PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12044, 14 August 1902, Page 6

PARLIAMENT.

[BY TELEGRAM.— ASSOCIATION.] LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. ." Wednesday. . : The Council met at half-past two p.m. THE CORONATION. . On the motion- of the Hon. W.C. Walker it was decided to-'forward a congratulatory message to the King and Queen upon their coronation. « " > ; STATUTES REPEAL BILL. The Statutes Repeal; Bill < was committed' arid reported'-' with amendments. "■ FISHERIES BILL. In committee on the Fisheries Conservation Act Amendment' Bill, the Hon. J. Ritrg moved to add the i following new clause: " The holder of a license shall be entitled, during such period as mar be prescribed, at any time during daylight, to enter on any private or other land, but not nearer than 200vds from any dwellinghouse, for the purpose of fishing for fish,; and shall be liable only for any actual damage which may ; be occasioned by such entry." The Hon. H. Feldwick saw no reason why fishing in streams should be monopolised, and contended that the public ought to have the right of access to streams %r fishing. , , - The Hon. W. C. Walker thought the motion meant to extinguish the right of private owners of land. If that were done it might cost the country £100,000, as the right of private owners could not be resumed , without compensation. Most of the streams in the. colony ■ were already open to honest anglers, ; and the objection raised was more sentimental than real. /he Hon. F. . Arkright considered the right to fish should be free to all The motion to add the new clause was agreed to by 16 to 9. : The Hon. J. Twomey moved to add to the clause a proviso that no license shall entitle the holder to take fish from any but permanent stream, lake, or watercourse. - '■•-..- - At this stage progress was reported, to enable the Crown law officers to be consulted on the effect of the amendment. :: THE BRITANNIC'S TROOPERS.

The Hon. W. C. Walker, in reply to the Hon. F. Arkright, said the medical officers' report showed that the illness of the troops on the Britannic was due to measles, which was sporadic, and was more or less . always present in ■■ the colony. Quarantining a vessel was a serious matter, and was not thought necessary in this case. The Health. Department had done . all it could to mitigate the evil. ':-..-. The Council rose at four p.m.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, .' Wednesday. _ After the telegraph office - closed at two o'clock this morning, the Education Department estimates were further considered. - • EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. Air. Pirani asked, whether the Government was going to increase the amount to be paid to the Boards, to enable them to pay more capitation, and enable them to carry on their work, as they should do. Mr. Mills said this matter was now trader consideration.' Mr. G. J. Smith inquired on what basis the Department had fixed the amount of £2000 -"to be paid wider the --heading of " Drill in schools" for capitation, rifles, instructors, etc. • - ' Mr. "Mills said it was at the' rate of 2s 6d per head.-•"--.• '■'■'' .. Mr. G. J. Smith urged the Government to take into consideration the 'question of providing for cadet corps v some sort of tunic and cap, and also rifles, and then pay thV.23 6d. . -, ■"' ,-. r ■ : ■ ■ Several members urged : . that the amount should.be increased. ■;-• Mr. Mills said, there was a good supply of rifles in/hand. The other points raised were now under consideration of t the Government. 1 The * Government was : supplementing the 2s 6d in other directions. '':;-S Mr. G. "J. Smith moved Ito . reduce the item (£2OO drill in schools) by £1. as an indication to the Department to provide some sort of uniform for schoo cadets. ; Mr. Hall-Jones said, the Department would see that proper instructors were provided for cadet corps. He believed that school cadets should ] only be taught plain drill, and he did not agree with any elaborate uniform. -; He was in favour of promising children, who ; had passed i the sixth standard, being given an opportunity of : taking advantage of pur secondary education. Tha,t was to come, and if :we did not do it this' Parliament he hoped it would be done next ' Parliament, iv but >he -.■'urged: members not to increase the cost of' education : too largely "all at \ once. The other matters f referred to were receiving the serious consideration of Cabinet, and he hoped that the result of those deliberations would be : made apparent before the end of the session. After further discussion Mr. Mills said he , felt satisfied \ that ' provision . would be made on the Supplementary Estimates for teaching sewing iin ; the schools.. ■ ■, Mr. G. J. Smith's amendment was. lost oh the voices. Mr. :Ell 4 contended that i the allowances to school committees should be increased, and moved a' reduction of £1 in ; the vote for public schools, as an indication in that direction. '•This was by 22 to 14, and the vote agreed to ; unaltered. ;,; : ■;(:•'':': Afters some discussion the remaining votes passed unaltered, and the whole class was agreed to. ,: " ■

LUNACY AND CHARITABLE -' DEPARTMENT.;

The Lunacy and Charitable Department, £67,554, was -next considered. . Mr. Pirani asked what was to be done about the office; of Assistant-Inspector of Asylums, .for which £750 appeared on. the Estimates. '- :: For years this had been". a purely ornamental vote. > Mr. Ell was not satisfied with the administration of this Department, which; he held was in need of reorganisation.' As an indication : of. his dissatisfaction he moved that'-.the first vote be reduced by £200. The administration of this Department was antiquated and out of date. -They' had old men in the asylums who,were merely suffering from : senile; decay, and -ought, not :to be there, and they had children in the asylums who ought to, be -in some. more suitable home. - • , \~ s ■... J." ~ ; •-'

Mr. Mills said no appointment of Assist-ant-Inspector of Asylums had yet ; been made. ; Mr. Ell's -amendment was lost oh the voices. •

; Mr. J Field; urged the necessity of the establishment of some tribunal by which the grievances of asylum attendants could be considered.

' Mr. Mills ■said he could not see his way, to do anything this session in the direction of establishing an Appeal Board, but he would look into the matter. ■ ,

On the vote for inebriates' homes, £4680, Mr. Millar urged that some of the young doctors who -| had been in South Africa should be given an opportunity to take charge of the home. ' ' Sir J. Ward said the inebriates' home would be under the charge oi Dr. King, of SeaclifF, until it was in; working order. When that stage /.-had; been, reached, there was no' doubt one man would not be able to look after , the two institutions. Mr. Millar's suggestion was worth considering. - The vote was passed. .. At , a quarter-past three m. a motion to report progress was lost by 22 to 10, and the whole vote for Lunacy and Charitable Department was ; agreed to unaltered. "i

DEPARTMENTS OP LABOUR AND . ;, ... MINKS. -The votes for the Department of Labour, £9585, and the Mines Department, £19,841, were passed unaltered, after a brief discussion. v ■Progress " was then reported, and the House rose at twenty-five minutes to four a.m. ;,■ ■• ;:■;■'<.',- .: •'•/, V.-/. ; '/ .' > * The House met at halt-past two p.m., Mr. Guinness being in the chair. THE LATE MR. E. G. WRIGHT. ; Sir J. Ward moved, " That this House desires to place on record its regret at the death of Mr. E. G. Wright, its appreciation of his services as member of the House of Representatives/and its recognition of the value, of ; his work as a public man in Canterbury, and tenders to Mrs. Wright and other members of the family its heartfelt sympathy 'in their irreparable: loss." , , Sir J."" Ward * and Messrs.'..' Massey, Laurenson, Mackenzie, Flatman,; and

Meredith paid « a tribute to the memory of the'.late-Mr.' ; -Wright, "and-the motion was agreed to unanimously. - * LEAVE :OF ABSENCE.

Mr. A. L. D. Fraser was granted one week's leave of absence, on account of ill-) ness. .■■■'■. '"■-•;-- ;: .\, t. ',/'. " ;■ •''. • -FIRST READING. ..-■■■■";

-'! The Balclutha Reserve and .Empowering Bill (Mr. J. W. Thomson) was read a first time.

TRADE WITH SOUTH AFRICA.

Mr. G. J. Smith: asked the Government whether anything , had been done towards the fulfilment ? or. cancellation of the contract with the Blue Star line for direct steam service to South Africa. Sir J. Ward replied that about a. week or 10 days ago the Government served a notice through the Agent-General for the termination of the contract, in consequence of having received information to the effect that up to that date the agreement had not been signed. The Government ,was_ now only -waiting' to.": hear '' officially J, that the notice in question had been served, and when that information was received -he would take other steps to secure a service to South Africa. QUESTIONS. la reply to , questions, Ministers : stated: That it had not yet been decided whether a Bill amending the Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act. would be brought down this session; that when the State coal mine was in full working order, it would have the effect of preventing the scarcity of coal that existed in the principal cities :of the colony; that 'a Bill would be introduced this session to permit boroughs with a population of less than 2000 to raise loans from the Government for the purpose ■of making roads; that the Government hoped : to bring down a Bill this session dealing with some of the recommendations of the decent Municipal Conference that it was the intention of the Government to arrange for the training of veterinary surgeons within the colony. ■-'"■ ' ■-.. '■'' - The House rose at -past five p.m. The House resumed at half-past seven p.m. ROAD BOARDS BILL. Mr. Tanner moved the second reading of the Road Boards Act, 1882, Amendment BUI. He explained that under the present law there was a limit on the rating powers of road boards of three farthings in the £, and it was keenly felt in some districts that the work of these bodies was unnecessarily restricted on account of that limit. ; \ This Bill proposed that in case of road districts adjoining boroughs there should be oower to levy a rate not exceeding ' one farthing in the £, for more effectively carrying out work of sanitation, and .that the money so raised should be used for no other purpose. After a brief debate the second reading was 'agreed to on the voices ':■ '• '■■ DISTRICT COURTS BILL. Mr. Hogg moved the second reading of the District Courts Bill ;to extend the criminal jurisdiction of district courts. • He explained that the effect of the Bill would be to relieve the Supreme Courts of a large, amount of business; and a great deal of expense would be saved! " • .

Mr. Wilford; in opposing the Bill, contended thai it would alter the whole jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. It would do away with our grand jury system. Mr. Laurenson looked Upon the Bill as a necessary one,' as it went in the direction of simplifying-the law which was a very desirable thing. He was opposed to the grand jury system. « The' second reading was carried bv 24 to 42. •■■■■■>: '■ STATUTES COMPILATION BILL , The , Statutes Compilation Bill (Major Steward) passed through . committee with amendment. t RINGS AND COMBINES SUPPRESSION . ' BH.L. ; The Rings and Combines Suppression Bill (Mr. Horusby) was committed. '-■'. :. At clause 1, Mr. E. M. Smith strongly condemned the Bill,- and moved a hostile amendment that the* Chairman leave the chair. ■'• • *•" ■ • : .'■".- '

Mr. Hornsby said if the House would pass the first five clauses of the Bill with amendments he would be prepared to abandon the remaining clauses. , The clauses he : asked the House to accept provided a penalty, for joining or being interested in any ring, and a penalty, for establishing a. ring, and also provided that the "person, iii charge of licensed premises should not be limited in, any way in any open market. ' ' Mr. G. J. Smith expressed regret that the Government had not carried out its promise to bring in' a Bill dealing with this.matter. Sir J. Ward said he did not favour Mr. E. M. Smith's motion, as the member in charge of the Bill should , have an : opportunity of explaining the different clauses. The question at issue, however, was a very difficult one, and the Bill, as it now stood, would be disastrous to many interests which it did not really desire to touch. He agreed that some legislation was necessary to prevent the price of food being '.abnormally raised, but at the same time it was necessary to see that our own people were not unfairly put out of competition with outsiders. He had been at work practically since the beginning of the session, trying to introduce a' simple and effective measure in ■■ regard to food trusts. He pointed out the difficulties in the way, and the need for. great care in seeing that the general trade of the country and innocent people were not made to suffer. He suggested that Mr. Hornsby should be satisfied with the progress made in committee, and then await the introduction of the Government measure. .: . . In the course of a very long discussion which ensued, Mr. Massey said the way to burst up rings and combines was to do away with protective duties. •• <■ Mr. Collins said the Bill practically re-en-acted the old conspiracy law, and would wipe out every trade organisation in the colony. ' '' Mi" Hornsby said his only wish was to see producers paid fair value for then- produce. ■■;■ He also; condemned the system, of "tied" houses. ■'-~'■ V. ■ Eventually,'on the motion of Mr. Hornsby, progress was reported on the Bill, with leave to sit again. -' • ' - ; ":'"•'•" ■ . . FINAL; STAGES. \ '

S The Statutes ', Compilation Bill -was. put through its final stages. . i f,V ?•>* '-:'7:■'•. .'. ,\. The House rose at two minutes past eleven p.m. . ;.- -::.'■ '■"'•' -*■',". . ■■-"' ■'■"■ '.'l ; ,;: -~