PARLIAMENT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 972, 12 November 1910, Page 7

PARLIAMENT.

THE COUNCIL. HAWKS'S SAY RIVERS DILL. tlio Legislative Council met at 2.30 yesterday afternoon the report of .the Conmiitteo on the Hawke's Bay lliyers Bill was presented. The Committee stated that. it had ; examined numerous witnesses in the districts concerned, ami found that'they were generally: agree;! as to the terms of the Bill. The Conmiitteo,. in consequence of the imminent danger of .Hoods in the district, recommended that tlio Bill lio allowed to pass this session, with the amendments that had been made.

. The Hon. J. D. ORMOND (Hawke's Bay) said the Government had been asked to take up this : Bill, and give .it a ' chance this. session because of the imminent,risk to life and property unless Something was done, : The inquiry )ickl by the Committee had, he considered, justified this view. It was fully recognised that the next big flood ■ might' result in a catastrophe. There was also, a general consensus of opinion thai the Central Board should supersede the present small boards, which T/ere not capable of carrying out the work to the best advantage. . . The. Coromitteo stage of the Bill was 6et. down for Wednesday n.ext. . TAIERI LAND DRAINACE. > The'Taieri Land Drainage Bill was received, from the House of Representatives, and was. read a-first time. -Tho Hon. SIR G. M'LEAN (Otago) presented a petition against the passing of; the Bill, which petition. was signed by. ninety-four farmers, who urged that they will be prejudiced by the passing of the measure. .: The second reading was set : down for next sitting day. . DESTITUTE PERSONS BILL. The. amendments made by tho House of Representatives . in the Destitute •Persons Bill were considered at Eome leiigth'. .• .

The/; ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved .that the Council agree with the amendments; iwith the exception of those in Clauses 18 and 70, which made vital and grievous changes in the Bill. On reconsideration, he thought t'be House must-restore these clauses. ■ Clause'lß had been struck : out because: the House had, to some extent;' been misled as to the law which prevailed to-day, and which would prevail if this Bill were passed".;/ He would ask'the Council to insist on the restoration'of the subclause, which conferred on a woman who was separated: from her husband the; sole right of custody of the children.: The other change was tho deletion of .Clause 70. which, provided that the defendant in' summary proceedings should have no right to trial'by jury. There was a mistaken impression that there was an attempt in this clause to abolish trial by jury,'but there was no such thing. Tho clause made'no change in.: the existing law, and the result of the alteration 1 was ■ grotesque. It would delay greatly tho urgent needs of many, a poor woman if the defendant ' was given- the : right to claim trial by jury. . Thei striking out of this clause brought the "whole Act down, to an absurdity. He would ask the Council not to pass the Bill at all rather than pass it with this absurd; blot: on .it'.

It was decided to agree to tho amendments .made by the House, with-tbe exception of those-in Clauses 18' and 70. A Committed, consisting of tbe Hons. Dr. Findlay, J. R.. and J. E. Jenkinson, was set up to draft reasons for disagreeing witli these two amendments. " ' ■ POST "'and telegraph.''amend- .. ' • MENT, The Post; and Telegraph Amendment Bill was put through its third reading stage and - .passed without - discussion. 1 COUNTIES AMENDMENT BILL. The Counties Amendment Bill, was put through Committee with one slight alteration, by the addition of West Taupo to the counties in which the Act is .to;; operate. , The Bill was reported with .'this .'amendment.' The third reading .was .then agreed to' and. the Bill passed.' ,:'/■/• , KAURI CUM INDUSTRY. ' In Committee on the Kauri Gum Industry Amendment Bill, : . The Hon. J. E. JENKINSON (Wellington) moved an amendment to delete the provision tliitt tlio holder of a special license should be entitled to employ his wife to dig: gum without a license. •

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL assured the Council that there was nothing in the clause that would throw upon any woman in., tho country, a burden which she did not want ,to bear.

. The amendment proposed by Mr. Jenkinsott was rejected on, the voices. The Bill was. subsequently read a third time and passed. NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND. The adjourned debate on the : second reading of the National Provident Fund Bill was continued by * The Hon. J. T. PAUL (Otago) who welcomed the Bill as a first step on a long journey ■on the road of reform: Sooner or later, ho believed, the country would have to endorse a compulsory insurance scheme (Dr. Findlay: Hear, hear), to, which this' pres'ent scheme wouldhave to give way. He considered that behefits "granted in the Bill were liberal-although, perhaps, it might ho found that the actuarial calculations were conservative-.- The most important provision ,in the Bill, to his mind, was in regard, to tho assistance in respect of maternity cases. If the Bill did nothing ?clse than this it would be a Bill to be welcomed by every member of the Council. In conclusion Mr. Paul remarked that tho Government should go in for some extended system of unemployment : insurance. This, ho thought, might well bo, drafted into tho present measure.

The Hon. R, A. LOUGHNAN (Wellington) gave the Bill his full support and thought it was only one advance step of many that would follow. The Hon. G. JONES (Otago) approved the measure, but thought the day was coming, wheii we must have a universal schemo worthy of tho name .instead 'of a number of schemes which overlap. as at present. The. Hon. J. BARR (Canterbury) thought New Zealand had been lagging behind for many years in regard to this class, of legislation and the present measure was a start to get out of tho ruck. This was tho first step towards tho end which would mean the handing of Friendly Society functions otar to tho State. In the course. of. his criticism of the Bill Jlr. Barr mado a particular point of the fact that a person had to be ill foi* three months before ho could get any benefit. Another weak point was that a wife did not get the benefit in* the event, of sickness.

The' Hon. J. MGG (Wellington) said the Bill subsidised annuities for men of small means. It gave something for nothing, or at least he had not hoard that tlio contributions would pay for the benefits, given;

The Attorney-General: "No, the.v sron't. Not by a long-way."

Continuing, Mr. Rigg remarked that it did not' appear to be generally known that the provisions of the .Bill applied to women as well as' men. One of the greatest recommendations the Bill possessed was that there was no compulsion to remain ill it if a contributor was not satisfied. . There would bo thousands of workers who would like to take advantage of the scheme, but who would bo unable to do so because

their employment was so intermittent. The Attorney-General had said that tho scheme would have to bo mado compulsory. This could not bo dono until they had provided for the matter of unemployment. Tho Bill would do a great deal to make the peoplo better and happier than they are. Tho ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in reply, said he recognised that within a fair definition of tho word "socialism" this' measure was socialistic, as one, speaker had suggested. He felt suro tho Bill was a beginning of a legislation which-would 110 doubt bo increasingly placed 011 our Statuto Book. Tlio greatest difficulty in this measuro was the financial one. The wholo of tlio money for sick' relief and maternity cases would, 110 believed, have to bo contributed entirely by tho State. There were, roughly, 23,000 births m Now Zealand every year, and it was estimated that they would havo to pay approximately £17,000 in maternity cases alone. If our finances would stand it ho would go as far in maternity cases as they did in Franco.. The scheme would never bo complete until it provided for compulsory contributions, but at the same time he,realised tho difficulties that lay'in the way of this. If it was to he made compulsory it would have to be made a condition that in tho event of unemployment no contribution should be insisted 011. Tho demand should bo. made only to the extent to which a man was really able to pay. He thought they might well spend somo time in the Council in addressing their minds to the question of unemployment. . Nest session ho hoped ■ they' might be able to do bills, and work out some solution of tho unemployment problem. Tho Friendly Societies, said Dr. Findlay, in reply to an interjection, were not in it' with this Bill. This class of. legislation was symptomatic of a very great movement. It was a still further proof that this country was recognising with clearer vision that-..the duty of the Stat© is to do all it ca.n to help those who genuinely need assistance. The second reading of the Bill was agreed to. ' ' ■ — VARIOUS SECOND READINCS. \ The second readings of the. ~ Local Bodi<yj' I'joans Ameadmijnt Bill, the Taran'aki Scholarships . Endowment Bill, and the Education Reserves Amendment Bill were agreed to after a little, discussion.