PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2309, 28 April 1887, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. 1 VVkllinrton, Tuesday. The ceremony attendant at the opening of Parliament was not witnessed by such a large assemblage as usual, probably owing to the fact that'just previous to the hour of opening some, smart sbowars of rain fell. In spite of the rain, however, a considerable crowd collected on the parliament grounds, and the Legislative Council Chamber was filled with spectators, whom a large proportion were ladies. The Governor and a. large suite arrived pretty punctually. His Excellency's departure from the Government House being signalled by a vice royal salute of 17 guns. There were 17 members of the Legislative Council present, and about 50 of the popular branch of the legislature, including four Ministers, Sir R. Stout and Mr Tole. Major Atkinson was not present. The only opposition leaders being Mr Bryce and Mr Rolleston. The new speaker af the Legislative Council (Hon Mr Waterhouse) wore his robes with becoming dignity, and was stationed at His Excellency's right hand during the reading of the speech. Sir George Forestalls the Minister for LandsAfter His Excellency had taken his departure amidst another salute and the presenting of arms by the guard of honour, the members of the Lower House filett back to their chamber where the usual preliminary business took place. Sir Geo. Grey, who always studiously abstains from entering the Legislative Council to hear the Governor's speech, here took his seat in the House, and availed himself of the first opportunity afforded him of having a fling at the Ministers by moving for leave to bring in a bill to authorise the purchase of private lands for settlement. This, as your readers are aware, is one of the pet measures of the present Minister for Lands. Mr Ballance, and several members, including Sir George himself, indulged in a quiet laugh at the apparently innocent manner in which the veteran knight forestalled the Minister for Lands by giving notice of the bill. A Second Session. Various rumours are afloat to-day as to the probability of a second session. Auckland members, almost to a man, are strongly averse to the large expenditure attendant on holding a second session this yea) , , having "a lively recollection of the manner in which tlioir constituents condemned their action in bringing about this result in 1884. The Government also have this advantage over their opponents, that if they upset the Ministerial proposals the Opposition will have to take the responsibility of causing the now election to be held on the present basis of representation. Ministers hold that if the Representation Bill were pressed this session it would probably take six months to make up the new districts, and that tho election of course could not be held till this took place. A section of the Opposition, however, would inlinitely prefer incurring the responsibility of two sessions rather than allow what they consider an incompetent and mischievous Ministry to remain in office for another year. No definite action will be decided on by the Opposition till Major Atkinson's arrival, and also till the Ministerial financial proposals are brought down. RetrenchmentThe latest addition to the Ministry is the Hon. Mr Reynolds, who is a great advocate for retrenchment in the Public Service. Having no port folio Mr Reynolds merely assists the Colonial Secretary in putting the Government business through in the Legislative Council, and is thus more at liberty to propose retrenchment than the other Ministers. I hear that he actually wished his colleagues to agree to an all round reduction of 15 per cent, from the. salaries of civil servants, but they refused to do so, being no doubt unwilling to incur the odium that was attached to the bill of the Atkinson Ministry over the famous 10 per cent, reduction of 1880. Retrenchment is being effected, however, in several quarters, for instance, the future salary for new appointments on the Hansard staff is to be £250 a year instead of £300, with an increase of £10 a year till the £300 is reached. Tho number of House .messengers this year is also considerably reduced, and boys are to take the place of those messengers whose services are dispensed with. Other retrenchments are spoken of as about to take place. Hodge the Countryman. Considerable indignation has yeen caused amongst the Auckland members in consequence of the Government having granted a free passage in the Hinemoa, to a labour agitator named Hodges, who has arrived here from Auckland, nominally to witness the proceedings of Parliament, but who the members consider wholly intends to closely watch and report on their actions in the House. I hear Sir M. O'Rorke. at first refused Hodges a passage and only granted it on receipt of a telegram from a Minister instucting him to comply with Hodges' request. Employment of Barmaids, Petitions are now being extensively signed in Wellington urging the Legislature to so amend the Licensing Act as to prohibit any further employment of barmaids in hotels and licensed houses. Mr Morrinson, Chairman of the Press Gallery. A largely attended meeting of the press gallery of the House of Representatives was held this afternoon at which Mr T. Morrinson, representing the "Hawkes Bay Herald" was unanimously elected chairman of the gallery for the third time. Mr Oakley Brown, of the "Evening Post' was elected vice chairman. The Address-in-Reply. Wellington, Wednesday. The debate on the Address-in-Reply this afternoon was perhaps the shortest on record in the Parliamentary history of the colony, the whole thing being got through in about au hour. The mover of' the address, Mr Fraser, the new member for Wellington, spoke fairly well for a brief period, but his remarks were mainly a recapitulation of the different paragraphs in the Governor's speech with a few comments on each. The seconder of the address, Mr Jones, (who replaces the late Mr Coster for Heathcote), did not succeed nearly so well, as either through nervousness or from some other cause, his remarks were not only inaudible in the press gallery, but also to those members on the Opposition benches. It was rather remarkable that neither of the gentlemen had very much to say in favour of the administration of the Government, except generally in reference to native matters, and this was the more noticeable owing to their being selected to move and second the address, a task which is almost invariably entrusted to a strong Ministerial supporter. Major Atkinson rose after Mr Jones, and congratulated both gentlemen in the usual manner for the creditable way in which they had acquitted themselves, especially as in all his experience he had never known an occasion in which so difficult a task had to be accomplished out of so little matter as was contained in the speech from the throne. He said the Opposition would not attempt to waste time in debating the address, but would wait till the real business of the session was before them, viz., the Representation Bill and the financial policy. Judging by the petulant manner in which the Premier replied to the leader of the Opposition, the Government evidently expected and hoped that their opponents would debate the address, and possibly giye Ministers some clue as to the line of action proposed to be taken by the Opposition, which might he, useful to the Government before disclosing their scheme of finance. Sir R. Stout's speech however failed to draw any other Opposition member. The address was then carried without a division, and the House adjourned till tomorrow. CancusAii Opposition caucus was held this morning, which was very largely attended. Mr Thomson (Clutha) was voted to the chair. The usual secrecy which characterises all such meetings was observed as to the proceedings of the caucus, but I gather that no resolution was comq to as to any

definite courso, further than it being understood that the Opposition would watch events till the Representation Bill is disposed of, after which further action will be decided on. The party, though pretty unanimous on 'general questions, are of necessity somewhat split upon the question of representation, holding, as they do, that the matter should not be regarded in a party spirit. Appointment of Whips. Mr G. F. liichiii'dson and Mr Hirst were appointed Opposition whips for the session. Government Measures. The Government intend introducing in the Legislative Council a reform bill this session, which makes provision for future appointments to the Council being for seven years instead of for life as at present. Representation BillThere are various opinions s>s to the fateot the Representation Bill, several members incline to the opinion that with certain modifications as to area and population basis the bill should pass without much difficulty ; others expect a long and bitter fight over it. Ministers would prefer going to the country on the existing representation, but being pledged to pass the bill they are bound to make some effort to pass it this session. Another New Journal. It is reported here that Mr Haggen, late of Woodville, intends starting a bi-weekly newspaper at Petone, near Wellington,