PARLIAMENTARY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12621, 2 October 1901, Page 6

PARLIAMENTARY.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Tuesday, Oct. 1. AFTERNOON SITTING. ■ The Council met at 2.30 p.m. TEA COUPONS. The Public Petitions Committee' recommended to the favourable consideration of the Government the petition of tea merchants that 'the insertion of coupons in tea packets should be prohibited. THE STANDING ORDERS. It was resolved to amend the Standing Orders to the effect that the chairman of committees should be elected by annual ballot, to be conducted with locked doors. The Council rose at 4.45 p.m. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Tuesday, Oct. 1. AFTERNOON SITTING. The House met at 2.30 p.m. The Premier gave notice to move next day that for the remainder of the session the House should meet at 7.30 on Mond'iivs. <, Mr T. Mackenzie asked the Premier when he anticipated that the session would close. The Premier replied! that the session would close as soon as sufficient business 'had been done dn tho interest of 'the country. CUSTOMS RETURNS. The Premier announced that the amount | of Customs ditty collected last month was | £197,586, as compared with £166,487 for tho corresponding month last year, an increase of over £31,000. FIRST READINGS. A Bill to extend the powers of the Egmont National Park Board was introduced by Governor's message, and read a first time. The Inspection of Machinery Act Amendment Bill (Hon W. Hall-Jones), was read a first time. ORDER OF BUSINESS. The Premier saidi that he intended to go on with tho Estimates to-day and to-raor-fow. He would answer questions on Thursday and Friday. v THE LICENSING LAWS. With regard to the petition that an inquiry should be made: into the allegations as to the" non-enforcement, of the licensing laws in Wellington, the Public Petitions Committee reported as follows:" That the evidence and reports of the Police Department and the evidence given by the petitioners, disclose no evidence of discouragement of zealous police officers in the administration of -the licensing laws, but tioint to the urgent necessity of amending the Licensing Act by the incorporation of Clause- 25 of the Imperial Licensing Ast, 1872." ,;•■ :.'• THE.ESTIMATES. At .2.55 p House went into Committee of for further consideration of the Estimates. The first vote taken was Class 4,, Justice Department, total vote, £129,961. Several ■members.urged.that deputy registrars of the Supreme Court, who also acted as clerks of awards under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, were entitled to some financial consideration for the extra work imposed oru them. The Hob J. M'Gowan said' that an increase in salary (had been given to DeputyRegistrars in tha-four centres. *Mr Lang urged the Government to appoint more Justices of the Peace in the back country. - ■-. Several members insisted on the necessity of 'holding,sittings;of the District Court -hi country districts, -which, it was pointed out, were very badly served in that respect. ') ' Mr Piranai said! that there was no Department so little up to date as the: Justice Department, and ihe urged the Minister to grant some measure of reform. Mr Homsby asked' the Government to take into serious consideration the advisability • of. rendering the, District Court Judges independent of the Government of tho day. He would) like to see the whole of the judiciary made independent, but this state of things was especially necessary i| the case of District Court Judges. Mr Millar "dlrew attention to the 1 way in which the jury lists were' made up, and complained that names on the lists were known to certain lawyers before a case came on in Court. Mr T. Mackenzie suggested the abolition of the jury system altogether. Mr Wilford explained that the jury list in 'criminal cases could be obtained from the Registrar of the Supreme Court a day or two before the session opened, and he contended that tit would not be ■ right to take this privilege away from prisoners, as it prevented men trying a caee who were biassed against a prisoner. The Hon J. M'Gowan said that he would make inquiries in this matter. With regard to what Mr T. Mackenzie had said he (Mr M'Gowani) was not prepared to express any 'opinion about the jury system. ■' At the item District Magistrates' and Wardens' Courts £46,550, Mr O'Meara moved a reduction of £1 as an indication.- that the administration of the Justice Department in respect to the setting up cif District Courts in country districts was unsatisfactory to country members. The Hon J. M'Gowan said that it was not fair, in view of the small amount of work to foe done, to ask the Government to go to the expense of establishing District Courts in country districts. The Premier informed the House that the Government had decided that £550 should be tho maximum ealaay of Magistrates in the four centres, and those salaries; were being gradually increased to that amount. Mr O'Meara's morion was negatived by 35 to 12 and the vote passed .unaltered. On the item "Criminal Prosecutions £15,250," Mr Napier said that if shorthand reporters) were attached to Courts he was quite satisfied that a saving of £7OOO or £BOOO could be effected in this vote. The vote passed unaltered. 'ln the course of the discussion on the veto for miscellaneous services, the Hon J. Carroll said that the necessity was recogEtBEd 1 for the erection of a building in which to locate valuable Maori relics and cur-Je-s, and he suggested the parliamentary tennis ground aa a suitable site for such a building. The House rose at 5.30 p.an.

EVENING SITTING. The House, resumed-at 7.30 p.m. The volte for miscellaneous services of theJustice Department passed unaltered. At the vote for prisons £30.886, several members drew attention to the increased cost of -medical comforts, clothing and bedding in Wellington Prison, as compared with, that in Auckland. Mr Collins urged that the Hokltika Gaol should be closed'. There were only thirteen prisoners in it, and it cost £45 per annum per prisoner in wages to maintain that institiifci'on. Mr Monk suggested' that the Government should! come down with a comprehensive schema by which prison labour should be employed without competing with private enterprise. . Mr Wilford said] that he thought that prisoners would pay for themselves if employed in vegetable growing, at all events in Wellington. He ak> referred* to- the practice by which lunatics and persons suffering from- delirium tremens* were .vent to the prisons, and said there was necessity for reform in this direction. Mr Napier said that he considered that long-sentence prisoners- should be taught trades so that they might ekn their living when discharged from gaoli

Mr Meredith said that he would like to see gaols' in the cities closed and one large prison established inland in each island. The lash ought to be applied more freely for offences against women and children, which were on the increase. . ,' •'

Mr Massey suggested that prisoners should be sent from the smaller .gaols to the larger gaols', where their cost would not be ?Jo' great. Mr Hutcheson held that the management of the Wellington. Gaol badly wanted hooking into. He had heard circumstantial statements with reference to this gaol, and he could assure the Minister that these Estimates would! not go through until he had a promise that an inquiry would be held.

Mr Fisher said that Mr Garvey had the reputation of being the most successful gaoler in New Zealand. He regretted to hear these charges levelled against his management, and hoped that the Minister would be- in a position to give them' an emphatic denial.

Mr Wilford strongly resented Mr Garvey being attacked in this way. The complaint should have been laid, in the first place, before the Minister of Justice, whom both sides of the House admitted to be a fair and! capable man.

Mr Fisher said that the difficulty was that the Minister might not be able to refute these charges on the spot. He defended Mr -Garvey, and alluded to the beneficial influence he exercised on prisoners under his- charge. Mr J. Allen said .that he noticed' that young children were still being committed to prison. He hoped that no such committals would appear on next year's records.

Mr Ell said that he thought that the House should have a distinct assurance from Ministers"''that the practice of sending lunatics and persons suffering from the effects of drink to gaol would be discontinued.

The Hon J. M'Gowan said that he considered that Mr Hutcheson had taken a wrong method of obtaining, an inquiry into the management of the Wellington' Gaol. If Mr Hutcheson had come to liim and made a complaint, a full and ample inquiry could have been made. The charges were new to him (Mr M'Gowan), and the visiting Justices had never made any complaint. As to the disparity between the outlay on medicine and medical comforts in the Auckland and Wellington gaols, he pointed out that taking the last ten years, the difference only came to sevenpence per prisoner. With regard to what had been said about sending children, lunatics and drunkards to gaol, it was a matter for .the Magistrates, and legislation would be required if the practice was to be abolished. He was afraid that it would be too expensive to utilise prison labour in vegetable • growing. He expressed very great satisfaction at the way'in. which prisoners were carrying out the work of tree planting near Rotorua.

Mr Napier held that it was nothing short of a national crime to commit children to prison. The Government should establish proper reformatories as distinct from industrial schools. 'Mr Tanner suggested the establishment of an, institution with functions half-way between those of a gaol and an hospital. Mr R. Thompson said that the simplest way would be to transfer Mr Garvey to another gaol. The Premier said that if the cost of the Wellington Gaol was compared with its productiveness, it would be found to be the best gaol in the colony. Mr Hutcheson said that all he '■ wanted was a thorough inquiry. The productiveness of the gaol did not affect his argument. • • > Eventually, after nearly four hours' discussion, the vote for Prisons passed unaltered, and the total vote for the Justice Department was agreed to without alteration. Post and Telegraph Department, £441,214. Mr G. J. Smith said that he!thought that some reduction should be made in the cost of telephone connections to private subscribers, which would tend to increase the usefulness of the system. Sir Joseph Ward said that he would be very glad to look into the whole question of telephone rates, and see whether anything could be done in 'the way of reduction. It was the desire of the Government to make the rates as low as possible. At the item, conveyance of mails by sea, £51,732, Sir Joseph Ward urged that the committee should not discuss the San Francisco mail service until resolutions on the subject were submitted by the Government. It would only be beating the air to discuss it now. The amount of £17,000 appearing on the Estimates. for the San Francisco service was for expenditure already incurred. The existing contract expired on Nov. 21. Mr Millar said that those resolutions should not be left over till the last day of the session. Sir Joseph Ward promised to bring them down within the next fortnight. Mr Millar said that if this- item was passed the Minister must not take it that members were committing themselves to the San Francisco service. Sir Joseph Ward: Certainly not. The item was agreed to. The total vote for the Post and Telegraph Department passed without. alteration. Progress was reported. The House rose at 12.25 a.m.