in the morning, and the line was inserted in the schedule before the vote was taken. On that occasion Captain Sutter said he believed the recommittal would be carried, because the member for Waimate (Mr Steward) had been running about buttonholing every member. The House, I understood, then voted for it under the impression that the whole Bill would be thrown out in the Council, but it was finally carried in the Council by a majority of one vote. The following paragraph from the evidence published to-day is somewhat interesting:— Mr Steward had just given evidence that the commission he received was § per cent, on the Waimate sale and \ per cent, on the Rotor ua, and that the whole was about £1035. Mr Bryce then asked Mr Steward, " Have you ever received, directly or indirectly, any remuneration for your service in connection with the passing of the Waimate measure through the House?" "Certainly not" MrGarrick: "You laboured energetically for the passing of that Bill ?'' "Not more than for any other."— ' That is not an answer to my question."—" I didmy best for the passing of tho Bill"— "That is not an answer to the question.— "Did you labour energetically to pass the Bill ?"— "I did my best" "I asked y<u whether you laboured eneigetically for that measure" "Yes I did and for a good many more. ' " You succeeded in getting the Waimate line restored to the schedule after the House had rejected it?"— " Yes, I would do the same thing tomorrow,"—" And you did that in the small hours of the morning?"—" Yes, I would do it at any hour of the morning."— "l on.lv vant to know the fact."— "Yes. I aiii quite prepared to do io for any measure that I think it my Juty to support."

The Miranda. It is understood that tho Go\ eminent have received from the AgenUieneial a reply tn their cablegram, relating to the application to the Imperial (lovernment for I^,M.S, Miranda. The reply is not (Jfliiiito, but states that the matter has boen mentioned to the proper authorities.

The Premier Firm. Lobby cfos»,jp has it to night tint Hie Pii'inior intends to make the leport of the District Kiulwriy Committee ix (Jou'inment quostion, <\nd that ho intends taking a firm stand <»n the whole bu^ini'^s.

It 'h the tt.tention <>f the niemb< rs of the W.utnn Road Hoard at their next meeting t ' bo li-ld on tin' ,iOth mst , to strike i general rate of ,i h.ilf-penm in tie £ on ill r.itc lble property in the U .\itoa ro ul dl^trlrt fiom the Ist day of Ar.nl I&5>G to the Slit Uay of March,