PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2294, 30 October 1914, Page 7

PARLIAMENT

PUBLIC WORKS VOTE. THE ESTIMATES THROUGH COMMITTEE. THA COOK ISLANDS, v •• J ~ The legislative Council mot at 2.30 p.m. - » A Message was received from -the House of Representatives disagreeing with tho amendments to the Education. Amendment Bill. ■■The Hon. H. D, BELL moved that the Counoil insist on its amendments, and the Hons. H. D. 8011, J. G. W. . 'Aitken, and 0. A. 0. Haruy wore ap~ pointed a committee to daaw ; up reasons. i ; The Council adjourned at 5 p.m. until 11 a.m. to-day. ■ ■' COUNCIL REFORM. The Legislative Council Bill was received back from the House of Representatives with amendments, one <■ of which was the provision to allow women to bo elected to the Council. i The Hon. H. D. BELL moved'that, the ■ amendment be disagreed with,' and tlie Counoil concurred without discus- . sion. The Hons. H. D. Bell, H. F. "\Vigram, arid C. A. C. Hardy were appointed a, committee to draw up reasons for disagreeing. : : ;• ■ ■' - ;■■■' . N 'I T t FIRST READINGS. The following Bills were introduced from the House of Representatives and ;read a first . timelnspection of Jlachinery Amendment Bill, .Taiimarunui Hospital District Bill, 'New Zealand Loans Amendment Bill. West Coast Settlement Reserves Bill, War Contributions Validation Bill (No. 2), Friend- _ ly Societina Amendment Bill, Mortgages 'Extension Amendment Bill (No.. 2), Patents, Designs, ;and Trade-marks ■ lAmendment Bui. , v WAGES PROTECTION AND CONTRACTORS' LIENS. . The Wages Protection ..and ContracJtors'. Liens Amendment Bill wa6 .further considered in Committee. T, ' The Hon. J. Duthie . moved a new clause to Sectioii.4B of the principal' Act to provide that any person who supplied any material used or brought upon the premises to .bo used in connection with the work."' should "be.given the ttame protection as the/sub-contractor. The Hon. H. D. Bell said that he could not accept the amendment, for it was quite separate and apart from the intention of the Act, which, was. to project those who were under, and worked .under, the'contractor. The amendment was to provide protection for the merchant. . , Mr. Duthie said that he would not like to . press the amendment. At the same timo, the man who supplied ma- . terial was entitled to a lien. /That was the custom now, but an amendment,of Mr.'Bell's altered tliat, and he merely tried to keep. the position the same. He withdrew the amendment. Mr. Bell said that lie would undertake that the Government would go into the,whole matter during the recess. The Hon. J. Barr moved an amendment further defining "the meaning of "work" in Section 48 of the pjincipal 'Act, and/this was accepted, i ~ The Bill was reported with amend-' ments, read a third time, and passed. -fc •■' ■' ■! LAND LAWS AMENDMENT BILL.. The Land Laws Amendment Bill was considered in Committee, . when . new clauses dealing with-pastoral lands, and technical amendments, were' agreed to. i The Bill- was reported with amendments,.read a third time, and passed; , EMPOWERING BILL. '( The Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland Empowering Bill was put through its final stages and passed. OTHER BILLS. The Taumarunui Hospital District . Bill, the West Coast Settlement Reserves Amendment "Bill, the Friendly Societies Amendment Bill, and the Patents,, ' Designs, and - Trade-marks Amendment Bill were put'through remaining stages, and passed. The New Zealand Loans Amendment Bill, the War Contributions Validation Pill _ (No. 2), and the Mortgages Extension Amendment Bill (No. 2) were read the second time.

THE HOUSE

The House of Representatives met at 8.30 p.m. i Mr. A. H. HINDMARSH presented, a petition bearing 6711 signatures, protesting against, tbe referendum on tie ■Kible-in-schopls question. The Mental Defectives Bill (the Hon. iR. H. Rhodes) was introduced and read a first time. The Hok W, H. HERRIES present- ■ ed the Railways Classification List, known as the 1)3 List. SHOPS AND OFFICES BILL. "When the final report of the Labour Bills Committee was made to the House, Mr. W. A,. VEITCH (Wanganui) protested against the' hasty manner in which the Shops and Offices Bill had of necessity to be treated on account of the delay of the Government in presenting it. The Government had found time for the introduction of a great deal of legislation, much of it unimportant, dealing witlr other matters, but nothing to deal with Labour. He J * declared that the Government was antagonistic to Labour, and .that Mr. -Massey was a failure as Minister of Labour. • Mr. A. H. HINDMARSH (Welling- ! ton South) supported Mr. Veitch's protest, and drew the attention of the Government to certain ' matters that ought to be dealt with by legislation.' These should have the attention of the Government next session. A PENSIONS BILL. The Right Hon. W. F. MASSEY, ta behalf of tho Hon. F. M. B. Fisher, flioved 'the second reading of tile Pensions Amendment Bill, and explained tho changes in the law, all of minor importance, proposed in it. Tho Bill was read a second time without debate, put through Committee, ;«nd passed. PUBLIC WORKS. The Hon. W. FRASIiR moved tho second reading of the Public "Works - Amendment Bill. It was a very short measure of only two clauses, one permitting the Crown to acquire rights in inspect df a water-race within a mining district in tho same way as a private person, and the other restricting the right of owners to compensation in oases where land might bo taken for purposes of a road, railway, tramway, or other public work. Tho object of tho latter clause was to prevent what amounted to the levying of blackmail . upon tho Government. The Bill was read a second time. Objection, was raised in Committee to tho clause restricting tho right of owners to land taken for public works on the ground that it was retrospective. Tho chief objectors wero Mr. G. W. Russell, Mr. T. M. Wilford, and Mr. J. G. Coates. In vain tbe Minister pointed out that tho clauso was intended to protect tho Government ■ against piratical extortionato demands. In or-

der to save time he dropped the clause, putting tho responsibility for the loss of it on tho House. The clause excised declared that no compensation should ho deemed payable "by'reason or the :fact that the road, railway, tramway, or other public works affords, or may afford, to any other person any access or approach or any moro convenient access or approach to •'any ■other land, or, by reason of the special adaptability of 'any land for the purposes of a road, railway, tramway, or other , means' of access or approach to tho land, of any othir person." ' Tlio other clause in the Bill was retained, the .Bill was reported 'with amendments,.. re.id a. third time, ' and passed. -, '~ ' THE EDUCATION BILL. On the motion of the Hon. J. Allen, tho, reasons of the Legislative Council for insisting on their amendments in tho Education Bill were disagreed with, and' Mr. Stathain, Mr. Hanan, and tho Hon: J. Allen were appointed a Committee to confer with representatives of the Council. The Reform Bills. ,The Council having disagreed with the amendments made by the House in the Legislative Council Bill, the- Prime Minister moved that 'the House insist upon its amendments, v This motion was carried, and a committee was set up to draw up reasons for so insisting. .COOK ISLANDS. , THE BILL HELD UP. . ; The interrupted debate on the second reading of tlie Cook islands Bill was resumed.' Mr; G; WITTY; (Riccarton) said that the ; Government should corsider the advisability of giving the Uook Islanders representa'tiou ill rarliamoiit. .; The lion. Dr. POiUAItE said that the question was a big one. He. believed % the principle of taxation with representation, but in the Islands there was no taxation, except for locaf needs. 1 The. heaviest taxation per year any individual there paid was 16s. Tho Bill : was read a second time; 111 Committee, Mr. A. E. Glover protested vehemently against tho Bill, because it did not provide for representation in Barliarnent for the people of, the Cook Is-, lands. Mr. G. W. Forbes protested against such a big Bill being submitted to the House at the end of a session, and rushed through without" consideration. Tho Hon. A. L. Herdman said that honourablo members could be assured that the Bill had been' very oarefully considered by the Statutes Revision Committee and the Native' Affairs Com■mittee, and both committees were ;of opinion'that the Billwas a good Bill. And it was urgently necessary. It was notorious that the condition of the laws of the Cook Islands required' amendment, and requests had been made time and again that the law, now in a chaotio condition, should be put'.in order. It was said that the Bill was a big Bill, but -all that it did was to apply to the . Cook Islands part of the law of New Zealand. • Mr. G. W. Russell said 'that he did not intend to be driven late in the session to pass such a huge Bill, and he would move that progress be reported on tho Bill. The Right Hon. W. P. Massey said there-was no attempt on the part of the Government to drive the House., Tho Government would not drive the House, and if the House cared to stay for two weeks longer the Government would oifer ho objection. The Bill had not been introduced in tho <Jyiug hours, of the session. It had been before Parliament for five or six weeks, and had been' before : two ' Select Committees. Nothing more' could be done' by any Government. . He would suggest' that tho House. should consider, tho matter 1 from the point Oi view of tho Cook Islands, and-in'the interests of good government there'', the Bill was urgently necessary. The Bill had been drawn ,by the Solicitor-General, probably the best .draftsman -in Now Zealand, who had spent many months upon il, so that it -could be accepted with some degree of safety by honourablo members. He had arranged with the Loader of the Opposition to go on with the Public Works Estimates at' 10 p.m., and he had hoped that before that time the House might have dealt with the Cook Islands Bill The motion to report progress was "debated" for an hour, and it was defeated by 35 votes to, 24. Mr. G. W. Russell said that the Government should make full inquiries into the record of_ a man (whoso nam© he did not mention) recently appointed to an important position at the Cook Islands. : Dr. Pomare: We are making inquiries, I At a minute before the 9.30 p.m. ad- ; journment the Prime Minister moved to, report progress, in order that the House might go into Qommittee on the Esti-. mates, This, as he explained, was in terms of the arrangement with the Leader of the Opposition. "But make no mistake," he -"aid, "I am coming back to the Bill." Progress was reported accordingly.

PUBLIC WORKS VOTES

ESTIMATES IN COMMITTEE RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION The House went into Committee on tho Public' Works Estimates, of which the first item had already been passed. On the vote, Railway Construction £960,000, Mr. R. M'Callum protested agafnst the slow progress made at the Marlborough end of the South Island Main Trunk railway. Tho Minister, ho stated, was not treating tho line seriously. Mr. A. H. Atmore protested against tho paucity of the vote of £20,000 for tho Nelson end of the Midland Railway, especially as so little had been spent on the line last year. The line did not pay, and would not pay until the lino was pushed ahead to Murchi- j son ! Mr. M'Callum moved that tho item bo reduced by £1 as a protest againsttho unfair allocation of tho votes. The Hon. W. Eraser said that if the mfimber for Nelson had any sense of propriety he would have thanked tho Minister for putting tho vote on. If a voto was put on the Estimates for a particular work, immediately there was a cry that ho should haro granted throe or four times as much. Ho could assure tho honourable gentleman that ho intended to expend tho money voted this year. _ AVith regard to the South Island Main Trunk line, tho vote of £26,000' was for the north end of the line alone, and tho money would bo expended. Ho was going to let tho work on this lino by contract bccauso it was work that could bo done with ploughs and scoops. To put men with shovels and wheelbarrows on to such easy formation work would be absolute 'waste. Ho assured the Houso that the votes wero not dummy votes, and if the money was available it would be spent. He would not, howevor, spend all tho money at onco, for ho would irfsist on keeping a,-certain sum for tho winter with which to afford work for tho unemployed. If he had not husbanded . his resources ho would not now be able to Telievo tho unemployed difficulty.' . Mr. W. A. Vcitch asked tho Minister to go ahead with a trial survey of tho Wanganui-Raetihi railway, as he had promised. Sir Walter Buchanan contended that there wero no two as to tho route tho Featherstou-Martinborough branch lino should take, and there would bo no need for an extra staff." It

would be a great-pity if the lino wont from Gray to mi to Martinborough, as tho member for Wanganui liad. suggost«d. Mr. \V. D. S. Mac Donald contended that the most urgent railway workß wore the main trunk arterial lines. Until they wero completed branch lines should not bo gone oil with tola great extent. Rlmutaka Deviation. Mr. G. 11. Sykes hoped that when the Minister had bis surveys of tho Rimu.taka deviation he would seriously take the matter in hand. He would ask tho Minister also as to whether ho intended to proceed with a- survey of .the Mastorton-Waipukurau railway. Mr. 'I'. M. Wilford moved to redtioe the .vote, "Surveys, £5000," by £10 as an indication that tho Minister had not dono enough with regard to the Rimutaka deviation. . - Sir; Walter Buchanan said that the Minister had had four routes surveyed iu 1899, and since then nothing had been done.' The settlement of tho Wairarapa "district had progressed so rapidly and the traffic had increased to such an extent that last year the line had not been sufficient to carry the freight, >60 that there was a danger of the line failing to carry the traffic. This would mean that the stock and produco would have to be carried via the Mauawatu Gorge. He would urge the Minister-to adopt a line via tho coast. This would increase the distance by 10 or 12 miles, but there would be tho enormous advantage of the much cheaper construction of a'practically level hue.. So easy would this be -to travel that instead of 1 a lengthened distance increasing the time for the journey, it could be travelled in a much less time; The only objection he could see to the proposal was that .the ten .or twelve' miles' increased distance would mean increased passenger fares and goods rates, but why ■ should the _ Department adhere to tho mileage basis it tho journey could be made at less cost? * In view of all tlio circumstancos ho would urge" tho Minister to try the coast route m preference to all tho alternative routes suggested through tho 8i115... Tho amendment was defeated by 31 votes to 22. The Hallways vote was passed at 0.15 a.m. PARLIAMENTARY BUILDINCS. " ■Mr. H. G. Ell ( commenting on the delay in the erection of the netv Parliamentary Buildings, and particularly the Chamber for the House of Representatives, suggested that the Minister had been overruled by. his • colleagues, and that the result was that the buildings would not be ready for use until the 'session after next. . The Hon. W., Frasor said he did not know where the .honourable gentleman got his information, - but it was not correct. In accordance with, the desire of .the House, expressed last session, he had approached the contractors to inquire, whether they would agree for a reasonable sum to proceod with the Chamber at an accelerated speed. At ono time he thought he had concluded an arrangement with the contractors. They had offered to have.' it ready for next session for some £400 or £500 extra. Ho did not think that unreasonable, and ho regarded the matter as settled, but when details came to be considered, tho architect informed him that what the contractors proposed to do was to build tho walls befdrc building the concrete iloor. The architect advised strongly against this. There yas a difficulty about getting the iron for. the reinforced concrete floor from England, and the question was raised about getting it locally. The expense would have been some £126 extra. Even that be might have found, but he would not agree to not having the walls and oho floor built at the same time. If lie had done so he would have been deliberately ignoring the advice of his experts. | THE MUSEUM. In reply to a question, the Hon. W. li'raser said that if the Museum was built' on the Mount Cook site it would be available not only to the people at one end of the town, but to people all over the city. Altogether, the site was an eminently desirable ono. Wherever'the museum was to be built, it' should be built without further delay, in order that safe housing should be provided for the very valuable collection. ' ■ The Estimates ■ were passed at 1.40 a.m. NEW GILLS. The Railways Authorisation Bill and the Ahuriri and" West Shore Railway Bill were introduced by Governor's Message and read a first time. The House rose at 1.55 a.m.