POLITICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13482, 5 July 1907, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES.

.AUCKLAND RAILWAY STATION

PUBLIC WORKS EXPENDITURE. fa tflW»*rtt-«»At OOB9BBPOMDINT.]

.' ■ Wellington, Thursday. '', 4 P ti„2.MinisteV for Railways-is being ■* THB ift! Mr Poole whether he will place '1 aßk the Estimates a sum of money for t rise of erecting a new railway rta- fc ' ! h :Sckland, in keeping with the pre- j " 2 «nd future requirements ot that city. g '?• ■ S Poole adds the following note to to fc Jlr. io» _„ At the p res eTit time a large block fc " q rS : "fronting Lower Queen-street is , > ifidle and unsightly, whereas the erec- • i 58«! 3 'station would at once be con- „ • ° f attractive, and revenue producing, {] ' irto* the terminal point of the Main t ' &US shortly to be finished. Imme- „ ■ diale consideration of this matter is neces- T ■ *Zv Jteon is moving for a return show- J . I L.Public Works expenditure on rail- ~ ■'" " ,ng roads bridges, or other public . - 35 within each provincial district dur- y the past 15 years, the expenditure Jur- v 2 the same period on public buildings • 3 railway stations in each city a " [< ''■ ' £l*h within the colony, having at pre- 1 ' S a population of 10,000 persons or over, L -■'■ Silie increase in population,., each pro- t ' • ill district during the same period. a '^Srks made by Mr. Davey on, ■ TueSay flight in regard to matters con--2d 'with Auckland were referred to by ~ - 5 5 Poole to-night. He expired a will- c •„,„,,«, to contribute to a collection to de- „ / far the cost of sending the juvenile mem- a ' ber fo. Christchuroh and other Southern t ; ambers up to Auckland with a view of c securing their enlightenment in respect to c the resources of that district. " When we 1 in the North come into our kingdom—and c we are coming into it pretty soon—we will ( be kind to von men in the South, he said. j "Time was'when the South had us in tow, ( - but we are now abreast of the tow-boat, . and she will have to get out of the way or go under." . . Quite a sheaf of Departmental reports ' were laid on the table by the Minister this ' afternoon. Most of them were of a purely t formal nature. The total roll number of ] the native schools of the colony at the end , of 1906 was 4174, as against 3863 in ' : ; 1905. The total expenditure on the schools ( during the year was £29,765. ' Mr. Laurenson, M.H.R., will address a a public meeting at Gisborne, on the 13th , ins*. .. ... t The member for Riccarton says the Ad- , '• • dington workshops are turning out engines that are far and away superior to s anything received from England, America, d or any where else. e .MAORI SCHOOL COMMITTEES. .The following remarks regarding Maori school committees appear in the annual c report of the inspector of native schools h , '(Mr. W. W. Bird), which was presented to . Parliament to-day:—" With regard to the 1 Maori committees i can say from fairly l intimate knowledge of the case that the c Department owes a great deal to their c enthusiasm, interest, and support. I grant.U that there are committees who seem to be lj ,j altogether inert, but this is not so in the! "majority of cases. Indeed, one has to put ... » restraining hand on some." !' ■ ' ' .It ;* MR. MASSEV AND THE FREEHOLD. 11 Mr. Massey, in replying .to some •' i' remarks regarding his attitude in re-( sped to giving the lease in perpetuity tenants the .option of the freehold, said , .; that in each case he was willing that the | '. capital value of the holding should be apportioned as between the interest of the ' State on the one hand and the interest of ] Uie_r.ett.ler on the other, and that the , option .of the freehold should bo .granted : accordingly. The result, he said would be exactly what he had always advocated. ; ' '- CUSTOMS DUES. i '■■■■. ' The Custom duites for the last financial ' '■." year amounted to £2.941,048. the beer dutv '. : •'. being £17,573. Other duties, fees, and, dues bring the- total up to £3.213,622. The , '-- Chinese Immigration Act brought in a revenue of no less a mini than £13,000. The net collections at the principal ports were: ' Wellington, £815.214 ; Auckland, £795,887 ; < , Lyttelton and Christchnrcb, £512,418; ■ Dunedin and Port Chalmers, £494,995; Napier, £110,197; lnvercargill, £100,637. The rate per cent, of cost of collection was £1 7s 2d. TOBACCO, BEER, ETC. During 1906 an adult male population of :• .295,122 people consumed. 692,324 gallons of ■ r . spirits, the duty on which amounted to ?,. £55,389, or at the rate of £1 17s 6d per ■■;■■■': head. The consumption of tobacco was no less a quantity than 2,085,0261b, or over 71b per head of the adult male population. The duty on this was £362,057, or £1 4s 6ijd per head. In addition, the consumption of cigars, cigarettes, and snuff resulted I in a duly of £139,408, or 9s sid per head. | As compared with the previous year, there was a large increase in the consumption of . spirits, and also of tobacco. The wine . . consumption also increased from 113,185 to 128,120 gallons, and the beer consumption •- from 218,270 to 251,570 gallons. The increase in tea was from 5,898,3911b to 6,132,96;j1b. ! - • PREVENTION OF ADULTERATION. The colonial analyst reports that of 191 samples of so-called hop beer 11 showed so nigh a percentage of alcohol that convictions to that number were recorded. Some) ■ of the spirits examined were raw, harsh, j unmatured alcohol, which is certainly injurious if taken even in moderate quantity, but which cannot be excluded from the colony under our present laws. The use! of antiseptics in food seriously requires de- / fining, more especially boric and salicylic ■, adds. ' GOVERNMENT INSURANCE. , '; Ihe Government Insurance Commissioner Reports new business for the year as fold's:— Policies completed 3083, assuring : . £729,105, being £13,084 in' advance of the Previous year's business. The total business now in force is 45.648 policies, assuring £10,667,591 (and £1,183.901 bonuses), at death or maturity. Claims by death amounted to £124,239. The total'amount paid by the Department since its founda- . tion 37 years ago has been £3,186,183. , Die accident branch business shows a decrease in premium income from £23,970 to . *20,315. The Commissioner states the de'flU^i* 1 ' 8 due to new competitors in the aeld, "who, in their anxiety to secure business, have been willing to accept premiums ? incommensurate with the risks run." claims amounted to £13,720, as against £ H,242 in 1905. ROTORUA TOWN BILL. The PioLorua Town Bill, which was Drought down by Governor's message . : iate to-night, provides for the future rePeal of the Rotorua Town Council Acts .■ ™ 1900 and 1901. The property, assets, "abilities, and rights of the Town Council snail be -vested in the Tourist Department, and the existing Town Council shall °e dissolved. The town shall be managed W the general manager of the Tourist department, and an officer of the Depart- ■ ment resident at Rotorua shall be appoint*,rJ to carry out the provisions of the Act under the direction of the general mana- , , ger. The Department shall have all the ; ..Powers conferred on borough councils (with the exception of borrowing money 0}" way of special loan, or making special ; '*ates), and shall also exercise all powers , to it by the Governor under the inermal Springs Districts Act, 1.881. All "M*. of. Crown hinds within the town of V- men?" 1 ShaU bc P>' !lb,e to the Depart-