POLITICAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2323, 31 May 1887, Page 2

POLITICAL NOTES.

-.[BY "iICIiKGRAPH. —HLMiiCIAri.. REPORTER.] The Dissolution. ■ \ W IiLUNC/i'ON, Saturday. JThis Premier iiacl an interview with the .Governor this afternoon, and a;,long Cabinet meeting was held w-ajrds' at Sir Julius Vogel's residence, at which all the Ministers were present. Nothing has been as yet disclosed as to whether his Excellency will grant ~a, dissolution, but it generally'consideredithat •ho will do so on certain conditions. Ministers are anxious -feo-obtain six-months' -supplies,' dating from the 31st of March last, and if the House agrees to this, I understand the Government will pledge themselves to go to the country on the new Representation Bill, |tlie- intention - being; to hold; the, general elections in August, in which case the hew Parliament would meet in September next. Prom what I can gather, the Opposition are not inclined to grant supplies to a defeated- Ministry - till September; ; Theit contentionis" that'tlie new boundaries of the Representation Bill will not take More than a fortnight to adjust, and that the new House should assemble in ,August at the latest. Tt is unlikely, however-, that any reasonabletime asked for will be opposed, and a compromise of three month? supplies will probably be.,agreed to. Ministers appear confident of coming back froir the elections with a-goodjmajority,.but tohej are expected to lose considerably in Auckland and Canterbury. A Consistent Member. j The new member for Port CharnTers, Mr James Mills, who is well-known to bee i staunch free-trader, was classed ainorig ithe " doubtfuls " in the recent division, but; Ik was generally supposed to have a leaning towards the Opposition, ;ir consequence of. his. close-. friendshi[ 'with this Hon. George''McLean. "Mr Mills. I understand, had really intended voting with the Government, provided thc> abandoned their tariff proposals, but being absent in'DuMdin, nothing was known foi certain as to his. vote. A telegram was rbrtc from him yesterday, enquiring whether the Government'adhered to their tariff; and r reply was forwarded in the affirmative. Mi Mills also received another telegram from : prominent Opposition member, to the effeel that Sir Julius Voge'l delivered a stronf protectionist speech yesterday afternoon and this decided his vote, as he wired late last night asking for a pair against the Government. Some surprise was expressac that the Premier made no effort to prolong the debate till next week, but there is nc doubt that Mr Mills' telegram convincec him that the case was hopeless. Katem also had absolutely refused to vote witl Ministers, which gave the Opposition : majority of two, even without Taipair and this of course increased the actual majority to 42 against 3S. Incidents of the Debate. It was a matter of some surprise durin; the debate that only two Ministers, tin Premier and the Colonial Treasurer spoki on the no-confidence amendment, and onlj two of the Opposition leaders, Majo Atkinson and Mri Ormond. The Premie would undoubtedly have followed M Ormond, as he 'usually does, but for thi fact that he had to reply to Major Atkin son, tho Colonial Treasurer having already spoken. Mr Ballance, of course, was tole off to follow Mr Bryce, but the niembe for Waitotara took no part whatever in th< debate. It was particularly noticeable too, that although Mr Ormond stronglj attacked botli Mr Ballance on the lan< policy and Mr Richardson 011 the publi works managements, neither of the Minis ters uttered a word in his own defence although both appeared to be makiDj pretty full votes of the metnbe for Napier's speech. The Governmenl were evidently compelled to fall back on M Seddon's speech as a reply to Mr Ormond and it was amusing to watch the eagernes with which members quitted the chambe when Mr Seddon rose, especially as M Ormond had kept a largo house together fo nearly an hour and a-half. Midland Railway! Contract, The explanation offered by the Ministe for Mines of the hitch that has occurrec over the signing of the railway contract i that the proclamation which was intendec to revoke the former gazette notice, reserv ing the level land for mining purposes, hae been actually sierned by the Governor 01 the 11th March, but through some over sight in the Mines Department the docu ment was never gazetted. The notice wil appear in the next issue of the Gazette. The Cabinet. I hear that a re-arrangeinent of Ministers portfolios is contemplated, but none of thi Ministers will leave the. Cabinet. The re arrangement will not affect Sir Juliu Vogel or Mr Ballance, who are both to re main as Colonial Treasurer and Ministe for Lands, respectively ; but it is possible that Sir Robert Stout may not continue ti act in the dual capacity of Premier anc Attorney-General. A Sensible" Proposition. There is a rumour afloat that the Legis lative Council are considering the advisability of passing a resolution to the elfec that, owing to the circumstances of tin colony in the event of a second session thi: year, members of the Council should 110' draw double honorarium, but simply th< two hundred guineas to which they are en titled for a single session. Such is th< rumour, but it is questionable whether tin "noblelords "in the-Upper Chamber wil act in so patriotic a manner so to save thi country several thousand pounds, jeven ii the present state of its-finances. OppositionlDinnerThe Opposition intend celebrating, theii victory with a dinner, which is to be helc at Bellamy's on Monday evening. "Puff" on the Situation. " Puff " has the following with reference to last night's division :—Ballance didn'i manage to hook all four Maoris this : time No, Buller wasn't here. They tried it or pretty roughly though. Do you know what was done with Katene? No. Die they offer him a seat in the Ministry ? Oh of course, but that's nothing; that's onlj what they do to all doubtfuls. Katene go' a telegram from Auckland to say thai Sydney Taiwhanga had deposited £200 tc petition against his return, and warninf liitn not-to ; vote ! I say, that's coming ii strong, but it wouldn't fetch Ivatene? No he's got more backbone than all the Minis ters put together. Besides he was advisee that the thing was only a •" try on." What'f the next move going to be? Oh, I suppose Stout anel : \ r ogel. will sulk to-day ane squabble all Sunday, ant} poine to-logger head on Monday, and throw up the sponge on Tuesday. The Political Crisis. Wellington, Monday. _ It goes without saying that the political situation resulting from the defeat of the Government has, at present-, put everything else in the shade, and all sorts of rumour; are afloat as to the probabilities of a disso lutiofl, with' or without conditions. Nothing is definitely kndjyri as to' the result^of the Premier's interview with the Governor, The T?ren}ier has repeatedly refused to give any information" on the matter, on the grounds that it would be improper to dis close what transpired between the Governoi and himself until the House had been pul in possession of the information. The Post, however, gives to-night an apparently inspired account of the interview, and says : f • "Ck'he waited on His Excellency the Governor, and explained the situation, and preferred the request for permission to appeal tc the country.. His Excellency requested that the views of Ministers might be placed before him in writing anei subsequently a memo, was placed.before his Bxoellen'oy, ? and ; ha wfe pleaded jjo 'intimate his apjjrovarand ftcceptahce J of 'the 'advice tendered. The position therefore if; that a dissolution has been granted. The Premiei will to-morrow • communicate the facts tc the'JioiikQ /'apd will'-aiijj for six months supplies, which will carry on tj- ( jj Government' until the end of September.- His Excellency has only to satisfy himself that the Ministry, possess'a constitutional claim to take • the verdict of the country upon"grcftfc ' qiießjiipn "Of p6lipy :>n which they have suffered'- defeat in the House. 111 the present case their claim tc 3o so is undoubted, and'has be'en adthitted pven by opponents like Mr Ormond, and is iio£ contested, I pelievo, by Majpf (Ukfnsori, Mrs I'jxoellfihey," 111 iho c'oufse lie has adopted 1 , has ftillowecJ'a strictly prOpei md constitutional courao." The Press, on the other hand, referring to the situation say§ :■ we an* iii a positjon to say that nothing :M'r%iiUr jWs tals§n' - ]>Ji|.ipi}, Vtii tilings' a;rc t'ery inuch as thsy were 011 mornng. The Ministers are very properly jiving careful and leisurly consideration to ;he situation in all its bearing?." T"£e Blectiopp. One of the chief difficulties that will have :o be faced'by the Government in getting a dissolution is the Representation Bill. The Opposition, of course, have no desire to

oppose the granting of sufficient supplies to Carry Ministers over the elections, but they aro determined to resist any proposal to go the .country on the old Act. Ministers still endeavour to make it appear that it . will take three or four jmolithsj to alter the boundaries, ;and prepare the electoral rolls under : the new Act, brit this is ridiculed by the Opposition, / and the Surveyor-General > has expressed the "opinion that the boundaries can easily bo arranged in a fortnight. The preparation of the rolls is a more formidable task. Major Atkinson's suggestion, that the most effective way would be destroy all existing rolls and to let every elector in the colony be enrolled afresh,"finds niu'ch favour among members. It is understood that if the House agrees to grant six months' supplies from the Ist April to the 30th September, every 'effort will be made to hold the election under the new Bill, and the next Parliament would hieet in about three months time, probably in September. Should the House refuse Supplies, the elections would be held immediately under the old* Act. As the new Bill, however, takes three members from the : South Island and gives them to the North, it is scarcely likely the North Island members will give up the advantage conferred by the Bill, if there is any chance of a reasonable compromise with the Government. The Village Settlement SchemeSome extraordinary disclosures are threatened respecting Mr Ballance's settlement scheme, which is said to bo costing the colony an enormous amount of money, although out of proportion .to the benefits ! . very likely to be derived from it, either by the colony or by the unfortunate people who are supposed to be settling the land under the present Minister of Lands' pet scheme. ; Ministers on the Stump. I hear that Sir'R. Stout, Sir J". "Vogel, and Mr Ballanco intend stumping the country before the general.elections on the, 'Ministerialpolicy. i ' • The Tariff. ' It is expected that a motion will ibe brought' down to-morrow, rescinding the 'tariff resolutions formally passed by the H(iuse in committee when the Financial Statement was madei' The new duties are still being collected.