NEWS AND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 685, 9 December 1909, Page 5

NEWS AND NOTES.

AN IMPORTANT DIVISION. . ' . . A MEMBER'S DILEMMA.'. ■ One,of the most important:divisions in connection with the -Lands, for Settlement Ad-ministration,-Bill was taken just before .two o'clock-yesterday morning,'on an. t amendment moved by Mr. .Masseyi providing lor : the; optional tenure in the case of all lands", purchased under the: Lands for Settlement Act." This was ,d e feated by only seven'votes, the division ,being as follows:—,; ■•';■;. '. ;.';,.■';'■■" - ; Ayes: ; v 27. v - ■ v "'■':.. 7v ••' Allen ' '.' ''.' '. Mande'r .' .'.- Anderson':;- -Massey ■•-,, . .... . . , Buchanan: 'Newman 'S •Dillon >~.Noswo'rtby ■..'.:. i. > Dive. .■".-..'" Okey . ,■'•;. . .'>■■• Field, :■. ~ ~.".!.,P.e'drce ,'.'.''.' ■"' : ' Fraser , '," Phillipps'.'.'■' ' ! .■ , Greonslade .-•.•■ :. Reed.-. . .. Y ] ..Guthrie >.. '. Rhodes, :.-.'. ; Hardy,. •• ■ ; Ross ■ < ■- \ : -Herriea'."'•■■':• • Scott ',•,-' ' Hine '•'• , Smith. ,',,'■' Jennings Thomson, G.'M. ■ ' ■Lang ■"•■■. Noes: 31. Arnold j M'Kenzie, R. :' Bliddo Mackenzie, T. : Buxton M'Laren ' ■ : ■ ■; Carroll ' •'..'■ Millar Colvin '..'■"■ .Ngata • Craigie Parata Davoy ■...■■- Poland Ell , ... ,'■ Poole Forbes' "''■' ! ■"'"-' Russell Fowlds' ' Seddon ' : ,'■ Glover, , ' ' .. Sidoy . Hall Stallworthy Hogan .-: Taylor, T. E.: : Hogg . ."•' Te Rangihiroa Laurenson, Ward ' , ■ .- Lawry"/" Witty ■'". Mac Donald,. . ■ Wright " i ".'

After the division some amusement 'was caused by. attention being, called to the fact that Mr. Keed, who was present; in the Chamber during, the division, had not :recorded ; ,his vote.: '"' ■ '"■:,.: ' '.'.' •■■' ■ ' The Chairman called upon Mr. Reed to record his vote one way. or. the other. Mr. Reed first said he desired to have his vote recorded with the Ayes (in favour of Mr. Massey's amendment), but when some Govern■ment supporters stated' that he had been paired, and that it was his duty to vote "No" under the circumstances, ho asked' to have his .vote changed to the "Noes." . Mr. Hardy, (Opposition Whip) then took the opportunity of saying that in so far as he was concerned there ;was no record, that Mr. Reed had been '• Mr. Laurenson, the Government Whip, on .being appealed to, stated that Mr. Keed had earlier in the evening applied for a pair, but none had been, arranged. Mr. Keed finally asked that his vote should be recorded with the "Ayes." The amusement in connection with the incident was increased owing .to tho fact-that .the doors being locked (as a division was in progress) a member could only speak withliis hat on and while sitting down 1 . There seemed to be a scarcity of hats in.the Chamber, and one' hat was passed round and did duty amongst six members with somewhat comical results." ' MINISTERS AND GOVERNMENT MEMBERS.

\ an' tjnsatisfactoey POSITION. ' There is considerable gossip in the lobbies as to what took place at the Government caucus on Tuesday. When it was mentioned in yesterday's issue that the question of party loyalty -was*.raised, 'the, position was under-stated rather than over-stated. Speaking to a Dominion reporter yesterday, a prominent member of-the Government party declared that it was evident that a recasting of the Ministry was within moasutable distance. He went on to say that for somtfiime it was,perfectly:well known that the party lacked the oxprit'ide corps which should obtain. From what yoccu'jred at the caucus, however, it was clear'that the position had lately grown very much worse "Why," he continued, "members actually complalne'd of wnnt of cordiality and aloofness on the part of Ministers towards members." There is a feeling in well-informed, quarters that the healing of the breach among the Government members is only of a temporary character.

GIVING INFORMATION TO PRESS. Mr. Obey (Taranaki) is asking the Minister for Agriculture whether lie will lay upon the table of the House a copy of the instructions issued to the officers' of. his Department regarding the withholding of■ information from the public. Thejudgo of dairy produce'at tho Taranaki Agricultural Show stated .that" he was debarred by the Departmental;' regulations from giving the press any information ■ or opinion concerning the produce shown. This says Mr. Okey, appears'to be in direct opposition'.to the statement that Departmental officers are to carry' out their duties in an educational manner. ' : -.', MR.;FISHER:s-RECORb.;;; ■ ; In' reply- to, Mr. Hogari, who reflected in 'a recent speech on tho amount of work performed by Mr; Fisher,, the. member for Wellington Central stated yesterday that during the ««'.

sion he -bad-voted on 40 divisions, as against only 37 in which Mr. Hogan had taken part, and he had missed only one out of 17 committee meetings, whereas Mr.-'Hognn had missed 7 out of 26. . , ' '. A HUTT PETITION. . Mr. Wilford has given notice to move that, in tlie opinion of tho House, legislation should be introduced to give effect to tho report of the M to Z Committee on the petition of John Ward, of the lower Hutt, farmer. The committee recommended that the question of introducing legislation to secure redress in this ease and similar cases should bo referred to the Government for favourable consideration. •" • HUTT TRAINS; : Mr. Wilford has given notice to ask the Minister for Railways. whether he will at once mako arrangements for a .van to be left daily' at Mungaroa by one of the up-trains to enable the fanners in that locality to obtain facilities for forwarding their milk to the city, and arrange for the train which passes Mungaroa at about 6.40 p.m. to stop a sufficient time to hitch on such van, and bring tho same to Wellington. The alterations in 'the time-table, says Mr. Wilford, have caused an impossible position so far as the milk-vendors are concerned. The present train, which leaves the Hutt at 7.30 a.m., requires the farmers at Mnngaroa to commence milking at 3 a.m., for the only route to the station is over the mountain between Upper Hutt and Mungaroa by road. Tho city of Wellington is partly dependent on this supply, and the slight concession required by the producors would undoubtedly be warranted by tbs benefits gained both by the producer and' the ; public who will be served. , . . ,-'■ .

'"■■ CROWN SETTLERS'. PROTEST. Through Mr. Dillon; M.P., some of .the Crown settlers on .tho Wtu'inarama Settlement, Hawke's Bay, are protesting against the dolay that is taking . place with reference to roading'. .They'.state that as a result the disability their profits had been reduced, and they ask that their rents, for next year might be paid by instalments extending over three or five years. "Other settlements," petitioners add, "more favourably situated than ourselves have had similar concessions granted them."

SLEEPING MEMBERS. ~ "I direct the attention of lion, members— especially those that are asleep --"said Mr. Fisher in the course of his speech on the Dreadnought Bill this morning. The time was 12.30 a,m., and there were 25 members in tho House. The Hon. D. Buddo,. Messrs. Glover, Sidey, Graham, and one othor member Vrere apparently sleeping soundly. .'Mr. Fisher's exhortation did not wake them, arid the sound of one member's snoring was plainly audible in the press gallery. . Messrs. Russell and Poole were prostrate, and Messrs.'Hogan,. Stallworthy, Allen, and T. B. Taylor were writing. Recumbent, Mr. Buddo was the only Minister in the Chamber besides Sir Joseph Ward. The debate on the naval defence of the. Empire proceeded solemnly. . GOVERNMENT UNDECIDED ON LAND '." BILL. ■■/'.-: There is still considerable doubt as to whether the Land Bill will come up for discussion during the present session, which has now only [j further fortnight to; run.-It is evident from .what can be gathered that the Government is undecided whether to allow the Bill to rest'at the'stage, that;it has now attained or whether to allow it to. come up for a sec-' ond reading debate before shelving it until next year. JOTTINGS. "You are a splendid speaker, but nobody believes what you say.''—Mr. Hardy on.Mr. T. E. Taylor yesterday. '. Alex. Crozior, retired police gaoler at.Marton, has petitioned the House for the payment of a lodging allowance between January .1, 1903, and .September, IDOB, of. Is. per day; Several other, officials had, he said, received the allowance under similar^ircumstances. Mr.'Buick has given notice to ast.the Post-master-General whether steps will be taken this session to enable the country settlers to become connected', with telephone exchanges on easier terms than at present. The terms at present are 60 high, Mi - . 'Buick states, as to be almost prohibitive to country 6ettlers, even in the neighbourhood of towns. ' ;