PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 273, 12 August 1920, Page 6

PARLIAMENT AT WORK

! SOME PRIVATE MEMBERS' BILLS ; SZAC DAY—A DAY OF COMMEMORATION i s VETERANS AND THE MEDAL I . -1.-w.'. ■ ,*•'••• The'afternoon sitting in the House of Representatives was taken up almost oltogether with formal business. Thie most interesting' of the discussions was that von'the report of a committee on the petition of H. H. Thompson for redress ; lh"connection with what was notorious as the Hotop case in Featherston camp i some' years' ago. In the evening private members' Bills were taken, Mr. Wright made an effort j to get his Maori War Medal Bill tfcrough Committee, but he at length decided that the House did not want it, and he moved to report progress upon it. The only other interesting Bill wa3 Mr. Mitchell's Anzac Day Bill, which was read a second time. The debate was brief and impressive, and at the conclusion of it j the House sang- "God Save the King." i • The House rose at 10.30 p.m.

A FARMER AND HIS WOOL MR. BROWN ASKS A QUESTION. Mr. J. V. Brown has shown curiosity this session about what is to be done Regarding a certain Poverty Bay landowner who did not hand over his wool to the Government under the requisition scheme. He'asked the following question of the Prime Minister: Whether, as there is anarently still a .feoling that ,tha sheepfavmer from the Gisborno district who so far has not attempted to shin his wool will be called upon by the the Government to hand his wool over for valuation, he will obtain the Solici- : tor-General's opinion on the position? If this opinion is obtained (said Mr. Brown) it will clear the atmosphere of ft feeling that is current all through the ■ country that the Government have been acting ultra vires. Mr. Massey (Prime Minister).replied: The opinion of the Solicitor-General has already been obtained in regard to this Shatter, and lie advised! as follows: (1) The export of wool otherwise than by the .Government, save with the consent of the Minister of Customs, is prohibited bv Order-in-Council; (2) the salo of wool •otherwise than to the Government is prohibited by War Regulations of October 8. 1918; (3) these prohibitions, so far ns-they relate to wool of the 1919-20 and earlier clips, will remain in force for at least two years after the termination of wax by Treaty of Peace. RENTS~oFrooms " SUBJECT TO REGULATION.' It is notorious that extortionate ' charges are being made for rente of rooms in Wellington. Mr. Mitchell, in the House, asked this question of the Ciovernmont■ on the subject:- Whether' they are aware of the extent to which (Profiteering is going on under the system ■known as "farming in houses" in Wellington; and, if eo,'trill they take the necessary steps to stop it? He quoted ' the following case:—One case was brought to my notice in which a woman, beirm the/owner; got possession, of a six-roomed house for which sh& was receiving a weekly rental of ill 15s. She furnished the' house at a cost of ,£250, and then "farmed" it out as follows:—Let two looms for £& 10s. Let three other rooms at J21.105. eaoh, M 10s. Total, ,£7. Gas ond lighting extra. This is not aji isolated case. It ia understood this practice is very prevalent in all the larger cities in the Dominion.

Sir William. Hemes (Minister -of Labour) replied: Probably the existing icn'tftestriction law applies to such a case, and it is suggested that the tenants concerned should ask the Inspector of Factories, pursuant to section 19 of the War Legislation. Act, 1917, to have the standard rent of ; the house fixed. v SAILORS AND~WAR PENSIONS EVER! CASE ON ITS MERITS. . AYar'pensions for members of the New Zealand mercantile marine have been asked -for by Mr. It. A. Wright. He asked the Minister in charge of the Pensions Department, whether it is intended to amend the Pensions Act this session so as to enablo members of the •mercantile marine to participate in the benefits of that legislation and thus «njoy the privileges of the Pensions Act equally with members of the Expedition-

forces? Sir William Merries' replied: It is not proposed, to malce special provision by i ' way, of war pension for members of tho mercantile marine., Section 12 of the ."War Pensions Act, 191G, wag passed with- : the idea of providing tot pensions for ! ojficers and men employed on transports j and their dependants, but tho Attorney- • General advised that it would not be : prudent to make regulations as tho eec- : tiori puoted proposed. The Government • accordingly decided that each ease should ■be-'coiisidered on its merits, the AVar< Pensions Board being authorised to make ' recommendations in regard to injury or : death arising from any warlike operai' . tion. Under .;this_ arrangement pensions i are, now being paid, but not in respect • of disability or - death associated with j the ordinary perils of the sea or arisi ing from natural causes.

SUBURBAN TICKETS

A CHANGE SUGGESTED. A proposal that the Railway Department should vary its practice of making all monthly suburban tickets date from the first of every month was made ■to the Minister of Railways (Mr. Massey} ■by Mr. T. M. Wilford. He suggested that the practice was the cause of needless annoyance tind to mo exponso to suburban travetteis, Tlio following Departmental reply was given by Mr. Massey yesterday :-The present practice was instituted as a result of experience in New Zealand and elsewhere, and for the purpose of simplifying and improving the arrangements previouslv in force in connection •with ticket-checking. The system has worked satisfactorily since its inauguration* The arrangements for the issue of Benson ticket? have, been simplified as far as practicable, and season-ticket holders, if they so desire, may obtain deliverv. of their season tickets the previous day. This arrangement is, I understand, availed of by about one-half of the periodical ticket-holders, and should go a long way towards relieving any congestion, at booking offices. MARRIAGE AMENDMENT BILL Tho Hon. P. J. Nerliony has been made a member of the Statutes Revision Committee of the Upper House during tho consideration by that committee of the Marriage Amendment Bill. TIIO Hon. 0. Samuel of committees of the Legislative Council) was yesterday asked whether representatives of- tho Press would be allowed to bo present while the committee' is hearing evidence on the above-mentioned measure. The hon. gentleman replied that as the Standing Orders prohibited the publication of evidence placed before the committee until such time as tho committee should hare made its report to the Council it would bo practically useless for the Press representatives to attend. The committee will hear evidence upon Hie Bill' on Friday, and since in all probability the hearing will occupy more than the morning, the Council may not meet on .Friday until tho evening. SUGAR COMPANY'S PROFITS The published opinion of a gentleman in Suva to the effect that owing to the very good contract which the Colonial Sugar Company had been able to make with the New Zealand Government for the =ale of sugar, the company would make" a profit for tho year of two million pounds, was tho subject of a question 111 the House yesterday. The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Lee) would not Answer the .question out of bond, but asked that it be .put on the Order Paper, in order that h'o might reply to the question in detail and in writing.

BACKBLOCKS TELEPHONES THE INCREASED CHARGES. The increased mileage charges to be made on telepnones is cakny applicable to country. 6ettlers. The additional rate is fcs. per quarter mile. Mr. Hockly asked in the JtLuuse wnether, in vie.w of the fact that these charges wauid press heavily on backbiock settlers, the Jiinister would.lis a maximum cuarge, 'Hie Minister (Mr, Coates) mado tlio following .statement in reply: llnckblock settlers are less affected by the increased telephone rentals than other subscribers for the lolfowing reasons: Such subscribers- generally avail themselves of the party-line system, whereby as many as six subscribers can combine on u party line at rates which aro nousidorably below thosfc charsed tor exclusive lines. The increased mileage charge which is complained of is dimed amongst tho number of poisons lorming a party; and, in the case of a sixparty iiue, the increased charge is lOd. per quarter mile. With six parties on the line, tho increased mileage charge commences to'operato only at a distance of three miles from the exchange. Beyond this three-mile distance, the partyline subscribers may, as an alternative, erect the line for themselves, and no rental whatever is charged for this section. -The materials for this privatelyerected section of the line may, under the hew backblocks telephone scheme, be obtained from the Department, as soon as supplies become available, at cost price. When it is remembered that backblock telephone subscribers aro scattered, and therefore the erection is necessary of a comparatively large number of pole lines carrying a 6mall average number of telephone circuits, and tilat even with the small increase of telephone rental that has been introduced such lines are being erected at a Io6S to the Department, it. will be seen that the disadvantages referred to are not so great as they may seem at a first glance.

ALCOHOL FROM POTATOES NOT PROFITABLE. In reply to a question asked by Mr. D. Jones (ICaiapoi) regarding the possibility of manufacturing spirits from potatoes, tho Minister of Agriculture has furnished a report from tho Director-Gen-eral of Agriculture, quoting the statement of Dr. Maclaurin, Dominion Analyst, that one ton of potatoes should -produce approximately -27 gallons of alcohol. One gallon of petrol would equal approximately one gallon of absolute alcohol when each 1 was used in an engine designed for that class of fuel. "A ton of potatoes should therefore produce, at cost of 20s. 3d. for manufacture, alcohol worth ,£4 IDs., taking the retail prico of petrol at 3s. Bd. per gallon. That is to 6ay, the alcohol Irom a ton of potatoes should give a net return of ,£) 18s. 9d.,' less the cost of the potatoes delivered at tho factory and less the cost of selling. This return would not, in my opinion, enable tho grower to obtain a sufficient price for the potatoes on his farm to warrant his producing th'em for the purpose of being used as raw material for the- manufacture of alcohol." As the matter is of groat importance, the Director-General is going mora fully into it, and will furnish n farther report Mr. J ones has n\Bo ii\temewed|tYio Minister of Customs (Sir William Herries), who Kiid his Department would not put any unnecessary obstacles in the way.

TECHNICAL TEACHERS PAYMENT 01' SALARIES. For reasons not yet fully understood, there has been a. considerable fall in tho attendance at technical schools in some of the laTger cities of the Dominion this year, and as' the incomes of the controlling authorities depend on the _ capitation payable in respect of pupils attending certain of the classes, they are anxious about their finances. Mr. Wilford, asking a question in tho House on the subjeot yesterday, said that in view of the reduced capitation which, would be earned by classes this year, there was a fear that_ tho school boards would not have sufficient income to pay their staffs the salaries according to the scale formerly in operation. He asked the Minister of Education whether lie could introduce another more equitable system for tho payment of salaries of teachers in technical schools The Minister of Education (Mr. Pan-) said that this matter had already received his attention, and it.was proposed to take some action in the direction indicated by the honourable member. PARAPARA IRON TESTS TO BE MADE. During the debate in tho House ol Representatives early yesterday morning, Mr. Hudson (Motueka) urged the Government to make the proposed six months' extension of the Parapara ironore concession the last one. He paid that the lease was held by pome Christchurch people, who_ did not appear lo be making any serious effort at development. ' They should be told plainly that they cotfld not hold the lease without development. The Government would be well advised to bring an expert from Britain to examine the ore. Mr. Massey said that the Government was sending to England samples of ironore and iron-sand in ordor that tests might be made.

NO COAL THERE The Minister of Mines has been asked bv Mr: G. Hunter (Waipawa) to order a report as to tho prospect of cortl being found in payable quantities at Ngamoko, lioni; Norsowood. The reply of tho Minis .er (Mr. Massev) was as follows: this area was inspected and reported upon by Mr. Cox, Assistant Geologist, some years ago llie result of his examination of the district confirmed the previous surveys made by the geological surveyors, that coal measures do not occur theve on tne surface, and that there is no reason to suppos* that they will bo found in depth. The only carbonaceous deposits which lwve been found aro some thin seams of very inferior lignite in "which the perccntaga of -water was lxiffh ns 33 P er cel an( } of asli li per cent. In view of this, and as tho geological surveyors are busily employed on other important work, it appears to bo inadvisable to mako a further inspection of this area at present. BILLS IN UPPER HOUSE Sir Francis B'ell (Attorney-General) -icsterday gave notice in the Upper House of tho Legislative Council Amendment. Jiill and tho Acts Interpretation 'Amendment Bill. The Council received from •lie Houso of Representatives tho Crimes .'lniemlmont Bill, which it read a first .time, read a second time pro forma, and rofwred to tho Statutes Itovieiou Cominitieo.