THE COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 253, 18 July 1908, Page 7

THE COUNCIL.

PURE MILK. ' . In: tho Legislative Council -yesterday after- ; | noon, - •-. . -. Th# Hon. Dr. COLLINS (Wellington) asked ; tho: Attorney-General,;W'hether the . Gov- ' ernment ..will communicate, with- tho ' Department-of .Chicago arid ascertain whether it is' v o6rrect :that 'it-his starts the'sanitary-' bottle distribution, of. milk for -the public in that:city, what regulations "are enforced to'. ' endeavour: to' .obtain a.'supply, of.,'puro niilk: • to the. people, and also what. th'o cost of tlio milk is-to tho.oonsumer?" The- ATTORNEY-GENERAL (Hon.:. Dr. Findlay);. said\' that., the. Minister ior ..Public: Health -had' already given, instructions ..to tlio, Chief Health OfEcer. to- obtain full mforma-, . tion -from Chicago. .: Dr. COLLINS also.asked, "Whether tho Government,, if ''thby/ liaye ,iiOt alrcady'-dono: so, • will - establishat >'thbState farms , a .'.pro- . perly.'. equipped ;dairy' for Ithe '.production., of. 'pure.mdkl so.that;famcrs.:in'ay be shown and ' taughtr;what;.,is ;mcarit,;by'.VthoV.:stbjilisirig '.of bottles and cans, and tho methods .of xloan- " liness.'.to bo'adopted, to",insure a v pure-mills supply?" The ATTORNEY-GENERAL Baid that everythingthat"could: be ; 'dorio;pritho State farms to -ensure" the,'purity;of .milk, was .how . done,.but sterilised bottles had not-yet been v used.'.The ijuestiorihad'/beenf referred-'to' ;the Minuter-for Agriculture, and would rcceivo his careful conaidoration. ~ r. BILLS PASSED. The Declaratory Judgments Bill and the Corporations' Contracts Bill were put through Committee :Without anieudment, read a,third. • timey.and passed, .. , ■: ■ : ■•, LAW. PRACTITIONERS AMENDMENT -■■ V'-V ; .B ILL.'' . The " ATTORNEY-GENERAL Dr. Fmdlay), in moving the second reading of the ? ®ia that originally the qualifications "for a\ legal -pracv titioner in ; 'thij-country. were' the'sarno- as ;/ in : Eri^wdr,^Artid^:.wefe.frramred"and an ex- . amuiatibn.:had to ,bo' pasieel iu jthe case of' a' solidffor V.or; a shown some^years-ago .that-articles a :noavyfexpenJo > sS^many r joiing r ffi%H t -'of'fißility, that -provision 'was' abolished/'by the "Amend-.' ; ing Act of 1898, and now a. man might' become a barrister or solicitor "without having seen tho inside -of "a- solicitor's officei - - A'ioonsiderablo. number "of schofil " teachers and others, '<-,who .had had no offico or- court exi.passed --tho' '.examinations j''- : and; got - . on the rolls .a5.;-barristers;and' Solicitors. Ho Bubmitted'.,tllat; this ,was not. iri.the. interests, of, the public. :;Wh'en. every obstacle;to qua]i-- , fication,' except'want of brains, had; been'removed that was .as far,, as the law should .go.' • It. had;. ,however,- gonovfurther',. and taken, in his'.opinion, - -a. retrograde. step; ' The result was .that ;a;.young. fellow with a ..free education—for our Universities were practi- . cally, free,^especially, .for law'-.students— might, obtain oven the higher qualification of ' barrister without the.training and hard work that others had had id/undergo/ This was a ■ discouragement to industry, . and . he had been v asked' from many quarters to get the law altered. The Bill provided -for absolutely safeguarding the. position'of those who might, ... be said ,t6\nave , ;' i yestcd/interests,'in .the pre- : , Bont .systom.-';'' A'young -man who was ad- , , mitted;'as. a' solicitor' on tho 'day before the Bill .was passed '.'would, be -.ahio: to claim admission as a barrister five years henco under tho conditions.hitherto:existing. - '' Tho Hen. : J.-B. CALIjAN (Otago) -supported tho Bill.V Hb /welcomed the Bill - as clearing the way for;reciprocity-and equality . of status'throughout-tho Empire; " Thp Hon. C. !m.; LUKE (Wellington) suggested' that tho .exomptiori,.'of those already admitted as' oohcitors' was' undesirable.',,- ~. :■ , -llio Hon. J. ltlGG}, (Wellington) iopposed tho Bill/ as a retrograde ,step, 'and, contrary to. tho principle of equality of • opportunity. . One . of the; most important, tasks' '-before'"the • , democracy would-bo to simplify the law. "■ ■ Ihe Hon. T. KELLY (Taranaki) opposed, the .Bill on :the . ground" that the eftect , of - making' entry into the" higher'-" walks, of the legal .profession more difficult would, increase tho cost of .proceedings and place : justice/ • in beyond' tlio reach of poor ■ men.. ■ JONES (Otago) said that a> , simplification, of tho: law would be usoless ;unless tne problems with-■'jvhich, it had to deal. could; also bo simplified.".- Ho saw no-objection to tho Bill, , I. •'!'.'. • . The Hon.; J;:E.;'JENKINSON (Welling- . ■ l %- saw :' lo^ ' reason why. Parliament should, rovorse.'the. action it: took a fev/, years »go jn opening moro'widely tho doors of tlio teal profession. He did,not-agree with Dr. rindlay.s jstatoment.: that- university education ivas free..., . The Attorney-General : I. don't mean ,to say ; It is . quite; freo, but.it'need not-cost ;aiiy ' young rnn moro than the price ;of a couplo of coats.- ' ■ --- .- ... ■ 1 ■ " OtherjmembMs^Tobaeeol'Cigarettes'r'. •' -Thi ■- Hon.- C._ LOUISSON (Canterbury): S ? l T rtl ; d . tl, °-.? 1 . 11 . especially'on the g'round' of the desirability of professional.reciprociiv within the Empiro. ... ' •' i Th. . ATTOR,NEY,GBNERAL said that when -we' spoke, of", throwing,.a;,profession open, wo meant removihg'tha bars, ; of:moncy', rank, and crced, but when wo .'mado it possible for eyeryono' to'Vobtaiii 'the'necessary education..and enter .the; professions-■accord-inglyj- s'e . we're throwing them open in tho ' true_ democratic sense. Such was, tlio practico in -New- Zealand, .but -we insisted, in tlio. caso of : dentists,; accountants, and medical .practitioners op the: necessity of .proper, -'qualification's, arid;--the.- tendency was - to ' raise- the Btauaard' of.' those' qualifications. 110--sub»' mitted, that the capacity required for a '- lawyer.- should ! be -equally, high. I.t • was a . fact ~that much, of tho work .of lawyers , was. eaused by tho unsatisfactory way,-in which tho work of Parliament was dono, and Mr, O'Regan had suggested, perhaps rightlv enough,- that members of Parliament, as well as lawyers,, should be required to, pass'an examination. The -proposals : of the Bill would lift'tho. profession to a higher sensn of its own lionmir ( and would: enable tlio lawyers to wriro- the'public moW. offoctively. On a division,'which was called for b.v Mr. RiSK, tho second reading was' carried by 23 voios against 7. ' V - •' JUDICIARY; BILL.; ThG seairid reading of l.lirs Judiciary Bill was,, on-th" motion of tho AttoriK-;-Ge!icrai, postponed until July 24.. . ACTS I NT E H P R UT ATI ON AMEKDMENT BILL. ... The' A PTOIVN K Y -(! KN E li A J • movpd tlio Second rending oi tho Acis liil^rpietatioii

Amondment Bill. Quoting tho Law Drafting Counsel's memorandum, .ho stated that ! tho Bill would abolish tlio old rulo of tho common law known as generis" pnn'ciplo, according to which Khen a general word follows words of specific meaning tlio general, word .is not read - in . its natural sense, but is'restricted in its application to ■ things'-of .the'samo"kind as those referred '. to by tho'"special words. This rule gavo rise ■ -to -constant, uncertainty and . difficulty, and there Boomed to be ho reason why the Legislature, when using a genoral term, should-, not be'- held. to. mean exactly, -it' said.- - In' the English Prisons Act, 1865, for example, it was mado an offenco to oonvoy into a . prison, with intent to- facilitate the escapo of a prisoner, "any mask, dress, or, other disguise, or any '-letter, or' any other article >■ or tiling"; and it heeded a decision of the Court ior Crown Cases Reserved to :decido that'a'crowbar was " an article or thing" -within , : of the Act. ; The Bill also, attempted to clear up tho uncertainty as to whon. an Act of Parliament would pr would not'bind tho Crown. ' Tlio, Hon. J. E. ■ JENKINSON. (Wellington) said he would like tho Crown to be com- ■ polled ,by general itatuto to pay local rates on land held by it, This was a matter of Spccial interest to "Wellington. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated that the present position in this matter would not be altered by the Bill. ■ TOWN BOARDS AMENDMENT BILL. The ' ATTORNEY-GENERAL then moved tho second reading of Town Boards Amendment Bill. -, He explained, that it would mako it clear what town districts wore parts of counties, and-what were taken, out of the" counties. , .It provided"_that, in addition to tho town districts which were taken , out- of counties .by the Town Districts' Act iof 1906 • (and which, were sell ed- : ulcd in tlio Bill), any other town; district, on''- satisfying, tho- Governor that. .it' has/ a population' of five hundred, might be taken Out'of the county by' Order in Council." It also provided that county roads within a town -district which was not part'';of the county -were to ,be controlled aiid mainthe Town Board,' and all other county roads by tho County Council. • .> The reading " was carried without discussion. . - SOCIETY OF ACCOUNTANTS BILL. ' The Now Zealand Incorporated Society of; Accountants. Bill was committed. The! Hon. J. 'R. SINCLAIR/ at clauso 7, argued "that .the- Official, recognition granted ; by.the: Bill fhould be ayailabTe'fo'r ineri'wlio ; ; ■carriedoq' 1 sbnlo. 'other .'.business, as well / as, : accountancy.'.' ■..Wo'r'ds'' : ,were inßerted , ' : accord- : ! ingly."., '■ v j:'■".. 1 : > Tho Bill; was with"no;, further- ; amondment-. " t ' The Council, at 4.35 p.m.,-adjourned 1 until Wednesday next.