PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19125, 17 September 1925, Page 12

PARLIAMENT.

EANGITAIKI KEPOET, j THREE MEASURES PASSED. COALMINES DISCUSSION. PENSIONS AMENDMENT/ [BT TELEGRAPH,—SPECIAL REPORTER. J, WELLINGTON. Wednesday ' The House, of Rapreseft'tatives to-day dealt withrSa business. The aftersisfi& mainly inthe consideration of select committees' reports on petitions and various other matters. The report of the Rangitaiki Land Drainage Commission was presented and led to some discussion, in the course of which the Minister for Lands intimated that he would introduce legislation to deal with the financial difficulties of the settlers on the Rangitaiki Plains. In the evening the Coalmines Bill, a consolidating and amending measure, was «(*. read a sucoad time after a debate lasting V nearly two hours. The Housa th'en re•;;stimed the adjourned consideration of the ;>. Pensions Amendment Bill in Committee, " and dicussed two new clauses introduced by Message, dealing with the computation of itifcom'e for pensions purposes and the value of a penaioper's interest in his home. X'- The amendments, •wtfrai adapted and the V bill was reported and passed. The Life ,jv- Insurance Amendment Bill was reported without amendment and passed. In committee on the Coal Mines Bill Labour '4 members moved several amendments with f » view to improving the bill from their -* • point of view. These were defeated. The v, bill was passed and the House rose at | 110 _ " ■3>- ; - •• ; • 'AFFORESTATION WORK. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. jSOME CRITICISE IN COUNCIL. - [B* TOLEGRAPH.—-&PBCIAI. ~R*)PORT*R.X WELLINGTON.'* Wednesday, i Opportunity is afforded the Legislative Counpil to place on record its satisfaction with the increase in areas set apart "as permanent and provisions!! State forests by a motion to that effect, moved by Sir Francis Bell. , All the Speakers to the motion eulogised •Sir Francis Bell's work as Commissioner ■of State Forests. Sir E. Mitchelson criticised this year's 'forestry report and disagreed with the ■director's optimistic statement that' the tchemo outlined in lthp report 'Would pro°r to* The Hon. G; J. Gariand also had doubts about Mr. Ellia" statement. The Hon, G. M. Thomson remarked that the director's report was a valuable one there w-as a "high fulutin*' tone about it and much matter might have bpen left out. was a, Canadian and Was appointed more en account of his experience as a lumberman than as an afforestation expert. In New Zealand afforestation was moro important than lumber work. Too much emphasis • was inclined to be placed on lumber work in the Auckland district. The Hon. V. H. Seed referred to theafforestation , activities of private companies and advocated « Government inquiry were able to. Joperate.tion compares, expressed-the opinion that later on there would be much dis- ; appointrtisnt. Many 5 of the statements and misleading to investors. The Hon. H, L, Michel agreed with the previous speaker and described the pros'peotuses as largely exaggerated. He' urged protection for the public by .statute. '"V,- . • The debate' Wa** adjonrned until to'morrow.-?'? *•; COALMINES INDUSTRY. NEW MEASURE' PRAISED, THE SAFETY OF . WORKERS, [BT ASSOCIATION. ] . WELLINGTON. Wednesday, v In moving the second reading of the • CwU Mines Bill, largely a consolidating meiisure, in the House to-night, the Hon. :G. J. Anderson, traced the histgry of - mining legislation ia New Zealand,- Great care, He said, had been exercised in drafting the bal to preserve and strengthen the provided:,; fi>?. walminers ' m the law could not .be -'regaled as a -party matter, cinca .everyone was concerned in i the welfare of the industry and those en- . G. W. fForbra, Ltvia Oppoaition, M?e«i the first consideration in afl, mining , seemed wronjj that New Zealand, with extensive deposits of tsome of the finest coal in the world,; was yet importing 6oal into the country. That waa a position which .merited cIL attention. Muchmight b« done, too, in investigating the possibilities of coal as a source of by-products. Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the 1 Labour Party, said the bill stood on a level with the best coalmining legislation in the »worJdj although lit still did not wholly satisfy tbe miners. Ha urged that mine should be paid either by the State or by the industry. The miners wiahed- to~h ave "afli electric safety laiap"*triade compulsory In lieu of a locked safety lamp. He hoped the .Government would set its face definitely , against coal importations, which last year t approached 700,000 tons. ■ Anderson said the policy V of the Mines Department for very many years had been safety fibt. A vouna scientist had been working for 12 months on the treatment, of New Zealand coals t for by-products and it was hoped that the report on his investigations would shortly be available to the House. He was informed that up to the present the electric safety lamp could not be used to test I for gas which was one of the essential use* of miners lamps. The bill was read a second time on the voices. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. MEASURES CONSIDERED. [BY SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Tn thß '"Legislative Council to-day the Jlepayment of Pablic Dabt Bill and the Wiremen's Registration Bill were the House of Represe'atal'iives and read a first time. , The Child Welfare Bill also was received, read a second tune pro forma and re-icrt-w' to the Education Committee.

i THE PENSIONS BILL.

NEW CLAUSES INTRODUCED, t COMPUTATION OF INCOME. HOUSE PASSES THE MEASURE. [by telegraph.—press association.] WELLINGTON. Wednesday. ■ { Several amendments to the Pensions Bill were introduced in the House -this afternoon. In explanation of the new clauses tho Hon. G. J. Anderson stated that where subscriptions were raised in an old age pensioner's favour the money would be regarded as capital and the income from it would be regarded as income when assessing the pension. In cases where pensioners . were . awarded compensation for the death of & partial supporter the amount would be computed as capital up to £IOO, after which it would be regarded as income. If The recipient purchased a house with the money then it would be exempted from the calculation, but if it was used as cash then .it would be considered as capital. Mr. F. N. Bartram (Grey Lynn) : What about small legacies? Mr. Anderson deprecated the introduction of "all sorts of side issues." Legacies would be looked upon as income. Mr. H. Poland (Ohinemuri): Is this all that the country can afford? The Minister: Well, it is all the country is going to get this session. In reply to a question by Mr. W. J. Jordan (Manukau) the Minister declared that if they wanted to remove all the anomalies from our pensions system there wa3 only one way to do it and 'that' was by the introduction of a contributory pensions scheme. In the • evening tho House went into Committee on the concluding clauses »f the bill and on those introduced earlier in the sitting. Eventually the amendments were adopted, and the bill was reported and passed. STUDY OF KAURI FOREST. LONG INVESTIGATION. DISPUTE OYER REMUNERATION. [55 TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAt REPORTER.] WELLINGTON.. Wednesday. . .'A long dispute with the State Forest Service and the Government over fees for research respecting kauri forests is recounted'in a petition presented to Parliament on .behalf of William Roy McGregor, of Auckland. Mr. McGregor states that at the end of he was approached by the Director of Forestry and requested to undertake an ecological study of the Jcauri forest and to investigate .the life history of, the kAUri, * The investigation was to be of such a thorough and extensive nature as to provide' reliable data for the formulation of a scheme of forest management. li was expected to take five y&rs. - He was at first engaged as a special investigation officer at £35 a month. A tentative agreement was mads later fori the payment to him of £250 a year, but this, sum . was cut down to £IOO befote the tentative agreement could take, effect. . The petitioner complains that his claim for the full amount and arrears' has neve? been satisfactorily settled; that the State Forest Service has failed to give him proper assistance, has caused his work to be delayed, and finally has stopped payment and demanded the re-; turn, of'tools, and material in his posses-, sion, at the same time calling for his report at least a year before the proper time. He says that , his work has been accomplished very largely on the resources of the Auckland University College; and by his own personal: devotion. He asks that he be granted payment as on the .original scale, and- be, allowed time and facilities for finishing his investigation and making his report.