POLITICAL GOSSIP.

Evening Star, Issue 12028, 28 October 1903, Page 7

POLITICAL GOSSIP.

b | a f WELLINGTON, October 28. S GAINING COLLEGES FOR 'TEACHERS » s The Education Committee, to whom was 1 eferred for consideration the subject of '/ raining colleges for teachers, have duly oon--1 sidored the same, and recommend that: (a) Training colleges be established for teachers in each of the four principal centres of this* colony—Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin—being the university centres; and in order to avoid the expense of duplicating instruction in subjects which are taught at the. university colleges, and to secure for teachers a greater breadth of view, the training of teachers h> literary and scientific work should, as far u-s possible, be provided by the university colleges, ib) The training colleges should be subject to the control of the local education boards, (e) The curriculum of those colleges should he subject to the approval of the Ministet of Education. id) The Inspector yieneiai should inspect each college from time to time, and report annually to his Minister. A. two-veers’ course of triiipinix foi Oiicli uudent should he aimed at. if) It is deairitile that the lecturer on education at the - rainin>' r colleges should b, l given the status >1 either a lecturer or a protessor at the university college, in order that his lectures ‘nay count in the univeisity course of the '•undents. tg) The practising department ■of each training college should include U ■ nodd country school, with a sole teacher. hj! In addition to personal and boarding dWanecs, granted to students of the traiu,ug colleges who have been pupil teachers, > reasonable university college ices should be paid by the Government, tj! Local boards A education be recommended to set up a committee of advice in regard to matters -■ concerning the training college, consisting, ray, of the chairman or oilier member of . Lie hoard, an inspector of the board, ; ml ■-■' l. representative of the other hoards of edu- ! :>tiou (if any) in the same university di<nict, in order to allow training colleges to I repare teachers for district high school .rad other secondary work. Clause o5 of ' he standard regulations shomd he amended to the second paragraph by inserting ifter the words " district high school ’ the v ,-.rds “and in schools attached to training colleges.” THE LOAN BILL. ITie climb-down of the Govevnmcr.i in n gat'd to the reduced rate of interest' to 41 per cent-, on the Loan Bill was made capital of by members of the Opposition, as was to be expected, on the third re.td- ' nig of the measure. Messrs Massey, . Buchanan, and Jas. Allen indicated that the necessity of fixing the maximum rate ■ jf. 4£ per cent, instead of 5 per cent., had aeen urged by their side of the House in ill stages of the Bill, and at the last p.oment effect had been given to their views.—Replying to these strictures, the Minister of Works said the Opposition had is much-to do with the alteration of interest as they Lad to do with the Mont Pelee eruption or with tire outbreak of theTrans-

vaal War.—Mr Herries : "That’s what yon My.**—Tim Hon. HaJl-Jone.s (continuing) taid that the change was made on cnnsulta-

‘ion with the financial advisers of the Co cernment. not on the advice of the Oppo

dtion. In a, few years to come, when ' ill the roading was done, and when the .’country was opened up. it would he easy to repay loan moneys.—Subsequently the Premier stated that the farsightedness of fin- Opposition had nothing to'do with the ■image in the. rate. , The .Agent-General aed cabled to tlm Government during the last few days advising that it would he .sale to fix the maximum rate at 41, per .rent. What had the Opposition to do ■with that? Had they, ho asked, been in cmnmunicatiou with ' the Agent-Genera!? ■After this advice from Air Reeves they must take, it that the colonv’s; credit wa ,: improving, that its stock was going up. and. further, it would prevent anvone in Huy colony from claiming an excessive ra.tc of interest.

SOME INTERESTING REMARKS on the subject of the Public Works Fund were made by Mr Herries yesterday. At the end of bust financial year, he said, there was £335,000 of public works monev that iad never been expended, and £331,000 which was put down in the Estimates and no money approprinted for it. although it was still a liability. That made a total liability of £1,166,000 of actual liabilities vhich had to be spent this year. At the end of September there was' £50,000 still to be raised from the last loan, and they had a balance of £262.000. and they had wnthority for the transfer of £200,000 from the Consolidated Fund to the Public Works Fund. That made a toted of £492,000. The expenditure during the half-year was 0694.428, leaving a balance about equal to the balance of the liabilities, so that if there were to be any new works at all they must come out of the million loan authorised this session. Was the colony.

be asked, going to be satisfied avitb the expenditure of only a million during the. year, seeing that for the half-year ended March, 1903, the expenditure on public vorka was £908,000; March, 1902. £1,149,000: and March, 1901. £1.610,000? If they were to go on at the same rate, and he did not think that anyone would sav

that- this expenditure had been too great, they ought to have over a million to spend during this half-year. Tire indications, however. were that they would only spend about half a million, and be said it was a very wrong thing to make such a sweeping redaction without any warning.

RUSINESS IN THE COUNCIL

Several measures were dealt with in the Legislative Council yesterday afternoon. The Sea Fisheries Act Amendment. Clutln

Floods Relief Fund Trustees Empowering (which went through committee unamended), and Queen’s Scholarships Bills were put through their final stages.

The Animals Protection Act Amendment Bill was recommitted, and the following now clause added:—“ Notwithstanding anything in section 28 and 29 of the Babbits Nuisance,, 1882. the Governor may from time to time, on the petition of any local authority or Acclimatisation Society, by Order-in-Council gazetted, declare that weasels, stoats, or any other animal declared under the first-mentioned section to be a natural enemy of the rabbit, and which have since proved to be the enemies of all game and poultry, may be killed within any district defined by such Order, and thereupon and so long 'as such Order is in force, the provisions of those sections »hall not apply within the district so specin.d.”

The schedules in the .Shipping and Sea-n-.-n Bill were further considered in eomnit tee, and subjected to some minor amendirents, on the recommendation of the Labor I’ills Committee. —The Bill having been re-

ported with amendments. Sir Alfred Cad

man gave notice to move that it be recommitted for the pin-pose of reconsidering clause 21, making it necessary for certain oliiccrs to bold certificates,—The. Hon. Mr . Bolt gave similar notice in regard to danse 500. which provides that the bills of hiding ?h:dl not contain certain clauses. 'l'he Native Townships Act. Amendment Bill was reported from committee, with minor amendments recommended by the ' Native Affairs Committee. The Fertilisers Bill, which seeks to malm better provision for the control of the sale fertilisers, was committed and amended an the. lines; recommended by the Joint Agricultural and Stock Committee. The second reading of the New Zealand Institute Bill, which reconstitutes the Institute under tha name of the New Zealand Institute for the Advancement of Science, was agreed to after a short debate, in the course of which the Attorney-General said it w.-ps- only intended to hand over to the Institute what was known as the Carter bequest and a certain proportion of the Maori collection in the Colonial Mtfeenm. The second reading of the Products Exhort Bill was agreed to without debate. The measure provides for the 'inspection of products intended for export, and for regulating the exportation thereof. “ projects” means grain, hemp, fruit, and pulp, .1 poles, pears, and poultry, and the Attor-ney-General intimated that ho proposed to idd hops to the list Hie Military Pensions Act Amendment - Bill, extending the right to pensions and allowances, was mad a second time after i brief explanation. ’*• .the..second-.seading.pt .the,

Local Bodies’ Loans Amendment Bill, the

Attorney-General said the increased rate of interest proposed was necessary, in view of the altered’ state of the money market.

—The second reading was agreed to. Speaking to the Midlands Railway Petitions Settlement Act Amendment Bill, the

Hon. J. Rigg declared that the £150,000 voted last year to the petitioning deben-ture-holders' was a bribe, and he wanted to know if that act. of the Legislature had had the effect of disarming Mho criticism and opposition of these persons to New Zealand.—Several councillors indignantly denied that the money had been voted as a bribe. VALUATION OF LAND. The Government Valuation of Land Act Amendment Bill has been circulated. It provides for the revision of valuation rolls in special districts by the Valuer-General ut such dates as the Governor-in-Council directs. Another provision, is that where land is subject to o lease, and there are more interests therein and more owners than one, the values shall not be esti

mated at less than they would be if the property was held by a single owner in fee-simple and free from any lease or encumbrance. For the purposes of valuation under this section, the interest of a lessor is to be present value of the net runt under the lease for the nnexpived terra, plus the present value of the revoision to wdiicb he is entitled. The interest of a lessee is to be present value of the excess (if any) of 5 per cent, per annum upon the capital value of the leased land over and above the net rent for the, unexpired term, plus the present right, to compensation to which he is- entitled under the base, and minus the interest (if any) of a sub-lesser. The interest of a sub-lessee is to be computed in the same manner as that of u lessee.

and all computations of , present values aie to be. made on a 5 per cent, per annum compound interest ba-si.s.

ABOUT LOANB

According to Mr Hetties the Government will have to raise by way of renewals and fresh loans over £5.000.000 during the year ending December, 1904. Then? were, lie said yesterday. £1,539.000 worth of debentures falling due ami held a itsidu the (te-

vernment department,-, and Iheie were also tailing due £159,000 worth held in the de-

p.ri (merits

Tlie latter did not: matter so much.

because they could be renewed at any rat of interest, but still thev bad to fie ii

nc-wed. and the department would not Le able to invest: that amount in the new loan. The total amount of debentures to ho u-

newed during the year was £1.798.950. There was also the million loan just audio rised, and £250.000 for advances io ser-

tiers, besides £IOO.OOO for the Star.- Eire Insurance" Department, and other small amounts, making a total, he reckoned, of £3,143.000. It was. he argued, utroily impossible and ridiculous to think that such a large sum could be raised in the colony.

THE PREMIER’S ME Ad’ SCHEME

The Extension of Commerce Commute' arc understood to have practically <1 er-i<l •■ • 1 on the lines of their report on the scheme put forward hy the Premier to establish retail shops in filmland for the sale of X' v Zealand meat. It is currently tvi-ori-- 1 that the Committee will express themselves strongly against the proposal 1. hut will re-

commend the Government to thoroughly advertise New Zealand meat lhroimhuu r the United Kingdom in newspapers and on tram (airs and other public vehicles, railway stations, etc., and so on. A MILD BREEZE. A breeze, which quickly passed over, occurred in the House shnrtlv after the d'n-

Per adjournment yesterday. Mr dames Allen protested against the fact that the vote for expenditure under the Sceneiy Preservation Bill did not come under teview of (he House each year, and asserted, that the House was being asked to jetiuquish its review of the public revenues. He characterised lids as a "rascally attempt” to get. moneys pa.-sed without oppo;-

tnnit-y of review by Parliament.—The Premier inquired if the words "rascally attempt ” were parliamentary. and niov d that tbev be taken down.—Sir W. R. Rus-

sell objected that the words ought to liav

been taken down at once. —The Chairman of Committees ruled that the remark applied to a Minister's actions, and was not par

liamcntary.—The Premier: I ask that Ihe words he wii Inlrawn. —Mr J. Alien (warmly) ; 1 made no reference to any individual. 1 said it was a "rascally” thing to do. and 1 repeat it.—The Chairman :

That is insinuating that the Hon. Minister in charge of the Bill is making a rascally attempt to do a certain thing. Does tlm

bon. member withdraw?— Air Allen; I am bound to obey the ruling of the Chair, whether right or wrong, and I withdraw the words under compulsion. I say that this kind of thing does more to injure nur credit at Home than Parliament realises.—The offensive term was thereupon withdrawn, and the incident closed. THE LIQUOR BILL.

New clauses proposed to be added to the Licensing Bill continue to be received from the Prohibition section of the House. Mr Taylor wants it affirmed that- if three-fifths of" the total number of votes recorded throughout the colony are given in favor of the proposal that no licenses shall be granted, colonial prohibition shall have been affirmed, while another clause proposes to abolish the bar at Bellamy’s. STATE FIRE INSURANCE.

The third conference over 11c-.; State Eire Insurance Bill took place last night, wii.nout any decisive conclusion being arrived at. It"Is stated that the managers on behalf of the Legislative Council {the Hons. Sir A. J. Oadman, Mr Kelly, and Mr Camcross), while showing no disposition to be obstinate, and thus incur the onus of killing the Bill, would not yield the position wirli regard to the Councils right to make the amendment over which the conflict had arisen, but temporised to the extent that they agreed with the House’s managers “ that the Bill Ire returned to the Legis-

lative Council, in order that clause 24 muy be further considered.” Should the House agree to this, the whole Council will he afforded an opportunity of con sideling the matter. The Conference, I hear, agreed that the amendment made by the Council was an improvement to the Bill. The position appears to be that if the Council again consider the clause and reinsert their amend-

incut, but in antique type, the deadlock will be overcome, and the Bill be accept’d by the House, The blade type would bo

an acknowledgment that the amendment had been made in a money clause, and will smooth the dignity of the House. Whether the Council will agree to this remains to be seen. If the Bill should bo blocked by the Council declining to recommit it for further consideration of the objected-to clause, the Premier will probably take tire course of reintroducing Hue Bill with the Council’s amendment included. In all probability, however, the Council will insert the amendment in black type rather than kill the Bill. This is the course I suggested on Mondav as likelv to be adopted. THE GRADUATED LAND TAN.

The Land and Income Assessment Act Amendment Bill was reached in committee at 1.15 a.m. The measure increases the Absentee Tax and readjusts the Graduated Laud Tax.—Sir W. R. Russell moved to strike out sab-clause 2 of clause 5, making the Absentee Tax an increase of 50 per cent, on schedule rates. It was, he. urged, must injurious to impose such a tax, and he believed for every £1 collected £IOO would be driven away from in vestment. —Lost by .t6 to 9, and Hie danse passed unaltered.—Mr Seddon moved to strike out clause 13, "returns of deposits in banks,” and to insert in its place a new clause providing' that the necessity for supplying annual returns of deposits shall not apply to persons receiving less than, £SO per annum in interest.-—This was agreed ■to on the voices, the Bill vras reported with amendment*. and the House rose at 5.25 iun. THE COMPANIES BILL.

Probably a record was achieved on Monday night, when the Companies Bill, consisting of 340 clauses, was passed right through committee as reported from the Industries and Commerce Committee without a single alteration. Members recognised that this Ixwiy had so extensively altered the measure and had given it such careful attention that it would bo unwise not to adopt it en bloo in the form it can before the House, Too much credit cannot be given to Bir J. G. Ward for piloting the measure through committee, and to Mr T. Mackenzie, who of the Industries Comm ir.Wfi. „ Ihis hodv ten, weeks-tin a. care--

ful review of the Hill, and have also given much time and attention to the subjects of the Premier’s meat scheme and the Flour Trust investigation.

JOTTINGS. The usual tactics of the Minister of Works is not to defend hi* own department tsays Mr Henries), but to criticise tin Administration of the year one (the Atkinson Government).

“ The Leader of the Opposition has told the House that his party do not want office.”—(Mr Massey: “Hear, hear.”) — “Well, I accept that statement com grano, and shall keep temptation out of their way, in case they relent.”—The Premier.

The Waste Lands Committee have no recommendation to make on the petition of Alexander Campbell, of Dunedin, who praved for compensation for loss of land. “ Wise men, under alien'd conditions, change their opinions; fools never.” —Mr Soddon’s justification for reducing the rate of interest in connection with the one million loan.

"I believe members • opposite would like to see the rate of interest raised. They would like to see anything occur that would tend to injure the Government.”—The Premier.

“ What injures the colony is the experimental legislation of the Government—■ State fire insurance, etc.”—Mr Buchanan. 'Hie Railways Committee have no recommendation to make on a petition from 628 employers in the Government workshops praying that wages may be paid them weekly or fortnightly.

The avniHint of rent- paid for premises used by Government, departments in each provincial district for the year ended March 31 last was £10.698, marie up as lullows : —Auckland, £1.699; Hawke’s- Bay, £209; Taranaki. £150; Wellington. £5.424; Canterbury. £1,432: Otago, £1,784.

“By constantly reiterating that our Loan Dill fixed tho rate of interest at 5 ]XT cent, the Opposition have done more during the last few days to raise the rate of interest in this colony than I have done during my twelve years in office."—The Premier.

“ Unfortunately, nothing on this earth can stop (be Premier’s tongue. He must talk, ami talk’, and talk.’’—Sir VT. B. Bussell on i lie Premiers methods of piloting measures through committee. Amendments in tho luted are Elates Bn! nine brought down to the House bv Go-

venior’s message yesterday. These make the Bill apo'y io widowers as well as to widows. The amendments were agreed to.

"We intend to raise this million loan in the colony, and the outlook re very promi--ing imbed. The sura of £40,000. which would have been paid by wav of interest, to foreign moncv-leiidcis. will thus be saved." —'ldle Premier.

Mr Taylor objected to political commissions. and declares that no more abortive Commission w::m ever sc; up than that which roved all over the c, cun try in i Inin rarest s of Tariff adjustment.-. "The recreation ground in New.Plymouth :s recognis- d io be the inosi loveliest, 5;...; in t lie Southern Hemisphere."—M; K, M. Smith.

Mr E. tl. .'.lt, n wants the Agr.cului, ui Department instructed to take steps to ensure that gram .-..nd all other New Zealand

products shipped to South A flier, shall fir he subjected to proper Keus and be graded, so as to ses:iue, :<'■ far as possible. tie highest prices ie.r our products in the markets or that connin'.