POLITICAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2325, 4 June 1887, Page 2

POLITICAL NOTES.

[by tklegraph. —special reporter. ]

The Political Crisis.

; < Wkllington, Thursday. Thkke wag only a short sitting , of the House this afternoon, although there were no loss than 33 on the Order Paper on every conceivable subject. The Premier re'*-fused-to reply to any of the questions while the present crisis remains unsettled, upon which Major Atkinson rose and moved: the adjournment of the House till half : past seven, in order that the Governor's reply to-the address, , parsed-by a large majority of the House Inst night, might be received. The Premier made no objection to the adjournment, but a long debate ensued on the motion, in winch ovor_ a doy.ea.inembers took- part. Major- Atkin-son-eventually asked whether the Premier conlilgivo any assurance that the Governor's reply would bo received by half-past seven, as otherwise it would be advisable to adjourn till to-morrow, it being quite clear that no other business could be transacted till the reply was discussed by the Mouse. Sir .Robert Stout said he could not control his Excellency, but he expected to have his reply before half-past seven. The : House then took the, adjournment. Previous to the meeting of the House this afternoon, Major Atkinson had a consultation with the Premier, and explained that ■the Opposition had every desire to meet the Government in a fair and _ reasonable spirit. They also desired to 'pive every possible assistance to Ministers, ' but they would insist on striking out the clause in the RepresentaBill providing for an appeal from districts : whose boundaries were not considered ■satisfactory by those districts. The Opposition were also agreed that the commission should be limited to the two officials specified by the Bill so that the electors under ; the, new Bill could be held without any nh- , necessary delay. Those alterations he suggested could be made in the bill by message •from the Governor., If the., .Government, I agreed to • this course --Major' Atkinson, I I understand, assured the Premier that supplies would be granted without idifficulty. -Sir! Robert expressed the Opinion that he could decide on nothing 'till the Governor's reply to the address was ireceived, and there the matter rests at present. New Minister for Railways. . The Times this morning states that it has direct authority for contradicting the report that Mr Richardson intends handing over the working of the railway department to Mr Larnach, and it adds that a question has never been considered by the Government. I can only state that the information I forwarded you was given by two different Ministers, and one would imagine that that was sufficient justification for the news being telegraphed throughout the colony. Expenditure on Special Settlements. It appears from a return laid upon the table of the House, in connection with the formation of special settlements within the provincial district of Auckland, that the total amount paid is set down as £5032, made up as follows:—Cost of survey, £2!H)0 ; amount paid for houses, clearing, and fencing, £1)08 ; remuneration and travelling expenses paid to steward of village .settlements, and payments to Mr John Lundon (the latter item, £34 !)s), £148; advertising, freight, passages, provisions, etc., £128(5. Sir George Grey to the Rescue. The member for Auckland City East, I understand, has been requested, as an independent member, to move that a respectful address be presented to the Governor, asking him to dismiss the Ministry from office. Sir G. Grey to-day stated that he would take care to give the House an opportunity of voting on this motion if Ministers persisted in their present course of action. The Post oa the Situation. I have previously referred to the hostile tone which the Evening Post has latterly assumed towards Ministers, although not long ago it was one of its warmest supporters. "It strongly condemns the Government in to-night's leading article, and says they deserved the treatment they received yesterday. Referring to the Premier's remarks last night about the press of the colony, the Post says Major Atkinson made a remarkable speech in justification of the extreme action he was inviting the House to take. His taunts and accusations fairly roused the Premier, who replied in a most excited iuann-v, and allowing his temper to get the bust of him, made some statements which we expect he will regret in his cooler moments. Major Atkinson having alluded to the fact that the press of the colony is almost unanimous in its condemnation of the Ministerial policy and proceedings, Sir Robert Stout-had the bad taste, to use no stronger term, to declare that the papers which opposed him were insolvent concerns, managed in the interests of banks and loan companies. There may be some papers not in an independent financial condition, may be lawyers, or even Ministers, who are not over rich or independent of financial considerations, but no one knows better than Sir Robert Stout that there are many papers in this colony quite as independent of such influence as he referred to as he is himself. It is a poor style of argument which attributes unworthy and dishonest motives to an opponent. The press of the colony, however opposed to the Premier, has at least given him credit for honesty of purpose and intention, and its opposition to his policy is as honest and thoroughly on principle as it admits his advocacy to be. Sir R. Stout owes an apology to the press for his unfounded and untruthful statement of last night. The Premier is rather too fond of challenging the House and vaunting his own loyalty and truthfulness. Last night his gage was taken up by Mr Bryce, who made a most telling speech. The cheers with which his special references to the Premier's loyalty, truthfulness, and deficiencies were received by the House should convince the lion, gentleman that he is not, in the opinion of others, quite so immaculate as he evidently believes himself to be. Mr Bryce's criticism gained effectiveness by its truth. A Satisfactory Compromise. WniiLiNtiTOX, Friday, The Opposition have held numerous meetings daring the last day or two over the political situation, and the deadlock that was threatened in consequence of the position of the Represcntatiod Bill, but up to the meeting of the House this afternoon no definite settlement was arrived at. Rumours were prevalent that an acrimonious debate would result to-day, over the Governor's message, and that the Premier would listen to no-compromise. It turned out, however, that an agreement was effected between Major Atkinson and the Government on the question of fixing ■ the dato for tho meeting of the New Parliament. Both the Premier and Colonial Treasurer this aftsrnoon expressed their firm conviction that it was utterly im- ! possible for the House to meet again after the election on the i Ist September, but Sir Robert Stout gave a ', distinct pledge that Parliament would be , colled together at the earliest possible date. He also said that if it were at all possible ta meet on tho Ist September he should see that this was done. Major Atkinson then accepted the assurance of the Premier, and said, after the distinct pledge just given, he should withdraw his amendment, and leave the matter in the hands of [ the Premier. His remarks were cheered 1 all round the House, and a general 1 feeling of relief appears to be experienced at the settlement of a most troublesome ! question. The position now is that Minis- [ ters are bound, as far as men can be by : their word and pledge given, to meet tlfe House about September or October. There is every reason to believe that the Governor will do his best to insist that the Government shall call Parliament together, ; • if not on the Ist September, as soon after , as possible. The Premier could not pos- [ sibly now postpone the meeting later than the date he has given (September Ist), by which time he has admitted the election can take place. The Treasurer and his Colleagues. According to the lobby gossip Sir Julius ■ Vogel is at heart thoroughly disgusted with the land nationalisation humbug, and other absurd theories of the Premier's and Mr Ballance, which many well-informed people predict will _ cause the most disastrous results. It is an open secret that the Treasurer would gladly welcome a coalition with the Opposition leaders, with whom he has a mind more in common than he has ■ ever had with his present colleagues. Representation Commissioners. The non-official members of the commission to be appointed under tho Represen--1 tation Bill for adjusting the boundaries of .the several districts are, Col. H.iultain, who accepted the position of Defence Minister with the Stafford Ministry ; Dr. Hislop, the late Secretary for Education ; and Mr Edward Dobson, of Canterbury.

The . official members are the SurveyorGeneral and the Auditor-General. Education Expenditure. A return laid on the table of tho Legislative Council to the order of the Hon. Mr Holms; shows that' the total expenditure during the financial year ended 31st March, ISBG, upon the New Zealand University, the several college and grammar schools, the native schools, industrial schools, and secondary and primary schools of New Zealand amounted to £509,038, nearly £1 per head for the whole population of the colony. The Representation Bill. Tli?, Legislative Council are sitting to-night principally for tho purpose of making the necessary amendments in the Representation "Bill which have been decided on by tho House. The alterations arc that the time allowed to the commission for arranging the boundaries will be fixed at four weeks instead of three months, and the appeal clause will be struck out. The present intention is that the House will meet on Monday to pass tho amendments, and the prorogation of Viivliament will probably take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. Sir J. Vogel as a Civil Servant. Among the lobby remours floating about concerning the Colonial Treasurer (and there is a fresh one almost daily) it is reported that Sir Julius is to receive the appointment of Controller and Auditor-General on the retirement of the present holder of that office. It is needless to say that this report is generally discredited. Opinion is pretty generally expressed that the present House would agree to Sir Julius' claim of £(5000 for services rendered to the colony, which has been before the House for several sessions.