THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 287, 28 August 1908, Page 9

THE HOUSE.

. The House met at 2.30 p.m. yesterday. jx : LOCAL BILLS. ! Tho Oamaru Harbour Board Loan l Bill, empowering a loan of £50,000, was read a third time. ... ■ f The committee report, on the Christclmrch City Betterment Bill was adopted. The Opunako Harbour Bill (Mr. Major) wis road a second time. It received the support of the Prime Minister. ! The New Plymouth Harbour Board Empowering Bill (Mr. Okey) was read a second time. The Prime fillister also supported the Bill, since certain of its provisions regarding rating areas liad'been altered. Tho Bill'.passed'iW second reading. i The .Auckland' (Synipnds' Street) . Cemeteries Bill KMrlicEidfl) silSS ? £9§s§a :T itij jse'eond reading. ... ' \' ' te stumor -.wfroa-o-j J.ceqo j | PUBLIC REVENUES BILL. • Tho Public' Revenues Amendment Bill was road a,second time"jro 'forma,

1 POLICE OFFENCES BILL. The Police' Offences , Amendment Bill 'was dealt with in committee. \ ; Section 3 proposed to'amend the principal •Act by the deletion of. the Word "''grossly" in its relation to, an indecentloffence. BAUME (Auckland) took strong exception; to the proposed alteration. It would b'o a very disastrous thing toldo, . ,| Tho MINISTER contended iliat the- deletion of th& word - would it easier for a;, magistrate to.decide tho..nature of the offence in its relation to a breach of the 'liw. , I On a vote being taken the prdposed clause was thrown 'out oh tho voicesj tho Minister declining to call ha division. | Sunday Trading. !. Mr. SIDEY (Caversham) ■ proposed a new cjauso to render more drastic provisions against Sunday trading on the part of small shopkeepers. . I . Tne. clause was not adopted. I Mr. BAUME proposed another amendment as follows:—"That Section 17 of the Police Cpffences Act, 1908, is l.eroby amended by aJdding the words 'orthe sale aiid supply of fi jod or refreshment in and for consumption ii l any, restaurant, _ eating or refreshment rloms' after tho word 'such.'" T|iel effect of this clause would bo to enable the places named to sell tea and refreshments'on Sund ay. Mr. Baumo submitted lengthy|reaaons for his proposal, 1 showing that anomalies existed under tho present law. somd places b cing allowed to keep open while others were p roceoded against. . i

" No Csuntry In tho World." i' Tho MINISTER for JUSTICE (the! Hon. J. M'Gowtn) opposed, the. clause'. Mere is no country in the world,"-he said; l-'tliat has allowed this continental- Sunday'.trading' that has shown any,.improvement in;iti people or its morals."' . This -.proposal; 'didn't a fleet him personally—" My mind , has 'jjrown tjo old to be elastic." But he .did-.not (want' to see business places open on Sundays] and this propostl would be the thin edge of the W'edgo in that direction. , .. {•' I Mr. BAUME 'protested that refreshments were sold bn 'Sundays" at' tho' present' time, and he simply would render legal'what(ivas illegal; and yet not, in every case, stopped. To suggest the! continental Sunday system for New Zealand was very remote from' his mind. - - ' !' j Mr. GRAY (Christchurch) said ' this j cry', of employment of labour on Sunday Vas trotted out in,'its various phases until it, became nauseating. Tea and cocoa were told at tho sea-side resorts, and in the parks, but could not bo in .tho towns. And why riot? Away with such maudlin sentiment!

Mr. FLATMAN (Geraldine). did iiot want to see more work than possible oiv Sundniys,. and ho would try to do as little as possible himself. Ho had often had cold dinners on Sundays to nave work. What ho said, however, was, have law or 110 law. At present there were many anomalies in this respect, and tho law should define what should bo done. Should they not, to bo consistent, do away with messengers in Parliament Buildings on Sundays, and with trams. and triins? Let them be consistent. "Wo have a lot to do," he said, " boforo one can say wa keep the Sibbath wholly." T Old Puritan Type. i>jr. BOLLARD: "It seems wo have a good many of the old Puritan type in the House." Some of these people would be in Heaven before the rest'of them had got as high-as Mount Victoria. (Laughter.) He thought a person .should havo an opportunity of getting a cup of tea on Sunday nfteriioons, and those that were worked . 011 .the Sundays could' Have tho Monday or some other day off. Ho would vote for the clause. The MINISTER pointed out that tho clauso' was the thin edge of the wedge, and would open tho way to graver back-room refreshment abuses. . Mr. ELL (Christchurch) said Mr. Baume had argued that foreigners were discriminated against by the present law,, and that tho clause was to remove that discrimination. It was not so, and there was no feeling, ho felt sure, on tho part of tho Minister against

foreigners. (Mr. Baume: Hoar, hear.) As to Sunday travelling, -only reasonable and necessary traffic was permitted. Mr. Bainno wanted tho law altered beciiiiso an Austrian hfirl been proceeded against , in Auckland. ; The clause was lost by 31 to 25. I — i TAUPO NO. 2 BLOCK BILL. i Tho Taupo No. 2 Block Bill (Hon R M'Nab) passed through committee without amendment. TOWN BOARDS.' Tho Town Boards Amendment Bill (Hon. J. A. Millar) was committed. ' Mr. REMINGTON argued that all town boards should bo taken entirely out of the county jurisdiction and should pay 110 county rates, »nd Mr. Fktman moved an amendment to that effect. The MINISTER opposed tho amendment on the ground that small townships could not profitably exercise the proposed powers, tfhich Trere equivalent to those of borough C °Mr. l REMINGTON, in tho courso of discussion, declared that the Rangitikei County Council had found that tho dual control now ojatnining in' the sifiall town districts was most unsatisfactory. " tho point had been debated for an hour, Mr. Hogg being a strong supporter of tho amendment, and Mr. W. Eraser an. emphatic opponent, it was defeated by 4, to

Saniias-y Rating. Mr. MANDER moved an amendment to gi VG power to town boards to strike rates of • sufficient amount for sanitary purposes. The present, limit- of a id. rate would not allow this to'bo done. ■_ . , The MINISTER opposed this. He objected to . piecemeal legislation. The- matter should bo dealt with by amending the Publio Health Act.' , ... '" After further discussion, Mr. Mander withdrew, in favour of the following, v ,iich was moved, by tho Minister *. In any-"district 'in" which there aro no sewerage works it shall be lawful for the board, in lieu of a separato : rate under Section GO of the Public Health Act, 1908, to levy a uniform "annual fee oii the occupier of every ■property 011 which a house is erected, but Such 'finnlial fee shall in no case exceed one 'pound for each such property." •' Mr." : MILLAR said this would meet tho eas6 H 'without interfering with tho Public Health Act.' Experience showed that such fees' 1 varied from -16s. to 20s. ■;>-Th« clause was adoptedi and the Bill was reported 1 as amended.

/ . EDUCATION BILL. SPEECH BY THE MINISTER. The MINISTER for EDUCATION (Hon. G. Foirids), speaking on the motion to go into committee on the Education Amendment Bill, said the measure would bring about a Considerable improvement in our educational system. He had received-many approving letteTs from toachers all over the Dominion. The two main objects of tho Bill were toimprove the status of the teachers and to strengthen the staffing of the ■ primary schools. Tho teachers of tho Dominion would comparo favourably in all_ respects with thoso of othor English-speaking countries. Tho increase in the number of uncertificated teachers was due to the raising of requirements from the E to the D eertiacate, to substituting adult for pupil-teachers, and to tho number of small or household schools. It was, however, desirabli te decrease the number of uncertificated teachers and offer inducements to suitable persons to enter tho teaching profession and qualify fully. In this conncction the Minister read extracts, which were printed in The Dominion yosterday, from tho Departmental report. > He further said that the training colleges woro able to train, all the teachers required. , : • . •.

Salaries and Attendance. ■; ; The • inducements'/offered to teachers by the Bill 'embraced improvements 'as to grading as'well as salaries. The Minister quoted figures to show that tho salaries of teachers in New Zealand compared favourably with, those in England and elsewhere.• Existing regulations made it practically impossible for, a : teacher's income to be reduced, directly by. a decrease of attendance, but to make the. matter quito sure, an amendment to the Bill had been introduced by Governor's message providing that no teacher should havo his. salary reduced for two years on ac-, count of a fall in the averago attendance. Tho grade of the school would'depend on the average... attendance, and tho salary. ; of tho teacher on tho grade. Generally, a reduction of salary would not take place until three years after tho fall in average attendance. ' It was a proper business principle that if tho trade of a branch establishment fell off,' through no fault of' tho branch manager, a less valuable employer should bo placed there, or if tho falling, off ,wa3 due to tho fault of tho manager, his salary should ha reduced. Something analosous to this would be possible under the Bill. The Minister also explained provisions against the teachers having their salaries reduced through epidemics among the scholars. The increases of Salaries proposed under tho Bill amounted to a considerable sum, tho largest amount going to tho smaller schools. This was right because a largo proportion of the young people of tho Dominion were brought up in tho rural districts. The capitation for.Grado O, already higher than in other countries, would not be raised by tho Bill. Promotion.

. The schemo of promotion under tho Bill was partly by small annual increments and partly by promotion from grado to grade. At 25 to* 28 years a teacher would receivo £165 a ; year; at 28 ho would got £180 and house allowance; from 28 years to 31, £195; at 31 years, £210; from 31 years t-o 34, £220; at 3i vears, £270, rising in the four years to £290; •at 38 years £310, and houso allowaticc," rising iin the next six years to £340; at ,39 years,£34o, and houso allowance; 44 years 'and ' over, £370 to £400. This was : calculating ■ on -a basis of ordinary ability; tiero would bo' opportunities for others or talent to rise with greater rapidity. One -feature'was'that salaries would bo increasing,' though tho teacher remained m tho samo- position.Thero would be a gradual •scale of promotion for assistant teachers and new'teacncrs, and it would bo' an mattor for boards i'o recognise tho standing of the different classes. Teachers in' tho Dominion generally would welcome this proposal, though'it hardly went as far as some of the'-schemes' submitted by tho various institutes. Somo of these schemes even suggested radical alterations in tho constitution of the power of the boards, which could not bo; accepted. Under the old 'constitution it was 'possible for a board to send down one name only to a committee This Bill proposal that tho boards must send to the committee for selection a list of names in order, according to their litness.

Pupil Teachers. I Another feature of tho Bill was tho substitution, of adult teachers for pupil teachers, this would very considerably strengthen the staffs. Gradually tho pupil teacher would ifo eliminated. In this connection probationers would bo introduced. As many as 725 adult teachers would be required under tho new scheme, and it- would bo necessary, thorofore, to increase tho number of teachers coming on. To tins end these probationers would be appointed; they would not work longer than fifteen-'hours a week, the remainder of tho time being devoted to selfimproTement in preparation for higher work. An important proposal was in regard to Schools of forty children with ono teacher. Tho Minister continued that the number of transfers would be gradually reduced under the proposals. In conclusion, he said that a teacher would not suffer if tho attendance at his school dwindled dorrii through 110 fault of his. There were several other proposals which timt would not allow him to refer to.

j MR. MASSEY WELCOMES THE BILL. Tho LEADER of the OPPOSITION (Mr. Massey) said it was fortunate for. the Minister tliat the Houso was favourable to a measure of this kind. He expressed approral of certain amendments made in the Bill by tho Education Committee, including those ing to the teachers of district high schools and small country, sebooln.

Mr. Massey went on to express a strong opinion in favour of benefiting the teachers, there was no work more important than the training of the rising generation. His sympathies had especially gone out to the "sole teacher's," who went into the backblocks to take charge of small schools and did a noble work .for the country. He was glad to acknowledge that the . Bill would do a great deal to improve their position. They were graded as Class 0, and "whereas on a purely capitation basis their salaries might be as low as £48. under tho Bill tho . minimum would be £90, and that was not too much to commence with. Talent Must Be Paid Fer. He noticed the Minister's statement that the cost of the charges proposed would be £75,590, and that most of that would go in increasing tho staffs. He thought a greater proportion should have been devoted to increasing salaries. If tho best teachers were wanted inducements must bo offered. ''A lesson should be learnt ih this matter from recent events in the Agricultural Department, and from the announcement that Mr. Lowrie, Director of the Lincoln Agricultural College, who was a very valuable man to the Dominion, though not a Government official, was loaving New Zealand to take a more lucrative appointment. The new subclause preventing teachers' salaries being reduced for two years on account of a fall in average attendance was a step in tho right direction, but ho would have liked to see salaries mado quite independent of attendance. A serious_ mistake was being mado in doing away with tho pupil teacher. It was impossible for people living in tho country to keep their sons or daughters in the towns attending training colleges, and many excellent •toachers i had been, trained as pupil teacher's. Ho would liko it to bo made clear that in the appointment of teachers the' recommendations of the school committees - would not bo ignored. There were just as keen' and enthusiastic educationalists on school committees as on education boards. Friction between the boards and the committees should bo avoided. .The district high schools, required the*.pick of tho teaching profession, and he'thought tho maximum of £210 was inadequate.

An Important Point. He submitted that, though the number of teachers was being increased, 110 provision was being made in the Teachers', Superannuation scliomo for this increase. Without this provision the Bill, should not bo passed. . | Tho Prime Minister said tho provision had been promised the teachers in tho recess, and that promise would be kept. 'Mr! Massey said tho country would not rbgret the extra burden through tho increase in the salaries of the teachers. This increase was urgently needed, and was well earned. (Hear, hear.) J OTHER SPEECHES. I Mr. BUDDO (Kaiapoi) was not quite in accord with the proposal to eliminate the pupil teacher, since it would be difficult to find a better means of training than tho schools themselves. Ho sought greater enlightenment on the proposals. : Mr. MALCOLM (Clutha) said he . was in some respects disappointed with tho Bill; but, liko the teachers in Otago, ho would bo prepared to accept it as an indication of the eitremo urgency for amendment to the present conditions. On the motion of Mr. ICidd, the House adjourned at 12.25 a.m.