PARLIAMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8097, 28 September 1904, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

TUESDAY, hfcJPTEMBbxt 27.

LEGISLATIVE CpUNCIL. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch Empowering Bill and Education Acts Compilation Bill passed their final stages. , , The Hon. Mr Pitt moved the second reading of the Counties Act Amendment JBiil, which empowers a County Council in a new county, in anticipation of its current revenue, to borrow on overdraft during the Hrst twelve months after its creation. The Hon. Pitt explained that under the existing law there was a conflict of legal opinion whether a county had the power to borrow at all during its first year of life, and application had been made to the Government to remove the doubt and make the position clear. This was agreed to. JROL'SE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The Houße met at 2.30. THE WAIPORI FALLS COMPANY BILL. The first business on the Order Paper was the consideration of the report of tha Private Bills Committee on the Wai6ori Falls Electrical Power Bill. The bill proposes to empower a private company to utilise the Waipori Falls for the purpose of generating electricity to be supplied to a larga surrounding district, and the question at issue was as to whether the company should be accorded power which will enable it to come into conflict wun the Dunedin City Counci.. which has in hand a scheme for the supply of electricity on its own account from the Lee Stream. Among cue amendments made in the bill by the committee was the addition of a proviso prohibiting the company from supplying energy for lighting or domestic heat'ng within the city of Dunedin without the consent of the Corporation, but this prohibition is not to apply to cases where the company is supplying a certain amount of energy for industrial purposes. Thfi operations of the company ware also restricted to the area of supply as described in the bill, and the municipality of Dunedin was given the Sower to • purchase the company's unertaking within a certain time and on certain conditions. Mr D. Reid moved that the amendments made by the committee be agreed to, and a debate ensued, lasting until the 5.30 adjournment. EDUCATION ACTS COMPILATION y BILL. The Education Acts Compilation Bill was received from the Legislative Council, and read a first time. , THE ELECTORAL BILL. Sir Joseph Ward moved the second reading of the Electoral Bill. The bill, he said, was a consolidated measure, and included some amendments to the existing law. The changes which had taken place of late years rendered it advisable to set up an Electoral Department to carry out the electoral business of the country. Tho offioers of that Department would have the power of putting all who had a right to a vote on tne roll, a most desirable reform. - The sum of £9539 had been expended from 1899 to 1902 in taking people off the roll and putting 'people on, and the house-to-house canvassing employed to get' people on the roll was anomalous and expensive, and he suggested that some course should lie taken to ensure either compulsory voting or the striking of non-voters off the roll for a number of years. They desired to have pure rolls, to' prevent minority representation, and to prevent bogus candidates standing, and he believed this measure would have that effect. At the last general election there were 100,000 people on the rolls who did not vote, and it appeared that those who got a privilege for nothing do not attach any value to it. Under this proposal he thought the rolls would be kept in a better condition than in the past, and would effectually check the putting on the roll of people who ought not to be there. Under this bill, he continued, it was proposed to have a second ballot. The objection had been taken that that would be too expensive. To that he pointed out that at bot- the 1899 and 1902 elections there were Id members who did not represent a majority of their constituents. Mr Massey: This does not ensure a majority. Sir Joseph Ward said it would ensus© a majority of those who recorded their votes, and would prevent a man slipping in by chance amongst a number of pandidates owing to the splitting of votes. He asked the House to consider whether some better system than the second ballot could be devised, and if so they ought to adopt it. In further explanation of the provisions of the Bill Sir Joseph urged the advisability of allowing people to get on tho roll to within a very few days of the poll, and that absent voters should be allowed to record their votes in their own electorate at the nearest polling booth. Mr W. Fraser: A premium on impersonation. Sir Joseph Ward said if penalties were provided the number of impersonations would be very small, besides which consideration ought to be paid to those who • were compulsorily absent from their own electorate on the day of the poll. The Bill also provided to make a candidates deposit £20, and to increase the proportion of votes that a candidate must poll to save his deposit. At the 1899 election there were nine forfeitures and in 1902 thirteen. His only desire in inserting this provision was to prevent minority representation. The Bill also contained proposals to insure tho safe custody of ballot papers, which He thought was a most desirable end to strive after. He added that he had in view an officer who, he thought, would satisfactorily carry out the duties of cTiiof electoral officer. In reply to an interjection by Mr Baume, Sir Joseph Ward said he hoped to be able to make public the boundaries of the city single electorates- a few .weeks after the end of the session. In conclusion, Sir Joseph said there ought to be Borne inducement to people to exercise tho vote— a privilege which had been hardly fought for and hardly won.

Mr Massey said the new proposals would . have to be very careftklly considered, so * as to prevent hardships to both electors and officials. He went on to object to tho method by which boundaries were changed after each census, and urged that the present electorates were about as awkward and unweildy and cumbersome as it was possible to make them. He hoped a better system would be devised when the Bill was in committee.. He did not think it would be possible in scattered districts for one person to be both registrar and returning officer. 9uch a proposal would be very little better than the present system. He did not believe in increasing the candidate's deposit, but thought the difficulty could be got over by increasing the proportion of votes from ono-tenth to one-fifth. The proposal in tho Bill with regard to putting people on tho roll would mean that it would not be necessary to have any roll at all; while the proposal that names could be put on a Bpecial roll five days before the poll would, in country districts, be quite impracticable He did not dislike tho idea of absent voters being allowed to record their votes, but the proposal in its present form waß crude and 'would require consideration. As to the second ballot, he objected to it. He admitted the imperfection of the present system, but he did not see how it could be improved upon. It was not fair to ask voters to turn up at a second poll, and it would very seldom happen that the successful candidate at the second poll would be able to poll a majority of the votes recorded at the first ballot. If that was so, what was the good of the clause? He was glad to see that an improvement was to be made in the manner of election of Maori members, but he contended that the boundaries of the various* districts need readjustment, particularly in regard to southern districts. As to purging the rolls, he thought that the present system had worked very well, and he was quite «uu tha proposals in the bill would not be accepted by the House. As to the city single electorates, he urged that the boundaries should be defined as quickly as possible. Further, there was a defect in the City Single Electorates Act, under which the present boundaries continue until the dissolution of the present Parliament. Now the dissolution and the issue of the writs take place about the same time, and if the present electorates were to continue until the dissolution it would not be possible to enable the necessary arrangements before the issue of the writs under this bill. The law with re-, gard to corrupt practice was made much stronger, but he urged that it should be made a corrupt practice for any Minister of the Crown to make a promise (direct or indirect) with the object of influencing votes at any election throughout the colony. When the bill was in committee he would move an amendment to that effect. Mr Moss did not see the necessity for consolidating the electoral law, seeing that the work was only carried out two years ago. As to purging the rolls, he objected to the money of those who had Voted being spent in sending men round to ask careless and useless people who had not voted to be good enough to allow their names to be put on the rolls again. Further, under this bill there was nothing to prevent the Government, sending 900 or 300 co-operative laborers into an electorate only for a few days before the polling day. =~ Mr Fowlds said the objection to the BnTwas that in many Mspects it 'opened i the way to greater abulta and a mow improper handling of th# tails, and matI ters in connection with -the election than , I Uj* I*w as it at present -stands. . He ob I 1 jected to the proposal to leave the roll 1 ] a flay or two of the poll, and

finished and closed, and that betwe. those periods any election that took pla> ahould be held on that roll. Nair should only be put on or taken off by Magistrate at a revision court, and th< they would have some chance of getting pure roll. • A PASSAGE-AT-ARMS. [ ) Mr McGowan urged"* that everybo. ' should have a reasonable opportunity « exercising the franchise, and also of lx J ing enrolled during the course of p" \ election. Many people were not able to 1 vote at elections, and it was not dem> 8 cratic -o prevent those people from vo 1 ma in future. He expressed disapprov.v 3 of the methods employed by the Representation Commiss : oners in altering tnr r boundaries of electorates after the last ' census, and then went on to declare that 8 Ministers had as much right to interfere 1 and use their influence at elections as * members of the Opposition had. Were 9 Ministers to be mere tools? Mr Massey: They should not promise roads and bridges "if the Government candidate is elected." Mr McGowan: You should not make a statement which you are not justified in making. , Mr Massey: I say it is quite true— l I can prove it. Mr McGowan : I am perfectly satisfied I j that no Minister would be so foolish as to make such a statement as that. j Mr Massey: Did you read the Prenrer's telegram to Paniatua? j Mr McGowan: It was a perfectly jus- ' tifiaMe t*»lepram. After further debate, the second read- ! ing of the bill was agreed to on the j . voices, and the House rose at 12.55 a.m. j

I is a big stone building of two floors, and • auythiug that you want officially will bo' found here. Uutßido 1 sauntered upon » printing machine, where, by placing the' Hands on particular points of the dial and by using a lever you can print off a friend's name and address on an alunu- } nium memento of the exhibition— that is, after you have put the customary nickel in tho slot. 1 had ago at this till I had used up all my 5 cent pieces, and mean to have a shot each morning for a bit to get my muscles m order and till I I've used up most of my friends. \ We then started out to find Mr Donne, ' our justly popular Commissioner here, j We found him ensconced in a comfortable office aad stand in the Forestry, Fish, and Game Building. He received us as he does everybody, and told us to' be sure and mako this our home, and we are to be his guest for half-a-day | next week. We have also a good stand in the Agricultural building, presided over by Mr Clarkson. Here New Zealanders will receive a hearty welcome; here, too, Mr L'lapham, of horseholder fame, has his stand, and here is the visitors book. I had to "Donne" the New Zealand button, which I shall proudly wear till I got home again. The exhibits here aro Maori Pictures, carvings, gram, woollen rugs, etc., and are causing great interest. Thousands of rugs (shawls they call them here) could have been sold if our people had been enterprising enough to he represented, but our Government (as Mr Donne said to me) got no response from our business people, and had resolved to give up the idea of New Zealand being represented at all. Thereupon Mr Green wns sent down specially to sec us at the expense of the committee here, and Mr Donne was told off to do thu best ho could, and in the four months only at his disposal ho has done wonders and really, outside a very few items, the whole exhibit of dcerheads, paintings, carvings, etc., are the property of Mr Donne himself and of the Tourist Department. The Palace of Agriculture is the largest building, covers eighteen acres, and has four miles of aisles ; so one could stay here alone for a whole week ; but one can only hope to scan a few of the exhibits rapidly. In'front of this building is the great floral clock, with a length oi minute hand of 74 feet; moves each minute sft, of 500 miles per year. The numbers are painted in dark brown colens, the minutes in alternate colors of yellow and dark red colens. It also strikes all 'the quarters and tho hours on a very large exposed church bell; tho whole thing is worked by compressed air, the mechanism being in full view under a large glass house. The same machinery works a huge hour-glass and also a terrestrial globe that revolves once in the 24 hours and gives you the lime, day or night, in any place upon the earth.

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I saw the Diamond Jubilee presents of ] out late <^ueen. The upper floor of the Hall of Congress building is given over to these and uiey arc in charge of policemen from Scotland iard, London. No one. must miss seeing these. Some of them (and presents from India predominate) are of marvellous value, and of artistic dosigns; gold, silver, ivory, diamonds, etc., in galore. The Texas house contains things indigenous to that Stale. Timbers, skins, and what not. Here you can pay 2000 dollars for a sea otter skin if you feel so disposed. All goods must, howover, be left till the show closes. Many speculators, who bought early for a rise, have not boon disappointed, and have in some instances doubled their money. There is a section of a Washington fir in this building. In it is situated the office, the clerk, and then leaves room enough for 20 people. There is a big bridge composed of not less than 3000 different woods of Texas, and a very fine assortment of folding canvas boats. Here I saw a 35ft oil launch, of 9 h.p. to steam 8 knots an hour, price 990 dollars, which I thought reasonable, and wished I had it for Wanganui. Here there is a fine aquarium of live fish, too, and a wonderfully expert taxdermist, who mounts his subjects with pretty surroundings of grasses, etc., puts an oval airtight glass shade over them, and then frames them for hanging on the wall ; the cheapest specimen costs about SO dollars. One recess is roped off and on looking in you would swear you saw a white swan hanging from the roof. It is not so, however, but a remarkably effective, well-shaded oil painting.

Saw a wonderful bag-making machine in the Agricultural Building. A lady fords with a sheet of paper, and the finished bag comes out at the other end, gummed, and folded flat.

in a great many of the Staio buildings there mo slot inauiaies, luauuirums, cunudity stalls, etc., so that by tue amount vi UU6HICS3 tuat was doing vi nearly u\cry case, 1 should say ttiat the builuings aie uoi only , sell supporting, out will likely return tlioir country a handsome profn.

l'ncso stanus are usually in charge ot tho uaiivcs ol the country tney roprcaom. 1 had a trip on tho iuuiunural railway. Tins is a douule Hue ot eiccmu cars running round the grounds. It has 17 stations, aud tho round trip ot seven miles costs 10 cents. This is the way to get irom one place to another and suould oe douo first to give you an idea of the enormous lot of ground you must get over to even scan the show. There are also sight-seeing motors tuat take you round »\ nil a guide lor VS cents; there's also a toy train that taxes passengers a two-mile trip and gondolas, oriskas, and roller chairs lv be hired with guides.

In tlio afternoon a violent tornado tore through a portion of ttic town, levelling a whole street, killing a few people anii injuring over a hundred. Had this gone through the show grounds, it would nave eiiusecl diro disaster. At about the same lion?, however, tho U.S. navy were giving a display of life-saving. This consisted in tiring a bar of iron attached to a rope from a high mast in the centre of a lagoon. A mass of people were witnessing tho display, and tho rope, which was supposed to hold the bar from going too far, uroke, and it was hurled amongst the crowd, breaking one man's legs at the hip and another at the ankle.

in tho evening a violent storm of wind, lightning, peals of thunder and heavy rain passed over the grounds. It put out most of tho electric lights, but gave a better show than uven the illuminations; the Hashes being almost continuous and vory bright. Through 4 he storm thcro were four alarms of fire caused by the lightning, but scarcely any damage was .done.

AH tho poor' unfortunates in the Pike wore badly Hooded, and it will be some time before they have their shows going as they should be. The Pike, by the way, is the amusement part of the show, and is over a mile long. This is where we chiefly put in the evenings and the street is packed with people, listening to the various bands, and the rivalry existing in the orators* stationed outside each show, putting forth the merits of his affair as against all others, is very amußing, Several -of the entertainments are worth going a long way to see, and others are not as good. Shows that are being subsidised by the committee and known as concessions (which cost 5,000,000 dollars) are the best. As you enter the main avenue, you will see the dome of the festival hall almost facing you. This dome is higher than Sit. Peter's at Rome, and it is here tfiat the biggest concerts etc., are given. Pn Saturday morning I attended an organ recital. The instru-> ment is claimed to be the' largest ever made; it is 62ft long, 33ft wide and 40ft high. Whether it was that the instrument was not finished, or the acoustic properties of the hall bad, the recital was disappointing to me. I have not heard a fairly decent band or orchestra here yet, but ..hope to do so before I leave. ■ »

Besides fciuw op the Pike thero are big ojiow places jAnemuxt) ; far instance, the representation jot tho Boer war, covering ■everal acres, it at the opposite end of -ih« grounds and well worth seeing. It is here you may shake hatfdi with Cronje himself if, you care to. ■ The portion of the grounds put apart for the Philippines is one of the best things in the-' show. , NoV only does it contain many buildings of note in connection with the administration of America's new country, but their are four distinct native villages with their huts, music, employment apd general mode of life. There is also a theatre her«, vhere you can see the smallest midgets la tfaa world, the woman aged 39