PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14486, 28 September 1910, Page 8

PARLIAMENT.

[ABRIDGED PRESS association retort.] LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Tuesday. The Legislative Council met at 2.30 p.m., when the Wanganui Church Aero Bill was read a second time. After a debate on the Attorney-General's (Dr. Findlay) proposed motion in regard to the deviation of the Pacific cable, the Council rose. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Tuesday. The House of Representatives sat at 2.30 p.m. THIRD READINGS. The following Bills were read a third time and passed : —Hutt. Railway and Road, Government Railways Amendment, Immigrant Restriction, and Tobacco Amendment. THE LOAN BILL. The House went into committee on the Aid to Public Works and Land Settlement Bill. Mr W. F. Massey (Leader of tho Opposition} asked tho Prime Minister it he could give details of how the money appropriated for the purposes of the Bill would be expended, as was usual. Replying, Sir Joseph Ward said a schedule of the Bill would be included in the Public Works Statement, which was the proper place for it. Goldfields would also be dealt with in the Public Works Statement. These matters could not be dealt with in the Loan Bill.

The House adjourned at- 5.30 p.m. In the evening the House again went into committee on the Bill, Sir. Massey moved to the effect that a schedule bo added to the Bill with a view of showing upon what railway lines the money proposed to be borrowed should bo spent. The Chairman (Mr. Colvin) ruled the amendment out of order, on the ground that it. amounted to an alteration of the schedule. Mr. Massey disputed tho riding, and moved that progress be reported, in order to obtain the Speaker's ruling on th« point. On a division, the motion was carried by 34 to 24. _ . . __ On the Speaker assuming the chair, Air. Massey gave reasons cited in precedents, in support of his amendment. Sir Joseph Ward said the amendment opened the door to increased expenditure, and, therefore, was out of order. The Speaker ruled that the amendment to the schedule was in order, as it applied to railways authorised by the Act, and only purported to describe railways upon which money was to be spent. _ It was perfectly correct for' the committee to set out which railways the £800.000 appropriated for railway construction should be expended upon, but it could not allocate to any particular railway any particular amount. The House again went into committee, and Mr. Massey*s amendment was lost by 39 to 24, and the schedule was passed.

STATE-GUARANTEED ADVANCES. The State-guaranteed Advances Amendment Bill was taken in committee. Replying to members, Sir Joseph Ward said that he proposed to add amendments to ensure that those local public bodies who given effect to the requirements of the existing Loans to Local Bodies Act should be able to obtain loans . under the Stateguaranteed Advances Act. Mr. D. H. Guthrie (Oroua) moved an amendment to clause B (which provides that nothing shall restrict the powers of the Minister to raise moneys under the principal Act), to allow of sinking funds to loans to local bodies being paid out of the Consolidated Revenue, as provided in the Loans to Local Bodies Act, 1903. The Chairman ruled this out of order, as being an appropriation clause. After considerable discussion with reference to repayment of small loans, the Prime Minister agreed to fix the same periods of repayment for workers' as for settlers' loans.

The Prime Minister also agreed to an amendment enabling a local body to secure a further advance to complete any public work, so long as the expenditure contemplated was covered by the previous consent of the ratepayers. If the additional expenditure does not exceed 10 per cent, no poll of ratepayers would be required to enable the security of the special rate to be set against the additional rate.

A new clause was inferted enabling debentures to be issued in satisfaction of purchase money or compensation for land acouired under the Land for Settlement Act.

(Left sitting.)