PARLIAMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18468, 1 February 1922, Page 6

PARLIAMENT.

YESTERDAY’S PROCEEDINGS from Press Association telegram.) LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WELLINGTON, January 51. , The Legislative Council met at 2.30 p.m. INSURANCE COMPANIES’ DEPOSITS BILL. The Council agreed to a change in the date of the coming into effect of the Insur.nnce' Gampaniee’ Deposits Bill as proposed by Governor-General’s Message. SHOPS AND OFFICES BILL. Managers were appointed to a conference with the managers from the House of Rej presentatives relating to a disagreement on■’Amendments made by the Council in the Shops and Offices Bill. . „ HOUSING AMENDMENT BILL. The..-Rousing Amendment Bill received -from .the House of Representatives was read a second time pro forma, and referred to the Statutes Revision Committee. The Council adjourned at 2.41 p.m. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

, The House met at 2.30 p.m. WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BILL, i The Workers’ Compensation Amendment Bill, promoted early in the session by Mr E.,, J, ...Howard, was brought before the i House by the Labour Bills Committee, I "which recommended that the Bill should be given consideration when the proposed consolidating measure was proceeded with next session." ‘ Sir JOHN LUKE, chairman of the committee, said the committee was prepared to ( deal with the Bill in the usual way, but it : received an assurance from the Minister of j Labour that he proposed to bring down a j consolidating measure next session, when : the points raised in Mr Howard’s Bill would > be considered. Mr HOWARD explained his BiH in detail, I and said the principal clause was that abo- ’ fishing the law of common employment. He claimed that in this he had the support of Sir John Salmond, who spoke of tho , system as pernicious, and one which should j bo wiped out. Mr Howard argued that the I opposition to the proposal to abolish the " law of common_ employment was owing- to the insurance companies would '■ not accept risks, and not because it was honestly believed that the principle was wrong. Thq, report of the committee was tabled. PAINTERS’ HEALTH PROTECTION BILL, Tho Labour Bills Committee recommended I that the Painters and Decorators’ Health I Protection Bill should be brought up next • session. Sir,. JOHN HEBE said thus course was suggested because of the pressure of time. •; Ho .thought the Bill would get a good run : next session. Mr W.' A. VETTCH contended that an excellent non-poisonous substitute for white lead in paint had been found, and steps should be-taken to prohibit the nse of white lead in paint, as it was a menace to the health, not only of painters, bnt to the occupants of houses in which it was used ; as a paint. j Mr HOWARD supported the contentions I of Mr Veitoh, and gave a large number of details as to the effect of lead poisoning. The report of tho committee was ordered to ‘lie ioa the table. UNEMPLOYED WORKERS BILL On behalf of the Labour Bills Committee, i Sir JOHN LUKE said the committee had [ Some to the conclusion that the Unem- [ ployed Workers Bill was to some extent I an Appropriation Bill, and should be redrafted before it could be considered by the I House. It introduced a new political principle in New Zealand —namely, the payment i of the unemployed, and would require a i good difaUof careful consideration, j Mr P. FRASER, who introduced ■ tho i Bill, Kald the Bill wag based on that introj duced by the Queensland Labour Govern--1 merit, 1 bflfc ; 'ho recognised that the conclusion ) of tho committee that the Bill was an Apl propriation Bill was just. At the same l| time tho House should not adjourn until ( some provision had been made to cope with the unemployed problem. Personally he facing another winter with unem - pteyareflt as rampant as it was last year. I Tho payment of the unemployed, though \ new to New Zealand, was not the most, important 'feature of the Bill, the funda;!’mental principle of which was the right B to work. V The report was ordered to lie on rhe table. /" Reports on petitions. The remainder of the sitting was taken up i with a discussion of reports on petitions j considered by the Public Petitions Cotn- \ mit-tee-. '" Tho Howe adjourned at 5.30 p.m.

ETENING SITTING. „ TJie House resumed at 7.30 p.m. " SHOPS AND OFFICES BILL. Thb amendments made by the Legislative Council in the Shops and Offices Bill were agreed to ■ LAND AGENTS BILL. The amendments made by the Legislative Cbtihcil- in tho Land Agents Bill were considered The Hon. W. DOWNIB STEWART suggested that the House should disagree with the amendments prohibiting land agents also actifig as land brokers, and prohibiting Solicitors acting as land agents. This .course was followed. HARBOURS BILL. The Hon. Sir WILLIAM HERRIES moved the second reading of the Harbours Ajfiendment Bill empowering boards to provide dining and other accommodation for waterside workers, also to regulate traffic -on the foreshores, and to enable useless mud flats to he utilised. Mr T. M. WTLFORD objected to power being, given to grant the freehold to persons taking up mud flat land, some of which ■when reclaimed would be very valuable.

Mr T, W. RHODES agreed that all waste , mud flats should be put to good use, l-i.-t . the reclamation should be done by the ( Government. If leases, however, were to private persons they should be I for terms long enough to enable the lessee ; to bring the land into a profitable condition. I The Hon. J. G- COATES pointed' out that ’ the Bill applied particularly to the foreI shore of Hokianga and adjoining inlets. ‘ Lessees could not be expected to go to the expense of reclamation unless they could some day get the freehold. I Mr WILFORD said he did not object to v the- freehold being granted, but wanted the 1 terms defined on which the freehold was obtainable. Mr G. W. FORBES did not like handing j over these lands to private enterprise, which ■would hold on for speculative purposes. I The reclamation should be done by the I Government, which was the only body able to'undertake the work on a scale necessary ! to produce profitable results. ; -MV W. H. REED said the Bill would be a great boon to hie district, where there were very' long tidal river foreshores (300 • miles in one river alone) which were valueless until reclaimed. Mr H. ATMORE fNelaon) urged that harbour, boards should have power to grant extended deases of mud'flat lands eo that they might be brought into profitable occu- ' pation.- , Mr J. M. DICKSON (Chalmers) supported this suggestion. , „ , Mr S. G. SMITH (Taranaki) advocated that 1 , harbour boards should be_ given the same power as municipal authorities to buy back' their own bonds. Th<j MINISTER replied that this was a matjjojr.'idf''great difficulty, as each harbour boaol loan was authorised by separate legislation.' ..The whole question would be reviewed m a comprehensive Harbours Bill to be introduced next session. Referring Lo the . criticism of clause 4, the Minister said the proposal Was not new, it proposed only to grant - leases of land between high and low-rwater marks. The Marino Department always had power to give leases of these landskfor <2l years, but this term was not long .enough, and greater encouragement mußfc>be"gnen to possible lessees, especially •where, us in North Auckland, these are chibfly ’small farmers. The Bill was read k second time. li>AN COMPANIES BILL. The Loan Companies Bill (Hon. E. P. LEE)- wUfTiread a second time. ’ffl RAILWAY'S BILL. 1 The Hon. D. H. GUTHRIE moved the sectorKb.-seading of the Government’s Raildealing with the classification and . (at an hourly rate instead of a daily rate) in tho second division, and ofKgF fvdffiitustrativo matters. It proposed a penajty of £lO for breaches of the regffKutidiis By motor cars at level crossings. This was prompted by reason of the number of accidents recently at such crossings. Clause"lo' r enabled local bodies to contribute to the-.construction and maintenance of a bridge' or' subway to oWlato the clangers crossing. ' Mr W. A. VEITCH said he would move ; U> Committee an amendment to the clausa

covering agreements as to hoars of work, so that in any new arrangements nothing should be done to increase the hours of ■work. This was.necessary in the interests of both the staff and the public safety. He urged that improvements in railway facilities at the chief centres should be undertaken without delay, thereby adding to the productive possibilities of ■the railways and providing work for a Targe number of unemployed. Mr H. E. HOLLAND urged an improvement in the accommodation on trains, and abolition of the second class. He accused the Government of neglecting the country’s own sources of coal supply by not providing proper housing for miners. If this were done the New Zealand mines would produce all the coal required, and there would be no need to go outside for supplies, which were frequently of inferior quality. The MINISTER, in the course of his reply, combated the argument of Mr Holland with regard to the importation of foreign coal, contending that for the past 25 years we had been importing coal for the railways. New Zealand had' spent many thousands of pounds on foreign coal, which ought to have been spent in the dominion, but this had been made compulsory because the coal miners of New Zealand had been weak enough to listen to the advice of extreme leaders.

The Bill was read a second time and referred to tho Railways Committee,

COMPANIES EMPOWERING BILL. The Hon. E. P. LEE moved the second reading of the Companies Temporary Empowering Bill, and also of the Arms Amendment Bill, which were agreed to without debate.

The former Bill enables companies, with the consent of the_ depositors, to issue preference shares against deposits held by the company, and the latter extended to other persons the privilege of holding certain, arms which at present is only enjoyed by returned soldiers. VARIOUS BILLS. The House went into Committee and passed the Harbours Amendment Bill, the Loan Companies- Bill, the Companies Temporary Empowering Bill, and the Arms Amendment Bill. All these BiUs were then read a third time arid passed. DENTISTS BILL The Dentists Amendment BDI was then taken ip Committee. On tho suggestion of Mr WILFORD the Hon. C. J. PARR agreed that the total dental experience to qualify was reduced from five years to four, and in that form the Bill was read a third time and passed. LAND LAWS BILL The Land Laws Amendment. Bill was introduced by‘Governor-General’s Message and read a first time and referred to the Linds Committee. The Hon. D. H. GUTHRIE said the Bill was intended to give effect to tho recommendations of the High Land Commission, which reported with regard to the high, lands in, the South Island, and to give pastoralists and lessees of education endowments some relief during the present slump. HOSPITAL BILL. The Hospital and Charitable Institutions Amendment Bill was, taken in Committee. The Hon. J. A. HANAN said the Bill was of such a contentious nature that it should not be brought in at such a late hour. It was not fair to members who had a strenuous day. It simply meant that a Bill that should be carefully considered would be rushed through. He specially jected to the clauses dealing with private hospitals. These clauses should be held over to enable the British Association to meet and express an opinion.^ The MINISTER said he had no intention of forcing these clauses through; at the same time they were tho result of careful thought by his departmental officers. who thought, in the interests of the public, that private hospitals should be subject to closer inspection. He asked the House to pass these clauses, and when they went to the Legislative Council the British Medical Association would have an opportunity of stating their objections before a committee of that body. Mr A. D. M‘LEOD objected to clauses seven and eight, which provided for an immediate levy against local bodies, when it was well known that those bodies had not collected rates, and that owing to the largo number of soldier settlers at least 25 per cent, of the rates cannot be collected. The MINISTER said he proposed to modify that portion of the Bill. (Left sitting.)