POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11807, 9 August 1900, Page 3

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

(Feoii Oxjb Own Cobbespondent.) / WELLINGTON, August 8.

THE NEW MINISTER.

The amended Ministers'' Salaries and Allowances Bill only, provides for the appointment of one new Minister.in addition to Mr Carroll. The question now is, Who is to be the lucky man? The general impression is that either Mr Mills or Mr Hogg will be appointed. Personally the claims of Mr Mills are the stronger, but from a territorial point of view Mr Hogg has superior claims to the vacancy. Mr Mills cannot well be overlooked again, as ho was when Mr Duncan was made Minister of Lands, but if he, or any other southern member is, chosen, there is sure to be a great, outcry from the.North Island members, as the south has, already five representatives in'the Cabinet (.holding all the more important portfolios), ne compared with two from the north (Messrs M'Gdwan and Carroll). There is evidently trouble ahead for the Premier.. .... AN EARLY ARRIVAL. Some time ago Mr John Guard, of Marlborough, petitioned Parliament for a. grant of 100 acres of land, because of his being the first European child born "in the South Island, and because of services rendered to the colony. The Petitions Committee recommend the petition to the favourable consideration of the Government. . ' - A NEW; ZEALAND STOCK BOOK. Mr Buddo asked the Minister of Lands whether he will instruct the Agricultural department to prepare and publish a hand stock book, giving a description of diseases of stock in the colony, and the most _ useful known' measures of cure, such descriptions and remedial measures to be of a nature suitable to country settlers, who, have.not the advantage of veterinary assistance within reasonable distance. He said most of. such books now in the colony .were of American origin, and not quite suitable for .i ho colony. Mr Duncan, in reply, said many of such books did more harm than good." Stock-owners could get all the department reports, which gave much information regarding stock and the.disea&es of stock, so 1 hat. at present the .department .did not think riicli a book as Mr Buddo suggested was necessary.

THE QUESTION OF QUARANTINE. ,Mr : E. G. Allen asked, the Government when it is intended to remove the quarantine restrictions on vessels arriving in New Zealand ports from' Sydney and' Melbourne. Mr Ward gave a very brief answer. He simply said: "Sir, the matter is being very carefully considered by the Government." EARLY CLOSING.; The Premier, in answer to complaints by Mr Fisher about shop assistants going back to dress windows and. do other such work at night, said an amendment which he proposed would meet the'difficulty in the Shops and . Shop Assistants Act. " What about banto and commercial houses?" queried a member. The Premier said something 'should be done. Mr Fisher: "Will the Goyernment bring in a bill?" Mr Seddon: ''Yes, I think House should have an opportunity of dealing with the matter." ' ' . THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL. Mr Fisher asked the Government if they had appointed', or is it a fact that they contemplate appointing, Mr ■A. Barron to the position of Surveyor-general of. the colony? Air Duncan replied there was no' necessity to be in any hurry. The Surveyor-general was recently away irom the colony-ori leave, and they got on very well without him. As heatl of the department, he (Mr Duncan) had not yet made up his mind as to who was to have the position. In connection with this matter, I understand that Mr Percy Smith will retain his position on leave till September next. SPARKS FROM KAIL WAY ENGINES. Mr Hardy asked the Minister of Railways if he would place a sum of money on the Estimates for the purpose of recouping Mr John Gardiner and" other sufferers from the -■fires 'caused .by the railway train passing through Rakaia on. January 2, 1b97. Mr Ward, said the question was one that required very careful consideration. The report of the commissioner appointed by the Government showed that the best spark-catching appliances in the world were in use on the New Zealand railways. The fires, therefore, were the result of accident, and the department was not legally liable. The question arose whether Parliament would accept the responsibility of paying compensation in such cases. It opened up a very large question;. as claims would be made for damage by thousands of fires. The' Government was now considering the commissioner's -report.IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT. Mr Fisher asked ttie Minister of Justice whether, in the exercise of his prerogative, he will order the release of Thomas Eyton, who^ is serving a sentence of 10 weeks' imprison-' ment for debt.in H.M. Prison, Auckland, of which term he has served seven weeks and a-half? Mr Fisher read a. letter received from the prisoner in Auckland Gaol. He said the debt was incurred in Christchurch, but a summons had been served in Auckland, and the man sent to gaol there. Mr M'Gowan read the departmental statement of the case. If the prisoner thought he had been wrongfully committed he could appeal to the Supreme Court. In answer to a question by Mr Russell, it appeared that the prisouer had received £7 from Messrs Bann'atyne and Co., who had agreed to take no action if this sum wfl-e returned, even without costs. ■ . SLAUGHTERING AND INSPECTION.

When the House is in committee on the Slaughtering and Inspection Bill Mr Lawry intends to move an amendment in clause 5. which provides. that in every borough or town district having a population of not less than 2000 it shall be the" duty of the local authority to establish an abattoir. Mr Lawry proposes that the population shall be not less than 6000 instead of 2000. _ Mr.Lawry will also move to amend the bill'so. as to remove the compulsory powers of the Minister, and to give the local authorities the option of deciding whether they shall establish abattoirs or not. LATE HOURS. During the early hours of the morning the debate on the Ministers' Salaries Bill was characterised by much, confusion, no little inerrimeri, and--some personalities. For

COOL DISHES FOR HOT WEATHER.

In summer, the lady of the house is ever on the look-out for suitable dessert dishes foi the family, especially where there are children. She will find that one of the coolest and most agreeable dishes, and one ever welcome to the children, and to their elders, is a blanc-mange made with Brown and Poison's Corn Flour. This may be accompanied with preserved fruit or stewed fruit of all kinds in season. A' delicious jelly can be made by preparing- corn flour with the clear juice of stewed rhubarb, or any other juicy fruit, instead of with milk. To produce these dainty dishes really good corn flour is essential. Brown and Poison's "Patent" Corn Flour has long been recognised as the sl?»ndard article for thnse dishes. Though sometimes a trifle dearer than ordinary makes, it goes much further than others, and the dishes made from it are always much finer in flavour. Auk for teniu-n and Poison's "Patent" Corn Flow, iwvv qr.alil-f, and be sure that you get ic.

instance, on one occasion when a member was sneaking-, another interrupted him with the remark " Cut it short." The member interrupted retorted, "" Well, they could not cut your hair shoi'ter." The point in the remark being that the interrupter has the reputation of wearing a wig. The fun became fast and furious when Mr Napier was called onto help the Premier to draft certain amendments, and the amendments had to be amended again and again before the House was satisfied. At this stage frequent references of an ironical kind were made to the possibility of Mr Napier being offered the Attorney-generalship, and desperate endeavours were made to pick holes in his'efforts at bill-drafting. MILLERS' HOURS OF LABOUR. The Labour Bills Committee of the Council has recommended the insertion of the following proviso in the' Millers' Hours of Labour Bill:—"Provided that each person employed in a mill may, with the written consent of the inspector, work for a period not exceeding three hours in a day beyond the working hours on not more than 23 days in a year." The committee also recommends the omission of provisions giving certain powers to the Go-vernor-in-Council. THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY. Mr T. Mackenzie asked the Minister of Railways whether his attention has been called to the high rates of freightage charged on goods conveyed by rail to Otago Central, and, if so, will he endeavour to effect reductions so that the rates charged will not exceed those now obtaining on the Lawrence branch railway? Mr Ward said, in reply, that special rates only existed whore there was road. or water competition. There was road competition at Lawrence. He could not, therefore, grant the same rates to the Dtago Central where there was no such competition. Mr Mackenzie remarked that this was very hard on the people in the latter district. THE RABBIT PEST. - Mr T. Mackenzie asked the Premier about the introduction of a bill amending the Rabbit Act as promised by him to the Waihemo electors on the 16th July. Mr Seddon said the question was based on a wrong impression. He would like some proof of the alleged promine. Mr Mackenzie said that Mr Guflie, at his meeting at Dunback, said he had received word from the- Premier that the act would be amended shortly. The chairman of Mr Guffie's meeting had made a similar statement. The Premier said there was no doubt this was a . very important matter, and one thing was apparent—viz., that while it was necessary for "the inspectors to have arbitrary powers, these powers should be exercised with judgment and tact. The question had been considered by the recent Agricultural Conference, and the conclusions they had arrived at were sound. Mr Mackenzie asked if anything would be done by the Government. The Premier said his colleague, Mr Duncan, was going into the matter. JOTTINGS. Mr Alex. Allen Fleming, 'formerly of Herbert, a medical practitioner, is petitioning for compensation for having attended for seven and a-half years the Natives at Moeraki, under the belief that he would be paid by the Government. He' values his services at '£70.