New Zealand Parliament.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12343, 27 August 1903, Page 7

New Zealand Parliament.

HOUSE 0? REPRESENTATIVES.

WEDNESDAY,' AUGUST 26.

{ !The House met at 2.30 p.m.

PETITIONS

Mr Millar, presented a petition from "ihe lessee of the railway refrasiiawnt rooms at Ashburton praying for com-* pensation for loss of his iicense, wHch was cancelled owirigf to prohibition te-Mg-carried in the district. ' Mr Parata presented a petition from ihe Maoris north of Auckland protesting against Hon. ' Mahuta being described as King of «he Maoris. NEWTOWN HOTELKti's3l?J3tt3. .

Mr McGowan laid on me table a tofy letter from S. B. Nicholls, secretary of Newtown No-License League to Mr Dinxue, Commissioner of Police, in connection with the prosriiliK.n, of .tie Nf-wtown hotelkeepers. Mr Taylor said it was evHeni the 'Government was going to bring; about the same unsatisfactory state of affairs with Mr Dinnie, the new Couamu'»'t/*.tr, ,as existed with Mr Tuabrii.je. 11 was a positive disgrace that the Fiemier should drag up the head .al tl:o Police Department and use him lor party purposes as was done lust \vee«s. "Mr Seddon retorted that it wf.s Mr iNicholls who had tried to put Mr 'Dinnie into the position of taking sides over the Newtown hotels. Similar attempts were made by the Prohibitionists -during Mr Tunbridge's regime. A more impertinent and impudent letter than that of Mr Nichplls" ho had never met with in his whole experience. Mr Seddon added that he had been introduced to Mr Dinnie on

his arrival, but otherwise had had no communication whatever with him. Mr Dinnie had shown great strength of character in the reply he had dent to Mx Nichqlls 7 letter. TSIr McGowan said that instead of the police having been in any way interfered with, by the a'dministratibn there had been an attempt on, the part of certain people to influence the head of the police by a confidential letter. During his term of office there had been attempts made -indirectly by the Prohibition party, 'by speech and by letter, to unduly influence the police. The letter was ordered to be put on tHe table.

VAILE SYSTEM.

The Railways Committee recommended that the petition of Samuel Vaile asking that a trial should be made of his system be referred to the Government for consideration.

Hhe Massey moved to refer the report back as an indication that the House "desires trial to be made of the system. fie took advantage of the opportunity to urge that the additional rolling stock on our railways should be charged to revenue instead of to capital, and he asked if they could not jaorrow money for the purpose of paying for this additional rolling stock, [ where •would be the -3^- per cent, that the railways are supposed to be paying. The present system would land us in serious- financial difficulties, and he expressed the opinion that ihe way out is the "stage" system proposed by Mr Vaile.

Mr Buthie was not 1 satisfied that Mr Yaile's scheme would be successfully 'applied to a large railway system like that of-; New Zealand. He urged that . r-aigreatttdeal of .the present siock-tahould be. discarded,. and the state of the lines' - improved. Sir Joseph Ward said the result of the arguments against railway man" agement would ' b$ the imposition of rates, which Wjpuld be ruinous in the extreme to iihe users.*. The present policy was agreed s to by 7 \the House in 1900, when an expenditure of £2,500, 000 was agreed ..to, and the same members who were .now- opposing- the management- agreed^ to .ike scneme • he then propounded. „ As to Mr Vaile's system, Sir Joseph "War-d. said an offer had tieen mada , to him , a trial should b« made! ii agu|(r/3j£tee was given for any loss, but tr^ -had / not been taKen lip. He adde<J,;i&itout of the total revenue - last year of-

£1,874,000, £632,000 was paid into the treasury, and the balance used in the upkeep of railways. • The Chief* Engineer had reported that v the, tracte> fc&d

been n>aintained in good condition,

and he defied any member to put his . finger on any document in which a responsible officer of the railways said that railway lines were unsafe. . Mr J. Allen urged that the 2fm.inr should set up a Soya! oojnmi3stto-i to > inquire as to the. system of railway ac- ' counts, and so on, and to docide who

was right, the Minister or those who • opposed him in this respect. Sir Joseph Ward : The colony as a whole is satisfied with ike Administration. Mr Allen retorted that the cokuy

would not be satisfied in a few y«xrs.

Mr Seddon contended that Mr Wa&sey wanted to bleed the rf»3t of the colony to make up the loss that '/inst result from a trial of the Vaile system on the Waikato lines. The House adourned at 5.30 p.m., and resumed at 7.30.

SECOND READING. Sir W\ J. Steward's Statutes Compilation Act Amendment Bill .".Vhs read 'a J second time and retarded to the Statutes Eevision Committee. .- -POSTPONED.- - The committal of Mr Hogg's District Courts Bill was postponed. THE BABBIT ACT. ' %ir \f, Bussell's Rabbit Act, 1&82, TPtwiment Bill was committed, and iderable discussion to.)k j-lacc as t^ the penalty clause. " < The discussion proceeded until 10.35 hen a motion by Mr J. C. Thompson .> report progress was negatived by 27 * 21. , „ .. i After the telegraph office dosed dis- < ussion on Sir William Russell s Babbit Nuisance Act Amendment Pill continued at great lemgtih. A good deal af hostility was displayed towards the Bill, owing to the drastic nature of clause 5. _ . , At midnight Sir William Steward moved that the Chairman have the chair, with the object of killing the Bill TMs was lost by 24 to 18, r.nd eventually it was agreed to reportprogress on the Bill. The BJouse rose at 1.15 a.m.