POLITICAL NOTES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10596, 27 October 1910, Page 1

POLITICAL NOTES.

By Telegraph.

(Fiom Onr Own Correspondent) ■Wellington, October 26. —A Roval Bereavement.— In reply to a telogiam conveying the' sympatin of the Government and ot New Zealand with the Eoyal Family upon the death of Prince Francis *,jof J * Teck, a, telegram has been iecei\.ed Mjy the Governor from the Secretary»' u of' State to the Colonies —"Please ifionvey i to \our Government sincere thaiiks of their Majesties. f° r message 'of * condolence." < ( i —Services Rendciod. — "J Colonel T.'W. Porter's petition, for'a superannuation allowance r t upofl letjireiiiont has been lefeired-hy .PuhhcPc! itions Committee, to fhe Guveriimeht for favoxable consideration in'TviUw >^bfi the valuable services ,rendered to< the-' Dominion by the petitipnei. .Another petition from Colonel Porter praying for moneys due to his son, the late Lieut R. H Porter, for services m the Afucan war has'also been referred to* the Government f ( or consideration. —Copyright in Photographs The petition of a large number of professional photographers who desire Parliament to grant by legislation a copyright) to the author or producer of any photograph has been referred by the Public Petitions Committee to the Government for consideiation This is equivalent to no >recommendation 1 ' —Buned Recoids. — The Native Affans Committee recently; requested the Minister of Public "Works ,to have a-search made-for-docu-ments and historical records under the rums of Parliament Buddings. . As a result the i Minister reported a careful search ,has been made l>v means ot ex.-' cavations,* hut, no documents< of any value.have been found under the nuns. f —Maori 'Lard 'Pin chases The aiea* of land" 1 acquired b\ the Crown under the Maori Land Settlement Act of 1905 with titles to the" Ci;ortii completed amounts to 1.3,588 acres, while the area still on hand awaiting completion of title amounts to 32,476 acics, to which m£>-\ he added about 20,000 awes of the Otci angi Block, giving a total* of 42,476 acies midei negotiation. Practically the whole of these lands are in the Auckland district In IDOS purchase work ceased, the funds under the Maori Lands Settlement Act having been exhausted. In Jnh, 1909, furthei funds weie a/ailablc and opeiations were commenced in the Soivth Auckland and Waikato and continued at intei\als tlmughout the T,car. ,The follow lug ,?s a statement ol expenditure durmjj; the financial —Puichases completed, £21,952 17s 2d; purchases incomplete, £9471 18s 8d; suive\'s, administration, and general expenses, £465 18s 6d, — total, £31,890 14s 4d. 1 " —The Land Bill An indication ot the attitude of leadei= to the Land Bill is given m, amendments, which Mi Witt\ has given notice to move m Committee He piopdses to omit from the clauses relating to the acquisition of the fee sample of Icase-m-pei petuity lands all xefeience to instalments, and to make the payment spot cash at the present unlmpioved value of the land instead »pf the original value. In consonance with tlifese, pioposals he has moved to omit the clause enabling the apportionment of; the purchase money among several subdivisions , x I £VIi Witty also pioposes to reduce the value "of-land precedent to compulsory lease from £40,000 to £39,000 and to eliminate the proviso granting the owner land in the block leased up to the value of £souO. - I Holidays Bill iThc Hon D Buddo has informed Sir Wm. Steward that the Public Hphdajs Bill will be ready for introduction week.

i —The Tammany Chaiges.— The Special .Committee on Mr J B. Hme's chaiges of Tammanyism, which is to enqune into the cases alter all, will meet on Friday morning to'take evidence. Mr Sine and those named in the chai ges wijl be permitted to be represented b> counsel, a fact which mav lesult m the shoitenmg of the pioceedings Mr Eiiic w ill appear and call evidence. Mr C E Major and Mr Henare Ka'ihau, M.P , also desire, it is stated, to-give evidence, although they will not necessarily appear on Fn-d-a-v j —Land for Settlement. — fThe Government has leceived a reI ppit on the Stonev Cieek Estate fiom the. Land Pm chase Board, and its purchase is under consideration I in icply to Sir William Steward the lh rme Minister has also stated that the Government has leceived an ofler or the Serpentine Valley portion of the Waihao Downs Estate foi closer settlement, and it' will be considered m due Ldouise. ! —Railway Piomotions. — I The publication of D.V.A iailw aymen's classification list has evoked a ciop of complaints, and Mr T H Davey asked the Minister for Railways to-day why a number of piomotions of engmedrueis on the Government railways had been wilhheld fins year. Ho stated that the Enginemen's and Firemen £ Association had informed him that the Minister had promised to make up uis first grade pioportion to 50 per denu. and had undertaken that thej woulc not be losers through the promotion) having been withheld-last year. . Sc\eral other membeis stated tna

the engmemen bad communicated with them expressing gieat dissatisfaction •vMtli thi& year's classification. The Hon. J A. Millar replied that he was not m the habit of bieaking ins word He had not made such promise as was alleged He had told th<> eivmcmen that they would lemam in n\Actlj the same position tor pi emotion this a ear as it theie had been no need to withhold the increment The-, weie H=kmg linn to single out a few men 101 pawnent If they were to leceiyc the amount of the increment withheld the whole civil service ought also to benefit The engmemen weie lighting a eompulson maximum of 50 per cent' in each <uadc, but the House had altered the law a row j ears ago, making it optional "Vii Kussell B> a fluke. The Minister' added that he had to M nisc mcicments last-yeai owing to the .educed revenue, and the 1 ail.\vaymen hid been leasonable and perfectly loyal >n accepting the position. It the House wished to he fair,it could notcauply the pioposal to the..engmemen alone. v , —The WaftganM' BaveV— The Prime- MmisteV stated ( in tire House xo-day that '£lloo is annually paid m subsidies' by flie Government to the owners of the "Wanganui ,nver steamers, £7oo' being-foi |h e " service* from Wangaaui '-to Pipiriki 1 and £4UU tor its continuation to- Taumarumu —lmported Oregon.—. ■ The advent of a five-masted, Amen- v can schooner at AucklancL with over amillion feet of sawn > Oregon pine did, not fail to diaw a suggestionythat an, additional duty,should be placed on all siwn timber. • - - s> >" - Replying to it the Prime Minister states that the impoit of Oregon timber into 'New Zealand has diminished to such an extent that there does not seem to be an;\ necessitj for taking any action at present, although the'annual output into New Zealand mills is oyer fdur hundred million superficial feet; The import of timber from has been as follows: For 190S, laths and shingles 6,264,929 (in number). __other timber (sawn, undressed) 11;,572;578 superficial feet; for 1909, laths and shingles 1,426,988 (in number), other timber (sawn, undressed) 3,693,812 superficial feet; for 1910, January to June, laths and shingles 289,500 (iri number): other timber (sawn, undressed) 1625 superficial feet. •■-■