HANSARD EXTRACTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6143, 18 October 1881, Page 4

HANSARD EXTRACTS.

♦ 1 COMHITTEE OF SUPPLY. Mr Pitt would like to have an explanation i theitam "Expenses under 'The Adulteratic Prevention Act, 1880,' L 400." Waa thismone spent for testing adulterated drink? ,If so, wa3 well spent ; but bo did riot thick that w: the case. Sir W. Fos did not think the adulteration i drink was tested, or they would hear of pr secatiens. It seemed to him that there was lamentable dsfecfc somewhere. Ho trusted tl l' Colonial Socretary would instruct the police i li take r.cLive steps in tha matter. Mr Suttou wanted to know soraethintr aboi tho item " Compilation of Maori Histor; t L 200." This waa an old friend of his. Perhaj J the Colonial Secrotary would tell tham wh< ~ it would be published. Mr Dick replied, with reference to t! Adulteration Prevention Act, that gentlemf were appointed to au&lygo samples submitte to them in the ohief towns. With regard I testing the adulteration of drink, he did m think it was done to the extent it might b but the fault lay in the Act itself. The polii could not act oa their own motion. Howeve better provision was made in the Licensing Bil Aa to the compilation of Maori history, ' s tfould bo remembered that last year it wi [8 arranged that tha honourable member for tl '°. Thames should superintend the gentleman wl . 0 was compiling it. He was afraid that th? io was not much done in the way of suporinte: r- deuce, from what he oould hear, but Mr Whi i- was actively engaged in compiling the histor n and seemed to bo going on faithfully with h j? work. If honourable members wished for i >j ho. could read them a long report on the su io ject, IS THE DUNEDIN GAOLEB. 10 Mr Montgomery would like the Minister t8 Jnstioa to explain why the salary of the gaol at Dun6din had beea reduced from LBOO i. L 370. Ie Mr Dick explained that this officer racoivi i- LSOO under the old arrangement. He had he< transferred from tha Provincial Government •' that rate of salary, but coming under the ne L j regulations ho only received L3OO as a firs , B class gaoler. He had been in service for '. 11 years, and was entitled to receive L 5 for ea< c year of servico. That brought his salary up ■» L 370. '? Mr Fulton thought it was a very great har a ship to make such a large reduction in tl ;. salary of an old and efficient servant at oi Is fell swoop. p Mr Stewart Baid that this gentleman was pr d bably the most experienced gaoler In tl 2 Colony, and it would be a great injustice bt apply a cast-iron rule to him in the mann p proposed, d Mr W. J. Hurst deprecated the practice y members from particular localities urging tl d personal claims of individuals. The Committ should only consider the office for which tl saUry waa voted. He believed the gaoler Auckland waa not only equal, but superior !s tho Dunedin gaoler, who had certainly di ~ played consummate ability in the art of " cool 'i. ing " accounts. Salary passed aa printed. THE PARLIAJIEKTABY LIBBABT. Mr Wakefield called attention to the ite "Library, L 600," and presumed that waa fi new books. He hoped that it would be bett spent than tha last vote. A graat many of tl T books were quite worthless, and were not I , to be put upon tho shelves of a private hons B | much lesß on the shelves of what used to be tl n best library in the Australasian Colonies. Thi n appeared to be a lot of secondhand book which might be bought as wastapaper at an it bookstall in England. d Sir Maurice O'Eorks said that, iv cons J- qaance of the dissatisfaction oxpressed b ' r honourable members, the Library Committi 1 had changed their bookseller, and had appoints a gentleman in England connected with a lar; institution in Dunedin to carry out the nece sary orders. He had discretion to the exfcei of LSO to send out new b?oks-aa they iesu( from the Press. The bulk of the books wou be sent out according to the orders sent Hon ," by tha Library Committee. One diftlauH )r the Committee had to contend with was th: r . honour.iblo members did not avail tharaßelvi y as freely a3 they ought of their privilege entet snggsatioos in the suggestion-book. Mr Browa hoped that a Rum would bo plac; L on the Supplementary Eitimatea for the pu pose ofproviding a new library, and also Ih aomothing would bo done to provsat membe being assailed by so many smells when the wore passiog along tha lobbies. He knew fch; I ssvfTftl meuibora had met their deaths in co seo.uenea of the wretched accommodation in tl Honse. Mr Lnndon thought it would be a good thii if tha library were burnt down to..morroi Tha people who sat in tho library ac read books were the peoplo who did not kno what waa on the Eitimatcs, and who came rus' ing ininquirinK how they should vote. He hi beoa in the House three years, and had noyi road a book in the library, and he waa of opinic that he represented his constituents as well: any gentleman who sat in the library all da; If their constituents knew how thosa me speut their time they would get people to com to tha House who would study the wants ( the country rather than the book 3 which rt library cont lined. Mr Hall held a very different opinion froi the honourable member for the Bay of Isl&nd He thought that members who spent coneide able time in tho library were probably moi useful members than those who wasted tire in much talking. He sympathised with t! 0 desire tbat better provision Bhould be m.'.de h their books. Msjjr. Harris thought It wonld be well t 3 havo a fire and burn a large cumber of boot th»t wero in: the library. If the honourabl member for Wellington had Been the books tha

ho bad scan, that honourable gentleman wonld not say he ehould like to have them on bin • library shelves. They were a disgraco io that House and the country. Mr Oliver inquired what books these were. Mnjor H&rriu would not like to tell the honourable member, or he would go straight to them. Vote passed aa printed. WEST OOAST COMMISSION. Mr Brown found that theve were other nioa pickings, such as L4O la fos. cottage comforts at Hftwera. An honourable member ■ Bnyn "medical comforts." They knew the joint expenses of some of tho other Commissionß -era very considerable, a large portion of which was for hotel comforts, including whisky and other boverages. Ho did not B»y that ttmt was the cue of the honourable member for Ranjjttikai, but it looked very mysterious when they cow thi3 side-noto, " Comforts for cottage, Kawero," Sir W. Fox did not wish to spoil the honourable gaatl6man'u little joke, but, juHt to show how little the honourable member knew of the matter, he would mention that the item of L4O waa spent in purchasing furniture for an empty cottage at Hawera —which was the only place he aud his fallow Commissioner could get to live in—aud he believed it waa afterwards Bold (or more than it coat. Mr Shrimski understood that the money waa speut in champagne and dark brandy. OTAQO CENTRAL VOTE. Mr Wright wished to know whether there wore still any of the so-called "unemployed" at work on this railway, as it was understood that system was to be put a stop to. He under. stood that] these people found it bo profitable that'they declined to relinquish the work. He would also like to know why men who fead neon taken on from charitable motives Bhould be practically given contracts only terminable on the completion of the works. The Minister for Public Works said that the work waa being done very cheaply, at 2* Gd a yard. L&Bt winter a man came to him (Mr Wright), and as they could not agree as to the .cages, the man said he would return to Mallncky Gully, as he had been making from 9j to 12a a day by piecework there, working eight hours a day. The price wag certainly 2i 6d a yard ; but, in addition to that, the Government found everything else—powder, fuz>, drills, hammers, siiovals, trucks, and a smithy to keep the tools in repair ; so. that tho cosi was more like 43 6d a yard. Mr Hall said there were no men employed oil the work who could, properly speaking, be laid to belong to "the unemployed." There were 21 men employed.altogether on piecework. There were no men on day wages. It was not expected that this part of tue work would last much longerVote, Otago Central, L 36.000, agreed to. BESIDENT MAGISTBATE'S COOBTB. . Motion made, and question proposed—" That bhi3 Council is of opinion that the course par-' sued by resident magistrates in allowing profesaional coats to suitors claiming sums under L2O is injudiciouß."—Hon. Mr Wilson. The Hon. Mr Whitaker said an insuperable objection to this motion was to be found in the circumstance that it was. very undesirable for the Legislature to interfere with the jadgmeut of the BosideafcMagistrate^ Court on any ojoasioa. Judicial power was under the Act given to them to grant coats if they thought tit, and it was not within the power of the Government to alter that on the mere rejolution of the Council. He objected to the judicial officers being at all interfered wi'.h by ths jExecntivo, for if (that were once" done it would inevitably create ;>re»t confusion. It would simply coma to this at last: that the resident magistrates would appeal to the Law Officers of the Crown on all <orts of occasions, so that practically the administration of justice would be placed in tae uauds of the Law Officers of the Crown, who had never seen the parties, and who had not heard the evidence on whioh the decisions were based. He hoped the honourable gentleman would withdraw his resolution. It would be a very dangerous precedent to allow the Government to interfere with the decisions jf a Resident Magistrate. On every ocoasion on which he had held office aa Attorney general he had resolutely set his face against tbat sort of thing, and had always refused :o give tho Resident Magist rates any advica a3 io what their decisions Bhould be. Only the other day, in a case of wifa-murdar at Oamaru, tha Resident Magistrate dealing with the case had written asking the advice of the Law Officers of the Crown. That request he (Mr Whitaker) had at once refused. He had pointed out that it was a very important case, and that it Bhould ba fully investigated, but what the decision should be must rest entirely with the Magistrate himself —that he was placed on the Bench to deoide such caseß according to the bast of his judgment, and not according to the advice of the A.ttoraey-goneral, He had always bald the same doctrine, and therefore he hoped his honourable friend would withdraw tha re. iolution. They would meet on the Judicature Commißßion, where a full opportunity of discassiug such matters would be afforded: and if the honourable gentleman would raise the question there, he (Mr Whitaker) would afferd his bast assistance in getting the matter settled in a satisfactory manner. The motion was afterwards allowed to lapse. GOVERNMENT INSURANCE DEPABTMENT. The Hoo, Colonel Brett: Sir, I consider it is impracticable to transfer the Government insurance business to a company. I would not truat any company in this country. I have boon in several, and everyone failed .. Hon. Members: Hear, hear. The Hon. Colonel Brett: Failed, not from any uiiGmar>agement on my part, but from the mismanß.qement of tho directors. All the directors iv this country put their grandfathers and their uncles and cousins into them in all departments. I bel juged to one company in Christohurch, and held several shares in it, and lost by them, sir. Taere was another company—a Hnea and flax company—which my honourable friend who sits behind me (Hon. Mr Peacock), but who, I Bee, ia not hsre now, made a fortune out of. And why ? Because a lot of cousins and unclea and aunts were in the management of- it, and ho, like a wise man, put proper people in it. Ido not think any company like this would do here. It is not stated how it is to be camed.out, or ia what way it is to be done. I maintain, sir, that nine oat of 10 of those who have got policies will oppose tha exchange. I must agree with what th 3 Hon. Captain Waser said about the way of getting these people to insure their lives. I have seen them every month doing the same as the honourable gentleman says. Some lim9 ago I saw ebme half-starved looking jantlemia or another —a doctor, I suppose ha waa—driving up to my pUce in a buggy with * poor, broken-down horse. I thought it waa some person who was going to arrest me for debt. He called upon me, and asked mo, ■'Do you want to insure your life?" I asked him iv the conversation, " What do you think my age is!" He said, "Well, from your ■ appearance, I; should think you about. 50." I said, "You are wrong;; you must add 22 to that;" and then I asked him, " What do you think of my pulse ?"—" Oh," ha eaid, "it is a first-rate pufie." Well, sir, I know that I have a diseased heart; but what could this poor devil of a doctor know about my Btate of health ? Ho would have insured ma then and there, and have got a guinea for insuring ma, and walked away, while possibly in a yoar or two I might be carried to my grave, and there would have been a heavy lobs to tha Colony. Then he goes all over my farm, and aeks a whola lot of fellows, and got some I believe in it. A man of any sense goes down to the city, and insures his life there. That is the proper way, and they should not go about fisting for lives, and ruining the country, - STEPHENS AND BTtPHENS. Mr Kelly asked the Colonial Secretary, What action has been taken by the Government to give effect to the report of the Publia Petitions Committed in the cuae of the petition of Stephens and Stephens? He had been aated by the Public Petitions Committee to l>ut this question. [He read the report of the Committee to tha effect that L 1226 had been receivad by E. ff. Ward as trustee for the estate of the late J. S._Dougla3, of which no acoonnt had been furnished; and there appeared a pHma facie case of misappropriation of the estate.] Mr Dick replied that the Registrar at Dunedin was instructed to take action to get the account rendered ■as recommended by the Public Petitions Committee.. The Registrar had telegraphed to Hawera, where it. was believed Mr Ward resided, and had also written to him, but no reply had been obtained. He then telegraphed to the Government asking for instructions as to whether ha might apply to the Court to obtain an order, and he was authorised to do so If he thought necessary. He asked the assistance of the Crown Solicitor, and the result wan contained iv the following telegram, dated 15th September, received from the Registrar:—"Have consulted Crown Solicitor- Ho advises that I cannot compel account, as I am neither legatee, next of kin, nor a creditor of testator; and in point of faot I have nothing to do with tho matter. He refers me to ' Williams on Executors,' page 2657." , This wa3 the last stage of the matter, and he would lay tho papers on tha table for the information of honourable members. Mr Kfllly asked if they were to under, otaud that an order given by the Supreme: Court wag to hfivo no effect if an officor could set thai; ordar at deuanoa, and if the Government had no power to enforco the order of their own Court? Mr Dick was not sufficient of a lawyer to anawer that question. If the honourable member would put a question on the paper to the effect that he (Mr Dick) should consult the Solicitor-general, he would be happy to do so. '