POLITICAL GOSSIP

Evening Star, Issue 12625, 3 October 1905, Page 3

POLITICAL GOSSIP

[Fame Otm Pm,T>vrNT*ni Raroarna.] WELLINGTON, October 3. TIMBER AND FLAX "ROYALTIES. A* originally introduced by the Minister ji Lands, the Timber and Flax Royalties Bill provided that one-half of the revenue reotsved by Jsb& Government in respect to royalty under timber and flax cutting licenses should be payable to tho local ;mthori±ieß 'baring control of the roads over whtdi tbe timber or flax might be hauled, such money to be applied by tbe local authorities to construction and maintenance of soch roads. When tbe Bill came on for aeeond reading last night the Hon. T. Y. Duncan gave notice of an amendment to be moved by him in committee Mat tho money is to be paid to the local authorities within whose district the timber is obtained. There was some discussion on tho B2U. As Mr Rennet, member for Tuapeka. put it: "Those who wanted the royalties wow dissatisfied because W-y were not | larger, and -those who did not want them felt there should not have been any such grantat att." The Leader of the Opposition, in following Mr Duncan, said that last year the royalty paid on timber was about £34,000 and on flax about £650, and this would mean a grant of only about £17,000 to local bodies, which was not very much when distributed among a number of them. The only two interesting phases of tho dit=cusskm. which lasted a couple of hours, were the digging up of th© "Auckland grab" and "town v. country"' bones of •contention. The nrovisions of the Bill will chiefly affect tbe" Auckland provincial di"irict, and naturally Auckland members spoke in favor of the "mettsure. Messrs EU and Loorenson and one or two other towiT members complained that country people ■were not self-reliant enough. that their rates in general weio very low. and that nach Government assistance should not be rjven unless the local authorities had taxed themselves to the limit. Some country members hinted that the Premier, before the session, had indicated that local bodies would receive all instead of half the timber and flax royalties. It was also argued that the Bill as first introduced would be fairer, as it might be that local bodies whoso roads were cut up by haulage of timber and flax would not receive anything from tbe royalties. A few members, among whom was Mr Rennet, suggested that coal shook! have been included with timber and flax, as roads were badly cut up by the haulage of coal. The second reading of tbe Bill was finally agreed to on the voices. THE AUDIT INQUIRY. U\ the House of Representatives last nbTnt the Colonial Secretary gave notice of Hie introduction of th© Commissu-ouers Act, Amendment Bill and the Supreme Court .lodges' Powers Act Amendment Bill The object of these two Bdls is, as stated yesterday, to facilitate the setting up of the Commission of three Judges to inquire into the voucher system. The Bills will in all probability be put through all their stages to-dav. A-N" EARLY NIGHT. The House rose last night jirst after midnight, the earliest it has been up for some time. Two Bills were read a second time after some debate, and thongb tho hour at which new business mie,ht be taken had not arrived, Sir Joseph Ward (who was in charge) conceded to the wishes of the Opposttioo members, who urged " Monday night " as an excuse for getting- home to bed early for once. HUTT RAILWAY. N>ext to the Minister's reply, the most noteworthy speech delivered on the second reading debate ox the Hutt Railway and Road Improvement Bill was that delivered by Mr Tanner, who, although a Christchnrch member, inveighed against those who showed any provincial feeling. He declared that Wellington had prospects of a future before it sue— as no other place in the colony had. Mr E. M. Smith, of New Plymouth, was equally broad-minded, and protested against country members and members from other towns finding fault with the Bill, bnt he declared that once the Panama Canal is cot Auckland will become the premier city, not of New Zealand only, bat of the Southern Hemisphere. Mr Smith, however, drew attention to what he regarded as dangerous bits of lino in bis own constituency. Mir Duthie, member for Wellington CSty, was most severe on country members, who hod been complaining of tbe country districts being starved in the matter of railways. Turning round to Messrs Harding and Hawkins, he said : "it is all very well for country members to point out to their constituents how they have talked back-blocks, bat here vou axe supposed to talk sense." The bill provides power for the Colonial Treasurer to raise 22£Z£3) in sums of £75,000 annually at up to 4i per cent, interest, in addition to the £IOO,OOO authorised by the Act of 1903.—The Minister of Railways, in moving the second reading of the Bill, said that duplication of the railway had already been carried out from Petone to the Lower Hutt, and 3059,000 had already been spent, while further contracts have been let. During the debate, Mr J. Allen said he did not object to the proposal, but be complained of the delay in starting tho Dunedin-Mosgiel duplication- Mr Allen also objected to tie provision in the Bill against other electric tramways or railways between Wellington and the Hutt. In replying, the Minister of Railways referred to the cry raised by Auckland members about tho delay in the Auddand-Penrose duplication. He said that this cry was positively sickening. He repeated deliberately that as soon as the authorisations for the duplication of the -various lines at the four centres were through instructions were given to prepare the necessary surveys and plans, and do all the preliminary work, with a view to the lines being gone on with as soon as that was done. There had been no delay in the engineering branch. There hod been no stoppage in the work on the Aucldand-Penrose line, ttxeragb. -wnat hzwl been cLorte -was not perhaps visible to the eye, and it would be the first of the duplications to be finished. Sir Joseph also stated that probably the rate of interest would not exceed 4 per cent. Replying to some members who had said that the Minister had not given the House, on a previous occasion, to understand that the Hutt duplication would cost more than the £IOO,OOO originally borrowed, Sir Joseph said that ho had never put a limit to the cost of the work. It xvould cost over £200,000 ceriainly, but the revenue that would be derived from the land which would have to be reclaimed would largely recoup the colony. Every Minister of Railways, whoever he might be, would need to come down each year, as was done in the Old Country by the management of railway companies, with proposals for the better and more efficient conduct of the country's traffic The Minister went on to say that of the former duplications authorised the Christchurch-Rolleston was the least urgent. Mr E. C. Allen mentioned the Dunedin-Port Chalmers line, and Sir Joseph said that might come in time, but there was not the pressure of traffic on it now to justify its duplication, and added that he feK it to e his duty to resist any such expenditure on any 'ine unless it was absolutely necessitated by the amount of the traffic. Thereon the Bill was read a second time on the voices. JOTTINGS. "What about the franchise?" asked a member of the House yesterday, when Mr Massey, speaking on the Timber and Flax Royalties Bill, was advocating a graduated scale of subsidies to local bodies, instead • of the present system of grants from the Government. The Leader of the Opposition replied that if the question were brought up in the House threefourths of the members wmdd be against ury alteration in the present franchise. Mr J. Allen complained last night that It had taken an hour and a-quarter for a train in which he had travelled recently to do the journey from the Hutt to Wellington. The Minister replied that that particular train was. not one of the de- ] paxtment's crack passenger trains. Asked which he considered the best train in New Zealand, Sir Joseph instanced the Auekiaod-Botorua, the Christchnrch-Dun-edin, and the Donedm-Suvercargill ser-. .view.'""