POLITICAL GOSSIP.

Evening Star, Issue 12603, 7 September 1905, Page 7

POLITICAL GOSSIP.

[Fbou Ovb Faruuixntabt Rjetobteb.] 'WELLINGTON, September 7. THE COLONIAL BANK. . The debate on the report of the Public Petitions Committee on one Colonial Bank petition was interrupted by the 6.30 p.m. adjournment. The debate not being completed, the report was not omciailv placed before the Government, Hardman yesterday asked the Government whether they intended to give the relief sought b- the, petition, and whether they would direct the Official Assignee at Dunedin to furnish shareholders with a statement of the names of the accounts in which the loss of £335,000 was made, ahH the amount of loss for which each account was responsible. The Premier’s reply was: The report’ of the Public Petitions Committee is still before the House, and the House is asked by amendment proposed by Mr Duthie to decide upon a definite course of* action. To provide matter for reopening a debate on a motion is rather disingenuous. Until the House has come to a conclusion on the matter, it would be against proper procedure for the Government to anticipate. In respect to the latter part of the question, the bon. gentleman will on reflection, I hope, agree with me that the Unicial Assignee, acting in his official capacity, and under statutory obligation, cannot, and ought not, to be directed bv the Government. Ho is practically an officer of the Court, and has reported to the Court.

Mr Herdman said that nothing that any ordinary member could say would induce the Government to throw any additional light upon the liquidation of the Bank. The door was locked, and would never bo opened again. The Government were determined -to grant no relief to the people who had petitioned the House. SHOPS AND OFFICES. In renly to a question by Mr Alison as to wbe&ier the Government would give instructions to the Labor Department either to enforce the law, or to its orjpration altogether until the decisions of Parliament amend&g this Act are carried out, the Premier stated that under the Shops and Offices Act the unties of the inspectors are defined, and as they are statutory officers the Government do not see their way to give any instructions to.them. The Labor Department has no legal right to interfere, and the suspension of the operation of any law can only be done by Parliament itself or bv an expressed condition in the law itself. IDENTIFYING CHINESE. The Attorney-General, replying to the Hon. J, Bigg in the Conned, stated that effective measures were adopted to identify Chinese returning to the oo.ony, so as to prevent personation in order to evade the poll tax. JOTTINGS. Mr Millar’s terra for the Farmers’ Union is “ political highwaymen.” Taranaki is populated with South Island men, says Mr Millar. As a result of the freehold, the cities have the whole of the oountrv in pawn, said Mr Millar last night, “ Vice versa," was the comment of a country member, but Mr Millar said -the cities held 4135,000,000 worth of mortgages of the £70,000,000 which represents the unimproved value of the lands in this colonv. One hundred and ninety-three persons hold 4,405.676 acres of freehold, and twenty-three companies hold 1,601,955 acres'. Mr Millar’s disproof, of,, the non-exist-ence of aggregation of land, is that toi people in this colony hold land of the unimproved value of £22.000,CUu out of the £70,000,000 worth of land in the colony. “It a Bill were to come before the House, if I stayed here for the next three months, no such thing as the freehold would go through, if onlv half a dozen members would sunort me.”—Mr Millar on granting Crown tenants t-.e freehold.