PARLIAMENT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 107, 1 November 1913, Page 9

PARLIAMENT

YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL The Legislative Council met at 2.30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The following local Bills were passed through all stages : — Gisborne Harbour Board Enabling Bill (Hon. Captain Tucker), Otago Harbour Board Empowering Bill (Hon. Mr- Cailan), Hamilton High School Reserve Bill (Hon. Mr. Beehan), Springs County Council Reclamation and Empowering Bill (Hon. Mr. Hardy), Tin>aru Harbour Board Empowering Bill (Hon. Mr. Anstey), Bluff Harbour Board Empowering Bill (Hon. Mr. Baldey), Whangarei Foreshore Vesting Bill (Hon, Mr. Thompson), "Westport Public Parks Vesting Bill (Hon. Mr. Thompson), City of Nelson Loan Conversion and Empowering Bill (Hon. Mr. Samuel), Wanganui Borough Council Street Access Empowering Bill (Hon. Mr. Paul), Auckland City Empowering Bill (Hon. Mr. George), "Western Taieri Land Drainage Board Enabling Bill (Hon. Mr. Callan), Patea Harbour Bill (Hon. Mr. Samuel), Wanganui Harbour District and Empowering; Bill (Hon., Mr. Anstey). The Victoria College Amendment Bill ,was read a third time and passed. The Council met at 8 o'clock in the evening, only to adjourn almost immediately. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES The House continued its sitting after' the Post went to press yesterday afternoon. SCIENCE AND ART. Thd amendments made in Committee on the Science and Art Bill were agreed to and the Bill was put through final stages. PUBLIC REVENUES BILL. The Hon. W. Fraser moved the second reading of the Public Revenues Amendment Bill, the main, provisions of which have already been explained. One proposal, he said, was that it allowed the Government to issue Treasury Bills, in London. That was a new proposal. Sii Joseph Ward : I should think it is. Mr. G. W. Russell: What is the reason? The Minister: I suppose they want to get money there. The Bill enables the High Commissioner to sign the debentures. Money, he added, was more easily obtainable in London than in the Dominion. Sir Joseph Ward said the Bill was most important, and he was sorry that the Minister of Finance was, on account of illness, unable to be present. In effect it created a revolution in the work of the Treasury and transfer powers from Ministers to executive offiaers that had never before been entrusted to anyone but a responsible Minister. That was against the whole principle of con- . stitutional Government. Right through the Bill proposed to do away with Ministerial control and responsibility. ' As to the issue of Treasury Bills, we have already in London £800,000 . of securities specially provided, and yet the House was now asked to authorise the High Commissioner to issue Treasury Bills there. It would, he urged, have, been better to increase the amount of' the securities in London. He believed the proposal would be inimical to the financial system; pf the. Dominion. . v The Prime" 'Minister :' Other 'countries do the same thing. Sir Joseph Ward : To their detriment. Supposing I had proposed such a thing I They ought, he said, to have the fullest explanation of such a. proposal, which meant the taking of authority for flying kites in London. Mr. Nosworthy : You used to fly kites. i Sir ' Joseph Ward: The hon. gentleman cannot point to a single instance where I did anything of the kind. I was always able to get all the money this country wanted. Another proposal in the Bill, he contended, meant" that the Government need not show liabilities of departments outstanding at the end of the financial year. Hon. W. Fraser said the clause in question was put in because the Act already made sufficient provision in that direction. Sir Joseph Ward did not agree', and he- contended, that the provisions in i>he Bill limiting the responsibilities of Ministers was not in the interests of the country. In every clause of the Bill provision, was made for passing away from the Minister of responsibility. A serious mistake could be made at any time and in that case the Minister would absolved from blame. Hon. W. Fraser : That is not so. At the completion of Sir Joseph Ward s speech the Speaker put the question, that the Bill be road a second time, and asked for the voices, declaring "the ayes have it." Mr. Fraser thereupon rose to reply, but Mr. Speaker ruled that the question had been put. Mr. G. W. Russell also rose to speak, stating that he did not understand that the matter had been finally dealt with. The Speaker stated that finality had been reached on that stage of the Bill, but if the Minister assured him that he ! Was on his feet before the question was put he was entitled to .reply, Mr. Fraser intimated that he was not particularly concerned, and the Bill was read a second time. EDUCATION RESERVES. The Education Reserves Amendment Bijl was read a second time and referred to the Land* Committee. AUCKLAND EXHIBITION. The Hon. W. H. Herries moved the second reading of the Local Authorities' Indemnity Bill, which proposes to validate expenditure by local authorities on the visit of H.M.S. New Zealand, and expenditure in connection with the Auckland Exhibition. Sir Joseph Ward took advantage of the occasion to say that he proposed to visit the Exhibition, whether the House was sitting or not, and he suggested that if Parliament had not concluded its labours when the Exhibition opened, it would be reasonable for Parliament to adjourn to Auckland, sit there in the day time, and attend the Exhibition at night. Members generally expressed good wishes for the success of the Auckland Exhibition, and that Parliament would be able to conclude its business in time to enable members to attend. One member expressed the hope that Auckland people would make arrangements for people to get accommodation at a reasonable price. In answer to comments, the. Minister said he hoped the Exhibition would be a financial success, because the Department hoped that it would pull them through the year.' Thero would, he added, be no complaint as to the lack of means of getting to Auckland. The Bill was read a second time. MUNICIPAL LAW. Consideration of the Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill was resumed in Committee at 7.45 o'clock. In regard to clause 23, which gives to municipal councils power to establish a &ervie9 for ihe conveyance pf passengers

and goods to and from any place within a borough. Mr. Davey asked why a new clause had been added by the Statutes Revision Committee to make the provision in clause 23 retrospective. ' The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher (who was in charge of the Bill) explained that it had been put in to meet the case of Timaru, which had started works that required validation. In the course of a long discussion, the subject of argument was the Auck land tramways, and a great deal was said about the action of the Auckland municipal authorities in handing the service over to a private company. Their action was described as " criminal folly " and "parting with their birthright." Eventually the Minister in charge of the Bill contended that the discussion was not in order because there was nothing in the clause about tramways. As a matter of fact, the clause proposed to give power to establish a service other than a tramway or railway service. The Chairman of Committees (Mr. A. S. Malcolm) endorsed the Minister's views, and ruled the members for Parnell (Mr. Dickson) and Ohinemuri (Mr. Poland) out of order. Mr. Poland moved to report progress, in order to take the Speaker's ruling. Mr. Speaker said in effect that under the Standing Order relied upon by the Chairman 'he (Mr. Malcolm) had absolute discretion as to whether a matter was relevant or not. He was therefore surpxised that be had been called down on several occasions to rule .on the same point, because it was not the duty of the Speaker to review the ruling of the Chairman. He declared the House in Committee. Mr. Poland moved an amendment to delete sub-clause 1, which reads — "Nothing herein shall authorise a council to construct any tramway or railway." Tt • was argued in the course of discussion that the prevision in the main clause would prevent a council from constructing a tramway to a quarry. The Minister explained that the object of the clause was to enable municipal authorities to establish a motor-bus service. Power to. construct tramways or railways undor different Acts was not at all restricted by the sub-section of the* Bill. Mr. Statham confessed inability io understand why the members for Eiccarton, Ohinemuri, and Motueka could not see the necessity for the inclusion of the Rub-section On the motion of Dr. Newman, it was decided to add to clause 34 : For' prohibiting^ or regulating the deposit or accumulation on any vacant land within the borough of refuse or rubbish of any description, including waste paper, shavings, filth, dirt, tins, or iron. It was decided, on the motion of the Minister, to add to clause 27 a new sub-clause extending the powers of local bodies with regard to the supply and use of electric power and electric light. The clause gives local bodies, in effect, powers in the above direction as they now possess with regard to gas. Mr. Davey moved to add a new clause, giving power to to Supply electrical fittings 'where electrical power is supplied. The , Minister accepted this tentatively for inclusion in, the Bill, with a view to having the proposai enquired into. A proposal by Mr. Sidey, to the effect that the Mayor of a borough might retain his seat on the council for a year after his term (as Mayor) had expired, was declared defeated "on the voices. On behalf of Mr. Sidey, the ' Hon. Mr. Ngata moved to add a new clause, empowering councils that have tramways to " license or refuse to license motor-buses, on such terms as , they think will not seriously compete with the 1 council tramways. The proposal was defeated by 33 to 19. , The Hon. A. Ngata moved a new clause 'dealing with advertisements on hoardings. The Minister opposed the clause, on the ground that it might prohibit the use of hoardings for the carrying out of contracts which the council had already entered into. The amendment was lost. Mr. Davey moved an amendment to provide that borough councillors be elected on a system of proportional representation. The Chairman (Mr. Malcolm) ruled the amendment out of order, as not being consistent with the contents of the Bill. The Speaker, called on to give his decision, upheld the Chairman's ruling. The Bill was reported from Committee with amendments. COUNCIL'S AMENDMENTS. ' The amendments made by the Legislative Council in the Gisborne Harbour Board, Bill,, the City of Nelson Loans Conversion Bill, and the Otago Harbour Board Empowering Bill were agreed to. The House rose at 0.35 a.m. until 2.30 on Tuesday. SUNNYSIDE ENQUIRY COMPLAINTS AND CHARGES REFUTED NO ILL-TREATMENT OF PATIENTS. The report of the Commissioner, Mr. V. G. Day, S.M., as the result of. the Sunnyside Mental Hospital Enquiry, which vas tabled by the Minister for Public health (Hon. Mr. Rhodes) yesterday afternoon, may be summed up in the following paragraph : — "The Commissioner thinks that the lengthy and exhaustive enquiry should allay fears that patients are subjected to ill-treat-ment. The causes of complaint arise, not from remissness or neglect on the part of the staff, but owing to defects of the hospital itself." Complaints were made with regard to five inmates, and these, according to the report, have practically all been refuted. In the opinion of the Commissioner, complaints &f ill-treatment and neglect arise in the disorganised minds of patients, or from ignorance of friends of the pitiful state patients get into as a result of mental disorder. Several notes are attached to the report. Mr. Day considers it improper that there should be no reception ward on the male side, patients having to be received in the refractory ward. ■ Classification of inmates is, he considers, necessary fer proper care and 'attention, and impossible, because of overcrowding. Something should be. done to separate the coarse from the refined. It is also obviously improper, he adds, that no special provision is made for the custody of the lunatic prisoner apart from other patients, and mental defectives, he recommends, those certified on the ground of mental decay, should be placed in a, separate institution. "Friends of patients in Govern-ment-managed institutions have a right to expect adequate hospital accommodation, which is not to be found at Sunny - sade — " this is another note. Another is : "The lules and instructions laid down for the guidance of attendants are as near perfection as possible, and they appear in the main to be faithfully carried out." The staff, the Commissioner thinks, is inadequate and overworked, and therefore patients cannot receive the care and attention they are entitled to. FIRE AT PALMERSTON fcBY. TELEGRAPH — SPECIAL TO THE POST.] PALMERSTON N., 31st Oct. A six-roomed house in Albert-street, owned >by Mrs. Tremaine, was totally destroyed, with its contents, yesterday evening.