POLITICAL NOTES

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16881, 8 July 1920, Page 6

POLITICAL NOTES

(SPECIAL TO "THE .nESS.")

; " WELLINGTON. July 7. , Strength cf Parties. As the no-ebnfidene® debate pro- . presses, there are indications that sonio • of.the Independents are not going to follow Mr MncTtonald into the lobbv. Mr Mitchell to-day announced that he would not vote, Mr St'atham may make : a similar announcement, and MLr'Lvsnnr , has intimated that he will vote with'the Government. So far there is no indication of the attitude likely to be taken up by Mr Craigie, the " member for limaru. He may not vote at all or ho may even vote with the Government. If -nil parties muster their full strength available, the voting should bo something like the following: Government ... ... Opposition and Labour ... 28 This would give the Government a majority of IS. This does not take into account. two Opposition absentees (Messrs Myers and Wilford). Owing to the absence of some members from Wellington, the figures mav be slightly different, but in 'the main the position will most probablv be as above stated. The No-Confidence Debate. The debate to-day ivas not particularly interesting till Mr Potter, the new member for the now constituency of Roskill, intervened. He proved himself a fluent- and effective speaker and he easily held the attention of both the House and the galleries. He made a telling onslaught upon the extreme Labour memhers, an attack that was evidently enjoyed by both sides of the House, but under which tho Labour members sat glum and silent. Mr 1 otter will undoubtedly be an acquisition to the debating strength of tho Reform Party m Parliament. Mr veitch, -who has generally been a «afft vote for the Liberal Party, reiterated/ his independence, and stated that he was not particularly interested in Mr MacT>onald s amendment. Ho did not w e n« r +T Sa3 V' V lle int€ntl «d to vote,' but on the Government side it is expos*W WIU VOto wilh the OP" At one stage of the debate it w a <, 2K + ,i?t i a d, . VIS 1 0» have been taken to-night, but just before eleven o clock Mr Veitch rose, and as there v ere also others who wisK>d to sneak the debate was at tiveutv minutes before midnight. Canterbury Questions. M VV tty lvants 10 Counties' \ct amended, so as to allow countv councils to borrow money f F om ratcpavers and others, on the same lines as municipal corporations, the money to bo repaid at call. He says counties are under great disabilities in having to folr overdrafts!** 6 ° ft 0 banks Mr Ritehener wants enquiries mado so as to arrange that the evening train hom Oamaru to '{imaru will stop at GJenavy and other stations to the north uunngj tho freezing season, in order to take the fat stock offering to the works at njight, instead of in the morning, as rat Jambs loso considerable weight to I being lcopt so long in the yards. B\ the present arrangements stock hoi either .u> be trucked overnight ahstand m the trucks, or be trucked fore eight o'clock in. the morning, which means that, in the busy season, it is almost impossible to send the stock to the freezing works in tho north. | Military Titles. Mr Witty wants the Minister of Defence to assist the people of the Dominion to get back to civil life and forget the war by disallowing any official military title to any persons unless they have been on activo service at the front, or belong to the Imperial or Territorial forces. The Paper Shortage. Mr H. E. Holland will ask the Minister of Internal Affairs whether, in view of the threatened famine of paper in connexion with Government publications, he will take, steps to commandeer a portion of the stocks now being hoarded in New Zealand, and whether Cabinet will consider the advisability of compel-. )'" '!a : ly newspapers to reduce their advertising space. Ho says if the Minister will exajnine any Wellington paper ho will find that a great deal moro than 50 per cent, of its space is taken up with advertisements.

'? Oxford Railway Station. i_ Replying to Mr David Jones, who r- urged the erection of a central station at Oxford, tho Minister of Railways stated that it has been decided .to establish a central station to serve the. , r district now dealt with at Oxford West and East. The work, however, will have to take its place amongst less o urgent matters, and he is unable ta a give the approximate date on which a s commencement will be made. £ Rotherham Teacher's Residence. 0 The Minister of Education has inr formed Mr 6. W. Forbes that a £900 1 grant is authorised for a teacher's resir dencc at Rotherham. 7 0 An Independent's Attitude* 3 _Mr G. Mitchell, the member for Wet- • lington South, better- known as Colonel a Mitchell, made it clear in his speech this afternoon that" he will not vote C against the Government on Mr MacDonald's no-confidence amendment. It was, he said, just a party fight, one of the old party fights, and he did not f propose to take any part in it at all. . Mr Edie: Why are. you speaking then ? | Mr Mitchell: I have a right, T belevo, to speak, just the same as tho > bon. member, and I am not.reading. T-V hit at the new member for Bruce, , who, in contravention of the Standing Orders, read a great deal of his opening , speech.] I have no interest in this noconfidence motion, and, therefore, I don't propose to vote for it. The inference is that Mr Mitchell will w<a!k_ out of the Chamber when the division bell rings. Railway Tribunals/ Tho Prime Minister, in his capacity as Minister of Railways, was asked today by Mr Kellett when the reports of tbe Railway Tribunals were likely to l>c laid before the House. Mr Massoy replied that the reports were being prepared bv the Boards specially appointed to perform that duty. It should not take very long to complete the business. As soon as tha findings were availablo he would bo glad to lay them before the House, make them public, and bring them into operation immediately. Price Investigation. The resignation of Mr F. C. Ellis from the Christchurch Price Investigation Committee, and the allegations he' made against the usefulness of the system in operation, were mentioned in the House of Representatives this afternoon by Sir Heaton Rhodes, who ask- | ed the Prime Minister whether he had had any further statement from Mr , Ellis, and whether the condemnation of the Tribunal was justified. Mr Massey said that he had not received any further communication from Mr Ellis. .JJhere was no reason for believing that, tho Tribunals were set up to hoodwink tho public, and if Mr Ellis believed so it was his duty to make his reasons public. Miners from Broken Hill. A plan for inducing skilled miners and labourers from Broken Hill to come

it > New Zealand was suggested to tho Pr fee Minister this afternoon by Mr rr E. Holland. In view of the coal i • -nfl tho coneral shortage of [ 3 wU -aid Mr Holland, would the Prime Minister entertain a proposal to ove - two thousand miners and from Broken Hill to New Z&. and'would he see that there •vas work for them, and homes, for ■r + . i: rfl ; n -when tnev arrived? sv?e rr.cn could ho employed in the iSd'or the quartz mines, or on the pub- £ works of the Dominion. If the proposnl were entertained, it would he pnsI ble to set to work immediately * sth t,e scheme. The men could he rot into Now Zealand very soon, and this vould he cheaper than immij£nta from ten thousand mile, awny. *i r -\j n i:cov said that he was rcadj to consider tho proposal, and would put it arCahinet. There were m,ny things to he considered however, before. anv such action wns tak-n Thero [vas no nuestion that New Zealand was Thort of men. There was ".dearth of ' mir( , rs , and everything shonld W* done to increase iheir number. Tho scarcity of cement for instance. wns entirelv due to the In "It of coal. AWh re *nrd to quartz m-ncrs. there was .h-s diffi-nltv: undr-r the law while onal miners cnuld work in quartz mines, quartz miners were not permitted to work in ennl mines. Mr Holland: Vou can have both annrtz and coal miners. The matter would be considered concluded Mr Mas*ey.

Medbury Eailway Facilities. As the volume of traffic is inconsiderable at Medhnry railway, station, the Minister of Railways has informed Mr 0 "W. Forbes that the application for a'goods shed cannot be regarded as 'urgent compared with more important works that have been waiting six years. Tho application will havo consideration in its turn. Juries Bill. In the Legislative Council to-day the Hon. John MacGregor introduced the Juries Act Amendment Bill, which provides for a majority verdict in specified cases. The Bill was read a first time. Public Domains. An official report presented to Parliament states that, generally speaking, most of tho public domains in tho Dominion have .been well 'oolced after. In many instances tho memorials to fallen soldiers aro being erected in the domains. The members of tho Domain Boards give their services voluntarily. During recent years very little public money has been available for the improvement of the domains. •Tie Jngo-Slavs. Jugo-Slavs resident in New Zealand havo petitioned Parliament to repeal the Act preventing them from acquiring land in the Dominion. They say they have proved themselves Allies and friends in the Great War, and have • fought with the Allfes against the cnemv on all fronts. Those who went to the front from New Zealand are allowed to acquire land, but others who offered to go and whose services were Hot accepted cannot acquire land here.