THE SESSION.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 192, 18 September 1914, Page 11

THE SESSION.

AFTERNOON SITTINGS RESUMED.

EDUCATION ESTIMATES. MANY PERTINENT QUESTIONS. [From our own Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, September 17. The House of Representatives met at 2.30 p.m. to-day, this being the first occasion for some weeks on which the House has heltK an afternoon sitting. Some formal business was considered, and one Bill passed. MAORI WAR VETERANS. The Hon. A. T. Ngata (Eastern Maori).brought up the questiorvof the applications for pensions from holders „of the New Zealand War Medal. He said that these were being dealt with tardily in some instances, and he asked that something should be done more quickly in the most deserving cases. The Minister of Defence said that he would be to have particulars of the cases from the hon. member. The Minister in Charge of the Pensions Department (Hon. F. M. B. Fisher) pointed out that applications for these pensions must be made to the Defence Department, rind not to the Pensions Department. CUSTOMS AMENDMENT BILL. . The House went into Committee at 3.45 p.m. on the Customs Amendment Bill (Hon. Mr Fisher). In reply to Mr G. W.,Russell, the Minister ■ explained that clause 4 was a re £ enaetment of a former provision in regard to the pro-payment of duty on printed matter before its delivery from the post. The Bill was reported without amendment, and read, a third time.' THE ESTIMATES.

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

On the vote "Head Office £13,454," The Hon. D. Buddo (Kaiapoi) suggested that in view of the triple system of. administration in vogue, a capable officer of the Department should .be commissioned to investigate the administrative systems in other parts of the Empire.

The chairman said that such a mate ter.of policy ought to be discussed on the Education Bill. Mr J.-A. Hanan (Invercargill)" enquired what was proposed to. be done on the retirement of two prominent officers of-the DepartmentMr Allen said that Mr Hogben and Sir Edward Gibbes would be retiring shortly, but arrangements would be made for one of these officers to remain on a little longer than the other, The question of Mr Hogben's successor had not yet been considered by the Cabinet. He hoped they would be able to find in New Zealand- someone to fill his place. The item was agreed to. On* the vote "Elementary Education £757,165," The Minister, replying to questions, said that the Act of last year had conceded a little to probationers and something was done forj pupil, teachers •jbhis, year.';:' When .the. Bill was , ,put ; through, the average pay,.of the bulk of the teachers would-be higher than «the average pay of any of the Civil Servants. The Government, was not disposed to subsidise children who had to use horses to get to school. ■'?" Mr J. A. Hanan (Invercargill) asked ■whdt the boards were doing with regard to free text books and materials, for which'a grant had been made last year. Mr G. W. Russell directed attention to the fact that the vote for medical inspection was being reduced- from £2350 to £IOOO. Mr J. G. Coates (Kaipara) said that there was an impression abroad that it was not the policy of the Department to help struggling settlers in the backWocks.

RIDING TO SCHOOL. Mr T. W. Rhodes (Thames) remarked that it was quite a mistake Jo suppose that children who rode to school had -well-to-do parents. He hoped the question of making a horse allowance •would be reconsidered. Mr G. J. Anderson (Mataura) expressed a similar opinion. Mr H. G. Ell (Christchurch South) thought something should certainly be done for those who had to. send their children to school along bad roads that could only be used on horseback. A regulation could easily be framed to protect the • Department from imposition. It was absurd to vote £IO,OOO for the conyeyance of school children and Stipulate .that an allowance would be jaadejoisly where, yeKicles were used.'.., Mr Allen said he realised there .might be cases of ~ special hardship, in ., the baekblocks, where children could only ride to school, and he would have the matter specially enquired into by the inspectors. The reason the medical inspection vote was reduced was that the; bulk of the equipment had already; been found. Parents were being in«hice'd to see that their children were: medically examined on their own account: As to text books, the grants available had not been applied for by the boards. The item was agreed to. On the vote "Secondary and Higher Education, £98,524," /Mr V. H. Reed (Bay of Islands) alluded to the necessity for residential colleges and sports grounds'in connection with the universities. He hoped a sufficiently large area of ground would be provided at Auckland. = Mr B. J. H. Okey (Taranaki) asked whether an attempt was being made to tfbtairi'the Opaku Reserve, Taranaki, as in l endowment for Victoria College. •• Mr G. M. Thomson (Dunedin North) 'remarked that the research scholarships did not seem to be fulfilling the object for which they were instituted. They were not getting-the class of work they ought to get from the students, . and, it ! lappeared advisable to increase the value !• of scholarships, even if the number >ha| tb b> : decreased. r) I Mr R f McCallum (Wairau) said it :;would be sufficiently soon to establish a fxesidential college at Auckland when I local funds were supplied, the same as ij had been done in Otago. 5 Messxs-.J.- B. Hine (Stratf prd) and: C. J A. Wilkinson (Egmont) protested -against the proposal to devote any of ithe reyenue from the Taranaki •Uhip Endowment Reserve to the upkeep I of Victoria "College. | MINISTER REPLIES. i Replying to Mr Reed, Mr Allen said ;|he could not yet give an answer, iTegarding tne site of the University,of He was not yet prepared to

do away with evening lectures at the University colleges, and to say students should attend only in the daytime, thus enabling the colleges to be built away from the centres of the cities. They had to make provision for the colleges to be near the Teachers' Training Colleges, aud sufficiently near for law and mercantile students. A UNIVERSITY BILL.

Mr Allen announced that a Bill following on the recommendations of the Inspector-General's report on University education had been prepared, and he hoped that it would be before the House this session. It dealt mainly with the constitution of the Universities. Cabinet had been so busy that it had not yet approved of it, but he hoped to have the measure ready very shortly: Referring to the Taranaki endowment question, Mr Allen said that he had not looked into the deed, but whatever the. trust was, he would respect, it. Mr W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) expressed the opinion that the Government was paying too much attention to higher education, at the expense of the primary schools.

The vote was passed. The following votes were passed without discussion: —Manual and technical instruction, £43,745; Native schools, £32,298; training colleges and training of teachers, £43,745; infant life protection, £1541; schools for the deaf, £3649; education of the blind, £l6B. OTEKAIKE HOME. -On the vote for the Otekaike Home, £5138, several members impressed on the Minister the need for the provision of accommodation for mentally defective girls. The Minister said that he agreed that something should be done in this direction. The money for buildings was available, but the chief difficulty was the clearing of the site. He thought it would be necessary to arrange temporary accommodation for girls at Richmond until the buildings at Otekaike were completed. TOO MANY PORTFOLIOS. Mr T. M. Wilford (Hutt) referring to the serious delay that had occurred in this matter, said that the truth was that the Minister of Education should hand over that portfolio to another Minister. He was overburdened. The portfolios of Defence and Finance were quite heavy enough, at any time, especiaUy just now, and he should give another Minister his education work so that such important matters as this one should not suffer absurd delays.

SIMPLY AMAZING. Several other members went on to criticise the delay of the department in proceeding with the work at Otekaike. 1 Mr G. J. Anderson (Mataura) said that the position was simply amazing. He thought the House should pass a vote of censure on the head of the department. This question became a matter of general discussion, but the Chairman of Committees (Mr A. S. Malcolm) ruled that no attack could be made on a departmental officer. Any attack must be made on the Minister in charge of the department. . Mr Allen said that he was prepared to take any blame in the matter. The responsibility should not be fixed on any departmental officer. Mr H. Atmore (Nelson) thought the Minister was quite right in accepting responsibility. It was cowardly to attack an officer who could not defend himself in the House. SPEAKER'S RULING ASKED

Mr Malcolm ruled that responsibility could not be fixed on 1 an officer as he was presumably acting under instructions from his Minister. ..On these groutfds he prevented other members from returning $0 the charge, and Mr T. M. Wilford moved that progress be reported so as to obtain the Speaker's ruling. The motion was carried, and Mr Speaker was summoned. Mr Malcolm explained the circumstances to him, and a long discussion ensued as to whether members had " attacked" the head of the department, or merely' •'' criticised'' him. Several members stoutly upheld the right of members to make attacks on the official conduct of public servants. After three quarters of an hour's talk Mr Speaker deferred his ruling on the point. Eventually the vote was agreed to. The following votes were' passed:— Industrial schools, -£42,098; physical training and junior cadets, £9788; school buildings, furniture, and sites, £122,156; miscellaneous services, £16,032.

STATE ADVANCES ACCOUNT. On the item "Advances to Setticrs Branch £345,029," Mr Allen, replying ■to suggestions by several members, said he was prepared to consider the question of applying the system of advances to dwellers in boroughs. He pointed out that the original intention was that the money available should be allocated to settlers in the country districts. He. did not believe that the House intended that the money should be used for buildings in towns. However, he would go into the question and see what could be done. The item was agreed to, and the following votes were, also passed,:— Advances to settlers branch, £119,520; Advances to Local Authorities branch, £115,750. DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR. On the vote for the Department of Labour, £28,117, Mr W. A. Veiteh (Wanganui) urged that money available for workers' dwellings should be advanced to men willing to hand over their sections to the control of the Department. . Mr T. M. Wilford (Hutt) remarked that he had often been brought in contact with the Labour Department professionally, and he must congratulate the Government on the capacity of the officers connected with it. There was no doubt that the auccess of the Department was, in a large measure,. owing to the ability of the responsible officers carrying out the details of administration. • '■••.

Mr Massey stated that a Bill was being down providing for larger areas of, land in connection with workers' dwellings both in town and country. The average rental of the homes at Willowbridge was ,£42 per year, and every section was occupied. It was proposed to complete 191 houses in various districts within the present year. •• The item was agreed to. The vote for State Forests Account, £31,542, was also passed. The House adjourned at 0.40 a.m.