THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 989, 2 December 1910, Page 6

THE HOUSE.

LAND SETTLEMENT FINANCE BILL. After the prolonged sitting of the previous night, the House did not meet again until 2.30 p.m. yesterday. The report of the conference of managers from tho two Chambers on the amendments made by the Council in the Land Settlement Finance Bill recommended that the amendments be agreed to, excepting the excision of ; subsection 7 oi section S, and that two now clauses bo added. Sir JOSEPH WARD stated that the new amendments would altogether prevent aggregation in the estates dealt with under the • Bill. The conference had agreed on J-2WO as the maximum value of land that might be held by anyone applying for land under the Bill. In reply to Mr... Hogg, it was stated by Mr. Fraser (one of the managers) that the titles would be under the Land Transfer Act, and therefore reaggregation would be impossible. RAILWAYS AMENDMENT BILL. In Committee on the GoverWent Hallways Amendment Bill (No. 2), ■ •: Section 2 (making new definitions of "member,"- "probationer," and "station"), section 7 (leave of absence), and section 10 (empowering- the '-Government to fix the ealary of any officer within limits) were struck out, and minor amendments were made MINMG MATTERS. ! STRUCK OUT.' The Mining Amendment Bill was further considered in Committee. Mr. POLAND, (Ohinemnri) asked for the deletion of the. "gold-stealing clause" (section 18), which threw upon anyone found in possession of gold the onus of proving that it was honestly obtained. The Hon. A. R,. GUINNESS (Grey) supported tho protest. * The. MINISTER (Hon. E. M'Kenzie) said that-a9,a 'private member he had voted against this clause. He was willing to let it go on a. division. The clause was struck out. Mr. POLAND moved an amendment to dispense with the present requirement that anyone appointed by the miners to inspect a mine shall, if not employed in that mine, go before : a magistrate or a justice of the peace, and sign a statutory declaration. There was no need for this provision, and it was practically inoperative -at \Yaihi. ' Mr. HEBivIES (Tauranga)' opposed the amendment which, he said,- would provide additional facilities for that great gambling institution, the Auckland Stock Exchange, where gambling, as the member for Auckland Central had said, flourished in all its splendour. In the case of_ a mine which ' had rich patches, the position of workmen's inspector might be used to manipulate '■ the. Stock Exchange, and forestall the shareholders. Several members: No, no. Mr. Poole: Every miner is an inspector. . . . The MINISTER _moved a further amendment to require that workmen's inspectors must be members of the union, and need not make the declaration as hitherto required. • This was accepted by Mr. Poland, and , carried. Mr.' EEED (Bay of Islands) moved an amendment'.to have the contribution to the. .Gold Miners' Relief Fund deducted from the gold duty, instead of paid direct by tho mineowners. Mr. POLAND strongly objected to the amendment. It would mean taking revenue away from the local bodies. The Waihi Company paid .€150,000 last year to its. shareholders out of profits, and its contribution to the relief fund would be ,£2900, which the company could very well afford. Mr. ANDERSON (Mataura) did not see any necessity for the relief fund in connection with o.Uuvial miaing. The MINISTER said he would introduco an amendment to confine the fund to 'quartz mining. In the meantime he asked that the clause should stand over. The clause was postponed. Further' consideration of the Bill was interrupted by the 5.30 p..m. adjournment. When Should the Act Operate? Referring to 'Clause 19 (whi6h provides that in every working shaft which exceeds 200 ft. in length or depth, there shall be used a cage to raise and lower the men, but that the provision should not come into operation till January 1, 1912), Mr. POLAND said that in the Talis-' man Mine the men had to climb up and dtwn almost perpendicular ladders for «Oft., going to. and coming from work. I here was'no possibility of putting cages in the shaft becauso it was so narrow. Ho protested against the men having : to go on till 1912 climbing up and doitii 450 ft. - ■ The MINISTER said his information was that tho company was using every effort to get the new shaft sunk as soon ns possible. He thought it would bo a mistake to shut up the mine on account ot tho shaft. Mr. POLAND said he was sure enon»h work could bo done by Juno 30, 1911, to enable the requirements of tho newelauso to bo complied with. The MINISTER said he wonld agree to reduco the term to nine months. An amendment to make the section come into force on October 1, 1911, was then adopted. ■• ' " Discussion thon reverted to Section IG. which provides for an additional duty of 3d. per oz. on exported gold, tho proceeds to go to a gold-miners' relief fund. The MINISTER said that after further consideration lie had decided to stick tc the clause as it stood, and not adopt tho principle of a separate fund for each district. The Gold. Duty. , Mr. REED again moved his amendment to take from the ordinary gold duty a sum equivalent to 3d. per oz. and devoto' it to the relief fund. The amendment was lost on the voices Mr. SEDDON. aVestland) moved to ex-'.

elude alluvial mining'from the clause...■_..■ ,-; It would be unfair to put such a tax on miners working in a small way back in tho'gullies. ' ' : Mr. MASSEY submitted as a point of • crder that tho clause should have heea considered in Committee of Ways and. Means, as it involved a question of in* ' creasing taxation. He also drew the- Minj ister's attention to the possibility that any increase of the duty on one of the. royal metals would have to' bo reserved for the signification of his Majesty's* pleasure, which would cause delay. He found there had l}een no increase of tha gold duty since 1858. The MINISTER said the-Bill could ga afterwards to the Committee of Waya and Means, if tho Speaker ruled to that effect. He would look into the other mat-* ter mentioned bv Mr. Massey. ■ The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Colvin) ruled; ' that the Committee could proceed with) the Bill, and the question of Committee-' of Ways aud Means could be raised om the third reading. Mr. SCOTT (Tuapeka) contended that) alluvial mining should be excluded from! the fund. ■ . - The MINISTER said there, were more accidents in dredging than in quarts' mining. Ho wanted to establish a na>' tional fund, and that must include aU classes of gold mining. The amendment was defeated by 38votel to 30. Saturday Half-holiday Proposal. f A new clause was added to provide EhaV every person who at the time of the pass ing of the Act or during tho two preced' uig years had been in charge for not lea than twelve months of a mine employinj not less than six men should be entitles to a second-class certificate. The Hon. A. R. GUINNESS moved a ne* clause, to the effect that no miner should ' be required, to work for more than, foul' • hours on Saturday, and should get full i pay for the day. " . . . The' Hon. R. M'KENZIE said'this waa the Miners' Half-Holiday Bill in anotW form:. He thought-the men did 'nt* want such a clause. ' : Mr. GUINNESS said that goldminerr did not get a half-holiday on Saturday though coalminers did. Tho clause was lost on the voices. i When "the Bill was reported to ' ffiJ House, Sir. Massey raised a point o» order that Clause IC, making provision! for gold duty, should have been intrcJ duced in Committee of Ways and MeanaJ also that as it placed a" duty on a royaU metal, it wotdd probably require thai Imperial consent. . '. Mr. POLAND viewed with suspicion the fact that the Leader of the Opposi- 1 tion had just discovered this objectioul to Clause 16. He considered it was no- 1 thing short o£ scandalous that, represent tatives of mining companies should have' come into the Chamber and sat besid 1 *! the . Minister and Under-Secretary, heardi everything that was said, and actually i ' interfered, and had it not been for Mr.) Boss's protest, these representatives ■ of! mining companies would" probably have-' been in the Chamber that night. If was most unfortunate that a clause bene-, -' fiting the : men should have been blockedin this way. Ho was sorry.- that th» miners had not been able to get the same legal talent as the'other side had. He had allowed Clause 19 to pass with! slight_ modification. This meant that! for nine months three hundred or fonß hundred-, men would have to • climb ujr and down ladders. ' A Way Out of the Difficulty. ■ Mr. MASSEY, by way of personal- exJ planafion, denied that he was out on b»-' half of tho mining companies. As a mat-j ter of fact, he was not opposed m Clause 16. ; The SPEAKER upheld Mr. ■ Hassey , *! point of order, and the difficulty was goS over by Clause 16 being introduced. by| Governor's Message. ■ . .'• . The Bill (after Clause 16 had been reJ inserted) was' then read a . third time, and passed, the Minister for Mines reJ •marking that he would take the chancel of tho clause , requiring the Boyal AssenU . "WASHING-UP" BILL' " ; The PRIME MINISTER moved ; thfii second reading of the Reserves and Othea Lands Disposal and .Public Bodies Empowering Bill.. He said that the Bill) contained: no fewer than 98 clauses. The* BjlLhad. teen referred to the Lands Com-* m'ifiee;' and he- would explain each clause/ as was' necessary in Committee. Mr. MASSEY said he-was not. opposed ' to the Bill.but he objected'to a Bill p£ this importance being kept back "until the": dying hours of the session.' This par-, ticular measure was : not one Bill—it was, about forty Bills rolled into one. It would be impossible to consider this Bill as it should be considered, -despite the' fact that it had been referred tb the Landij Committee, which Tiad done its duty by, the Bill. A small Bill dealing with these! matters should be : brought down each] year, instead of.one such measure introduced in five years. The PRIME MINISTER, m tie courseof his reply, said he did not agree to the proposed to bring down a Washing-up Billi • every year. Referring to the Oamanu Harbonr Board's liability on loans, h» , said that without a Government guaran« tee the board 'would not be able to| get the proposed new loan at a reasqnJ able -rate. The country would be quite safe in connection with its guarantee. ■ • • The second reading was then agreed to,; In Committee on the Bill, Mr. BUCHANAN (Wairarapa) asked what was the cause of cancelling so many reserves without specifying what was td be done with the reserves. The PRIME MINISTER said something! was to be done with the reserves in every instance. He could give details of any| specific question. _ The Bill was put through Committed with only a few minor amendments. Only minor amendments were made* during the Committee stage of the Native "Washing-up" Bill. LIBEL. BILL. • In Committee on the Libel .Bill, Mr J ANDERSON (Mataura) proposed, that &1 thorough and accurate report of any pub-i .lie meeting should bo deemed to be privileged, but his proposal was lost on thew voices. ' . ■ In reply to Mr. Herdman, the PKIME} MINISTER said that under the Billj matter given out by a Minister duringl tho recess'would be privileged.' , . ' On the motion of Mr. JENNINGS it! was agreed that after the taking of- a/ . • first action for libtl any subsequent ac-< . • tion in regard to tho same matter musfi be started within 30 days. A proposal by Mr.'JENNDJGS that ai . public apology must be published in the leading column of the publication that '• had offended was defeated on the voices. There was considerable-discussion in regard to the provision that a defendant;, might prove in mitigation of damages that the plaintiff had already received! damages, or had brought an action fiJri damages, or had received, or had agreed) to receive, compensation from anyone in rospect of the matter. Mr. Fisfer moved a motion to kill the clause. ■ .. The clause was retained by 35 to 18. (Left Sitting.) PUBLIC WORKS DEBATE. In the Houso of Representatives yester* day afternoon, Mr. Massey asked the Government when the' debate oa the Public Works Statement was to be taken. He strongly hoped it'would not be ' brought on at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, when the House could not do justice to it. ' The Hon. R. M'Kenzie said he proposed to tako it at 2.30 or 7.30 p.m. to-day, ' At. tho general conference of "the Methodist Church in - Canada, at Victoria, a net increase in membership o f 5454 on tho year was reported. The increase since the last general conference was 22.374, after the 3000 members transferred to the United Methodist Church of Japan had been deducted. • It is reported, says the' Adelaide "Register," that tho Rev. Howard May, who was in chargo of tho London West Central Methodist Mission for a ■ year or two after tho death of the Bcv. Hugh Prico Hughes, intends to visit Australia in-1911. A new diocese of the Anglican Church of Western Australia is about to be created in tho goldfiolds district,- to be called tho Diocese of Kalgoorlio. This makes the fourth diocese of that State.' ' Information was received "by tho police last night to the effect that a patient at the Porirua Mental. Hospital had committed suieido by hanging himself. An in. , quest will be held at Porirua tb-dav bv the Coroner (Dr. M'Aithuii. " *-.-