POLITICAL GOSISP.

Evening Star, Issue 12899, 23 August 1906, Page 7

POLITICAL GOSISP.

[FBOM OTO WELLINGTON, August 23.1 THE/FIRST SKIRMISH of the session tppk place in the House yesterday afternoon: This-was oii a motioif of .Which Mr Fisher- (Wellington Central) had given notice on tho-previous day—■m., there be laid befbfotiiis House areturn showing (!) the,area^capital, and unimproved value of the residences of His Excellency the Governor at .Wellington and Auckland; and (2) the annual a&o'unt spent upon each ; for •upkeep aikl during the past five years ended Ist August, 1906; each year to be stated''separately." Mr Fisher was not present when his motion was called on, aond in his Absence it was moved by Mr Kirkbride (Maalakau), who said that he had Mr Fisher's consent, and was understood to say.". rn~ writing.' Tho Premier objected to the, motion being received under the circumstances; as the member for Manakau liad given, no reasons as to why they should discuss,a motion affecting the position of a gentleman who was not under ordinary circumstances referred to on the floor of the House at all. Ho was therefore surprised that the hon. member had given no reasons for the acceptance of the motion by the Government. The Leader of the Opposition ought under the .circumstances to support him in that view in protecting the represehtitive of His Majesty the King in this country. He asked Mr'Massey what he took. They, were being asked practically to invade the domain of a gentleman whom they were expected to protect. - lx ; they were going to discuss this question on the floor of the House, then it seemed to him that they were taking up.a very invidious position. It. was the duty .'of .'..the House and the country to make proper provision for the King's representative here. If they, allowed a debate to take place in connection with a matter of this sort, then it would bo an unusual precedent, and a course which ho should bo sorry to see introduced into tho House. Ho opposed the motion upon the ground that he considered it his duty.to protect the representative of the King from such, a discussion in connection with Ins residence, which the country was bound to provide for him. The member, who had given notice of the motion (Mr Fisher) ought to have been in his place to move it, and he was sony -that it had been moved without any explanation.—Mr Massey said that ho could not agree with the Premier in the opinion he kid just expressed. He (the Leader of the O™osition) yielded to no one in his respect for the representative of the King in this colony, and if tho motion affected the position of His Excellency, he would be inclined to support the Premier. But it did not do so. Why should the people of tho colony not "know how their money was being expended ? There had been far too much mystery in. connection, with the expenditure of public money,'and when tho member for Manakau, in place of Mr Fisher, asked for'details of expenditure, they ought to be forthcoming, whether that expenditure had been in connection with Government House or anything. else. In any case discussion could take place on the question when the Estimates came, down,' and ho had po doubt that a similar discussion would take, place again. Personally he saw no objeotion to the. furnishing of the information now asked' for.—The Hon. W. Hall-Jones pointed out that the information now asked for was yearly to h e f u Un 4- in the to'voe r Journals of the House, from which members could extract all they required. Hon. membprs would, ho thought, seo some little discourtesy m this motion.—Mr T. Mackenzie said that ho would be loth to support anything savoring of disrespect to His Excellency, but the motion did not do that, the motion covered a period of five vears - and it did not compare relatively what the expenditure had been for tho preceding' rive years. They knew that the Estimates were sometimes so clouded that the nary member of the House could not un'cr.«i stand thenu Ho supported th& mover oi the motion.—Mr Kirkbride said in reply' that ho had simply moved the motion out of courtesy to the member for Wellington Uty, \v-ho had told him that he could not be in tl>e House until tho evening. He had • no intention to cast any reflection upon tho Governor, but he really could not soMhat; there was any necessity for observing any secrecy in this matter. As representatives : of tho people they ought to have an account of every penny of public money spent.— Sir Joseph Ward: Did the member for VVelungton give you his consent in writW g^"M T Kirkbrid*:. No.-Sir '.. Joseph ■ J 6 .^ 1 asked votl that beforehand you said Yes."-Mr Kirkbride explained that he had not heard the full question, and thought that he had only been asked whether he had tho hon. member's consent and not the words "in writing."—sir Joseph Ward: Pardon me; you said \es. —Mr Massey, rising to a point of order: I would like to ask whether it is necessary to have an hon. member's con* sent in writing? I have been here twelve years, and_ have never heard this point raised previously.—Sir Josph Ward: lam quite prepared to accept the explanation of the hon..member for Manakau, but he dis* tmctly answered "Yes" to my question.Ihe Speaker ruled that the course followed by tho member for Manakau had been usnal for some years past, and he accepted that members assurance that ho had authority to move the motion.—Mr Massev called for a division on Mr Fisher's motion, which was lost by votes .to 12. Those who voted against the Government were Messrs t fe, J - £ llen ' :Bauino > Bollard, Herries, Kirkbnde, T. Mackenzie, Malcolm, Mander Massey, and Tanner.

THE COUNCIL'S DEBATE. A beginning wa*T made yesterday afternoon with the debate on the Address-in-Keply in the- Legislative Council; which body adjourned till to-day after nearing its mover, the Hon. 0. C. Lonisson, who expressed the opinion that there-should be an immediate revision of taxation,whenever there was a surplus, bo that „the poor of the colony should have th© benefit from its prosperity.—The Hon. T. Thompson spoke ffcncrally in favor of the Poliev, as disclosed in the Speech, and made socciaJ reference to the requirements of Auckland in the matter of public buildings. AN UNUSUAL INCIDENT. The member for Ashburton provoked an unusual incident in the House .this evening. Mr 0. H.. Poole was seconding the Addrete-in-Rcnly, and in condemning the demand for the freehold r.f lands said that every consideration Tras due to the man who subdued the wilderness and wide money by the sweat of his. brow, lhe member for Ashburton was reclining in his seat apparently slumbering, but he interjected: "Oh, lie SG U S ...out."—Mr ioole: The hon. member for.-Ashburton is ta king in his s'enp," which sally produced a burst of laughter. Mr M'Lachlm presently rose to his feet and made some remark which was not audible.—Mr Poole • "I am sorry to. think that this"House is likely to become a refuge for inebriates I pity .'he victim .-.nd I hafe the : cause." .*or a moment the House held its breath, but uhc member for Ashburton resumed his beat and apparently • relapsed i'ritc slumber. FIRST HEADINGS. , 1 ? e for Acck dents Bil (Mr Barclay) was "wad a first lime, and the second tending "fiied for August 29. A number of other Bills were read a first time and. set second readings. Among them were Mr Baume'B Juvenile Offenders Bill, Mr Kirkbrides Government Vacation of Land Act Amendment Bill, Sir W. J. Steward's Ballot Card Voting, Elective Executive, and Lcgi&la* tive Council- Eelction Bills. * A MAMMOTH CLAIM "* < iSrtt^4 ,y J ames Carton, printer, of Wellington,. Served a writ upon Sir J G.Ward t in his capacity of Premier, claiming £ls COO m respect to certain lands atthe Chatham Islands., The matter is an old one between Mr Carsoa and the Government. An application'.'tbYhav© the case dismissed on the ground "that it is frivolous 'will be heard to-morrow ' " ' '

OUR; The colony's output' of, coal for 1905 amounted io 1,585/156 tons, being an ip- ■ <xea#? 0f.47,918 .pn tho .preceding year. Tho number .of persons'ordinarily employed at;all thovnjines is: returned at 833 above ground .ancT 2,436 below ground, m*mßy. » total; .of, 3,269. Accidents at4 e 9d.ed. with fatal .results occurred, to six !Js^9PS—viz., surface •s£s& ° n& a^'open mine, anditliD refonr in" connection wifli ufldergronad workings.-* ' ' ASSISTED IMMIGRANTS. ' V The annual report upon the operations of the Department of Immigration 6tatca thatj.th.e numberrpf-persons who received passages at reduced rates during the year ended March 3j; 1906, was 2,469, of whom 2 ; 076 were adults';' -The capital in;-posßes-s^ n .. D f passenge l rs* , wa's £110,204,- and the arndhnt of money' 5 paid by the Government tofshrpping companies £8,304. During the financial year the ;High Commissioner had approved of 150 wonld-be navvies and declined 170, while only 44 had actually embarked. Passages. lor 120 adults had been sanctioned under, the arrangement for granting assisted passages to relatives of pjunigrants. A detailed statement attached to the report, shows the number of immigrants brought by the various; steaincrs, the declared amount of their "capital, and theramotmt paid'to the companies. OUR PRISONS. At the oommencement of 1905 there were (says the police: report) 678 males and 72 females in custody, and at the.close of the : year ; 744 males, and 66 females. The greatest increase was in Auckland, and the largest decrease in Lyttelfon. Inspector Hume says that the increase of crime in Auckland may be. partly accounted for by the fact that'it is~the first port of call for the boats from. San Francisco, New South Wales, and the Islands. An undesirable class of immigrants is apparently being damped down in the colony in the way of stowaways, cargo: broachers, and seamen and firemen who assault their officers or refuse to work, often on purpose, to get into prison, so as to remain here after the vessels have sailed The expenses of prisoners'engaged at tree-planting were £44 2s 4d "per annum at Waiotapn and £47 3s 5d ta Hanmcr; ; • A STATE COAL DEPOT ATDUNEDIN. The Mines Department is making inrpuries with reference to obtaining a site in Dunedin for a State coal depot. SUPPRESSION OF QUACKS. . This question is engaging the attention of Mr Hprnsby, .who has prepared a Bill to cope with the "specialist" fleecers of countless victims, quacks who advertise electric belts,, travelling vendors of drugs and nostrums, etc. The measure also aims at the protection of .reputable chemists and the vendors of proprietary medicines. A license or. certificate from the Health Department will have to be first obtained. The BUI will also deal with victimising tho people of this colony from England and elsewhere by the medium of so-called '' free" distribution of jewellery. Mr Hornsby tells: me that the revelations made to him aro.' ; both horrible and horrifying, and that facts, that have been placed before him demand immediate reform. The measure ,is being well received by members. ,