YESTERDAY'S PARLIAMENT

Evening Star, Issue 17454, 10 September 1920, Page 7

YESTERDAY'S PARLIAMENT

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Land and Income Tax Bill was put through its final stages and passed. In moving the committal of the Marriage Amendment Bill, Sir Francis Bell said the matter had' been thoroughly before members, and he did not think it necessary to do more than submit his formal motion that the Bill be committed and the new clauses proposed by the Statutes Revision Committee adopted without discussion. I This course was agreed to. The Bill went through committee unamended, was j read a third time, and passed. Sir Francis Bell suggested that the debate on the second reading of the Lesislative Council Amendment Bill be ad-1 iourned for 14 days. He further suggested j that in the interval those desirous of ex- i pressing an opinion on the original Act ! should consider whether or not it would be better tc\ do so by resolution than by kny effort in committee to insert matter which it was quite possible would result' in the third reading never being moved. The debate was adjourned accordingly. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. On the faction of the Prime Minister, the Speaker was directed to take steps for the issue of a new writ for the Day of Plenty seat, vacated by the death of the late W. D. 8. Mac Donald. Replying to the. Leader of the Opposition, Mr Massey said he ha'd no intention to rush the election. LAPSED LICENSES. The . Minister of Justice moved- the second reading of the Licensing Amendment Bill. It was not intended, ho said, that the measure should be the basis of a general amendment of the Licensing Law of the Dominion; therefore the Government would not be able to accept general amendments. bat would confine the measure to the two points with which it dealt. The first part of the Bill sought to prevent a lapsed license being transferred a greater distance than that provided for in clause 4 of the principal Act —half a mile in a borough and a mile in the country. He proposed to ask the House to disagree with the repeal of section 144 of the principal Act, because that repeal was not necessary to the purpose of the Bill. Clause 4 prevented increases in licenses, except in cases where there was a necessary increase of population. He appealed to members to be moderate in the matter ,of amendments. Mr Lysnar said he regretted that the Government had confined their efforts to amending the Licensing Law to two points, for there were more people concerned in this matter than the extreme Prohibitionists. He then proceeded to argue that Prohibition was not the real remedv for drunkenness. In committee he proposed to move the followii% amendments: (1) That all future licensing polls shall bo, taken on a day separate from the General Election, such day to be determined by an Order in Council. (2) That in order to secure to the public pure liquors it shall be obligatory on licensing committees to secure a sample at least three times a year of different liquors in hotels under their jurisdiction, and have such samples analysed, and a report thereon made available for publication. (3) That the present licensing fees for licensed premises be abolished, and a charge of per cent, be made upon all purchases of liquor by licensees. Half of all moneys collected for such licenses shall be paid, as at present, to local bodies, and half to the Consolidated Revenue Account. (4) That in order to secure increased accommodation at existing or any new licensed premises the number of rooms required for the travelling public shall not be less than 12 in the country, 20 in towns, and 50 in cities, and that, in order to encourage owners of licensed 0 premises to provide such accommodation, licensing polls shall be taken at six-year intervals. Mr M'Combs spent the whole of his half-hour quoting statistics to prove that No-license did not increase the sale of liquor or drnnkeh.ness.. Mr M’Callum declared the Bill was a waste of time. It was trifling with a great social question. The Prime Minister announced that there would be no general amendment of the Licensing Law before the next licensing poll. II the liquor trade survived the next poll, the whole question would have to be dealt with. In the meantime, the present Bill was necessary to correct errors which had crept into the present law, and beyond that the Government did not intend to go. Mr Isitt said the whole and only purpose of the Bill was to prevent increases of licenses which might be made owing to accidental flaws in the existing law. Mr Jennings complained that the figures quoted by Mr M'Combs did not fairly represent the position, because they took no note of the liquor consumed in ’the King Country, which was dry by proclamation, and not by a vote of the people, and where there was more liquor drunk than in any three No-license districts.

_Mr Sykes declared that under Nolicense Masterton was one of the most moral and most prosperous towns in the Dominion.

Mr Glenn thought it better to spread licenses about the country where thev would be of use to the people than to cram them all in one little corner of the earth. That, he. thought, was a fair principle in this matter.

Mr Sullivan quoted a letter from the Moderate League to the Prime Minister, in which it stated that, with the exception of clause 3, they favored the Bill. This showed that some of the critics of the Bill did not represent the moderate section of the community. The Bill was then read a second time on the voices. POSTAL AXD TELEGRAPHIC. The House went into committee «m the Post and Telegraph Amendment Bill. In clause 4, giving the Postal Department a monopoly of the delivery of all addressed or unaddrsssed 'mail matter, the Leader of the Opposition moved an amendment limiting the monopoly to addressed mail matter.— The Postmaster-General said he could not accept the amendment. He thought it better to leave the matter to be regulated by Order in Council. In insisting on this clause the department was not seeking to penalise any person or firm.—Mr Wilford said he had' been assured that certain postal officials had said the clause was intended to crush one particular firm who had built up a big business delivering un-ad-dressed circulars all over the Dominion. —The Minister assured the committee that such was not the intention; but, seeing there was donbt about it, he moved the amendment based on the British Postal Act, in which trade announcements, circulars, or advertisements were excepted from the clause.—The amendment was agreed to.

Mr Young moved a clause giving the right of appeal to certain officers of the department who had been inadvertently deprived of their rights. About 55 men were affected, and the clause would operate over a period from April 1, 1919, until the passing of the Act of 1919.—The Prime Minister advised the Minister in charge of the Bill to accept the clause, as it was apparent that otherwise an injustice would be done.—The Postmaster-General accepted the clause, which was agreed to and the Bill was reported with amendments, read a third time, and passed. The House rose at 11.5 p.m.