POLITICAL NOTES.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 330, 27 July 1889, Page 2

POLITICAL NOTES.

THE LATEST FROM THE HOU3E. A SICKENING FAROE. LEGISLATORS PLAYING THE FOOL. CHAOS AND CONFUSION. DISSOLUTION REGARDED AS CERTAIN. [fbom oub own cobbbsfondbnt. 1 Wellington, yesterday, 19 a m. The stonewall is going on beautifully. When Blake had finished this morning Fisher succeeded him. and spoke till nearly three. Menteath and Barron kept it going till fix o’clock. Then Joyce started. He spoke till 8.30 without an effort. An adjournment of halt an hour was then made lor breakfast. Joyce resumed after breakfast and is still talking, and is reckoned good till about one o’clock. Taiwhanga ia to coma yet, also A. Reeves!aud|llodgklnaon. Marchant is said to have made a very able speech last night, I have'fjust interviewed Mr R. Reeves (Inangahua) and asked him whether he was going toKspeak. Mr Reeve* said i “ Well I’m here for that purposejn case lam wanted, but they think Joyce will keep on till about one. Yes he is going splendidly. We all shall move a lunch adjournment at one o’clock, and after that Taiwhangs will take it up, and go on till say 5.39, then there will be an adjournment for dinner, after which one or two will speak, and I shall then come in and talk, say till daylight. 12 30 p.m,—lt I* rumnrodlthat Government will not adjourn at twelve on Saturday night, but go on all day on Bunday. Ano eonfid*no« motion in front of the committal oflthe Bill is|t»lka<l]of3in|]some quarters. Mr Joyce, it seems, started at He spoke eight hours, concluding shortly after twelve. During bi* speech haßblttorly reprsachad the Government for the way they are to be used by the countrvjmembers. and showed np the tactics of Mr SeObie|Mackenzie and other* in very otartlingjcolors. Just now I saw Mr Joyce in the lobbies, taking his ease, in slipper*, smoking cap, and other negligent attire. In spite of the ordeal ho ha* passed through he doe* not seem at all fagged, and would if necessary be good for another long spell. His speech for many year*, excepting that of Taiwhanga, who had the services of an interpreter, i* the longest on record, Mr Taylor followed Mr Joyce, and is now expressing with rare eb-quence, his long pent up feelings. He I* (taking member* one by one, and analysing them physically-and morally. 1 p m.—The Government have just proposed an adjournment for an hour, which is being taken. Mr Taylor resumes at 2 o’clock. 2 p m.—Mr Taylor has resumed. He is to be followed by Taiwhanga, who will arise and debate upon the electoral wrongs of the Maoris and the necessity for the amelioration thereof by a clause in the Bill. He talks in his native|tongue. At any suitable time between 7.39 and 19 tomorrow morning, Mr Loughrey will move, and Mr Thompson second, the adj aurnment of the House, which will of course put all the town members, or their adherents "on side ” again, Mr Marchant was so displeased at the treatment Mr Jones received this morning that he offered himself to town members to speak at any time they liked. Referring to-night to tho meeting Messrs Fisher and Izard in Wellington’ to discuss the Representation Bill, the Premier interrupted Mr Withy to say the meeting was of the mob, and Mr Fergus interjected, led by a demagogue. Sir G. GreyJ|is to preside at this meeting. What may be the outcome of the present struggle no one can foretell, bnt as town members seem bent on pursuing their present tactics to the bitter end, and |as country representatives are equally firm in their determination to obtain their additional allowance, a complete block of all business is inevitable.

How will it turn out ? is the all absorbing question, and no one seems in a position to predict a solution. As a dissolution will eventuate, and that before many weeks are over, we shall be plunged into the throes of a General Election, whatever may be the fate of the Representation Bill, AU is chaos and confusion, and the House is quite ungovernable by the present rulers, while no Ministry formed from the other side would last a week. Many members still delude themselves with the hope that a reversion to 95 members will be the outcome of the Town v. Country fight, but I do not hesitate to affirm that Major Atkinson would never submit to this, ana even if he did, the Legislative Council would not pass the measure, for reduction was brought about during the present Parliament, when Hon. members come fresh from the country, pledged in that direction. If my solution of the difficulty comes about, and the House has not passed the Representation Bill, the Government will probably ask for supplies, and will insist on the Representation Bill being put through and, with the aid of the country party, would be successful before members are sent to the right about.

The Post says "Mr Fisher need not regret that he had to leave the Ministry when he did, for certainly he could not, under the oircumitances, have remained up to the present time. He would, wears convinced, have found it impossible to justify to Parliament the action 0! hi* colleagues, as disclosed in ths Ward.Hlslop correspondence. Neither could he have supported the principle of the First Representation Bill, as he i* strongly opposed to the proportional system of election, Even if he had consented to swallow this he must have gone without standing on the order of his going when his colleagues determined to introduce what has well been termed the Misrepresentation Bill. It is rather absurd to talk of the overwhelming power of the cities when there is not a single oily representative in the Ministry of the day. It is said that the Premier intends to woo a Wellington city constituency at the next general election, If he dees so he will probably have cause to regrat his present action, and te miss the 25 per cent, of electors deprived of their political right* through hi* instrumentality, A petition has been presented to the House by Dr Fitchett, signed by Sir Robert Stout and some 290 other resident* of Dunedin, stating that some of the petitioners are anxious to form a Co operative Land Settlement Company, and to obtain Crown Land*, either on lease or by purchase, for the purpose, They desire this land to be sot apart under the special Settlement provisions of the Land Act of 1881, and to come under the regulations issued by the Government when Mr Ballance wa* Minister for Lands. The petitioners oorpplaln that the present Minister tor Lands dealined to carry out the said Special Settlement provision* and regulation*. It the facilities asked for are given to the peti. tioneri, settlement would be promoted, and many men enabled to obtain homes who are now denied that opportunity. The petitioners conclude by praying that the House will give effect to the Special Settlement conditions of the Act,