House of Representatives.

Manawatu Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 7548, 4 October 1902, Page 2

House of Representatives.

Wellington. Friday. The House passed the Supplementary Estimates unaltered and at 6.25 adjourned till 2.30.

Tbe Houso met at 2 30,

An.amendment was brought down by Governor's message in the Military Pensions Bill, providing for cases in which the death of an officer or private occurs from other causes than wounds received in action within twelve months after he is first certified to be ill. Amendments agreed to. Mr Graham asked the Minister for Justice a question as to the petition of ex-Constables Burrell and Durbidge, of Nelson, which the Petition Cornrnittoo had not reported upon. Would the petition be taken up next session,at the point it had now reached, or ■would Government allow the matter 'to be enquired into by a Judge of the Supreme Court, who shojld have power to deal with the question on its merits ? : Hon. J. McGowan could not say what next session would do. There was no necessity for an enquiry by a Jndge. On the motion for the second reading of the Appropriation Bill, Mr Witheford urged Government to take some action in tho direction of settling relumed troopers on the Crown lands of the colony.

Mr E. M. Smith regretted lbe> ac'ion of the House in regard to the Ne»v Plymouth High School Board Leases Bill as having inflicted an injustice. Mr Fisher complained of the inequalities of Hansard in reporting proceedings of the House in Committpe of Supply, Mr Napier regretted that legislation had not been brought down to settle the lands held by the Assets localisation Board. Mr Pirani complained that no parliamentary authority had been sought for the vote of £25,000 on the Supplementary Estimates for the South African Contingents. Sir Joseph Ward, in replying, said the question of settling returned troopers on the land wa3 receiving the attention of the Government The vote alluded to by Mr Pirani was money paid to troopers, who, after they had ceaged to receive pay from the Imperial •(Government, continued to receive it from the New Zealand Government. The second reading was agreed to. In committeo on the Bill considerable discussion took place on clause 19, whioh_ provides that costs of licensing committee elections may ba recovered from the local authority. The clause was agreed to without a:i,jndroent, and the Bill passed through committee, Oq the motion for (he third reading several members addressed the House. Sir William Russell entered a final protest against our heavy public workl expenditure. He was afraid the country did not realise that tin* mu^t resuis sooner or later in increased taxation. The rato at which we were plunging was nppalling. The coiony ought not to commit itself for any length of time tr any steamship company for a South African service. Mr Pirani pointpd to the necessity that Rxisted for some alteration in our 'present system of finance. Full details lof expenditure should be given, so that members could see how the money had been spent. He acknowledged the rxtreme courtesy that bad always been extended to him in Parliament. At 6.15 p.m. the House adjdurned till 7.30. Evening Sitting. The House met at 7.30. In .replying on the motion^ for the tMrd rvading of the Appropriation Bill, Sir Joseph, Ward said the revenue in all the pu;blic departments continued buoyant, and there was no justification for the gloomy forebodings of the Opposition. The Customs revenue for September showed an" increase of JG22.000 as -compared with the corresponding monfih last year. The Bill parsed its final stages. At 10.5 it was announced that the Bill had received the Governor's assent' S>r Joseph Ward, on behalf of the members, paid a tribute fo Sir Maurice O'Eorke for the manner in which he had carried out the duties of Speaker, aod Sir Mauricej in acknowledging the compliment, remarked that he had never seen the business go more smoothly than in the session just Closing. Sir Joseph Ward, also on behalf of the members, wished every success and prosperity to the retiring members, Messrs Hutcheson, Pirani' and Camcross. The House finally rose at 10.35. The schedule of business transacted during the reseion shows that 32 se'ect committees were pet up, 93 bills received the Eoyal assent, 84 public Bills wore dropped or otherwise disposed of, one private Bill received the Eoyal assent and one was dropped, 487 petitions were presented, 889 questions were asked of Ministers, 224 papers were laid on the table, and 314 reports were received from select committees. The House met on 57 days, the Rverage length of the daily sitting being eight hours.3even minutes.