POLITICAL NOTES. THE END OF THE SESSION.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 96, 20 October 1904, Page 6

POLITICAL NOTES. THE END OF THE SESSION.

The Legislative Council, on adjourning to-morrow, will be asked by the Attor-ney-General to resume again on Monday nest. The Attorney-General explained that this is no indication of the close of the session. It is merely to let the local Bills through, and he intended to ask for a Monday sitting rather than a Saturday one for this purpose, as being more convenient to members. The end was not far olf, however, he added, and might be eet down for a fortnight or thereabout from to-day. MAORI MANUSCRIPTS. Correspondence has been going on between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of Cape Colony with regard to certain valuable Maori manuscripts, which were taken to South Africa many years ago by Sir George Grey, and which are still in the possession of the authorities there. The Premier informed Mr. J. Allen yesterday that the Government would do its best to obtain pos- . session of the manuscripts, but from the general tenor of the correspondence he gathered that it was no use offering to purchase. The only chance was by "way of exchange. In answer to this, Mr. J. Allen suggested that arrangements might be made to exchange for the manuscripts •two or three moa skeletons, or even some valuable Cape Colony records no.w in the Auckland Public Library. . Bl AGAIN. The yearly bid by the Opposition for the production of the Bl return before it is absolutely useless for debating purposes was made yesterday. The Premier staied, in reply to a question by Mr. J. Allen that every expedition is being used in the preparation of the return, and it . is being steadily gone on with. When completed, it would be placed before members without delay. This reply did not appear to Mi". Allen as sufficient, and he made the charge against the Government that the return was withheld so as wo prevfent members being able to Criticise the details of the accounts. The Colonial Secretary made the now familiar reply that only on very few occasions has Bl been presented during the session, that such an immense amount of detail took a very long time to prepare, and that, anyway, the Financial Statement, with its accompanying tables, gave very full details of the public accounts of the colony. To this the Leader of the Opposition replied that if on several occasions Bl had been presented .during the session the same thing could be done again, and he hoped that next session would be devoted to bringing about a reform in this connection. BACK-BLOCKS SCHOOLS. Some very decided views on the subject of education in the back-blocks were given expression to by the Premier yesterday. The Leader of the Opposition had given instances at Port Waikato and Mercury Bay where a number of children are growing up practically without education, there being no 'school which they can attend. That, said the Premier, was not with the knowledge or desire of the Government, but there were cases in which it was impossible to establish schools, but he 'declared that these small schools, with attendances of ten or twelve, simply ensured the permanent injury of the children attending them. The larger number of children they had attending schools the betlter teaching they got, and the solution of the difficulty was to provide for the carriage of these children to a central school. He did not know any case where tha-t could not.be done, although it might cost a good deal of money, but it was better to spend double the money in sending children to a central school, where they would be under competent teachers. He desired to discourage these small schools, bnt he would do his best to provide means for these children being educated, and che only way to do that was to carry them to a central school. The comment made by Mr. Symes on these 'remarks ■was that it was " utter rubbish " to talk about carrying the children to a central school. That could not be done without a balloon. H< was, he added, a scandal and a disgrace to the colony and the Department that these children should have been allowed to grow up without having been inside a school. PROHIBITION AND LIQUOR. An, interesting 'return of the quantity of liquor railed into the Ashburton district during the twelve months ending 30th June, 1903, when prohibition did not obtain, and the year ending 30th June, 1904, a period of prohibition, was presented to Parliament yesterday. In regard to ale and stout, the number of cases decreased from 675 to 648, hogsheads from 829 to 155, and barrels from 185 to 57, while casks increased from three to eight, kilderkins from three' to 250, and kegs from 76 to 615. The figures in regard to spirits are much the same. Cases ahow a fajling-off in popularity from 1207 to 731, quarter-casks from 85 to 11, and octaves from 65 to 18, but the familiar jar has increased fivefold — from 50 to 256. There were eight "parcels" (liquor of sorts) to one "parcel" when liquor could be more easily obtained. In several places in the district liquor was imported during the period of prohibition, although for the year of license those districts, according to the return, had not imported a single dropby rail at any rate ; while in some other places the quantity imported during prohibition was largely in excess of that imported when licenses were granted. ALLEGED DUMMYISM. It is suggested by Mr. Hogg that the object of the Land for Settlements Act is being defeated and the payment of a progressive land tax evaded by an ingenious form of dummyism that is being extensively resorted to — namely, the division of large estates into moderate-sized holdings, which are transferred nominally or otherwise to family connections. In answer to his request that enquiries should be made, 'the Premier said Lhat enquiries would be set on foot, and every effort would be made to prevent dummyism. There wete several cases known to the Government in which the owners of estates had, through members of their 'families, obtained sections of land. There were otheV cases, but the Government hoped that the lesson taught, and the heavy penalty inflicted, in a recent case in Auckland would have a salutary effect. Examples, he added, will be made of those who are found to violate the law. "TOTE" BETTING. The question of "tote" betting was referred to yesterday by Mr. EH, who asked the Premier whether, as the Wellington Racing Club was openly inviting people to gamble through the medium of the totalisaloi, he would cause steps to be taken, if not to abolish the totalieator, to at least prevent the racing clubs running totalisator agencies, and by public advertisement inviting people to gamble. Mr. Ell was informed by the Premier that the matter had been handed over to the police, and if the law had been violated action would be taken. If the present law permitted that which had been called attention to, "it will be the pleasure of the Government to submit an amendment of the law with the hope that Parliament may pass it."

,On Monday evening next Mr. N. Turner will deliver an address on the work of the Prisoners' Aid Society, in the Mftkara Hall, the Rev. Mr. Hansell presiding^