A BATCH OF BILLS

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8295, 25 September 1903, Page 4

A BATCH OF BILLS

By Telegraph.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) • Wellington, September 24. ' Quite a sheaf of new Bills, including several of importance, have been circulated. The Labor Department Bill circulated this evening, gives the Labor Department a legal status with its present officers. The general duties of the" Department shall be to administer the labor laws of New Zealand and promote sound knowledge' on all. matters in-connection witu the industrial occupations of the people, with a view of improving the relations between employers and- workers and the collection of reliable information relating to the industries of the! colony, the cost of production, and the payment of wages. The officers are to have every facility of inquiry and . search with regard to both employers and employed, and all information, required must be given within a month under a penalty of £2O, and breach of secrecy entails a penalty up' to £SO. For special purposes the Minister and any officers can hold inquiries with all the powers conferred on commissioners under the Commissioners Act.. The Minister is to report exhaustively to .Parliament every year, and to have power to make reThe Bill is very drastic and searching, and will be extensively discussed. The long-expected Industrial" Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Bill was circulated to-clay. 'Of .the seven clauses the most important are those providing for the inspection and enforcement promised by the Premier 6ome months ago to a deputation. Every inspector appointed under the Factory Act is made an inspector of awards under this Act, and also> every inspector tinder the Mining and Coal Mines Acts. These inspectors may require any employer to produce for his examination such books, papers, and documents as may be necessary for the purposes of this section, and, in ad-.! dition, every such inspector shall have and may exercise all the powers conferred onspecial inspectors of factories by section 6 of the factories Act, 1901, and that section and section 7 of the same Act shall mutatis mutandis extend and apply to inspectors j of yards. These ate the sections , empower- ; ing inspectors to enter, with a constable if necessary, and compel the owner t& do what is necessary, and enforcing secrecy on the part of the inspectors. All proceedings for the enforcement of awards shall be taken in the Magistrate's iCourt with a right of appeal to the Arbitrauon Court with the leave of the Magistrate m the case of the amount not exceeding £SO, or without leave if the amount is over Tuat sum. The appointment is provided for of deputy-regis-trars of industrial unions, to perform their several duties under the control of the registrar and to be registrar's substitutes in case of illness, etc. Proceedings before a Board of Conciliation or Court of Arbitration are to continue on a change of the personnel of the Board or Court, with liability to the retaking of evidence on the decision of the authority. If during the currency of an award it .appears that any industrial union or association or any combination of either employers or workers has tatten proceedings intended or likely to defeat anjr of the provisions of the award, such union, association, or combination, and every member thereof respectively shall be deemed to have committed a breach of the award, and shall be liable accordingly. Every employer who dismisses from his employment any employee by reason merely of the fact that the employer is a member of an industrial union or is entitled to the benefit of an award, order, or agreement shall be deemed to have committed a breach of the award, order, or agreement, and shall be liable accordingly. The Sea 'Fisheries Amendment Bill, promised by the Minister for Marine, was brought down by Governor's message last night. It provides that all fishing boats are to be registered and licensed. .The term "fish" is not to include salmon or trout. The license fees for fishing are to be—Five tons and upwards, .10s; under five tons, ss. The license fee for oyster fishing is not to exceed £2, and may be varied in different parts of .New Zealand and the Minister is empowered to cancel a license for breach of the regulation. The opening and bottling of oysters on any oyster bed is prohibited, and an exclusive license may be granted to the owner of a foreshore .wimout competition. The Governor is empowered to set apart any area for the establishment of an experimental oyster farm, to be worked under the direction of the 'Minister. The Governor is also empowered to appoint boards of management for fish hatcheries. All license fees are to be paid into the public. account, and if there is any surplus after the payment- of expenses of administration such surplus is to be paid by the Colonial Treasurer to the local authority within whose district is situated tnat part of the foreshore on which the fishery abuts. The power of entry into fish shops, vessels, or smoke-houses conferred by the Act of 1895, is extended to the entry into any description of conveyance. The Local "(Government 'Franchise Bill proposes to abolish plural voting in case of any poll or any proposal submitted to the ratepayers.