THE ESTIMATES. QUESTIONS OF INTEREST.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 62, 10 September 1910, Page 9

THE ESTIMATES. QUESTIONS OF INTEREST.

AN ALL-ROUND DISCUSSION. COST OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. At eight o'clock last night the Prime Minister moved in the House of Representatives to adjourn discussion of various Bills on the Order Paper in order that they should go into Committee of Supply for the consideration of the Estimates. Mr. Massey protested, urging that the business should be carried on as laid down on the Order Paper. Sir Joseph Ward retorted with a complaint that the Opposition had .taken up j a great deal of time in discussing the | question of privilege, which had lasted all the afternoon and into the evening. Tho House then went into Committee of Supply for the. consideration of the Estimates, and the usual all round debate took place on the first item. GOVERNMENT HOUSE. Mr. Herdman contended that the Government should have before now disclosed its policy in regard to the reerection of Parliament Buildings. His idea was that Government House should have been kept where, it was, and the Parliament Buildings, re-erected on the old site. What he asked, would be the cost of erecting Government House on the new site at the southern end of the city? He thought the House was entitled to some definite details on the subject, but he had learnt that the Government had paid £10,000 for land for approaches to the new Government House, although the Government valua- | tion of the property was only £6000. As to Parliament Buildings, he gave figures showing that £27,733 had been paid in connection with the old Parliament Buildings and the alterations to the buildings now occupied by Parliament. Sir Joseph Ward, referring to the new Government House, said the capital value of the land was £6000, but the £10.000 paid included both the land and the houses upon it, and. the local valuer was of opinion that if the case had been taken to arbitration the price would have been considerably higher. The Government's experience had been that in going to arbitration it had had to pay far more than the value set out on the roll. When the Government had concluded this transaction it would have done a good thing for the city of Wellington, although the chief complaint about the transaction came from the members for the city, some of whom had endeavoured to make political capital out of it. As a matter of fact, this was one of the best transactions that the Government had ongaged in, and it was not very encouraging to find the member for Wellington Xorth taking exception to it. Mr. Massey said that the first thing which would strike anyone listening to the debate was that the whole business of the country was placed on the shoulders of the Prime Minister. Referring to the Parliament Buildings scheme he said he was surprised to hear that the sum of £27,000 had been expended in temporary buildings since the fire. He would like to see a return showing the cost of the new Vice-Regal residence. Probably it would not be less than £50.000. The building looked out on the slum area of Wellington. He suggested it would be a good thing to dispose of the site for a children's hospital, and bring the vice-regal residence back to the old site. He referred to the boycott of the Dominion newspaper, and declared that public money was still being used for party purposes. So far as the Land and Income Tax Department waR concerned he had no desire to see the affairs of any private individual made public. In the recent enquiry, however, there had been too much secrecy — too much star chamber. (Then the bell rang)- , * The Hon. "R. M'Kenzie also spoke, but • most of his remarks were hardly audible in the press gallery. ADVERTISING AND EDUCATION. Mr. R. A. Wright also spoke of the j boycott of the Dominion. The Government Advertising Department was ! biassed in favour of papers which supported the present Administration. • Sir Joseph Ward said he did not think Mr. Wright realised how many papers there were in this country. There were 234 newspapers in New Zealand, and of these 152 were on the authorised list to receive Government advertisements. No i new papers had been placed on the list ! since 1908. Last year the amount I spent on advertising was £11,431, the ! year, previous £'13,262, the year before i £15,170, and the year before that £16,395. • Mr. G. M. Thomson (Dunedin) spoke on educational questions. During the last ten years, he said, the status of our-pupils in the sixth standard had distinctly declined. He romplained that the syllabus was not well arranged. About' midnight the House was, to all infenis and purposes, asleep. The member who was speaking had a minimum of listeners. Incidentally, Mr. Hanan expressed the opinion that the boys in the secondary schpols are not receiving the educational grounding that they used to get years ago. Business managers, he declared, bore out. his contention. The Hon. G. Fowlds, speaking generally on the education question, said it was the opinion of the officers of the department that the children had been kept too long in the preparatory standards. The success, or otherwise, of the free text books depended on tho attitude taken up by the various Education Boards. Those boards which had taken up the scheme heartily had found that the scheme was justified, although the experience was that it discouraged the giving of home lessons, owing to the wear and teai on the books caused by the children taking them home with them. Considerable discussion took place on the question of whether our educational system produces as good results as it produced in the past, and a considerable divergence of opinion was expressed. Mr. R. Scott urged that the Minister of Public Works should have experi ments carried out in Central Otago for boring for artesian water. At 1.30 a.m. interest in the debate was woefully lacking, and the bell had to be rung to secure a quorum. Mr. J. Allen asked for particulars of the retrenchment which had taken place in the departments under the control of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Was it a fact that increases in the staffing had actually taken place. He then referred to the Land and Income Tax Department, and said particulars of the various charges brought against a certain officer should be given to the House. Details of the claimed savings in respect of the administration of various departments should also be given to the House. The Hon. J. A. Millar denied that the railways were being starved in the matter of maintenance. There was not Ihe same amount of relaying of rails to be done this year, and, consequently, no necessity for so many men being employed. He justified the reduction of the Wairarapa train services. The first item was passed at 2.45 a.m., and progress was reported. The House rose immediately afterwards.