PARLAMENTARY NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4434, 14 August 1901, Page 7

PARLAMENTARY NEWS.

A TAXATION QUESTION. A petition to Parliament has been presented by four Masterton County rate payers, who compilin', that they are living unfairly taxed under Hie tallowing oircnmMances : —ln loho the Alfred ton Road Board, since merged in Hie Mastcrum County Council, raised a loan of LiOOO for constructing and draining tha Baker road. It was then under stood that Crown lands within the rating area would ho liable for the ipocia.l rates as soon as they were leased. When tho loan was [imposed all the .sections within the rating area were so lected, and in most cases occupied, with /me exception : but when Ihe poll was taken tho leases in certain cases had not been issued, and the settlers did not figure as ratepayers. Up to 1898-9 the payments on the loan were met out of accrued thirds, hut .the latter becoming exhausted, the four petitioners have now to hear fh 0 charges ouMhe loan. The other settlers witiiin the rating area not being ratepayers when the poll was tnkent, although favourable to tho loan, are exempted under the ruling of the Supreme Court |u the case of the Pallia tun County Council v. Tylee. The petitioners ask that the provisions of section (5 of the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act, 18,90, he made to .operate ic (respectively, and Crown tenants required to pay special rates from Ist March, 1901, or that other relief be given. LANDLESS MAORIS. Messrs S. P. Smith and A. Mackay bare presented to the Minister ofELands a further interim report on the operations Connected with the allocation of lands in the Middle Island to the land less natives of that part. No progress was made during tho year 1890-1000 so far as actual allocairm of lands was concerned, as tho surveys of the Wairaurahiri Block had not sufficiently advah cod to allow of it. The progress made in the skeleton survey had, however, permitted tho mailing of a further allocation at that place, as a result of which 1102 individuals had been awarded 38.321 acres of land. So fur as the writers of tho report oould ascertain there remain about 700 persons yet to ho provided for, including those of Kaikonra and Marlborough. Tho lands available for these people are about 7GOO acres at Stewart Island and a bal anco of 7000 acres at Wairaurahiri. The report, inter alia, supplies the following interesting table of the doings of tho duo since tho matter was placed in its hands by the Government; —At Tautuku, 370 persons were acres; at Stewart Island, 239 persons. 872.1 acres; Marlborough, 371 parsons, 12,914 acres; Westland, 129 persons, 3000 acres; Heaphy river, 38 persons, 1000 acres; Wniau, 12C4 persons, 29,908 acres; Wairaurahiri, 1102 persons, 38.321 acres —a total of 107.499 acres of land granted to 3517 landless natives.

CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS. Tho Hon Air Hall-Jones docs not think there is any ground for the suggestion that many of the examiners in tho Junior Civil Service examinations mark tho work of their own pupils. The greatest care, he told Mr Guinness yes terday, had always been taken in the selection of examiners; and in 19001901 no secondary or primary school teachers were chosen. Hitherto it had boon the practice to allow tho examiners to keep the answers of the candi dates, but it has now been decided that the answers shall bo sent into the, department, kept for one year, and then destroyed.

RATING ON THE UNIMPROVED VALUES.

In his speech on tho Rating on tho Unimproved Values.Bill last night, in closing the debate on the second reading, Mr Seddon quoted some figures pre pared by Mr Eli to show the effect of the new system as oomnared with the old. He said that in the case of one small. properly at Newtown the rating under the present system was £2 Os 7d, whilst under the system of rating on th 0 unimproved values it would be £1 9s 6d. Then if they took the Bank of New Zealand site, which had been mentioned in this debate as escaping taxation, they found that under tile pro sent system the amount paid was £241 13s 4d, whilst under the new system the amount would be £2BB Is Bd. Taking the Terrace properties, tho residence of Sir Walter Buffer was rated under the present system at £l6 Os 7-J-d, but under tho new system it would pay £2O 10s sd. Then there was a block of shops in Willis, street which now paid £ll2 3s ud, and under the new system would pay £152 9s 7d. 1 ‘ INFANT MORTALITY. Major Steward quoted figures yestei* day to show that one fourth of the deaths of the population were of children under five, and that nine and a half per cent, of the children born in this colony died before they reached the age of twelve months. He argued from this that parents do not know how to take care of their children, and suggested that tho Public Health Department should teach them by issuing pamphlets containing simple rules on the subject. Sir Joseph Ward said that such instructions were now in the press. Major Steward also suggested cheoip mater nity attendance for the poor, but the Minister did not see how this could be done, and said that the medical men throughout the colony invariably gave advice ungrudgingly to the necessitous poor. RAILWAY SLEEPERS. Sir Joseph Ward corrected a misapprehension yesterday as to the number of sleepers which have been imported from Australia for use on tho railways. The total number was not half a million, he informed Mr Guinness, but 172,664, up to the end of last financial year. It will he necessary, however; the Minister explains, to continue tho importation of foreign sleepers, for the reason that the best of the New Zealand woods is not good enough for curves and other portions of the railway lines. The Government, at the same time, gives preference to New Zealand wood wherever it is possible to do so, arid has raised the price of the sleepers from 2s 4d to 3s 3d. THE MORNING SITTINGS. The committee dealing with the Counties Biff wants the House to abau don tho morning sittings on Tuesdays and Fridays, so that the committee may have th e opportunity of meeting on those days. The only other mornings available’, Wednesdays and Thursdays, are already taken up with other work, and the members of the committee have steadfastly declined to meet on Mondays or Saturdays, as, they wish to walk out on those days, and see what the city is like, and fill their lungs with the bracing air of Wellington. However, the Premier does not agree that the morning sittings of the House should be aban-

fioncd without hotter than this, I and it is not likely that the suggestl-j.i will he carried into effect. JOTTINGS. It Is Mr Field’s intention to introduce a Bill for the suppression of smoking by juveniles. , _ The increase of stoats and weasels in the Auckland district is giving .some concern to Mr Monk, who wants the Government to encourage their destruction by the settlers. Mr Fisher is urging the Government to provide increased accommodation at the Terrace Gaol. The Government is being asked by Mr Fowl els to take steps to secure greater secrecy in the ballot at Education Board elections. Mr Flatman, apropos of the want of fire escapes in lodging houses: “Some of our local bodies arc so negligent of their duties that if they bad their deserts they would bo in gaol.” Tho Minis!or of Lands is not in favour' of making the Land Boards elec viva. It is suggested by Mr Fisher that the pay of attendants in lunatic asylums should be increased, as recommended by the Inspector. Mr Guinness is asking the Cavern* ment to amend the law ro- as to allow ft parent to register the bo th of a child m any case in which this lias not been done within the period allowed by law. Mr J. H. Collier :» petitioning the House for compensation in consequence of his having been deprived of liis position as Dairy Inspector. Ho states that he carried out his duties conscientiously, and that he was deprived of office by the Department of Agriculture without apparent grounds, and without any rea son being given for such action. “My friend Mcnk has read all the volumes of ancient and modern history—ho is a walking encyclopedia of information—but ho has not yet grasped one fundamental principle of economic law.” —Mr FowldsOn one day last session, according to Mr Withcfnrd, the House sat for thirty hours continuously, and during that time passed legislation which had had to be amended during the present session. Mr Collins last night informed the House that after listening to a culo gistic speech just previously delivered by Mr Witheford, ho had expected Inin to finish by saying, “And now, gentlemen, charge your glasses!” Tho House smiled until Mr Witheford replied that “ tho wish was father to the thought.” Then it roared. In answer to Mr Hutcheson yesterday, Mr Hall Jones stated that the engineer appointed to the Cook Islands auxiliary steam-r Countess of Ranfurly is a properly-qualified person, and that ho is paid at the rat e of £ls per month. “Thorp is too much horse-racing in Hew Zealand; there is too much sport in this country,” said the Premier last night. “Hear, hear—political .sport,” in terjccted Mr Piraui. The Premier, unheeding the interruption, went on: “ One of tho dangers that beset this young country is that there is too much sport, and too much pleasure, and that there js no heed taken ,of the reality of life.” Mr Duncan informed .Mr Field yesterday that he favoured a tax on stallions, and would endeavour to give effect to such a proposal. The' money thus oh tained, ho added, should bo handed to ay-cultural societies as urinesPapers laid on the table yesterday notify that a pension of £155 per annum has been granted to R. A. Campbell, Post and Telegraph Department, and that pensions are also to be granted to the following officers in the same department:—T. Palmer, £lO7 18s 4d : E. T. Morshead, £lB5. Mr Herries intends to move in the direction of having the departments of State brought within the provisions of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration net. The Minister of Railways does not agree with the proposal of Mr Collins that the Government should subsidise societies for the prevention’ of cruelty to animals. Tho Minister of Public Health stated yesterday that something was required to bring the baths at the various sanatoria of the colony more up to date. He did not think that Dr Kenny, the medical officer alt Rotorua, who had done good work, should be displaced, but he suggested that a medical officer •light be brought out from the Old Country to deal with the baths as a whole. The unimproved value of some of our bush land is a minus quantity in many cases, according to Mr Field. There should be no taxes levied in. such cases for several years, he told the House last night. j In the selection of a site for the sanatorium for consumptive patients, tho climatic conditions will he the de ciding factor, Sir Joseph Ward l informed Mr Stevens yesterday. The Minister agreed with Mr Stevens that the locality of Levin and Otaki was very healthy, and he had ho objection to an inspeo tion of that district.