PARLIAMENT AT WORK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12929, 27 July 1905, Page 6

PARLIAMENT AT WORK.

GALLERY NOTES AM) LOBBY

GOSSIP

[BY telegraph.—special correspondent.]

Wellington, Wednesday. Me. Fowlds asked the Minister in charge of the Advances to Settlers Office', to-day, if it was true that his Department refused to make allowance for improvements made to land by the laying down of danthonia grass, and if so, would he have the regulations altered so that this form of improvement, so important' to the settlers North of Auckland, may be encouraged and recognised. He pointed out that danthonia grass seed cost at present Is per lb, being dearer than most English grasses, and it was especially suitable for the poorer lands of the North. The Hon. C. H. Mills replied that the Department did not refuse to make allowance for the laying down.of danthonia grass. In ail cases where capital and labour were expended upon land offered as security for an advance by the Department, full value was allowed for the improvements thereby effected. Mr. -Fowlds said he would forward a copy of the Minister's reply to a correspondent who had informed him that he had. been distinctly' told that no allowance was made for other. than English grasses. • : " ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. In reply to Mr. Moss, the Government stated to-day that the law, as it stood, would not allow miners to borrow from Government ■ Departments on the security .of residence sites, and it was -not proposed to advance money to town workers on similar security. : ' ■'.'. The Minister for Public Works stated, in reply to Mr. Kirkbride, that the latter's request for a vote of £200 for the purpose of widening the bridle tracks in the ; Otau ' Block, Manukau. County, /would receive careful consideration. Similar .> answers were given to Mr. Herries, who asked for a grant of £200 for the completion of Whinray's Road, Motu district, Poverty Bay, and to Mr. Moss, who asked for a grant of £250 for the Turua-Netherton Road 4 in the Thames arid Ohinemuii counties. The Native Minister, in reply to Mr. Jennings, said that information in regard' to the statement that the owners .of Te Kuiti township had not been paid the amounts due to them, was being obtained from the district Maori Council. ' Replying to Mr. Herries, the Minister for Mines stated that the recent conference of wardens and inspectors of mines had passed a resolution to the effect that " Wardens should be' given the power which, rests with the Minister, in regard to the cancellation and suspension of mine managers who are shown to have been guilty of negligence.

~i In answer to Mr. Kirkbride, the Minister for Agriculture stated that * the'catalpa tree had already been brought into cultivation in the colony By the forestry branch, 1 no less than ha'lf-a-milliott being raised at the Rotoma nursery. These had been largely'distributed with a view,to ascertain their suitability to various situations., " • . ' The Minister for Public Works informed Mr. Hogg that the material for the Makatote • viaduct, on the - North Island Main, Trunk railway, would be conveyed .to! the site from the Auckland end of the line. ; .-,.

The Minister for Railways informed 'Mr. Jennings that it was intended to provide foot-warmers in all the important train services as soon as possible. _~ »',

REGISTRARS OP ELECTORS..?;.: The following question to the Government appeared on the Order Paper to-day, in the name of Mr. Mander:—(l) Whether they can explain how it is that James' Milne Adams, clerk': of th« Court at Riverton, was appointed registrar of electors at Wallace, on ' June 8. ' I (2) Why James Miller, clerk of the Court at : Port Chalmers, ■ was gazetted registrar of electors on June 15. (3) Why W. Hart, clerk of the Court at' Naseby, was gazetted registrar of electors on Juae 15, seeing that, according to the Gazette of May 18, Mr. 'Fitzgerald's appointment (at Whangarei) ceased because it was considered the hours of a. clerk of the Court/were not long enough: to allow the various classes of electors to be enrolled, or if it is considered that ai lawyer ' will "keep his .office open till seven p.m. for such a purpose. The reply given was* as follows: ; ■', Necessarily every case has to be dealt with upon itlj merits, and the circumstances are not always the 6ame." •>'

SELF-RELIANT'"; CADETS. Mr. Seddon states that so far there has not been any ■general|d'emand: for increased capitation to cadet corps. The cadet corps' are a credit to the colony,;and in youth it is a good : thing to teach them not to rely too much on the Government, otherwise, as they grow older, they may lose that selfreliant spirit that made their fathers good colonists. •■ ° , NEW ZEALAND LOCOMOTIVES. ■:• In answer to Mr. Ell, Sir Joseph Ward stated:, that it was not true that Messrs. Price Brothers have possession of .the drawings' for a number of new locomotives. The complete set of drawings comprised" some 200 sheets'. In response. to their request, Messrs. Price Brothers had been furnished with some half-dozen incomplete drawings: of parte. It was a common railway practice to furnish any reputable firm'.of engineers with a copy of a print at &■ their request, more especially in cases where the firm "had! done work of the kind for the railway. This practice did~hot commit the Department in any way, and the-e was no reason why any other firm should not be furnished With'a copy of the prints if they> requested that they should be supplied. There had been no negotiations with Messrs. Price Brothers, or other firms, to build any of the new locomotives, of which several w at present being built at the Addington railway works. .' ... . ■ , UNAUTHORISED EXPENDITURE."' The following are some items of unauthorised] expenditure for the past year: —Refund) to licensees of hotels in Wellington of fines and costs imposed for breaches of the Licensing Act, .£181; refunds of duty paid under the Preferential and Reciprocal Act 1903, £407; expenses of land boards' conference (including travelling expenses £600), £669; amount paid to Government of Cook and other islands for freight on coal from Auckland to Rarotonga, £125; payment to took and' other islands Governments of Customs duties collected on their behalf at Auckland from October,' 1901, to March, 1904, £2312; compassionate allowance to Dr. R. H. Bakewell, of Auckland, for" services as surgeon-captain to Ninth Contingent, £200; retiring allowance of G. Mueller (late Assistant-Surveyor-General) June 1, 1904, to March 31, 1905,'£303. " COMPULSORY VOLUNTEERING." ' The question of compulsory volunteering was brought up in the House to-day by Mr! Fisher, who asked the Government if they would relax the regulation which compelled certain members of the Civil Service to serve under compulsion in the. volunteers for a period of three years. The reply of the Government was''that the Cabinet in 1896 ordered that all cadets joining the Civil Service subsequent to that date should, on attaining the .age of 18 years, enrol and serve m the volunteer force for three years. A few cadets bad from time to time been exempted from serving where, physical disability or hardship had been!proved. In 1896 the petition of G. L. Gladding and others, praying for the repeal of the reflation,' was referred to the Public Petitions Committed, which reported that it had nc recommendation to make. Mr. Fisher said that the existing regulation' practically amounted to a form of conscription, and it should be abolished. It was not right that a form of conscription should be allowed to grow up under the name of volunteering Mr. Powlds said that a strong feeling was growing' against this "compulsory volunteering." He had recently received a copy of a resolution on the subject, which had been passed by a society in Auckland A copy, he believed, had also been sent to the Premier. It was perfectly absurd that those joining the Civil Service should be compelled to undergo a military training winch might be obnoxious to them Mr .Hpgfr.&poko to. a similar, elect, and. said it

I was unfair that young men on enteric ii Civil Service should be robbed in thisM I of the best period of their lives, which ft* s "' ; might otherwise devote to perfecting th V education at technical, or other schools. MR. SEDDON AND HANSARD; Speaking on the Old Age Pensions Bill on Tuesday of last week, Mr. Sedd taunted Mr. Massey with the statement ; that he (Mr. Massey) wanted to premr himself to face an outraged constituent' ; to which Mr. Massey retorted, "J. Ji[ beat your candidate, anyhow, by two one." Mr. Seddon's reply to this Wa? "You may, but that's not saying much'', whereupon hon. members laughed hearti v ' I sent you a paragraph at the time,;gi ¥ i, : the exact words used. It appears that- on reading this Mr. McCardle telegraphed T Mr. Seddon, informing him that the state' ment was doing him (Mr. McCardle) 'a" good deal of harm in the district, wm Mr. Seddon's reply was has not transpired but evidently Mr. McCardle's telegram has had effect, for it now appears that Mr Seddon lias completely altered his remark in his Hansard proof. Instead of m "You may, but that's not saying much" the speech now reads, "You may tim ; will tell." | J ';T e THE NEW LIBERALS. ' \ At a meeting of the new Liberals to da? arrangements were made for opening the political camplaign in the South Island ' by holding meetings at Invercargil) Bun edin, and Christchurch during the/week' or two that will be occupied with 'tW Financial debate. The speakers f will i bft Messrs. Taylor, Bedford, Laurensoh aM Fisher. '- 'i. :ltt; ANOTHER RAILWAY ANOMALY.' Mr. Kirkbride has given notice to ask thp Minister for Railways if lie will explain why the return fares between Auckland and Otahuhu are 2s first-class and Is 6d second ' class, while the return fares between'Wei" lington and the Hutt are 1 6d first-class and Is second-class. He points out that M distance, between Wellington and. the'-Huti-is given as nine miles, and the distance be- ; tween Auckland and, Otahuhu is less 'thai 1 nine miles.; ~ ' ; ",; ' «,K ■ JOTTINGS. '.'.'..; * "A favourable impression has been created."— Premier on his Budget. "There is electioneering in every line of it."— Leader- of the Opposition on the' Budget. - " ■ , "•,•'* " I generally want to see them in print before I can get the hang of them."—Mr. Massey on' Ministerial utterances. ' ' ' V Comment is made on the fact that there'll no reference to "the poet Bracken," nor to' "God's ''own country," in this year's Budget. ~ ■ „' 1 . ~.* • ' , '*ViV?7 ,-,: Mr. Fowlds: I do not expect any man not even tie Premier of this colony,: to tell 1 tie truth when the, question of- the preferential tariff or protection is concerned. , A petition from the' Mangonui County Council was presented to-day by Mr.'HouS'i 5 ton asking for a vote of £1000 for the erection of a cottage hospital in the vicinity of the Mangonui township, , ' h,^.:

■\'; Superannuation' schemes are in ; the: air. It is suggested that there should be one for members of , the "House of Representatives, many of whom are likely to lose their means of livelihood in' November next, -' ; t < .-•'-.-