POLITICAL NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 68, 17 September 1927, Page 8

POLITICAL NOTES

THE DAY ffl PARLIAMENT

. Despite the fact that they were tired after two lato sittings in succession, members of the Honao of Representatives -were in good working trim yesterday, but probably because of the fact that they had made full use of their vocal abilities on the Snmmer Time Bill they were not disposed to end up the week's labours talking till after the dawn of day. -The chief event of the afternoon was the introduction of the Eural Intermediate Credit Bill, giving further effect to the recommendations of the Eural Credits Commission. Consideration o£ Departmental Estimates occupied the time for the remainder of the sitting, and before the House adjourned at 11.23 p.m. eight classes were passed, comprising the Post and Telegraph, Tourist, Justice, Prisons, Crown Land, Police, Main Highways, and Public Service Superannuation Votes. The Legislative Council in the afternoon carried the second reading of the Marriage Amendment Bill on a division after objection had been raised by a small section of the Chamber to the proposal to give certain religious sects the right to have marriages performed by nominees of their own faith. The Council adjourned at 3.48 p.m. • • • THE SCAPEGOAT. Sympathy with the troubles which have befallen the Postmaster-General (the Hon. W. Nosworthy) this session was expressed by Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central) in the House of Bepresentatives yesterday afternoon, but from the "feeling" manner in which Mr. Fraser spoke it is to be feared that he was only satirical. "He seems to be the unfortunate member of the family," remarked Mr. Fraser. "All the legislative transactions of the session that have been open to question seem to have fallen on him to explain. He has been the victim. Not only has he inherited questionable liabilities, but when he has been" attacked his colleagues have lain back and enjoyed it rather than come to his assistance. (Laughter.) He has been the scapegoat on whom the sins of the Ministry have been placed, and he has borne them pretty well." By the hearty way in which he joined in the laughter occasioned by Mr.' Fraser's pleasantries Mr. Nosworthy seemed to be bearing hia burden light- !/• • * * ; ■ | A FIT PERSON. A question in regard to the sending of Mr. V. E. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor at Auckland, to Samoa to conduct the Crown's case in connection with the Royal Commission was asked of the Minister of Justice in the House of Bepresentatives last night by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. H. E. Holland). Mr. Holland asked if the Minister's Department was responsible for Mr. Meredith being sent to Samoa, and if Mr. Meredith was the gentleman of the same name who was a Crown Prosecutor in 1916 and appeared against miners' officials who were arrested in connection with the coal mining trouble in that year. The officer he referred to, he said, made serious and the most astonishingly false statements ever made before a Court. Shortly afterwards he ceased to be a Crown Prosecutor, but it might be that he had been reappointed since. If the gentleman sent to Samoa was the same man, was he a fit person, Mr. Holland asked, to act in such an important position. If: the Minister's Department was responsible for the appointment, he asked the Minister to explain, also why Mr. M". Myers, X.0., who appeared before the Samoa Select Committee, was passed over for the purpose of sending Mr. Meredith. In reply, the Minister of Justice (the Hon. F. J. Eolleston) said he knew nothing of the facts of the case in 1916 to which Mr. Holland had referred, and. all he could say was that Mr. Meredith was a man of the highest reputation and integrity in the legal profession. The Justice Department, said the Minister, was not really concerned with the appointment, and was not paying Mr. Meredith's expenses. »■■*-• MANGLING THE MAILS. Complaint of the way in which mails between the North Island and South Island are handled was made by Mr. E. J. Howard (Christchurch South) in the House of Representatives yesterday, Mr. Howard commented on the way in which packages were broken by rough treatment botween the time they were posted and their loading into the steamers. This he described as one continuous mangle. He protested aboutHis Majesty's mails being treated in such a lackadaisical, way, and submitted that if they were placed in containers packets and packages would not be so subject to the risk of damage. • * • SUPERANNUATION HARDSHIP. A case of hardship in connection with superannuation was reported on by the Public Petitions A to L Committee in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. In connection with the petition of Frederick Alaysius Cullen, of Christchurch, who asked for an increased superannuation allowance, the Committee reported that, in its opinion, the Government should consider the matter. It also recommended that £41, being superannuation contributions paid on a higher rate of salary, should be refunded. Mr. H. T. Armstrong (Christchurch East) said that Mr. Cullen had been in the Service for over thirty years. He had hold a certain position at Nelson at a salary of/£405 a year, but in 1921, when a reorganisation of the Public Servico was made, he had to accept a position in Christchurch at the reduced salary of £„320 per annum. For many years he had paid into the Superannuation Fund on the higher amount, but •when he retired the superannuation was fixed on the salary which Mr.' Cullen had to accept as a result of the 1921 "cut." Teachers wero now able to qualify for superannuation according to the best three years of service as far as salary was concerned, and there was no reason why everybody in the "Public Service should not be able to do the same. • *■ * THE PRISONS BOAED. The work that is being carried out by the Prisons Board was favourably commented upon by the Minister of Justice (the Hon. F. J.'Eolleston) in the House of Representatives last night. Tho Minister said that, speaking generally in regard to the operations of the board, he could assuro the House that there could, be no reasonable ground for complaint. It was possible that some of the men who camo before the board were disappointed—that was only human—but, generally speaking, there was little ground for complaint The board had done marvellous work during the years it had been in existence, and he thought its personnel was such as to guarantee that there could be no question of outside influences being brought to bear. • • • SPECIAL POLICE DUTY. A point in regard to the special employment of police constables at race meetings and football matches was raised in the House of Representatives last night by Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central). It had been Jhe- eoatoinj.]». aasj^ |ox

constables so employed to be paid direct' ■ by the club "authorities for such special • duty. Mr. Fraser asked if that wa« still in operation, and, if so, whether anything was being done to curtail it. At least there should be a correspond- -. ing increase in the men's pay to com- ' pensate them for the loss sustained. The pay of the police should be sufficient in. itself without the need for special payment' for special duty such ', as that he referred to.

The Minister of Justice (the Hob. F. J. Rolleston) said the Department supplied sufficient police for the protection of the pnblie at race meetiags and football matches, and if special further protection was required the Department was sympathetic. Sometimes, especially in the case of country racing clubs, constables were assigned to special duty, and if it was outside ordinary police duty it was only fair that they, should receive extra pay. Up till a v short time ago it was the practice io make the payment to the policeman direct, but that was abolished as being objectionable, and a newriile had been, introduced for the payment to be made to the public accounts. He did not think the Department could very well make, up to the men what they lost through being deprived of the bonuses from clubs, as the men were already paid for the work they performed.