Monday, July 2. THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1911, 6 July 1888, Page 15

Monday, July 2. THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.

I learn that though the Public Works department will cease to exist as a separate department at the end of the present session, it is not intended that there shall be any reduction in the number of Ministerial portfolios until the strength of the House is reduced. The Lands department will in future have control of roads and bridges, under the direction of the " Minister of Lands and Works," while the construction branch of the Railway department will bo attached to Working Railways department, under charge of a•« Minister of Railways." Of course tho reorganisation will cause a large number of dismissals from the present Public Works branch of the service. Working railways will only need at most two more engiueers for the added duties, and the Lands department one engineer. In the Public Works Estimates, yat to be brought down, large reductions have been made In many of the higher salaries; among these, it is said, the salary of the Engi-neer-in-chief will be reduced by* £200, and that of the Assistant Engineer-in-chief by £150. PENSIONS. A return presented to the House shows that the amount paid annually in pensions in New Zealand is £29,737 Us 4d, of which £21,971 is under "The Civil Service Act 1886"; £2485 under the civil list (Native) ; and £2140 under the Military Pensions Aot. The amount paid to the holders of the New Zealand Cross ia £180 a year. STATE FORESTS. . The conservation of our New Zealand forests has been engaging the attention of the Minister for some time past. The Soate Forests Act Amendment Bill, which was introduced on Friday by the Minister for Lands, empowers the Governor to withdraw open lands from under the operation of the original acb, and provides than any unexerciaed order for forest tree plpnting- may still be exercised up to the 3rd December 1890, when they will become null and void ; while any order yet to be issued shall expire on the same date. SPECIAL SETTLERS. The knight of Kawau is busily engaged in striving to bring about a system of settlement which will induce agricultural prosperity. In his Special {Settlers Relief Bill Sir George proposes to abolish the differential rents for landa held under the farm homestead, settlement, village special settlement, and village homestead settlements, and to fix them at a perpetual annual rental at a percentage on capital value of the land, together with a percentage on the moneys advanced under the regulations. It ia also proposed to give selectors the right of acquiring their freeholds after occupation for a certain period, on fulfilment of the conditions imposed by the settlement regulations, and on payment of the capital value of the holdings and repayment of the money advanced with interest. In all cases where tho regulations require the occupation of lands by tho selectors such condition is to be held to Lavd been fully complied with if tho selector can show that he has been in occupation for a certain number of years jet to be fix^d. Selectors arc also to have the right of subdividing and subletting their holdings. PUBLIC BODIES POWERS. The amending bill is now circulated, l'rotn its provisions I glean that " endowment reserves " mpans and includes all Crown lands set apart by way of endowment, whether granted to or vested in any leasing authority. The term " leasing authority " has the same meaning as given thereto in the " Public Bodies Powers Act 1887," and shall also include any authority howsoevor named, and any person, or persons in or to which or whom- any endowment reserve is vested or granted. Endowment reserves are to be sobject to the Public Bodice Powers Act. In relation to reserves, eudowment reservep, and other land under control of any leasehold authority, the Land Board is to have powers of leasing authorities. Leases of two terras of 21 years may be granted, and three terms of 14 years. Lands acquired under power of sale on niortgago may be cold as if they were reserves. An important provision gives the Governor power to interfere in case of maladministration. PROHIBITION. The member for Taieri has session after session endeavoured to make the licensing law* moro stringent, and this session he intends to move the following drastic ' resolution :— " Whereas the enormous expenditure on intoxicating liquors in the Colony/ amounting annualy to more than two millions sterling, contributes largely to the exiating dq*

pression, adds materially to crime and poverty, and reduces the capital available for reproductive industries ; and whereas people under the existing law are powerless to remove the principal cause of these evils, it is in the opinion of this House imperative that the Government should without delay introduce a bill giving power to the people by direct vote at the ballot box, periodically taken, to prohibit the sale of such liquor within the district in which they reside." CARRIAGE OF FRUIT. At a quarter past 10 this morning a deputation, consisting of Messrs Fyke, O'Callagahan, Perceval, Jackson, Hobb3, hlarchant, Turnbul), Fish, Steward, and Pratt, waited on the Minister of Public Works in reference to the question of a reduction of the freight at present charged on the" railways for the conveyance of fruit. The deputation urged that there should be a separate class for the carriage of fruit, which at present could only be sent at low freight when of the amount of two tons. What was wanted was that the charge should be at per cwt, and this would give encouragement to the fruit industry. Empties should also be returnable at low rates. The Minister, in reply, said he had consulted with the Premier on the matter, and that he expressed his concurrence with these views. The subject would be brought before the Cabinet at once, and the deputation would be informed of the result. LAND ACT AMENDMENT. A week or so ago I wired you a brief outline of the provisions of the bill which the Hon. Mr Richardson was framing to amend the Land Act. I have been afforded a further opportunity of studying the provisions of the measure. Its main object is to bring about Legislation in view of the falling in of the Canterbury pastoral leases next year. The provisions in this connection are as follows : — Pastoral lands are to be classified. Purely pastoral lands are to be disposed of for actual lease for a term not exceeding 21 years. Semi-pastoral lands are to be dealt with under the present law, with the right of re-entry on the part of the Government on 12 months' notice for the purposes of settlement. The minor but still important provisions of the bill are that payments of thirds to local authorities shall be made quarterly, direct from the Receiver of Land Revenne (hitherto the money was forwarded to the Treasury, and had to pass through the Lands, Treasury, and Audit departments, causing great delay). Residence on swamp lands may be limited, as in the case ot" bush lands, under the act of 1885. The bill simplifies the provisions for exchange of perpetual leases to deferred payments, the pro>visions of the act of 1887 in this respect being imperative. Exchanges of tenure are only to be made once, and are not permitted with regard to land acquired after the year 1887. Finally the bill provides for administration on the dissolution of Land Boards, and determines what duty shall be performed by the Commissioner of Crown Lands and what will require the approval of the Minister before being entered upon. Payments for cash purchases are made uniform, Jbeing now one-fifth all round. TOESDAY, JULT 3. Both the Legislative Council and House of Representatives adjourned this afterday as a mark of respect to the memory of the late Mr Pearson.member for Ashley. The Houseof Representatives resumed in the evening, when the debate which arose on Friday, on the motion to proceed with the Estimates, was continued. Mr Monk's amendment as to the desirability of amending the Legislative Officers' Salaries and the Public Revenues ' Acts was rejected, but another debate followed. The House finally proceeded to consider the Estimates at a late hour. No progress was made, however, as a discussion arose over the point whether the salaries of the officers of the House were to be subject to the Government or the Speaker, and eventually progress was reported. FREETRADE CAUCUS. This forenoon a caucus of the Freetrade party Was held, at which 1.9 members were present, Mr George Beetham in the chair. Although a good deal of reticence is observed regarding the proceedings, it is an open 6ecret fchafc should a favourable opportunity occur the Cobdenites will band together in order to check the Protectionist policy of the Government. Several of them are anxious to go in for a "no confidence" vote right away, but the more thoughtful section of the party do not desire to pursue such a futile line of conduct. Tney argue that it is better to give Ministers the proverbial supply of rope, and they will assuredly hang themselves in the long run, ANOTHER VERSION. A member who attended the Freetrade caucus to-day has given me another version of the | proceedings. It seems that thiee resolutions ', were brought forward, all drafted by Mr Scobifl i Mackenzie. One of these was directly hostile to I the Government. This was not entertained. Another resolution affirmed the advisability of defeating the Tariff Bill if possible, even if the outcome should bo a change of Ministry. The third resolution was, that if any question apart from that of Protection were brought forward ■with the view of defeating the Government the | Freetraders should stand aloof. The second resolution was the one that was most favourably received by those present, but eventually it was decided that in the meantime it would be wiser to refrain from binding themselves to any j particular line of action. THE CHINESE COMMISSIONER. The Hon. Mr Oliver returned from Sydney by the Wakatipu this afternoon. He has been subjected to a good deal of chaff by his fellow ; councillors and members relative to his mission. The fact of his arrival in Sydney a day after the affair has afforded some food for merriment , ai his expense. THE "SKINFLINT PARTY/ The pertinacity of the extreme economists [ in the (direction of further retrenchment may ' produce some fruit after all. Messrß Goldie, | Monk, Hobbß, and Withy have been worrying ; the life out of the Premier in order to induce him to use the pruning knife to a greater extent than he has as yetdane. The Auckland quartet, in order to ensure the support of their local Financial Reform Association* have been working hard to bring about the cheese-paring policy which the body in question are ansioqs to see established. Messrs Goldie and Co. waited on the Premier yesterday, and urged him again to reduce the annual expenditure by £100,000 per annum. After listening to their arguments, Sir Harry assured them he would willingly carry out the proposed reduction on one condition, and this was, that those who advocated the step ] should come forward boldly in the House and proclaim that they were in favour of reducing ; the wages of the working men employed on the railways. He gave them to understand that if they made the balls they would have to fire them, as Ministers were not going to be made to bear the odium of such a disagreeable task. Sir Harry explained that there were 4.(500 employes in the Railway department, and about 300 of these were in receipt of over £1.60 per annum. Now, if the economists had the courage of their convictions", let them stand op in the House and give vent to their ideas jn plain terms, and if a majority affirmed

the desirability of further retrenchment, the | Government would carry out the wish of the I House. If this plan were adopted, the sum of £70,000 per annum might be saved in the railway expenditure, and £30,000 could be knocked off other departments. This would make the £100,000 saving which the economists asked for. The Premier refused to entertain the notion of reducing the salaries of the statutory officers. The members of the deputation suggested that considerable reductions might be made in the legislative expenditure. They thought that the salaries of the chairman of committees of both Chambers might be saved by getting members to perform the duties gratuitously, as the honour attached to the position should be sufficient remuneration for the services. The Premier informed the economists that he would bring the whole question under the notice of the Cabinet, and he would let them know the result. In fulfilment of this promise, Sir Harry brought the matter before the Cabinet to-day. After discussing the subject in all its bearings, it was decided that if the House passed a resolution affirming the necessity for farther reductions the Government would" undertake to carry out the wishes of the Legislature. On this information being imparted to the economists they held counsel together and framed the following resolution, which they intend to move when a favourable opportunity offers: — "That in tha opinion of this House the Government should, if possible, during the recess further reduce the departmental expenditure by £100,000 per annum." If this is moved, I understand the Government will support it, which means it will be carried. It will be seen that the Premier has shifted his ground from the 'position taken up by him on Friday last. He then gave the economists to understand that if they wanted further retrenchment they would have to place new men on the Treasury benches, as himself and colleagues were not prepared to move any further at present in the matter of reductions. ,