THE SESSION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 172, 23 July 1898, Page 2

THE SESSION.

SfESTEEDAY'S PROCEEDINGS IN PAELIAMENT. . ;By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Friday night. After the customary formal business in the House "this afternoon some dissussion. took place on the report of the Public Petitions Committee with reference to a petition by the widow of a civil servant named Mumford, at Wang-anui. She had received twelve months' compassionate allowance, but claimed a further amount on the ground that eighteen months' allowance had been granted to persons in better positions. Capt. llussell said the constant appeals of this kind to Parliament demonstrated the necessity of establishing a civil service board, with power to deal with such cases on a uniform basis. The Hon. J. G. Ward thought the necessary provision might be made by insuring civil servants through' the Government Insurance Department. Mr T. E. Taylor announced his intention to move for a return of compassionate allowances paid during a term of years, which he believd would disclose th« fact that had the.money been expended in premiums it.would have been amply sufficient to provide annuities for the whole civil service and render appeals to the House unnecessary. The report was ordered to lie on the table. THE NEGLECTED NORTH. The Railways Committee, on the petition of a number of settlers in the North of Auckland praying for railway extension, recommended that the report be laid on the table. Mr R. Monk, who had presented the petition, said the Northern districts suffered through their isolation, and the difficulty of combining in efforts to bring influence to bear in the direction of drawing attention to their requirements. He pointed out that the gumdiggers contributed largely to the revenue through the consumption of dutiable goods. They suffered under severe inconvenience for want of the extension of the Kaipara railway. The Northern settlers had received from the Minister of Works nothing but promises. They were living under conditions which deserved special consideration, and they should either be granted an extension of the railway or a considerable grant for roads. He moved that the report be referred back to the Committee for the purpose of taking further evidence. Mr Massey said when one member of the Committee had moved that the petition be referred to the Government he had moved to add the words, 'lor. favourable consideration;' but this, amendment was negatived by the deliberative vote of the Chairman. The petition was one of great importance, as it" dealt with railway extension m a large district. The proposed extension formed part of the public works scheme, for which money was borrowed but spent in other parts of the colony, therefore the petition deserved fair and favourable consideration. Mr R. Monk complained that he was not notified when the Committee was to consider the petition, and was thus deprived of an opportunity of giving evidence in support of it. Mr 11. Thompson said this section of railway- deserved special treatment The present terminus.was situated in a gully, where access to it, was very difficult. Upwards of four or five years ago n sum of money was voted by the House to carry on the line to a point where it would be made useful, and give a fair return on the outlay; but the line hadrcceived very bad treatment. He trusted when the public works expenditure came under consideration in Cabinet the Government would recognise that this line possessed special claims to their attention. Mr R. Monk obtained leave to withdraw his motion. Mr W. Crowther said he had sent a message from the Railway Committee to Mr Monk, who was engaged on the Native Affairs Committee, to inform him that the petition was coming under consideration. No doubt this line was an important one, but the House had received petitions long enough to reach round the Chamber appealing for railways, and it was a curious fact that each particulr line was of infinitely greater importance than all the The Minister of Works said it would .appear from the remarks of the hon. member for Waitemata that the Government was doing nothing to assist the Northern district, whereas at present there were 50 men employed inthe district on public works, fie had visited tlie North, and on his return had placed the condition of the district before his colleag-ues; but the Government had to consider the claims of other districts in the colony, such as the Otago Central and v North Island Main Trunk line. There was, however, something at the bottom of this petition brought in by the member for Waitemata, who had been 'secretly, silently and surreptitiously' urging 1 "upon members of the House to go in for a big loan, merely for the purpose of completing the line to Auckland, though- all the time he posed in public as an ox^ponent of further borrowing-. Considering the means at the disposal of the Government the Northern districts have received fair treatment. He asked the member for Waitemata to. leave this question to be considered by the Government with other works. Mr Houston hoped when the Minister of Works visited the district, he would remember that Waitemata was not the most Northern district, and that he would recogmise that there were places further north which claimed his attention. , .; The Premier said members who wanted these works in their districts ■ ought to show the Government where the means were tot-come from. To ex- ■ tend this line in the way proposed would involve an expenditure of from £80.000 to £100,000. (Houston: 'That is nothing: look at the district. 1) The motion that the report lie on the table was agreed to. RELEASE OF MR SPOONER. Mr J. J. Holland asked without " notice whether the Government would grant the prayer of the petition ask- ; fug for the release of Mr Spooner, of Auckland. The Minister of Justice explained 1 j the nature of the case, and said the Go--1 ivernemtn thought the ends of justice I had been met by the term of imprisonment which Mr Spooner had ' served, and had advised the Governor i to grant his release. : Apropos of this subject it was somewhat amusing to witness the spectacle of the Legislative Council, almost simultaneously with, this announce- - ment in the popular Chamber, rejecting by a majority of fonr the motion i of the Hon. George Jones in favour of ) Mr Spooner's liberation.

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT. T here was some harmless fencing between the Leader of the Opposition and the Premier over a question by the former as to when the Financial Statement will be delivered. The Premier replied that the Government having only a limited amount at its disposal for expenditure on public works was perplexed^ as to how the money was to be distributed among the different districts whose claims Avere being pressed upon the notice of the Ministry. He hoped to give the hon. member an answer next week, which may be taken as tantamount to saying that the Budget speech is not likely to be made for at least another week. '■ Captain Russell thereupon wanted to know whether the Public Works Statement would be' made at the same time as the Financial Statement, but the Premier, with a pretended air of helplessness, declared that he was taken by surprise, and craved time for cons i d eration. ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. The afternoon was occupied with a discussion o-n the second clause of The Government Advances to Settlers Act Amendment Bill, which extends the period Avithin which the residue of the loan (£1,500,000) authorised under the Act may be uaised, until the 31st October, 1991. The discussion was mainly on the valuators under the1 Act, the method of whose appointment and work was adversely criticised by the occupants of the front Opposition benches. _ It was freely alleged that the appointments and the administration of the advances had been influenced by political considerations.. At half-past seven when the House resumed the Bill was quickly passed through Committee without amendment, and the Banking Act (the disscussjon on which is reported^ under a special heading) proceeded with.