PARLIAMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10536, 18 August 1910, Page 1

PARLIAMENT.

(Per Pit Ess Association.)

Wellington, August 17 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Council mot at 2.30 p.m. —The Mokau Estate.; —

The Attorney-General made a specific denial of the imputations contained in the petition presented to the House by Mr Joshua Jones, in relation to the Mokau Estate, in which, amongst other things, the Attorney-General was stated to have acted professionally for Mr Lewis, purchaser of the mortgages of Jones' Mokau leases, and that ho (Dr Findlay) had improperly influenced the removal of a caveat, lodged by Jones to stop, the registration of the title to Lewis. —The Crimes Act. — The. adjourned debate on the second reading of the Crimes Act Amendment Bill was resumed. Mr Kigii, referring to the- inebriates' homes, took exception to such institutions being in the hands of any sectarian bodv. He thought the Government should control the whole of the reformatory institutions. He objected to the proposal that the reformatory method should come after the expiry of the sentence as stilt retaining an element of revenge. The question of the employment of prisoners was one which would have to be considered, for if prisoners were brought into competition with outside labor it might endanger the successful carrying out of the Act. Mr Sinclair supported the Bill. Speaking of the superiority of the indeterminate sentence over a fixed sentence, there could be no question about tiie. wisdom of leaving in the hands of the prisoner his own reformation and release. He felt confident the application of the Bill in proper cases would mean final release. At. an early period of the indeterminate sentence the successes of the measure would depend entirely upon the manner in which it was administered. The debate was adjourned, and the Council rose.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2.30 p.m. —Replies- to Questions. — Replying to Mr Taylor (Christcluircli), Mr Millar said lie had not promised to grant recognition of the Enginedrivers' Union, but only to reconsider the matter when membership had reached POO. He was prepared to recommend to the Cabinet to grant the recognition, and the matter would be further considered. After further discussion, Sir Jwseph Ward said the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants had done much to improve the conditions of the railway servants, largely owing to the fact that it represented the railway service as a whole. If the ongiuedrivers' claim.were granted, it would not lie long before the surfacemen would desire a separate union. He, however, considered it to be far better that railway servants be representee! by one union. The petition of the cnginedrivors merited the careful consideration of the House.

Mr Fisher said the only way the enginedrivers could obtain their rights ivas Ivy forming a separate union. Mr Hogan said it was a waste of time to discuss the matter at this juncture, as this and oilier questions were .before the Railway Committee at the present time. Repiving to oilier questions. Ministers said— ' That it was not intended to place a sum of money on the Estimates as compensation to Mcikle. but legislation enabling the case to be dea.it with will be submitted to Parliament during the session. That in order to obviate the difficulties created by tin- ruling of the Arbitration Court that a settlement to a dispute arrived at by the two parties to tin- same cannot become an award until such is signed by all the parlies, cited, an amending Bill would be brought bej'ore the ! louse. "-That the matter of making provision enabling uncertificated teachi rs to nass the D examination in sections will receive favorable consideration shortly when the regulations for examination and classification are revised. The House rose at 5.30 and. resumed at 7.30.

The following Jiills were read a second time pro forma: Mining Act Amendment. Shops and Offices Amendment, Inspection of Machinery Amendment, Kauri Cum Industry. Tramways Amendment, Coal Mines Amendment.

—Discussing Answers io Curst.ons. — The House proi ceded to discuss the answers to questions. Mr AVright, referring to the Mcikle case, hoped that matter would be dealt with once and for all.

Mr Hemes urged the claims of veterans for old age pensions, and sairl that publicity should be given to the fact that magistrates are holding an inquiry into the claims of old soldiers for medals as a recognition of their services in the Maori war.

Considerable discussion centred round the representation' of country districts in the Upper House. Mr Newman contending that the farming community was not sufficiently represented. Mr Laurenscn pointed out that'there were nine members of the Upper House representing the farming class, which was a fair number on a numerical basis. Replving to Mr Glover. Mr Millar said it'was not the case that the Judge of the Arbitration Court required every party cited to sign the settlement arrived at by the two parties to a dispute before the same became an award, but only required a certain time to elapse to allow of any objection to the agreement being made. Replying to Mr'Paylor (Thames), who demanded the abolition of the Vaccination Act, Mr Buddo said there, was a danger creeping in owing to exemptions, and the-supply of vaccine running short, which might he a serious matter in the case of an epidemic. Legislation would have to be'passecT'to meet this need. The abolition of vaccination would be opposed by a large section of the community.

—The Rigg Case

The remainder of the sitting was taken up in discussing the Rigg case, arising out of the petition of the veterans that the New Zealand cross granted to Harry Rigg for services in the Bay of Plenty during the Maori war he withdrawn. The Committee had no recommendation „to make.

Mr Hogg moved that the report he referred hack to the Committee for further consideration. The debate was adiourned. The House rose at 0.10 a.m.