PARLIAMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 202, 24 August 1904, Page 6

PARLIAMENT.

OUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, By Telegrapli—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON. Tuesday. In the House of Representatives this ternoon the State Coal Mines Act mendment Bill (Hon. McGowan), eights and Measures Act Amendment : ir Joseph Ward), were read a first mc. STUD BILL. On the motion of the Minister for rrriculturp, a select committee was set p to deal with the Stud Bill after a •ief debate on the lines of that which x>k place on the second reading. Mr Masaey raised the r, ">jection that ie bill should have bee.i referred to ie Joint Stock Committee, which conlined members of both Houses, instead E to a select committee, and considered ie present proposal a slight upon the egislative Council. Sir Joseph Ward said that the Leader f the Opposition declaimed against the .esrislativn Council, and patted it on ne hack when it suited him. The bill ad boon referred To a special eommitpc with \hf object of removing objeeionablp features, and no slight on the legislative Council was intended. The Minister for Agriculture pointed lit that the bill had been before the oint Stock Committee before, and the nly alteration made was included in he bill. To Mr Massey's suggestion hat the bill be made optional, the linister replied that it would then be f no use. and he would rather not have :. He declared that delay would be aused by a reference of the matter to a oint Stock Committee, and that the ieasure would be shelved to the end ■f the session. EVIDENCE. The Evidence Bill, which had been cad a second time in the House, was ealt with in committee. In answer to Mr Ma-ssey, the Hon. IcGowan said that the only alteration roposcd to the existing law in the ill was thai gaming was added to the st. of offences in which evidence would i compelled. A deal of objection ■as taken by Messrs. Hardman and .rid to the clause providing that afiisnit or declarations made before the ■roper authority in any part of the iritish dominions shall be received in ny Court in New Zealand. It was urged hat this was a now provision and a langerous one. After debate the clause was struck iut on the voice*, rh= remaining clauses )f the bill being agreed to. Mr Guiness n><--.-M a new clause <■« )rovidc that any document in the pcs -ession of any Minister or officer of he Crown -shall be producible as evidence in any acinn, and may be eompellable unless he judge or magistrate rules that il ir confidential. The member for Grey urg >d that the amendment should be mads\ lonsidering the various functions which he Crown had assumed. For instance, t had gone into business in life and ire insurance, it acted as trustee, :irul t r;*n coal mines. At present a Miniser might refuse to produce a document :.hat might be very material evidence, <nd in this way thn cainc of justice j liirht bo retarded or frustrated. The Minister for Justice opposed the ' clause on the. jrrounds that it was no; vi<-e to place in the Imr.ds of magi ratrs the potftr to say what shou! I k> confidential and what should no;. rhe Minister also considered it an ex raordinary proceeding 10 give a Court be power of olitsinincr communications >rtween the hends of departments and heir subordinates. It would be unwise n submit such communication?; 10 tlio 'üblic. Mr Hemes protested against the aitihclp of the Minister in denying to ■isistrates the ability to act judicially t questions involving confidential documents, and .objected tn t.h»> Government >"ing placed in a po-ltion different from hat of a private party m a rivil suit. The elausr was rejected in division ifier further debate by 29 votes to 2.'). LAW AMENDMENT BILL. Tlie Law Amendment Hill was ther taken in Commit ieo. On clause 5. which limits to 12 years 'he time within which wills may be im peached, a proviso was added that the clause should not rome into force unti' \'2 months atter the passage of the Act. On clause 7. dealing with tlip encroach •pent of buildings on private land, and providing >hat special relief may be granted by the Crown in cases where the encroachment was not intentional "Mr W. Frascr pointed out that the onus of proof should be thrown on the defendant and not on the pla.inti(T. as! the clause contemplated. I Mr Duthie said that there were Fhou cands of caws of encroachment of the kind, and they should be left to be set tied as be.»t they could. Mr McGowan said the present method of dealing with such cases was tedious \ and expensive, while tne clause provid eel a means of arriving at prompt and; inexpe.r-sive settlement. An amendment to throw the onus of proof on the defendant was agreed to. At clause 10, empowering trustees to spend and borrow money for the im p=-ovemfTit of a property, Mr Rhodes moved tlTa* , - the amount to be borrowed should be limited to one-third of the property. The bill was theti reported with amendments. GAMTXG AND LOTTERIES. The Gaming and Lotteries Act for the. prevention of pak-ah-poo and sweeps was dealt with in Committee. At clause 2 Mr Henries objected to the provision making the penal provisions apply only to persons taking part in the management of lotteries or schemes outside the colony which were legal in their country. The Minister for Justice said that the Parliament of this colony had declared it illegal to bold lotteries, and. therefore, unless the State took further actiou. the law already passed would prove inoperative by the sale in New Zealand of tickets in foreign lotteries. The Leader of the Opposition pointed out that the Government was every year putting up hinds for ballot, and he considered this amounted to a lottery. ■ The clause, however, was agreed to. Considerable discussion tooK place on sub-section one of clause 3, under which pak-ah-poo is declared to be a lottery, and the sub-section was eventually struck out and progress was reported on the bill. LAW OF PROBATE. The Administration Act Amendment Bill was next committed. Clause 2, which provides that the Supreme CouTt shall have exclusive jurisdiction in the matter of granting probate, was struck out on the motion of Mr A. L. D. Fraser, with the concurrence of the Mniister, a»d it was replaced by a clause giving the District Court or a judge thereof the same

powers as the Supreme Court in grant-1 ing probate. * '■ Clause 4, providing that documents re- j lating to probate and letters of admin- i istration shall be transferred to thej Supreme Court from the District Court, and clause 5, vcere excised. The Minister said that searching for wills was a matter of considerable difficulty, and he moved in the direction of giving power hrve copies of wills deposited in Wellinrtou for inspection. This was agreed to. if, Section 4 of the District CouTt Aci, | ISBO, was repealed. ' The bill was then reported, and the J House rose. j ————————