HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XII, Issue 2458, 11 September 1891, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Wellington, September? 10. The House met at 2.30 p.m. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. In answer to Sir .Tchn Hall, Mr Seddon said that in the present circumstances of the colony the Government could not afford to grant free passages by steamer to competitors at the annual meetings of the New Zealand Rifle Association, but he thought that it was a fair thing to ask that free railway passes should be granted to the men, and he should make a recommendation to that effect to the Railway Commissioners. Replying to Mr Fisher, the Premier said that power was given by the Public Revenues Act to appoint an Acting AgentGeneral, so that no difficulty would occur owing to an interregnum between the re* siguation of the present Agent-General and the appointment of his successor. In reply to Mr Rolleston, the Premier said that he could assure the House that a successor to Sir Francis Dillon Bell had not yet been chosen by the Government. BUSINESS Ot' THE HOUSE. The Premier announced that the Government intended to proceed" with the following Bills this session :—Greymouth Harbour Board Loan Bill, Public Trust Office Bill, Stamp Act Amendment Bill, Payment of Members Bill, Coal Mines Bill, Small Birds Nuisance Bill, Selectors Land Revaluation Bill, Land for Settlement Bill, Municipal Corporations Bill, Borough Reserves Bill, Private Tramways Bill, Naval and Military Settlers Bill, Rabbit Nuisance Bill, School Committees Elections Bill, and Counties Act Amendment Bill, The Government had declined to hold over the Local Authoi iti«s Accounts and Audit Bill till next year, but they would proceed with the Libel Bill if time permitted. With regard to to the Bankruptcy Bill, he was informed that it would gy through in two or three hours. If that were so the Government would give facilities for passing it. As to the Civil Service Bill, Ministers had receive i such a number of amendments fromtheCivil Service Association that they had not had time to consider them, and the Bill would therefore have to stand i over. The New Zealand Institution of Surveyors Bill, a private measure brought in by Mr Richardson, would be taken up by the Government, who would enr deavor to pass it through the House. The Indecent Advertisements Bill, another private measure, might also bs taken charge of by the Government, There were grave constitutional reasons why tho Allen Disqualification Removal Bill should not be passed. As to the date on which the House would be prorogued, that depended greatly on the action of the Opposition for the remainder of the session. SPECIAL COMMITTEE. On the motion of Mr Rees, a Special Committee was set up to consider the propositions of a Bill to be introduced to deal with certain pressing matters in relation to native lands. The House rose at 530 The House resumed at 7-30 p.m. BILLS FROM THE COUNCIL. It was decided to disagree with amend* ments made by the Legislative Council in the Dentists Bill and the Legislative Council Bill, and Managers were appointed to draw up reasons for disagreement. GKKYMOUTII HARISOUK BOAKI) LOAN BILL. The Greymouth Harbour Board Loan Bill was read a third time and passed. PUBLIC TRUST BILL. The Public Trust Act Amendment Bill was considered in Committee. HClause 3—Public Trustee to hold office at pleasure. Mr Rolleston thought that the change brouglit about by this clause was an ex? tremely wrong one. He contended that if the Public Trustee were rnac|o subservient tq the Ministry of the day it wquld destroy his independence altogether. The Premier took quite a different view, and held that if the Public Trustee were made responsibjo to tho Government, ib would be decidedly to the advantage of the public service. After considerable discussion the clause passed without alteration, and the Bill I was ordered to be reported with amendments. SMALL BIRJXS NUISANCE BILL. The $mall B.irds Nuisance B;ll was. comrtiittefj. and was reported with ainond: ments uiadp by j>J)e Stock Committep. STAMp ACT AMENDMENT IJIL.L, This House wqtit into Committee on the Stamp Act Amendment Bill, Clause 2—Certain passenger tickets liable to duty as receipts. An addition was made to the clause, enabling steamboat companies to compound fop a yearly spamp duty on tiokets sold over £2, > A Clause 3"-Duty on the takings of the ■ tutaliHrttor,

Sir John Hall moved that th? totalisatar tax should not take effect till March 31, 1892, so as not to interfere with the receipts of Jockey Club^ this year. Tho Premier opposed the amendment. Hb said that the Government h.id announced their intention ,>f iinposuig'-this tax in June last,, and the racing-clubs had , therefore received ample warning that- the. ' tax would be imposed. ■, „. ; '■'■; The amendment was lost, as also was; another amendment that the tax should not be imposed till the 31st December next. Mr Hutchison (Dunedin) moved that j the whole clause referring to the totalisator tax be struck out, Sir George Grey supported the amendment. He felt that it was a wrong act to raise revenue from gambling. Sir John Hall thought that the totalisator really diminished gambling, and that the machine was to be preferred to the bookmakers. Mr Reeves would be willing to vote for a higher tax than that now proposed, in order to declare gambling to be an evil. Mr Pv.Viner thought that totalizators were) meant to benefit chiefly the metropolitan clubs, who exercised very arbitrary powers towards the smaller clubs\ Captain Russell said that all the metropolitan clubs had to do was to see that the smaller! clubs conformed to the rules of racing. \ As to the Bill itself, he thought it was n pity that the Colonial Treasurer for the sake of getting £10,000 should impose a tax of this kind. He did nob think it was a wise provision to tax gambling at all. The amendment Was lost by 39 to 16, Clause s—Regulations may be made, providing for the collection of the duty. The Premier moved that the Govern-' ment may make regulations for granting permission to use the totalisator. The motion was agreed to. No other material amendments were made. PAYMENT OF MEMBERS BILL. The Payment of Members Bill was committed. , Clause 4—-Annual sum payable to members of the General Assembly. A motion by Mr R. Thompson that the" honorarium for members of the Legislative Council be £100 instead of £150 as proposed by the Bill was lost by 32 to 25. Mr Duncan moved that the payment of members of the House of Representatives be £210 per annum, instead of L 240 as provided in the Bill. Sir George Grey moved that the sum be £250 per annum, which was negatived by 32 to 23. Mr Duncan's amendment, proposing to fix the honorarium at £210 was rejected by 30 to 24. The following is the division list on Mr Duncan's amendment : — For—Messrs Blake, Buchanan, Buckland, Duncan, Duthie, Hall, Houston, Kelly J., Lawry, MacKenzie T., McGuire, Meredi'h, Mills J., Mitchelson, Moore, Newman, Rhodes, Rolleston, Russell, Swan, Tanner, Thompson R., Thompson T.. Thompson J.W— 24. Against —Messrs Ballance, Buick, Cadnnn, Carncross, Carroll, Dawson, Earnshaw, Fi«h, Fisher, Eraser, Grey, Guinness; Faihlin, Hogg, Hutchison W., Kapa, Kelly VV., Mac Donald, Macintosh, Mills C. H., Palmer, Parata, Pinkerton, Rees, Reeves R.FT.J., Richardson, Seddon, Smith E,M., Smith W.C..Ward —30. Clause 1, which proviUvl that the payments should not be anticipated, pledged, nor seized in execution, w, striiak out on Mie voices. . A provision was inserted to , the effect that any Legislative Councillor's absent the whole session should receive no'payment trom the date of the proclamation convening Parliament until the issue of tho proclamation convening the i next ensuing session. On. the motion for the third reading, Mr McGuire mov«d an amendment that the Bill be read a third time that day six months, which after a King debate was |ost by 30 to 14. The third reading was then agreed to and the. Bill passed. The Public Trust. Office Bill, Small Birds Nuisance Bill, and Stamp Act Amendment Bill were put through their final sta4es, and the House rose at 3.30. The total education vote was agreed to with alterations. Lunacy and Charitable Department £40,918, was agreed to. Progress was reported and the House rose at 2.30 a.m.