Parliamentary Gossip.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 236, 3 October 1894, Page 2

Parliamentary Gossip.

UOTES FROM THE GALLERY

SOME JUNKING QUERIES,

NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY

THE RIVAL ROUTES.

(BY TELEGBAPH.— PARLIAMENTARY

REPORTER.)

Welliscton, Tuesday. There is a strong flavour of the Bank' of , New Zealand in that part of tho order paper devoted bo questions. It arises from the questions which Mr Larnach has put there, one which Mr 0 Regan baa inserted, and one which comes from Dr. Newman. Rolled into small pieces, Mr Larnach'e three questions amount to this : Do the Government intend to allow the Bank of New Zealand to carry on business in Australia or other places outside the colony, and not subject to the cohtrol'of Parliament ? Do they intend at an early date to insist on separation of the Estates Company from the Bank of New Zealand? And will steps be taken immediately to ascertain to what extent, if any, the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company is concerned in its financial relations with the Bunk of.Now Zealand? f . - . • To the3e q(lories the Treasuror returns answors that the Government hope in the course of a few days to be able to announce 'the appointment of a president and auditor, and: that the Government would xlesire to consult with these gentlemen befiora giving information on tho points by Mr.Larnacb. The President, the Treasurer, will devote hia entire '-^nergiea to safeguard the interests of the -colony while advancing the stability and •/prosperity of the Bank. '• In replying: later on to Mr O'Regan, who ■seeks,to know more specifically tho respective duties of thesjjresidenfeanrJ auditor lof the Bank of Ne'fr Zealand, Mr Ward ''explains once more that it will be the paramount duty of the President to conserve the interests of the colony, especially in vregard to the two million guarantee, and generally to exerciae supervisiou over the -business of the Bank, while the auditor ■will audit .and check the transactions of the Bank. Dr. Newman, the third questioner in this lank bueineßß, .wishes to know if the GoTernmont intend to pay off the debentures of the Glojbo Asaets out of the guaranteed loan, and, if not, to what purpose the £1,000,000 under control of the Treasurer is to be devoted ?, ~.;;*; To all .this the Treasurer, reminds the Doctor that the money has not yet been paidjnto the Bank, but when it is tho Government will carefully consider the beat course to follow,- Nothing is yet decided, aays he, and iv that case it i» not an easy thing for tho Treasurer to answer how the money will be invested. If investment in the Globo Assets Company shall bo shown -. to bo a safe and wise thing, then it may be done. Banking matters disposed of, .the next aubjoct to attract our interest is Mr Lawry's # demand for a Royal Commission to make exhaustive inquiry into the whole question of the .. .■ ■ , : r"<? ' NORTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY LINE fend repqrr. The member for Parnell,;:tinb W on the Railways'Conamittee, ey/ite'.'.a that , he has asked tor a commission because be sees plainly that the Committee have no time this sossioa to consider the matter which baa. been referred ,t6' them, lie is quite alivß 'to the financial difficulties in the way of carrying out this work, but thinks these should not prevent a commission reporting and some tinal decision arrived at. The Premier doe 3 not believe in a commission.. Whatever decision they come io-there will be a party whoso interests are assailed, and that party will bo suro to bring up the matter in the House the following session. What is wanted is not a CommisHion but money, and everyone Knows bhab there is less than £100,000 of fcbe loanavailable. He cannot see why the ' Railway Committee cannob deal with the matter. They have tho three reports before them, that of Messrs Donkin, Holmes arid Reynolds, and on these \ they can give decision. As to the undertaking of this .work, we must wait until we .; iave money, " Are not tho lands purchased with the Trunk Railway loan part of the assets of ihat laan ?" asks Mr La wry. The Premier admits that they are, bub ; - adds that they are not in a liquid state. Later on in tho afternoon this subject comes up again, for Mr AlcGuire moves the adjournment of the House on the New Plymouth questions, and gives ample opportunity to members to ventilate their dis- * satisfaction with the replies they may have received to their querieu earlier in the sitting. This adjournment of the House gives Mi: JMitchelson an opportunity to speak .'on the question of the Main Trunk Railway. After pointing "out. tho way in which money taken from the North Island Main Trunk Railway loan "shas been expended, he cays that the Government generally found money to extend much less important railways in other #arjts of the colony, but, now that it is of the utmosb important tho Government ■%hWald do soniethinji to advance the Main ■Trunk. Railway, jihey say thera is none. ■'"■'' '" sir R. Sboub later on declares thab the . Government should endeavour to have 3itiiß question ot routes settled as. soon irpossftfte' tend, mo line constructed. •As* part of tho loan- has been spent In buying land and roads_ ib should be refunded to that loan, and it would be only honest, he holds, to co refund. All ' income from native land purchased by money taken from loan, should also be antiually paid back into' it. /Sir Robert is atrong in his advocacy of the Central route $s the only one worth considering. Mr Button supports Sir Robert's views its to repayment of moneys taken from loan, 3>ub he does nob speak in favour of the Central route. With the Premier, he is prepared to have a road, if a railway can't ac gob. In conclusion, ho hopes thab the House will consider tho claims which Auckland, Taranaki, and Waikato have on it in this matter. ' The Premier contends that there is no money and no settlement, and-thab if he Represented the Auckland district he would ■ certainly advocate a road instead of a ''" railway. He approves of. the expenditure ,of money down to Mokau, provided a good road is carried through from that point to Stratford, bub, as to bridging the gap between the fcwo ends of tha railway, ib seems to bim very doubtful indeed whether it : would be justifiable, even when we are ■ better off than now. f Mr Crowther advocates consbrirction of the Mokohino viaduct, as Sirß. Stoub did, and follows Sir Robert in" exhorting the Government to bring down the Public Works Statement even before they knew 'sxactly what money is ab their disposal. Jfe is determined to push forward this railway from its noirbh termination ; then ibe line can easily be extended southwards towards Taranaki if only money 13 forthBomine; and he thinks ib should be possible ■to get it. . . Mr' Massey endorsae these views, _ and then Mr Lawry follows with some indignation. The question of route mueb be settled, and he is prepared to abide by the decision of an impartial body appointed to investigate the subject. Mr Lawry knows 'that mosb of the honorable gentlemen, the Premier included, are in favour of tne

Central route, but they are so, he contends, without knowing anything about -the matter. Then he goes into the history of the routes, and declares that the Central route was decided upon on the report of the member'for Eden, and declares that'for Aucklanders to allow the railway to be pub through on the Central route would be one of the gravest errors ever committed.

Dr. Newman counsels Auckland nob to stand as opponents of Wellington in this matter of route, bub to come over and work with the Empire City and push the railway by the Central route. If the two citias work together, he believes they will be connected by railway within two years.

Major Harris very sensibly, tells Dr.. Newman that Auckland has no desire to shake hands with Wellington on this question. He advocates that they and Tarauaki should) join hands and endeavour to get a railway connecting " the Garden " with the North made as speedily as possible. We fire nob at all concerned about Wellington. Wellington, has nothing to do in the matter.

The whole responsibility for delay in construction of the railway, says Marsden Thompson, is due to the citizens of Auckland, who have squabbled over the rival routes ; bub, while they are endeavouring to come to some arrangement, he urges that a connecting road should be made. The discussion raised by this motion for adjournment of the House is only brought to a close a few minutes before dinner time. Now we have just got into Committee on the js FOREIGN INSURANCE COMPANIES'

DEPOSITS BILL, when wo suspend business till the evening. In the evening whan we meet again, some time is sp.enb in discussion of the interpretation of approved securities which may be deposited by companies. Finally, these securities are mado to include Government securities, local bodies securities, moregages up to two-thirds of the' value of real estate held in fee simple oh leasehold, and fixed deposits in any bank payable in the colony. Consideration of clause 2 having been postponed, an amendinenb is made by which the amount to be deposited by companies is fixed at not- less than £5,000, or more than £50,000. At this point consideration of the measure is postponed.

THE LAND FOR SETTLEMENT BILL comes into the Chamber from the Upper Houss, wearing all its amendments on it.t Tho Minister for Lands moves thab the amendments be considered there and theu, but Sir R. Stout raises a question of privilege. Without desiring to express any opinion of his own, he asks the Speaker to rule whether the Council has any power to amend the Bill, inasmuch as it is an Appropriation Bill, authorising the spending of £250,000 for five years tor the purchase of native lands. It this measure can be altered by the Council, co also can the Government Advances to Settlers, the Consols, and other financial measures ; to which Sir M. O'Rorko replies that he has nob Been the amendments, bub, generally speaking, whilst the Council has no power to alter money clausea, it may be within their province to amend any of the machinery clauses. However, he is'prepared to give a more definite opinion when the Bill comes up for consideration. We then once more find ourselves face to face with the* Native Land Court Bill, but the discussion ib evokes i 3 uninteresting, and "need not bo dwolb on. In the discussion which took place on ib the other nighb. everything of importance and general interest) was touched on. . Ib "continues till close on midnight, when the Premier in a few w«rds replies, and the House goes into Committee oYi tho Foreign Insurance Companiea' Deposits Bill, Native Land Courb Bill, and Public Works Bill.

Tho Insurance Bill is soon out of Com mibtee, giving place to the

NATIVE LAND COURT BILL.

.The debate over~this measure is mainly of-a technical character, being little moro than a battle of lawyers, and contains almost nothing of general interesb bo the public. The great question is whether two parts of the Bill shall be separated, and two Bills mado. This is clamoured for by a largo number, who, while agreeing with part 1, wish to see part 2 postponed. After passing fourteen clauses of tho Native Land Courb Bill the House roso ab 1.55.' . , . ...■■■

THE COAL MINES OF THE COLONY.

According to the Inspector of Coal Mines' report, the total output from all the mines in tho colony lasb year was 691,548 tons. Of this, 380,901 tons waa bitumiuoua coal, 131,071 tons of pitch coal, 156,154 tons of brown coal, and 23,422 tons of lignite There are 153 mines in which coalmining operations are carried on, and 1,888 meu employed. During last year there were twenty-two accidents in the mines. Of those, five terminated fatally, four rosulted in severe injuries, and thirteen wore less serious cases. Of our northern mines, that at Kawakawa had an output of 10,950 tons during the year ending December 31st, 1893, while West Bryan's mine at flikurangi produced 357 torn?, chiefly houea coal. A large outpub of coal (20,682 tons) was made from the Kamo mino during the year, at the end of which tho owners resolved to shut down. From the Kiripaka mine at Ngunguru district tho output was 2,697 tons. Of the four mines in Waikato, the Taupiii District Extended mine produced 26,025 tons; Taupiri Reserve 20,107 tons; iVaikato. mine, 7,687 tons; and Ralph's Taupiri mino, 3,432 tons. Operations in the Mokau district were nob carried on with much vigour during the year, and the output was only 781 tons. Comparing all these figures together, we find that in the North Of Auckland the output is 6,247 tons in excess of thab of the previous year, while in Waikafco and Mokau districts there is a decrease of 1,685 tona, leaving a total ihcreaßefor the yeat'pf 4,562 tona.

COLONIAL, AMMUNITION.

As showing the favour with which ammunition manufactured in the colony is regarded, it wa3 announced by Mr Seddon yesterday that he would move to-day that the Houso empower tbffGovernment toenter into a contract t or contracts for a period not exceeding '< five years ' for the supply of ammunition and warlike stores. The terms and conditions on which the contracts are to be made are S6b forth at length, bub briefly they provide that no agreomenb to be made shall be for a term exceeding five years, that ammunition shall be manufactured a.nd be supplied from powder now in tho store ab Mount Eden, Auckland, 1,500,000 rounds to be delivered before 31sb March, 1896 ; the number of rounds shall nob exceed 1,500,000. /Martini Henry boxer ball carbridges to be delivered ab the rate of 80,009 per month, commencing four months after the date of signing and entering . into contracb, the price nob to exceed £5 5s per thousand rounds; that the ammunition aforoeaid manufactured by the contractor ehall be of a quality equal to that which shall be at such times passed for the use of Her Majesty's Government in England ; a test of ammunition to be supplied shall be carried out as directed by the Hon. Ministor of Defence, bhe Government to bear the expense of the tests made in Auckland, except in respect of such tests as result in the rejection of any lob or lots, in which case the contractor shall bear the expense.

MANUFACTURE OF IRON.

Mr Parson, of Blenheim, whoso new mebhod of treating ironsand was noticed in these columns some time ago, petitions Parliament for a sum of money to be placed on the Estimates to provide for a competitive trial of different pro-' cesses fOr treating ironsand. The- Industries Committee, in reporting on the petition, recommend that with a view of developing the mineral wealth of the colony, a sum should be placed on the eati-

mates as a bonus for the manufacture, of iron of good marketable quality," the bonus to be given when there is sufficient evidence that the industry is likely to be oKpermanenb advantage to the colony.' Mr Massey is going to ask the Government whether, when they take over the railways of the colony, they will.be willing bo make a trial of the stage system on the lines-north of Auckland. , :

Sir R. Stout has given notice to introduce a Security of Mines Bill, Mr Ward the Unclaimsd Lands Bill and Distillation Acb, 1868, Amendment Bill, and Major Steward the Island Q f ounty Council Empowering Bill, Sea Fisheries Bill, and Government Life Insurance Acb Ameudmenb Bill.

Mr Bell -is ankfous thab in case the directors of the Bank of New Zealand should propose during the recess to amalgamate with^ any other? institution, tho Colonial Treasurer should direct the President to prohibit any such dealings until tho House has expressed approval of the same. . --. ■ . . .... . .

JOTTINGS,

On the motion of Hon.Mitchelson ib has been agreed that a return be laid before Parliament, showing the amounts that have been taken from the North Island Main Trunk Railway loan for the following purposes, viz., purchase of native land, construction of roads and bridges; surveys, snagging and clearing the Wanganui River, and po3tal subsidies. The Premier told Mr Hutchison, the elder, yesterday, that it was quite true thab last year the Now Zealand Government, at the reauesb of the Premier of Victoria, co-operated T with other colonies in inviting the Duke and Duchess of York to visit Australia. "Wo believe thab in doing so," said the Premier, "we were giving expression to tho desire of loyal subjects of Her Majesty hero." " No, no," cry one or two members. - The Treasurer said to-day that he believed that with proper safeguards the amalgamation of tho Banks would bo a desirable thing. , •■■■'. Roplying to Mr Collina,'who wishes a Royal Commission to go fully into the question of Old Age Pensions, the Premier said that the Committee which had recently reported on the matter had found ib beset with difficulties. He did nob think that any commission could solve these difficulties. Ib would take tho united brain of the people to do it. In tho Council to-day the Lands for Settlement Bill was read a third time and passed. Tho petition of the Waikato Educational Institute for a colonial system of classification for teachers and their salaries h&a been referred to the Government for consideration by the Public Petitions Committee. Settlers on perpetual leases ab Whangape have petitions for assistance in road construction.

The Foreign Insurance Deposit Bill has been materially amended by the Treasurer. ■ It is now proposed to exempt fire and marine companies from payment of deposits if they give satisfac.-. Tory proof that bhey are Bound and.whab they are represented. It is also.to bo provided bhab where policies of a life insurance company do nob exceed £100,000 the deposib shall, be £5,000 and there shall be £5,000 for every additional £100,000 of insurance until the total sum deposited amounts to £50,000.