PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 256, 4 November 1897, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY GOSSIP.

NOTES FROM THE GALLERY.

(By Telegraph.— Parliamentary Reporter.)

WELLINGTON, Wednesday,

In the House this evening the following sessional committees were set up: Waste Lands, Joint, Standing Orders, Private Bills, and Labour Bills. Captain Russell said as he had vindicated the principle of equal representation of members on both sides of the House on the committees^ he would not persist any longer in opposing the setting of them up. SUNDAY LABOUR IN MINES PRE-

VENTION BILL.

This Bill was considered in committee. Clause 2—employment of manual labour in mines on Sunday prohibited unless an authority in writing of the Inspector of Mines. Various amendments were moved and negatived or withdrawn. Ultimately the clause passed without amendment. Clause I—Cases in which the inspector may grant permission to work on Sundays. This was amended by the insertion of the words that the Inspector must state in writing his reason for granting such exemptions. . .... The House divided on a proposal to limit the time during any one week a miner may be employed to 45 hours with the following result -.—Ayes, 13 ; noes, 52. The penalty for breach of the Act was increased from £1 to £5 for each person directly or indirectly causing such breach. A further amendment by Mr Larnach to make the line £10 for a second offence was negatived on division by 35 to 27. A new clause was added to the Bill giving the right of appeal to the warden of a mining district from the decision of the Inspector of Mines in regard to granting or refusing authority in the second clause of the Act. The Act is to come into operation on the first of January next. On the motion of the Minister of Mines the second reading pro forma of the Mining Bill was agreed to, and it was referred to the Goldfields Committee. ALMOST A SCENE. There was almost a scene in the House when Mr Scobie McKenzie announced his intention of moving that it be an instruction to the committee that it has power to make the necessary provisions by which the Minister of Mines, or any other Minister of the Crown, shall be debarred from occupying a paid position on mining syndicates or companies operating in the colony. Mr Cadman immediately jumped to bis feet, and said that if the motion was moved he would leave his seat on the Ministerial j benches. Mr Scobie McKenzie said the Minister had not understood his motion, and a few ■' minutes later the Minister, having cooled down, modified his previous remark by saying that what he had intended to say was that he would leave the Ministerial benches if the motion was carried. Mr Mackenzie explained that the motion ' was not aimed at Mr Cadman or any particular Minister. Mr Seddon :" It aims at all of them." " Yes," readily admitted the senior member for Dunedin, " it debars Ministers rrom holding these positions." Mr Mackenzie's motion opens the door to another discussion on the Anglo-Continental appointment of the Premier. POSTAL CHRISTMAS CARDS. In reply to Mr Fisher, the PostmasterGeneral said the practice of letter-carriers distributing Christmas cards had been abolished in England in consequence of I abuses having crept in, and the postal authorities in New Zealand had recognised the necessity of putting a; check on the practice in order to prevent it assuming too large proportions. PEST-INFECTED FRUIT. Mr R. Thompson (Marsden) asked the Government to take steps to prohibit the importation of fruit infected with insect pests. The Minister of Lands replied that the matter was under consideration. The Government were anxious to prevent fruit being imported that might spread the insect pests, but the public wants must be considered. The Solicitor-General has under consideration the question whether the case is met by the existing law. PROPOSED FREE LAW BUREAU. Mr Fisher to-day asked the Government ; whether they would introduce legislation this session to secure the establishment of ; a free law department for the purpose of affording legal advice to poor people who ; are unable to pay. He read an extract from a newspaper on the successful working of the free law department in Paris. , Last year nearly 2,000 persons applied for ■ advice and a large number of cases were settled without the necessity of going to i law. The Premier in reply said the question opened up a very important subject. .No doubt a good deal of good could be done in the way of preventing i costly litigation. He pointed out that [ many leading newspapers in England had a legal column in which they j gave advice gratuitously in reply to quesr tions. One step in the direction would be [to appoint a lawyer in every large centre of population who would confine himself exclusively to Government business. Last , yeai an enormous amount was paid by the Government for legal services and the appointment of special legal representative would save the State thousands of pounds, and prevent much unnecessary litigation. ' The Government would take the matter ! into consideration and give a reply later on. REPORT OF THE DEFENCE DE- , PARTMENT. The Leader of the Opposition asked the • Minister for Defence wnether he had res ceived the report of the officer commanding the forces, and when it would be laid on the table. The Premier : " The hon. member has the assurance of the Minister of Defence : j that the report will be in the hands of i members in the course of a day or two." Captain Russell was desirous of knowing whether the report would be in the hands .of members before the defence estimates v. ere proceeded with by the House. The Premier said the Leader of the Opposition must draw his own inferences. MORE FREE RAILWAY PASSES. Mr Massey asked the Minister of Railways if he would grant free railway passes to the Chairmen of Education Hoards when travelling on educational business. He urged the expediency of giving facilities to Chairmen of Education Boards to travel through the districts and watch the progress of education. Mr Cadman said there was no reason why the Chairmen of Education Boards should receive such privileges any more than mayors, chairmen of county councils or members of school committees. He did not think it was fair to ask the Railway Department to bear the travelling expenses of those gentlemen. REVERENCE FOR THE NATIONAL FLAG. Mr Monk asked whether in order to promote in the mind of the New Zealand youth national interest and patriotic concern for the flag, the Government would make a recommendation to the Boards of Education to encourage the teaching staff to inculcate in the scholars a sense of respect for moral and political character of New Zealand branch of the British race. The hon. member for Waitemata in acharacteristic little oration urged the necessity for instilling in the children of New Zealand reverence for the national flag. Mr Hall-Jones, while coinciding with Mr Monk's views, thought the matter was more properly within the function of the local educational authorities. The Government

would, however, give effect to the suggestion if not directly at least indirectly. GEOLOGICAL REPORT ON THE THAMES. Mr McGowan asked the Minister of Mines if he will have published for general information the Government Geologist's report on the Thames-Coromandel peninsula as far as completed. The Minister of Mines said the geologist had been atwork some months and the report was now in the band of the printer. Some further delay must occur in furnishing maps, but the report would be distributed at the earliest opportunity. FAIR RENT BILL. Major Steward asked the Minister of Lands whether the Government proposed to introduce early this session a Fair Rent Bill. The honourable member for Waitaki said the question had been previously asked. Many tenants, of course, were paving higher rentals than they ought to be called upon to pay. The Minister of Lands was afraid there was no chance of passing such a measure this session, stating that there was a large amount of business on the Order Paper, especially as the measure would certainly give rise to much controversy, and the Opposition threatened to prolong the session until Christmas. It was, therefore, necessary to postpone the matter until next session. KAURI TIMBER LANDS. Mr Houston asked the Minister of Lands if he would instruct the Crown Lands Commissioner in Auckland, when disposing of kauri timber, to include in the saWthe land on which the timber grows. The member for Bay of Islands said the question was important to his constituency. It was well known the lands on which kauri timber had grown were unfit for settlement, and consequently the local bodies derived no benefit from their sale. Roads were greatly cut up in carting away kauri timber taken from the land, and he thought the Government, which derived the whole advantage, should contribute to the repair of the lands. The Minister for Lands said that when the question cropped up on a former occasion he had suggested to the Commissioner of Crown Lands that the land should be sold along with the timber, but he was informed that this rule could not be adhered to. Each case had to be decided on its merits. The best course was to leave the local land boards to decide whether the land should be sold with or without the timber. NORTHERN MATN TRUNK RAILWAY. In reply to Mr Crowther the Minister of Works said £12,000 had been voted for the Northern Main Trunk Railway, of which £3,957 remained unspent. The Government intended to complete the line to the junction with the northern end of the Stratford East Road and a number of men were employed on the works. RAILWAY ACCOMMODATION AT GREEN LANE. Mr Lawry is asking the Minister for Railways to provide accommodation for large passenger traffic on Greenlane. He said that on Saturday nights from 70 to 80 pei'sons were travelling from that stopping place. Mr Cadman said he would institute inquiry and if the traffic was as important as the hon. gentleman represented he would direct special arrangements to be ' made. TELEPHONE TO TAUHOA. Mr Monk, in asking the Postmaster to extend the telephone to Tauhoa, passing through Kaipara Flats, said the store--1 keeper had offered a suitable building free of charge for an office. The Premier replied that the extension would be provided if the residents would enter into a guarantee to pay £21 annually for five years, so as to make good the estimated deficiency. OLD AGE PENSIONS. In reply to Mr It. Thompson, the Mm" ister of Lands said the Government would afford further opportunity of sending in claims to old age pensions. ; GROWTH OF HARDWOOD. i Mr Crowther in asking the Minister of , Lands to foster the planting of ironbark, stringy bark and other hardwood timbers, . said his attention had been called to the ; fact that even Parliamentary grounds were • fenced with Hobart timber. Thousands of pounds were sent to Tasmania every year tor hardwood timber, though there were large areas of land in the Auckland district ' suitable for the growth of these trees. He i believed the fears of the forests being de- • stroyed by fires were exaggerated. The Minister of Lands said successful experi- ' nients had been made in planting hardwood ' trees in the Napier district, and it was intended to plant another area in the Rotorua country and in the highlands between Taupo and Napier, where the danger of ' fire was reduced to a minimum. ' LICENSED HOTELS IN THE KING COUNTRY.

Mr Lawry, in asking the Minister of Justice to authorise the establishment of a licensed hotel at Otorohanga and Te Kuiti, said that when Mr Cadman visited the locality he was urged by a large deputation to consent to the licensed hotels as the only solution of the evil of sly-grog selling, which was, however, not so serious as represented. He challenged the prohibition party to submit the question of licensing bouses in the King Country to a vote of a majority in the district extending from Auckland to the southern boundary of the King Country. The Minister of Justice in reply said Otorohanga and Te Kuiti were situated in the block of country which had been proclaimed under section 25 of the Licensing Act, ISBI, as an area within which granting licenses was prohibited. It would not, therefore, be in accordance with what was believed to be popular sentiment that any change should be made which would result in the establishment of a licensed house in the district, the main population of which were Maoris. At the same time there were those who thought the establishment of licensed houses would tend to put an end to sly grog-selling. T0? MAMAKU AND OXFORD-ROTORUA ROAD. Mr Herries, in asking what steps had been taken in expending the sum voted last year for the road between Mamaku and the Oxford-Rotorua road, said £3,000 was voted but not expended. The settlers were obliged to use the railway line as a road. He understood tenders were called, but found too high. The Minister of Lands said a number of men were now employed tree-planting at Mamaku, and would be employed to make the road when tihe present work was completed. THE HINEMOA. Mr Crowther asked the Minister for Marine whether the Hinemoa should not be sold. He said it was improper to run a Government steamers in competition with private shipping companies. The Minister of Works said attempts had. been made to sell the Hinemoa, but no offer was received. The, steamer did not compete with private companies, but was restricted to Government works. Both steamers were fully employed with satisfactory results, the Hinemoa, more than covering her expenses in conveying railway material, visiting lighthouses, taking soundings, fixing buoys, etc.

LICENSING COMMITTEES. In the Legislative Council yesterday Mr Smith asked whether the Government intend to legislate this session in the direction of reducing the quorum required in Licensing Committees, and that conditional licenses be issued under certificate of the Chairman of Committee. The Minister said the Government could not promise to introduce any licensing legislation this session.

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL. In the Legislative Council to-day the Hon. R. Reeves gave notice to ask whether it is the intention of the Government to call for alternative tenders for _ the San Francisco mail service on expiration of the existing contract. BANK OF NEW ZEALAND OFFICERS' FUND. In the Legislative Council yesterday the Hon. Bonar asked whether the Government will introduce a Bill this session to deal with the extraordinary state of things revealed by the Private Benefit Society's Commission inquiry in connection with the guarantee fund of the Bank of New Zealand. He said he was quite sure the majority of the employees were dissatisfied. The Minister of Education said the matter was under the consideration of the Government, and a Bill dealing with the matter would be introduced this session. NATIVE LANDS. There was discussion in the Legislative Council yesterday on a question raised by the Hon. Bowen as to certain remarks made by the Premier to a recent deputation in'which he said a certain amendment was slipped into the Land Act 1896 by which 30,000 acres were affected. He pointed out that the amendment was made with the approval of the departmental official. Mr Smith said the amendment had not produced any detrimental effects, and it merely made the existing law clearer. He also declared that the Premier was fully cognisant of the amendment, as he was a member of the Conference of both Houses which agreed to the Bill as amended. The Hon. Ormond denied that 30,000 acres were affected. The Hon. Jennings said the mistake had. been committed by the representative of a Wellington paper who attended the deputation. PETITIONS PRESENTED. By Mr Monk, from settlers and residents in Albertland, praying that provision be made for extension of the railway northwards from Helensville. By Mr Monk, from settlers and residents at Henderson, Swanson and Waifcakerei, in the vicinity of the Kaipara Railway line, praying that a working-man's train be run from Auckland to Waitakerei section, so as to allow residents to go to and from Auckland daily. By Mr R. Thompson, from residents of Maiingaturoto, Raglan, etc., praying that the charitable aid be chargeable on the Consolidated Fund.