THE ESTIMATES. INTERESTING COMMENT.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 61, 9 September 1905, Page 2

THE ESTIMATES. INTERESTING COMMENT.

THE HOUSE AGAIN TIRED. VOTING MONEY BECOMES MONOTONOUS. At 3.20 yesterday afternoon the House went into Committee of Supply for the consideration of the Estimates. STAMPS AND DEEDS. The first Class brought under consideration was Stamps and Deeds, the total vote for which was £30,535, as against £30,799 voted last year and £30,771 expended. Mr. Hogg moved to reduce the vote for the Deeds Department by £1 as a protest against the payment of £1 Is which is charged to Crown lessees when a transfer is made. The Commissioner of Stamps said that was a matter for the Lands Department, and Mr. Hogg's amendment was ruled out of order. The vote for the class passed unaltered. MINES DEPARTMENT. Tho next class considered was Mines, for which the total vole was £25,140, Last year £21,631 was Votod and £18,489 was expended. In reply to questions tho Minister said that Professor Bell was engaged in making a geological survey of the colony which would feo«of service for all time. The Minister's idea was that there .should be three or four separate geological parties doing work throughout the colony. Objection was take by Several members to the item ''Grants to libraries in mining townships, £100," on the ground that it was unfair to favour one particular industry. Mr. Fowlds moved that the item be struck out, and a discussion ensued. On resuming in the evening the Minister defended the vote, but the Leader o f the Opposition, while approving of the principle of subsidising libraries, objected to such a vote coming on in such a way. If the Minister of Education proposed to vote £1000 for subsidies for libraries he would support it. But he wished to know how this £100 would bo spent. If it were to provide a library for men working at the State coal mines, ho would support it. The Minister explained that this was the 6bject of the vole, and the item was agreed to. Mr. Hawkins asked for information regarding the item "Maintenance and management of water races — Waimea-Kumara, £4000." The Minister said it was the usual vote. Mr. Hawkins said that there had been £194,000 spent on the water-race to dflte from the Public Works Fund. Ho had a return of this income and expenditure in connocti'on with the water race, and it was losing money every year. If tit .were not self-supporting it should not be made the object of expending public money for which the colony got no leturn. He moved that the whole Vote be strtick out, "in order to test the honesty of this Parliament." Mr. Harding supported this motion, and urged that the House had never had a satisfactory statement with regard to this water race. If it were a losing concern, the Government should hand it over to the miners and let them work it themselves. Tho motion wns lost on the voices^ and tho vote was agreed to. LABOUR DEPARTMENT. - The next vote taken waa Department of Labour, £11,024. Mr. Jus. Allen discussed the worlv "of the Arbitration Court, and asked the Minister (the Premier) what he was going to do about the delays in the Committee's work. The Premier admitted that there had been a regrettable delay in tho disposal' of buisuess, causing loss to employers and employees. The Government was bringing in a Bill t6 provide that certain cases should be taken by Magistrates. The Judge of tho Arbitration Court had assured him that an effort would be made to bring the work up to dato and keep it up to dote. Tho question was whether another Judga for the Arbitration Court should be appointed or whether tho present Judge should bo lclioVed of Appeal Couit work. In his opinior Arbitration Court work should be paramount, -and he would communicate with the Chief Jus' 4 tico as soon rts possible. Mr. Aitken wanted taknow why a larger voto was required this ydar^ although the staff was smaller. Tho Premier said that the vote Included a bonus of £5 to police constables -for performing the duty of the Department, and increases had been given in various salaries, beside^ which an additional* officer had been 'appointed. This, he added, was- the nlost economically-worked Department if tho Public Service. . , Mr. Guinness gave somo particulars of the way in which old-age pensioners could not receive employment as co-opei'a-tive labourers oh West Coast public works. The reason given had been that those old men woro more liable to accident and so increased the Government's risk. Tho Premier contended that the Public Works Department had a right to be tiblo to say whether or not a man was too old to work. Tho whole vote passed unaltered/ . AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT;. The vote of tho Department of Agricul* ture (total vote, £112,770) was tho next taken, but the Leader of the Opposition objected that tho report of the Department had not been brought down. Tho Premier agreed to postpone tho class, and, the Lands and Survey voto (total vote, £169,109) was taken. LANDS AND SURVEY. Mr. Bnume wanted to know why the Chief Surveyor and Commissioner at Auckland received ft salary of only £475, when tho corresponding officer in Wellington rocoived £550, and those in Canterbury and Otngo £500 each. Tlio" Minister (Hon. T. Y. Duncan) explained that tho office was not of the same status as the others. The officer wns younger in tho service. Mr. moved to reduce tho item "Auditor of Land Revenue, £400," as an indication that the Auditor-General should audit all the accounts of the country. It was absolutely wrong that the auditor of the land revenue should not be responsible to Parliament — it was a serious mistake. Tho Minister snid Jthat it was only the revenue that was audited by' tho Department— ns the expenditure went through tho Audit Office. It would bo inconvenient if (he Audit Department hnd to audit tho revenue. Mr: Mnssty snid the revenue for (he past yeni' was over" half a million, mid who would say it wsus tight that the nuditing of thi3 amount should be in the hands -of n departmental officer? He cited the case of a company or a local body, and asked whether directors or phareholdei's would allow the receipts to bo audited by nn officer of that company or local body? Either the AuditorGeneral shoxild audit all the accounts, or he should be done away with altogether. " . Tho motion was lost by 27 votes to 21. Mr. Kirkbride, as an indication that

the House was not satisfied with the way in which the report of the correspondence with respect to the Matttwata estate was prepared and brought down, moved to reduce the item "Advertising, printing, and binding, £4500." Mr. Fisher brought up the question of the extravagant expense on posters, etc., in connection with land which was never let, and the rent of which wae infinitesimal. The Minister's reply was not audible in Iho Press Gallery. Mr. Fisher moved that the item "Temporary assistance, £20,000," be reduced by £1 as an indication that temporary clerks with lengthy service should be placed on the permanent staff of the Department. After some debate this was negatived by 35. to 23. Mr. Hogg moved to reduce the contingency vote by £1 as an indication that the fes of £1 Is charged to Crown lessees on transfers should be reduced a question that he had brought up earlier in tho day. Immediately after the division just recorded had taken place the HoUse resumed the listless and inconsequential altitude which is ils chief characteristic when moiiey is being voted. Fifty-tight out of 80 members took part in the division ; three minutes later there were only 26 members present, and Mr. Hogg was apparently tho only one who had strength enough to speak on the subject. The division bell, however, brought a few moie members to life, and they effectually "sat on" Mr. Hogg's ameudinent by 32 to 21. Having achieved this remarkable fe:tt, half of the fiftythree drifted out again, and loft a, small number only to discuss the proposals for payment of the colony's money. The Ministerial interest in tho proceedings was shown by the fact that the Commissioner of Customs was engaged in turning over Hie pageß of a novel, and the Colonial Secretary was signing official papers at the rate of knot». The Minister for Lands, who was in charge of tho Estimates, was inaudible. No other Minister was present, but it was satisfactory to note that the two Government Whips were engaged in making a careful analysis> of the division list*. Singularly enough, not a single member was asleep— a record for the session. The .subject of the eradication of noxious weeds on Crown Lands was brbught before an inattentive House by Mr. Kirkbride, who urged that the proposed sum of £3000 should be increased to £5000. The same amount of £3000 was, h© pointed out, voted last year, and only £811 'was expended, and he I moved to reduce the vote for this year by £1 by way of protest. He was supported by Mr. Buchanan, who urged that there was a wanfc of supervision on the part of the Department, and that obviously 1 palpable noxious weeds were not taken notice of. By this time tll-30 p.m.) one member had succumbed to the influence, and w?t« asleep. The reply of the Minister did not seem to electrify the House, and was not audible to the reporters, but it Wa3 gathered that he urged that the Department had done all that was to be expected, and that, anyway, noxious weeds could not be eradicated. To which Mr. Harding replied that if the noxious weeds were not eradicated, the remnant of the public estate, which the New Liberal Party wanted to preserve, would only be a heritage of noxious weeds. A score of members oufc of 80 (all of whom are paid for their services) listened to a debate on this subject. Before midnight the Commissioner df Customs and his novel had disappeared, his place being taken by the Minister for Mines, and tho Colonial Secretary was still signing official documents at a great pace. The Government Whips had ceased colloguing, and two members "tfera ' asleep. ' Empty benches wore the chief feature of the proceedings. • Ten minutes after midnight the Colonial Secretary "turned it up." He had finished signing official papers, and lay down for a resU At tnat moment the House was evenly divided, there being present twelve Government supporters and twelve members of tho Opposition. At 0.20 a.m. there were nine Government members present, and twelve .who weie not Government members, and at least three of those present appeared to be fully, alive to what was going on. The vote for the eradication of noxious weeds parsed at 0.25 with a minimum of enthusiasm. : Tho Leader of the Opposition then referred to .the item "Expenses of Royal Commte&ion on Land Tenure of Colony, £1000," and asked what portion of the Commission's expenses the item represented. The House, he urged, should have been informed of the cost of the Commission. Ho reckoned thao each member of the Commission received about £500— ithe most wilful and wicked waste of money he had ever heard of. He moved to reduce the item by J3l as nn indication that the Government should lay before the House n, return showing in detail the cost of ■tho Commission. Tho Minister said he could not give the amount, even' approximately. It might, lie eaid, in answer to a question, cost' £15,000. Mr. Buchanan said tOie information must be known within a few pounds, and it should be given. Mr. Masaey'ti motion was lost by 27 votes to 19. In a spirit of holy calm the House discuMed various matters arising out of the Estimates, including old soldiers' claims, but it was difficult to detect any interest on the part of members, the only sensible remark oeing ono by Mr. Syines that the cost of setting up a Royal (Jommiftsiou on old sqldiers' claims would moro than pay tho cost of the claims. After that the claims faded away, and no more was heard of them. At 1 a.m. >tho Hbuso was tired. TKere were only tweuty-one membcis piesent, including the Minister in charge of the Estimates, and tho Chairman of Committees* Even the Government Whips had cleared out, and the Opposition were tho only wakeful portion of the assembly. With great gravity Mr. Vile urged the necessity of the Government spending mo;ti money on preventing sand drifts, and Mr. Kirkbride suggested that £1600 was too much to vote for protective works <in 'the Kokatahi-Hokitfka river, ! and main *oad protect ivo works. Apparently ho considered that the West Coast was getting too much. He moved to i educe the vote by fll. Towards <■! n-m. the debate became a species of confidtntinl discussion, and it was almost impossiblo to ascertain the trend, or «Teii the subjects, of the vnrious speakers' ltmnrks. Just before 2 a.m. a terrific sneeze from Mr. T. Mackenzie was instantaneously followed by the light* going out, and the Chamber was wrapped in total darkness. When light was restored, the motion was los-t by 25 votes to 15. Mr. Remington moved a reduction of £1 in the vote "Subsidy for steamer service, Wnngnhui River, £350" as an indicttibn that, the fares ahd freights charged to bonti fide settleifi on the rivrir nre not in accord with the stntcinenUi made by tho Premier and the Postmnfcter-Qenernl last year, both of whom indicated lhat reductions would be muds. Tho Postmaster-General, addressing v thin House, contended -that the faros nud freights had not been increased, find that tho colony ought to control the river aUogelhei— a remark that was received with perfervid "hear, hears." It was evident, he said, that thousands of pounds would have to be expended to make the river navigable all the way up, b"t the "rates were at present on the

railway basis, and if the Government owned the service the rates would not" be very much less. If he owned those steamers he would not take a- subsidy from the Government, bub would make his own charges. This Ministerial announcement was listened to by a very few members, several of whom "took it lying down" — -probably they were tired— and only a bare quorum heard Mr. Remington's protest, which followed, against the charges made for the conveyance of passengers and freight on the "New Zealand Rhine." Just before 3 a.m. a motion by' Mr. Remington to strike out the vote of £350 for the Wanganui River service was lost by 22 to 16, several members having the temerity to vote in spite of tho faot that they had not been in the Chamber during the discussion. " The vote' for, the class then passed. At 3 a.m. the Premier suggested the desirability of making further progress, but the pugnacious attitude of the Leader of the Opposition was sufficient to put him in a better frame of mind, and his motion to report progress was met with a. willing chorus of "Ayes." In half a. .minute the House, was vacant, and. Parliament clewed up for the week.