POLITICAL NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 14201, 25 October 1906, Page 7

POLITICAL NOTES.

[From Our Correspondent.] WELLINGTON, October 24. NATIONALITIES OF MEMBERS. . A member who has been making inquiries, finds that his colleagues are distributed according to their birth-, places as follows:—New Zealand 38, England 33, Scotland 9, Ireland 8, Australia 4, India 3, Wales 1, Channel islands 1. RAILWAY CONCESSIONS. When the Education Bill is in committee Mr F. R. Flatman, on behalf of the Hon A. R. Guinness, will move the following new clauses: —(a) That all pupils attending Government and _ private secondary schools shall be entitled to travel free of charge in. going to and returning from school by railway, subject to such regulations as may be made in this behalf by the Minister for railways; (b) that afl teachers in the Government or in private primary or secondary schools who travel from their residences,!© and from the schools where they are engaged in teaching shall be entitled to travel free upon the railway, subject to such regulations as may be made in this behalf by the Minister of Railways ; (c) that one set of school books shall be prepared and issued by the Minister for use in all primary schools. These > clauses have been drafted, with Ministerial sanction, in order to tost the feeling of tho House. CO-OPERATIVE LABOUR. In the House, last evening, the Minister of Public Works defended the cooperative labour system. “It would, be unwise on the part of the colony'to, abandon the system,” he said. “ When we consider that the average cost of our railway construction work at present, with rough country, heavy bridges and cuttings, and long tunnels, is considerably under £BOOO per mile, we see that we have every reason to be satisfied. We are using seventy-pound rails, as against forty-pound in tho past: we are putting in more sleepers to the mile; we are erecting large buildings; we are making longersidings; and we are constructing bridges and culverts of steel instead of wood. The fact that the lines cost us less than £BOOO per mile is conclusive .to men who are not influenced by the prejudice of a few contractors. - The State is getting the work done cheaper than it would by contract, and moreover, it is placing itself in the position of offering work to all who care to take it. I urge upon the House and_ the country to suck to the co-operative system.” THE LATE PREMIER* Mr R. M’Kenzie, on behalf of the Hon A. R. Guinness, asked the Premier whether the Government would place a sum upon the Supplementary Estimates for the purpose of providing and erecting a statue of the Right Hpn R. J. Seddon in the Parliamentary grounds or Parliamentary buildings. The Premier replied that the whole question of a suitable memorial to the late Mr Sbddon was under consideration. HOME RULE FOR IRELAND. , Another. question from tho member for Grey was whether tho Premier would, before the session concluded, propose a motion for an address to he presented to his Majesty the King in similar terms to the address adopted by the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, urging that Homo Rule should be granted to Ireland. Tbs Premier replied that it was unfortunate the honourable member should have deferred so important a question upon which the majority of members would have desired to speak until the dying hours of the session, when it would not be possible for justice to be done to.it. This was the more to be regretted as a private member moved the motion referred to in the Commonwealth and a similar course had been open to the honourable gentleman all the ’ session, had he so desired. WORKMEN’S HOMES. In the House of Representatives this afternoon, the Hon J. A. Millar said that he desired to make a statement. There has been a considerable amount of dissatisfaction at tho small demand for tho workmen’s homes erected at Petone. Members would be pleased to learn that the- applications for the homes erected at Ellerslie and Otahuhu in Auckland had been in excess of the number of houses available. He had received a telegram from the commissioner, asking him to authorise the erection of further houses in order that people might not be disappointed. The statement was received with applause. THE SPRINGFIELD ESTATE.

The member for Ashburton asked the Minister of Lands whether he. will take

immediate steps to acquire the Spring field Estate, the property. of Mr D. Cameron, containing about 12,000 or 13,000 acres of the best faming land in th Ashburton county. The Minister replied that in 1902 the estate contained 16,628 acres, but la April of that year twenty-nine farms,, containing 4544 acres, were sold. The estate now contains about 12,000 acres. An estate, the purchase of which is now the subject of negotiations, is within six miles of the Springfield Estate, and will probably meet the present demand, if acquired. '