PARLIAMENT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 106, 31 October 1914, Page 3

PARLIAMENT

THE CLOSING STAGES LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL THE EDUCATION BILL. The Legislative' Council continued its sitting after The Post went to press yesterday. INSPECTION OF MACHINERY. The Inspection of Machinery Bill was put through Committee and final stages. LOANS REGULATIONS. The New Zealand Loans Amendment Bill, which is of a technical nature and already passed by the Lower House, was put through Committee with a machinery amendment, read a. third time, and passed. WAR CONTRIBUTIONS. The War Contributions Validation Bill was put through Committee with a machinery amendment The Hon. H. D. Bell moved an amendment validating local bodies' contributions to any patriotic objects approved by tho Governor. The clause also proposed to validate all contributions made by a local body in future which may be approved by the Governor. He desired, he said, to make it perfectly clear that any unauthorised body of persons starting a patriotic fund for a purpose which it thought advisable, however charitable it might be, and however well disposed its promoters might be, would not necessarily receive the approval of the Governor. "The object is," he said, "not to have many funds, but to have few." The amendment was agreed to, and the Bill was put through final stages. PUBLIC WORKS. The Public Works Amendment Bill was read a second time and put through Committee and final stages. WELLINGTON MILK SUPPLY. The Hon. J. Dttthie moved the second reading of the Wellington Milk Supply Bill, which, he said, had received the full approval of the Wellington City Council, and careful consideration at the hands of the Committee. The Hon. S. Thorne George urged the advisability of the Government bringing down a Milk Bill for the whole of the Dominion. (Hear, hear.) The Bill was put through Committee with machinery amendments, which Were agreed to. On the third reading stage the Hon. Dr. Collins said we would never get a perfectly clean milk supply until it was all under one supervision throughout the Dominion. In addition to testing the milk for adulteration by water they needed bacteriological examination. The Bill was put through final stages. MORTGAGES EXTENSION. A technical amendment was made in the Mortgages Extension Amendment Bill (No. 2), and it was read a third time and passed. PENSIONS BILL. The Pension* Amendment Bill, which has already been put through the House, was read a second time. In Committee the Hon. J. T. Paul said that there was only one class of person left unprovided ' •• under the pension law— children who d lost both their parents. The Hon. . D. Bell said he would draw his colleague's attention to the suggestion. The Bill was read a third time and passed. EDUCATION BILL. The report of the. managers on the conference with the managers of the House on the subject of the Council's amendments in the Education Bill wm received. The Hon. H. D. Bell said .he Council had secured the election of district advisory committees and the Jouncil's. objection to the election of the >oard from urban school committees had •sen submitted to by the House. With regard to the proviso relating to re* jigious and moral instruction the Council hacl allowed the House to retain it for what it might be worth. He moved that the report be agreed to. The Hon. J. Barr professed himself as an uncompromising opponent to anything approaching Bible teaching in State schools. The Hon. J. G. W. Aitken said the Bill did not increase the power of committees to grant privileges fop religious instruction under what was known as the Nelson system. The committees had still to go to the board to ask its permision to allow the school hours to be reduced by half an hour a week for the purpose of moral and religious instruction. The Hon. W. C. F. Carncross remarked that the Leader of the Council bad been^ grievously misrepresented by the evening paper. Whoever wrote those two articles knew nothing whatever of what was going on. He wrote two articles, accusing the Minister of having acted in one direction, whereas he acted in an entirely different direction. The Hon. H. JD. Bell said he never troubled the Council by answering any criticism, but, as the Hon. Mr. Carhcross had referred to the evening paper's misunderstanding about his action in connection with the Bill, he might be allowed to explain it. He was very much obliged to Mr. Camcross for having given him an opportunity to mention a matter which he vrould not otherwise have mentioned. The Committee which sat on the Bill was extremely experienced. It had a great knowledge ol the subject— so much greater than his own that he had the Inspector-General sitting beside him, and only by constant reference to that official was he able to keep at all on a level with his colleagues. When this particular clause (49) came up for discussion, it was the form rather than the matter that came under criticism, and eventually it was proposed to strike out the proviso. He then said to the Committee that he did not agree or disagree with it, that he was quite willing that the Committee shoidd ex press its opinion, and it would be for his colleague at a conference to say whether he would accept that or any other amendment. So far as the proviso expressed anything at all, it expressed his view, and so far as it expressed anything at_ all, it was against the view of the Minister of Education (Hon. J. Allen). When ' the matter came on the floor of the Council he moved that the amendments made by the Statutes Revision Committee be agreed to. That wa3 the Council's common form of putting the Bill, so as to save the Chairman and the members trouble ; that was all the part j«5 took in the matter. He accepted the view of the majority of the Committee, and for the purpose of simplifying the Council's proceedings he moved that the report of the Statutes Revision Committee be agreed to. That was the extent U» which he had expressed any opinion on the subject. He was sure that the newspaper misunderstood the matter, chiefly because it misunderstood the manner in which the report came back. The Council agreed with the report of the managers, and at 8.45 p.m. adjourned until 11 a.m. to-day. SOUS? OP REPRESENTATIVES DEVELOPMENT OF IRON DEPOSITS The House continued its sitting after The Post went to Press yesterday afternoon. WELLINGTON MILK SUPPLY, When the Wellington Milk Supply Bill -?sts returned from the Upper House with

amendments, Mr. A. H. Hindmarsh moved that the amendments be agreed to. The motion was adopted. "WASHING-UP" BILL. The comprehensive measure commonly known as tho "Washing-up Bill, dealing chiefly with endowments and reserve lands, was brought down by Governor's Message, read a first time, and referred to the Lands Committee. IRON AND STEEL. In moving the committal of the Iron and Steel Industries Bill, the Hon. W. Fraser said the industry could only be developed and the bonus earned 'by the employment of a largo amount of capital. The Bill had been carefully con sidered by the Mines Committee and machinery amendments proposed. If anyone could be induced to take up the industry it would mean the employment of a very large number of people and the utilisation of a large amount of capital. Sir Joseph Ward remarked that if the iron and steel industry could be put on a proper footing it would be a good thing for the Dominion, but the country required to be particularly careful how it approached the establishment of an industry by Act of Parliament. They ought to make sure that no one could sell an option as the result of a statute, and prevent the community being exploited. It should be a condition that the people who obtained the options under the Act should themselves carry out the work. If the State was not going to carry out a work of this kind — Mr. Payne : It should. Sir Joseph Ward agreed, but pointed out that the State could not do everything in the way of enterprise all at once. The only thing to do was to provide that the State could come in and acquire the industry within a certain period. Fuither, he thought that the bonus system was not the best. It would be better, he thought, to guarantee a certain rate of interest on a certain amount of capital, with the guarantee that the first return of profit should be utilised in paying off the interest so far paid by the Government. His chief idea was to prevent anybody making a profit out of company-promoting. Mr. Atmore strongly urged that the Government should itself go in for the development of our iron deposits on behalf of the people. It was only, he said,, a Conservative Government that would have brought in a Bill proposing [ to give away a huge part of the national estate. If a company was prepared to put £650,000 into such a venture, it must be well worth the while of the Government to go in for the same enterprise. The Dominion would require an enormous amount of iton and steel during the next few years, and when it had been proved (as it had been) that we can produce iron and steel out here at half the price of the imported article, where was the sense of the Government giving away the trade to a private company? In answer to a question by Mr. Atmore, the Minister of Mines said be knew of another company which was'approaching the Government with a view to taking advantage of the Act. Mr Atmore stated that the Ethelburga Syndicate had for years been approaching'the Government on the subject, and the Minister must know that that was a fact. The Government, he contended, was practically guaranteeing over 5 per cent, on capital invested by a foreign company in doing work which the State itself should undertake. Mr. Payne took up the same theme, arguing in favour of State iron and steel industry in conjunction with State bankingMr. G. W. Russell moved an amendI ment laying down the principle that, in the opinion of the House, the iron and steel industry should be controlled by the State. Mr. Russell said that the Bill meant the establishment in New Zealand of one or more syndicates or corporations which would be like American trusts, and secure control and monopoly of the iron irdustry altogether. He contended there was too much tendency at the present to attach too much importance to the "man on the land," to the detriment of other resources. New Zealand imported nearly £1,000 000 worth of steel and iron a year, and the use of these metals was extending all the time. He believed the time would come when New Zealand would be the Great Britain of tho Pacific, with great industries and manufactures and commerce. It was, therefore, the dutyof the State to undertake the work of initiating the iron industry under State ownership and State control, just as they had State coal mires and hydro-electric stations built and controlled by the State. Mr. Glover disagreed with the member for Avon and described what had hapEened to the Taranaki oilfields — they had roken almost three companies in spite of the Government bonus. The debate was continued by members on similar lines. Mr. H. J. H. Okey referred to the work done by the late E. M. Smith in attracting attention to the Taranaki ironsand deposits. He held that they ought to j encourage the investment of outside capital in New Zealand. It would be all for the benefit of the working man. On division the amendment was negatived by 35 to 22. MINISTER IN REPLY. In replying to the debate the^Mimster said it was apparent that the Opposition was not opposing the Bill, but the Government that had brought it in. It had endeavoured to show that the Government was not fit to sit on the Treasury Benches, but it had not Succeeded. The Bill was more in favour of the Dominion than the one thrown out on 'a. previous occasion. Members apparently failed to realise that the Government could take over the works at a fair valuation. Men in London were prepared to put in their capital and import expert labour. He did not know one company from another. He had no negotiations with any company, but people had approached him with the suggestion that if such a Bill was passed they could get the capital invested. The company that made the most advantageous offer would get the benefit of the Act. The Government required all the capital it could spare for internal development, and any company that went into this scheme would have to invest something like threequarters of a million. The motion to go into Committee on the Bill was agreed to on the voices. • Mr. Veitch^ contended that the proposals made in the past by the Ethelburga syndicate were such as to suggest that instead of receiving a bounty any company that was prepared to develop the Parapara mines ought to be required to pay a royalty. " The debate was continued on these lines for a considerable period, and it was evident very shortly after 11 p.m. that a section of the Opposition at any rate had made up its mind to resist the progress of the Bill by every means in its power. t At 1.10 a.m. the condition of affairs was fully exemplified by the entrance^ of a messenger with a pillow and <* big rug with which a prominent member of the Opposition placed himself with apparent comfort. Just about the same time the snores of a supporter of the Government were made the subject of comment. They were quickly suppressed. About 1 a.m. Mr. Statham replaced Mr. Malcolm as Chairman, and half an hour later there were signs of a fresh contingent of stonewallers being brought into the political firing line. At 1.30 a.m. Mr. Robertson moved to report progress — a motion which merely served to turn the discussion into a slightly different direction. j A division, was taken ftt 3 §.m., and $he

Opposition was defeated by 23 to 15. "The responsibility is on the Government ; we ha*e put up our protest," said Mr. Atmore. Henceforward the Bill proceeded quickly. In clause 11 it was provided, on the motion of the Minister, that the Crown may take over the works at any time after 31st March, 1928, and that goodwill shall not be a factor in calculating the amount of compensation. The Bill was reported with amendments, which were agreed to, and was read a third time and passed. COUNCIL'S' AMENDMENTS. The amendments made by the Legislative Council in the Pensions Bill, the Inspection of Machinery Bill, and the New Zealand Loans Amendment Bill were agreed to. EDUCATION BILL. The report of the Managers of the House at the conference with the Council's Managers on the subject of the Council's amendments in the Education Bill were agreed to. At 2.40 a.m. the House adjourned tintil 2.30 this afternoon, the Prime Minister remarking, in reply to a question, that there was not the slightest possibility of concluding the business of the session this week, and that an Imprest Supply will be taken to-day.