HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6924, 2 December 1887, Page 5

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

IFBIBA T, DXCEMBEB 1. ijha House met at 2.30 p.m. THE HONORARIUM. ft Banes gave notice to move in ComJtoa on the Parliamentary Honorarium gßib_t the Bill should be in force till the laotat-mo. the present Parliament and Mto-gw. . QUESTIONS. jfrHoi- Baked the Postmaster-General Mfan be will consent to the closing betMe_7._ndßp.rn. oi those small coimtry riiettm- offices where little or no business jftoaeid-ring that hour, if requested to &»!»residents in the neighborhood. Jfojc. Atkinson said he should have riaaadittdoingso. . asked the Minister for Public *jf«fcl it is intended to change __>«__-& route of the North of Auck2_as_ft_Bk Eailway so that it shall pass #&&¥«& Albert. 2frJ"_*r___X-o_ said it was not intended tod__"« tfr* route, and there was no prejat intention of extending the line as far ftri Albert, there being no funds for the Ijfr. _?b__t asked the Government t-et&e* they will be prepared to amend jee__a 16 of the Stamp Duties Act Amend--B__.__t. 1885, in the direction of altering ge definition of Native lands, so as to gaStit to land held under Native custom, fee *_i__ a certificate of title or memorial j.<**___-ip has been issued or granted by jM&'at-ve Land Court. _ l&_ji_r Atkinson said the matter would kcßisjdered during the recess, and, if saessary, legislation would be proposed jet session. S!r__sL_T asked the Minister for Public f ftls if it is intended to "have the road Mtfrssa Eotorua and Wairoa put in rej_f_)_s ? to enable tourists to visit that fSsK during tlie coming tourist season. m lirMi-CHELSON said it was not intended if -Hm_r the road, but it waa the intention H I. divert the road from Eotorua in the Iff Section of the site of the terraces. It , MrMabchant asked theMinister of JusStoftshethar his attention __»_.___ directed |P-to *_ raceat case in the Hawera Eesident H M_gi__**-t-*8 Co_rt, in which costs where II 6.a fine was imposed amounted to £3 17s, Hf and whether he trill devise some means H to relievo oonnfey settlers from excessive 6 costs in E.M. Courts.

Mr JPebse- said tha attention of Qoverna__t had not been drawn to the matter. Ec had, however, received a telec-ram to fee effect that the case was a very had. one iade-d,aad he should look into the general tjiestion daring the recess. Mr T. -J-cEenzif. (Clutha) asked the Knister for Public Works if he will issue i-rtract-ions to the Eailway Department to ponds a carriage for ladies only to be attached to the express train -running _"t*_*e_. D__e__n and Invercargill, and SiE. upon the long' distance lines where Se? are not at present attached. Mr MITOHELso-t said the experiment isdboaj tried before, but was not successH.__d could not be entertained atpresst. ■'' "

MrW. P. Reeves (St. Albans) asked the Premier whether Sir Jas. 'Fergnsson was •sting aa Governor of the colony when he >**rc_____ certain Native lands in the Wiukato district on a written understandiß? between the Native Department and ™aa_f that a law relating to the tenure of ""*- Wda should be altered. JfeSrrcHKLso-sr said Sir J. Fergussori tot purchase the land from the Mres, and there was no -understanding '■»*■___ that mentioned.

__■ W. P. Beeves asked, the Premier «ae&e_ Government' will consider the ad-"*"al>-ityof inserting a provision in the *KiiffAct to compel rate collectors em*W by local bodies to make a season- ««* effort to recover from occupiers of *fe4 Js»pertie3 before making demands on «J«msrs thereof? could not hold out any *S*cf doing so. & Wakd asked the Minister for Defence * a**, .has any objection to there being -*B«,tta__r section 4 of the Volunteer an order in.Council for embody- **» In the Volunteer regulation-—(1) retirement of all officers, «*s for good and sufficient _easons, on J**™ 0 - the age of sixty years; (2) Ap- f I**sl_-the Commander-in-Chief, so long as *%"«**-• aci repugnant to the Act and I now in force, to "standing ?** 0. any regiihent of cavalry, artilJXftagadeof naval artillery, or battalion «as«} (3) Permitting any battalion of StiLr Wol * u P° a " regimental system " said there was no objection a S-*t*> the third part of the question. J« vCiiiAQHi-f asked the Minister for "«» Works whether he will arrange that fj** railway stations in large graindistricts where there are no JJ*-* rtatiomnasters temporary provibe made during, say, two months delivery season by theapthe linemen or other rg o .** that can be spared to act as for that time. * SmnraasoK said the question was "^aa-ieramsideration. _ tm__f A7AL DKFESCE BILL. 5^J^ J _{e was received from . the «7r'2__ :e "- a, -- 3 6 I *g the House to consider fciw 885 * 1 * * Sravßl Defence Bm - B ~2__* 3raT " I ' l ' asked what amount was *T?« to be contributed. BjSjJ? -&*"*n»---r said in proportion to it would be about £20.000 a g*'_i«k Bill was brought in in connecs _*__. c Colonial Conference scheme Z"«8«. hut he should explain all its whan he moved the second jjkeßfllvaa read a first time and the """*» leading ordered for Tuesday. j» * 01fl "asaENT RAILWAYS BILL. jgg. J"*che_so!. moved the second readh?__L Government Railways BUI. sJrSB » he pointed out that ever «c -___guration of our railway great -i-satisfaction existed with and dissatisfaction had ' ___«_*'■• sucn a point that it was ajZ~? demanded that a change should **__?a"\ xa^v *7 manag__ent. There if Mr Vaile's system were .Zrrv" would result in great facilities ""__. i. 7^11 ? P u blic. but those facilities jZ? 08 a* the expense of the general and he could not, therefore, reits adoption. The question then t *»hether they were to remaan jT"f weir present system of _na___geb£*>. or to wake a change, i .•'__- "■*""■ He had bewa -noosed to a

matter a JZL t£ 8 *** he h__ _J_Z^ <Uno,mt °* consideration, *° c «»«•*«•*»» that the the aSfc" 1 - £or the Realty war of a non-political Railway T*** no dotlb t whatever that SJr^T..,. **■ »* present to depend beZ_. .. fficerß - md -^dd He "&***£ _g« _*» «»«»»4. „„_t. aoz wish in any wav to + _ efl _ 3tion on *& the^Ln__,_ he ****■«•*■ MrM__w.ll, .___? ?___f *__£ the fortune to offend a B _^. on of the PahKc by the _?____-? he caTried «* "■ *•***_ T__-!_zL ■* rad eretood therefore that the this Bill «_, no reflect .__»_ _f_? r _ 2, . ent * "»the Bill had been c_-ried out with great Bucoess, although the conflation of this country could not be compared with Victoria. The Bill wasprincipally based on Acts in force in Victoria and NeW bouth Wales, with the addition of some new clauses. He then referred to the various provisions of the Bill. One clause provided for the appointment of three Commissioners, whose tenure of office was feed at five years; but he thought it would be wise to extend this to seven years. Another clause dealt with the appointment of a Chief Commissioner, and he thought in Committee they should give that Commissioner supreme power, as was the case m Victoria. He then referred to various other clauses in the BUI. Clause 15 de- : fined the duties and general powers of the Commissioners, which was the manage- j ment, working, and maintenance of the railways in the colony, and those to be l constructed in future. He pointed out! that clause 27 was a most important one, and provided that neither the Governor nor the Minister was to have any control over the railways. After referring to other clauses he expressed a hope that the House would do what it could to assist the Government in passing the BUI. Mr ErcHABDSON congratulated the Minister on the manner in which he had prepared the Bill. He supported the principle and had prepared three Bills embodying it. As to the remarks about the dissatisfaction that existed with railway management in this colony, he said that there was nothing like the same amount of dissatisfaction here as existed in Victoria, and not a little of what existed in England and other countries. He was glad to hear that in bringing in this Bill Government had no intention of casting any reflection on the officers of the department. Those officers were a very high class of men, and were superior in point of ability to officers in other colonies. He referred to several provisions of the Bill, and said very large powers were proposed to be put in the hands of Commissioners. In many respects he had no hesitation in saying that there was room for improvement in the system of differential rating that at present existed, and the revenue would largely benefit by such changes in that direction. He wished to say he had been at one time strongly adverse to Boards of Management, but he had since altered his views in that respect. The Bill which he had prepared was on much the same lines as that brought down by the present Ministry, but the Government of which he was a member did not think it wise to heve only one Board for both Islands. He mentioned this fact because it had been alleged that the late Government were not desirous of bringing such a Bill forward. When this Bill got into Com* mittee he should do everything in his power to make it a workable measure. Mr Cowah* supported tbe Bill, and said the country looked to Parliament to give effect to it. He was glad to find the late Minister for Public Works was prepared to support the Bill, to make it workable. There was no donbt the Bill was of a most important character, as it proposed to deal with an institution that had cost the country fourteen millions of money, as represented by the public debt. So one could deny that railway management all oyer., __& Jsd.„giveij-. ; a* r ''*' > jj^i 1 '' ! ''"'___it-a--'" ? '' of di-satisfactiori, principally through the cast-iron rules that existed. In nis opinion the blot of the Bill was that no direction was given to the Commissioners as to what they were to produce from the raUways. He held that a legal enactment should be made in' the Bill to give Commissioners instructions to what they should produce. He approved of the proposal to to have only one board of management. He should have liked to see two Boards —one for each Island—but he would waive that objection on the score of economy. Mr BucHAN-j-r cordially supported the Bill, as the present system caused intense dissatisfaction with the working of the railways. Mr !____ supported the Bill because he thought it would mitigate one of the evils of representative government. He pointed out that in his district great dissatisfaction existed with regard to small consignments and the uncertainty that prevaUed as to what the charge for freight would be. He held also that second-class fares should not be bo high as to prevent people from travelling about the country. If they were to have a revenue at all it must be admittted that differential rating was an absolute necessity. Although he intended to vote for the Bill he did not expect anything like the success that was expected from the Victorian system. Mr SA_ruEL said if the Bill went to a division he should vote against it. -Jey entered to say that the time would not be far distant when there would be complaints all over the colony against the proposed Board and prayers for its abolition.

Tho debate was interrupted by the 5.30 adjournment.