EVENING SITTING.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6281, 21 June 1882, Page 3

EVENING SITTING.

The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. THE ESTIMATES. The consideration of the Estimates in Committee of Supply was continued. Legislative Council, -rltem. Interpreter £225. The item was reduced by £30. The vote as amended was then passed. House of Representatives. — Item, Chairman of Public Petitions Committee, £100.

Mr J. 0. Brown moved that the item be struck out. .

Mr Macandrew saw no reason why the chairmen of two committees should be paid and not the others, i '::':■' Mr Shrimski supported the item, and Mr Fish opposed it.

Mr Moss oDjected to committees of the kind being appointed, contending that properly their duties, should be discharged by the Government. < . . The item was passed on the voices. Item, Chairman of Native Affairs Committee, £100. Mr J. C. Brown moved that the item be struck out. He insisted that the appointment was one of a purely party character. The item was passed on the voices, and the total, as reduced to £39,483, was then put and passed. Class 2. —Vote, Premier's office, £450. — Passed. Vote, Colonial Secretary's office, £1895. Mr Holmes moved that the item be reduced to. £1775, the amount voted last year. I

The committee divided on the amendment — Ayes, 25 ; noes, 41.

Mr Shrimski moved that the vote be reduced by £200. The amendment was negatived, and the vote as printed was passed. Vote, messengers and office-keepers, £3469. Item, 13 messengers at 6s per day. ... ; . Mr Pish moyed that the item be struck out with the view of getting the sum in- ; creased to 7s per day. .„. After tome discussion the amendment was withdrawn, and the vote waa passed as printed. Vote, Electoral Department, £2985. Mr Conolly pointed out the disparity of amounts proposed to be paid to :the different officers. Mr Sheehan pointed ont that in Frauklyn North a lawyer who had appeared against Major Harris when the first election was upset was appointed returning officer for the second election. Mr Dick explained that under the Representation Act of , 'latet year the* electorates were divided, and the amounts in such cases _ had to be divided amongst the additional registrars required, and they were content with the amounts so paid. He (Mr Dick) had now been told for the first time that the person who appeared in the late election petition case in Franklyn North was the same as the returning officer who had acted at the late election. ' Mr Sheehan said he was not speaking from any party feeling. At the same time, he considered it was vfcry wrong to appoint a registrar who had been hand and glove with and- 'counsel for one of the candi-? dates. Had the /election come to a casting vote tHey could not' for a moment imagine,, that •!' a returning officer so ; situated would give a, .fair and impartial vote. He hoped the thing would not occur-again* —

< '-Mr' Dick isaid -that had t known the facts of the case he would not have appointed the officer referred • to ; he had previously been a - trusted officer of the Government, and they were; not aware that he had : undertaken private practice aa a solicitor. ■ -r,: .- • Mr Holmes moved thai the vote be reduced by £1485. In Australia the registration officers were paid by a fee of Is on each claim to vote, the -fee being paid by the elector when securing the certificate of his right to vote. He wished to see a similar system introduced' here. It had a double advantage— that of the electors placed on the roll free of cost to the State, and when the elector tendered his vote he had to produce -the certificate, and by that means personation /would be prevented. Mr Pick objected to the suggestion, contending that .the payment of a registration fee.would be opposed to, the spirit of the New Zealand franchise. , i The amendment was negatived ;'and : the vote as printed passed. ,/ ,* ! Vote, Audit Office, £8782. ■ Mr. Feld wick proposed that the item f or the audit of railway accounts, £4260, bs struck out. Recent disclosures in connection with the In vercargijl office had shovn that the railway audit was useless. He asked for an explanation of these defalcations to" which he referred.

Major Atkinson explained that the customers of the -railway were rendered their accounts in the usual way, and a clerk who collected the payments chose to misappropriate the money. It was quite impossible to discover the defalcation right off. In the case mentioned the defalcation came to light through one of the accounts being returned to ihe department. . The Audit .Department could not -be expected to go round to every customer and ascertain whether he had or had not paid. • '..••■ . Mr Shrimski objected to the Railway Department opening accounts at all. The amounts ought to be paid on delivery. MrH, Thompson and Mr Smith entirely objected to such a course. The amendment was withdrawn, and the vote as printed was passed. Vote Registrar-General and Government statistics, £8563. Item RegistrarGeneral, £585. Mr J. C. Brown proposed that the £25 increase be struck out, complaining that the department was badly conducted, and that the information supplied was delayed until it was utterly useless. Mr Hurst expressed the same view, describing the department as by far the worst conducted of all the Govarnraent departments. Mr Pish supported the reduction on the ground that £550, the amount paid last year, was quite enough for the work done. The salary as it stood was a very handsome one indeed. Mr Dick, Major Atkinson, and Mr Sheeb.au supported the increase. On a division the amendment was carried by 30 to 28, and the vote was then passed as reduced. Mr Fish moved that the item £140 for Registrar of Births, etc., Wellington, be struck out, aa the person holding the office ■was Commissioner of Crown Lands, and received £460. He (Mr Fish) apprehended that that -was enough for the services rendered. .-"•■'

Mr Pearson moved that the item £325

for registrar at Auckland be reduced to £125.

' Mr Holmes argued that to equalise the salary of this man with that paid to the Registrar at Christchurch, £200 should be struck off, and he moved, to that effect.

Mr Dick suggested that it would be better to raise the salaries of the registrars at Dunedin and Christchurch, rather than reduce the salary of the Auckland officer. Mr Sutter took exception to the sum of £"50 paid to the registrar at Napier, as being to small. Mr Dick promised to be in a position to give fuller information on the following day respecting the salaries and fees paid to those officers. He also promised that £50 would ba placed on the supplementary estimates for the registrar at Christchurch, who, he admitted, appeared to be but poorly remunerated. Mr O'Callaghan oontended that £50 added to the salary of the registrar at Christohurch would not equalise the salaries. He thought that the salary of the registrar at Auckland should be reduced. If the other motions were not carried ho would move that the salary of that officer be reduced to £200. Mr Seddon thought that after what had transpired progress should be reported. Mr Holmes withdrew his amendment, with the view of giving the Culonial Sec- | retary an opportunity of bringing down a ! uniform rate for the whole of the rogis- i trars. Mr Feldwick pointed out that the Invercargill officer got only £25, whereas those at Oamaru and Timaau got £50 each. Mr Conolly thought that the best way ! was to report progress. The vote was not acceptable to the House, as there was too great an inequality. The Government should have an opportunity for reconsidering these items. He moved that progress be reported. Tne motion was negatived on the voices. Captain McKenzie thought the pro- ! posed items were most irregular. Mr Dodson thought the vote as a whole was most unsatisfactory, and he would therefore move that progress be reported. The motion was negatived on the voices. The amendment for the reduction of the Auckland registrar's flalary by £125 was then put, and the committee divided on the amendment — Ayes, 18 ; noes, 40. Mr White moved that the vote bo reduced by £75, making the Balary £75. The committee divided on the amendment — Ayes, 15 ; noes, 37. The vote was then put and passed. Progress was reported, and the Houae rose at 12.40.