LOBBY GOSSIP

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2216, 31 July 1914, Page 8

LOBBY GOSSIP

AND POINTS FROM DEBATES DAILY SUMMARY Very little work was done in tlie House of Representatives yesterday, hough the volume of talk w*as well up to the. average. A number of small bills.were introduced and read a first '•MTlf'c i Wellington City Willi.Supply Amendment Bill, in charge of Mr. A. H. Hmdmarsh. Most of the afternoon was spent in a discussion tthicn took its rise from the presentation of the annual report of the Lands and Survey Department. Attached'to the report was a return showing the progress made to date by Crown tenants acquiring the freehold of their «F°icn9 Ref° r m legislation df, J™ n! i 1110 P rinoi P a! topic during the afternoon was the fact that &om© financial assistance has been rendered to these tenants by the State Advances Department. . The Opposition kept the debate going, and talked out the motion to print the report. * In the evening the Hutt Park , Amendment Bill (Mr. Wilford) wae read a second time unopposed. The next item was the Proportional Representation'., and Effective Voting Bill, introduced by Mr. Veitcli. It was a measure on similar lines to the Lesrislative Council lleform Bill now bt fore the Second Chamber, but applied to the election of members of the Lower House. For some hours the debate was not particularly interesting but it livened up. towards midnight when the Hon. F. M.' B. Fisher made a vigorous speech,; in the course of which ho frankly' outlined the attitude of the Government on .the subject of electoral reform. Filially the.Bill was negatived on a division by 28 Votes .to 27. The Legislative Council held a brief sitting, at which;only formal business was transacted. ' THE LICENSING BILL". Interesting development's are looked for m the House to-day, when consideration of the Licensing Bill is to be continued in Committee. Unless unexpected delays occur, the debate interrupted on Tuesday last will' be resumed this afternoon, and it is not unlikely that the subsequent proceedings may be protracted. Although the result of the division on Tuesday night has been accepted with apparent calm, feeiing is running high amongst the Prohibitionist members in th§ House, and to-day's debate will probably make the fact apparent. The first item'of business to be considered will be Mr. Wilford's amendment providing for tho elimination of tho local option issue. Since this was put forward in the firfet instance, ostensibly as a condition to the reduction of' the National Prohibition majority to 55 per cent., it will presumably not be pressed, but it will be open to Mr. Wilford to proceed with his amendment if he feels so inclined. It is considered likely that when this amendment has been disposed of the Prohibition representatives may- put forward a proposal to recommit the Bill in order to revive the! clause 1 struck out on Tuesday night, which provided for tho reduction of the National Prohibition majority to 55 ; per cent.- ; In any case, it is expected that there will be some interesting commentary and comparisons upon the voting in the second .reading division, and that ; ,upon' the -.Operative-clause-:'in Committee. The course^'that ' events will take :s more or less a matter of speculation, but both parties are keenly on the alert, and it.is quite possible that.active hosHlitfes;VMiasKago.hf. hoover the Bill beforo'- it' leaves' the' House. The general opinioni of members seems to be, however, that a motion to recommit the Bill would" stand no chance of: being passed. One prominent opponent of ■the Licensing Bill said yesterday that he was .convinced that some even of those members who supported the Bill and its operative clause would refuse to re-open the question, and would insist upon regarding it as settled so far as this session is concerned. ' < One story, current yesterday was that an effort would be made to re-Insert the 55 per cent, clause in the Bill when it was before the Upper House,-but this does not seem to be generally credited. Prohibition representatives make no secret of the fact that they intend during the election campaign to severely criticise the attitude taken up by some of their fellow-members in voting or not voting upon tho Bill. THE OPPOSITION AND THE FREE : 'HOLD. . The Opposition , were again- responsible for a wasted afternoon yesterday, and for talking, out a' motion to print, the report of the Lan'ds and Survey Department. "With the report, Mr. Massey presented a roturn showing, ,at June 30, 1914, the number ofi selectors who have purchased the fee-simple c-f their leases under the Amending Land Acts of. 1912 .and 1913, and the area-so purchased, also' the number of selectors and area held on deferred payments under the said Acts at that date. Tho figures were as follow.:— Purchasers for Cash. . _ ._'" ' No. Area'. Ordinary Crown lands 616 110,260 Land for settlements ... 159 24,480 Totals 775 134,740 Held on Deferred Payment; /I-,. „ N°- Area: Ordinary Crown lands 127 27,996 Land for settlements ... 108 6,488 Totals. .... 235 34,484 • The total amount' received for the areas purchased for cash was, £153,842. In regard to the lauds held on deferred payment, the total instalments payablo amount to £3700 per annum. When the House met in the evening, the Prime Minister asked Mr. Speaker what the position was with regard to the Lands Report—whethor he was at liberty ,to circulate' .it in/view of the fact that the' motion to print it had been talked out. Mr. Speaker said that the debate on the motion to print the paper would go on the Order-paper as an interrupted debate,/and the House would have to come to a conclusion on the question before the paper could be circulated. Mr. Massoy: I wish to say, Mr. Speakerj that it is not. the slightest uso my laying any papers oil tho table of this House, or any other Ministers' laying py papers on the table until these matters are disposed of. The words "these matters" referred, of course, to the talking out of the Lands Report, and also to the talking out of three othor reports. A SHEEP'S LITTLE WAY! , •' "What about Piranf?" interjected a member in the House of Representatives last night, when Mr. W. A. Veitch, tho member for M'anganui, was prophesying the downfall of tho Government at the next elections. "He was knocked out by a sheep l ' said Mr. Atrnore, referring to Mr Pirani's recent accident. . ' Mr. Veitch: Stfrcly if iio can bo knocked out by a sheep, I oan knock him out? Mr. Fisher: Da you think two sheep are better than one ? (Laughter.) '