ABOVE THE CHAIR.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 310, 6 October 1899, Page 5

ABOVE THE CHAIR.

■ ■©■ — (By Autolycus.) In the Lower House on Friday afternoon, on the motion to go into Committee of Supply, Mr G-eo. Hut- . chiaon wanted to know why the returns ordered in connected with Poma'iaka had not been tabled. Ue said he had collected information which showed th.ii; the Grovernmeni had had heavy losses on croppiLg and through unpaid reats. Mr Mail-Jones said the remarks were made for th" purpose of discrediting the purchase of the Pomahaka e?tare. A selector, with a capital of £30, got into the hands ot mercantile firms, and ultii mately had become bankrupt. The ! cormaissioner had reported that the re»uiationa had been well carried out, and that the general results had been satisfactory. The Land Board could make recommendations as to a reduction of rent*, if necessary, but no such recommendation had b?,en made. Messrs WaeoD, Kolleston and J. W . Tbomaon considered it premature to discuss the question until the report came from the Waste Lands Committee, which would report in a few days. Mr Grilfedder said it was usele?s to listen to eettlers who only wanted a reduction in' the rent. No doubt there had been failures, aa every man could not be successful as a farmer. Mr Flatman bore testimony to the land oa Pomahaka, and said he had seen as fine a crop of turnips as could be grotfn in Canterbury from larui worth £1 per acre for letting. Mr M'Guire supported Mr Greor»e Hutchison in asking for the returns. Mr tieddon deprecated prejudicing the minds of meoibors on a matter that was sub judice. The enquiry into the estate some years ago had shown that the purchase was a satisfactory one. Tae estate waa paying interest on the purchase money, He deprecated raising the cry for a reduction of rents, as giving too greatfacilities for that purpose would tend to break down the land purchase policy. What had damaged the settlement mora than anything was the way in which the estate had been decried. Later on Mr Geo. Hutchison again brought up the matter, and urged that the evidence of the settles should be taken before a trustworthy tribunal. Mr Scobie Mackenzie, who has been firing away at the Pomabaka estate for years, said the price paid for the estate was scandalous. Af ocr it had been hawked about for £8000, the

Government paid £18,000 for ifc, with the result that settlors had to pay an excessively high rent for the land, and fc he only object of the enquiry waa to relieve the settlers of that impost. Several other members having spoken, Mr Seddon turned the tables on Mr Mackenzie by reading the finding of the Committee of Enquiry which was appointed owing to the latter's strictures on the purchase of the estate. The Committee reported, after hearing the evidence, that there were no grounds for the statements made by Mr Scobie Mackenzie, and that the price paid was a fair and reasonable one. j In the Hous6 on Friday night, the { Premier, in reply to a question regarding sittings of Arbitration Court, stated that they were in an unsatisfactory state As far aa he could see, it would be necessary to appoint another judge. Judge Edwards time was well occupied attending to Supreme Court. The question was, under these circumstances, whether they should relievo Judge Edwards from Supreme Court work and give him an opportunity of devoting all hie time to the Arbitration Court. The present method of paying the judge by fees instead of by salary was very unsatisfactory, and the question was whether they should provide an additional salary and keep on as a? present or appoint another judge, to be set apart for this work. If a judge could not be there to do the work, the whole thing would be brought into discredit. Another matter in connection with the Arbitration Court was brought up by the member who seemed aggrieved that Mr Edwards, the Secretary of the New Zealand League, should have wired the Premier regarding the sitting of the Court in connexion with the Kaitangata miners dispute. He quoted the following from the Bkuce Heeadd's report of Mr Edward a speech at Kaitangata : — " He had been asked since he had been iv Kaitangata why it waa that no definite reply could be got as to when the arbitration c&se pending waa fixed for hearing. He had replied that he did rv.vo think there should be any dil:iiculty about finding this out if inquiries were instituted in the proper quarter. He accordingly telegraphed to the Premier, and had got a reply stating that word would be sent to-morrow Blaring when the case would be heard. — (Applause.) In rnauera like this the association could be beneficial to them, and the association ia always willing to do anything possible in that way. By writing to the proper quartern it is always possible to get information of that soef. Of course you should be able to get the information from your member, but then he ia very busy, and baa lots of such applications before him, and perhaps he does not want t<> give you the information, anyway." Why Opposition members are so aggrieved at Mr Edwards forming Liberal Leagues in the colony is dii fieult to understand, except they fear the resn't o! ; the Liberal party organising. The Opposition for years haa bad it own organisation doing exactly Uie same thing amongst conservatives . It is known as the National Aesocia. tiou, and has a paid secretary who organises the party all over the colony. On Monday the House pas-sed the Kauri Gum industry Act Amendment Bill, which prevents aliens from working on Crown Lands. Considerable discussion ensued regarding the position of Austrians who are engaged in gum digging in the Auckland province. Toe Bill, with slight amendment p, passed through com* mittee. ______ t