TUESDAY, AUGUST 29.

Otago Witness, Issue 2375, 7 September 1899, Page 26

TUESDAY, AUGUST 29.

In the Legislative Council on Tuesday, a' cablegram from the Agent-general was read with reference to the effect of the working in England of the Workers's Compensation for Accidents Bill. The Land for Settlements Act Amendment Bill was passed through Committee-. In the House of Representatives on Tuesday, after formal business the Premier introduced a series of resolutions authorising the Government to contribute towards the cost of construction and. maintenance of a Pacific cable. These were not reported from Committee till the evening, when the Estimates were proceeded with. Not much progress had been made when the telegraph office closed at 2 a.m., with the House still sitting. - PACIFIC CABLE. The Right Hon. Mr SEDDON moved that the House' go into Committee to consider resolutions re a. Pacific telegraph cable' as follows:—(1) That the Government be authorised to join in the cost of construction and j maintenance of a Pacific telegraph cable; (2) ' that New Zealand co-operate with the Govern- 1 inents of Great Britain, Canada, New South, i Wales, "Victoria, and Queensland in raising- : the required capital; (3) that a board of com- j missioners selected by contributing- Govern- i inents, on which New Zealand shall have one j representative, shall be empowered to raise j the required capital for the construction, lay- ' ing> and maintenance of the cable; (4) that ' the provisional board be empowered to invite tenders, arrange a scheme of, management, i and other preliminaries with a. view to prepar- . ing for legislation; (5) that the rates shall be > unanimously 'agreed to at the outset, subse- j quent changes to be authorised by a fixed \ majority of the board; (6)- .that the cable ; shall be jointly owned and maintained by 1 the contributing Governments; (7) that New J Zealand shall join such, of the Australian ' colonies as are prepared to do likewise upon ■ the basis of a guarantee of four-ninths of the cost of construction and annual deficiency (if any) by such colonies, New Zealand's proportion of the guarantee not to exceed in any case one-eighth of the whole cost. The Premier explained that the proposal was to | take the cable through all* British country, j and therefore there would be less- liability to mistakes in cablegrams; and in case of war, the cable would be under Britieh control. The fact that the Imperial authorities had joined [ in the proposal would mean that the line j would be properly worked, and that the ' money would be got cheaply. Under- the ' present system the lines passed through 17 j different places, hence the necessity for an all j red line from a national and commercial i standpoint. He wns satisfied- the line would [ be of advantage to this colony. A disadvan- I tage was that New Zealand was not directly j represented on tlie board of management. To j get an alteration in that respect later on he i would bring down.a bill dealing with the , matter. | Mr DUTHIE said the colony was too fair committed to the proposal to allow of an « alternative other than adopting the motion, An all-red_ line went for very little, as it would be utterly impossible to protect it in case of war. He thought advantage should have been taken of the line from Honolulu to San Francisco. He feared that business would not increase so rapidly as was expected. Still, in the interests of the country, he believed the colony ought to join in the proposal to construct the cable. Mr PIRANI did not think the colony was justified, in joining in the proposal to become responsible for £180,000 as its share of the cost. Mr FRASER thought the proposal most desirable fof the colony. He hoped the Government would succeed in getting representation for this colony on" the board. He believed that the service would not cost the colony anything in the course of a few years. Mr ALLEN thought that the House should have had more time to consider such an important matter, and he objected to the question being sprung unon members in such a hurry. Mr BUCHANAN did not object to the proposal, but thought that more time should have been given the House to study the position. Messrs R. M'KENZIE and MILLS supported the proposal, and Mr BERRIES wished further information. The PREMIER, in reply, said that the House was merely asked to confirm in detail what had already been agreed to. The result would 'be a reduction in cable charges from 9s 4d to 4s. The advantage of having a second line was manifest, and it was only reasonable to anticipate, that with increasing population and the' extension' of commerce the service would soon cost the colony nothing. The motion to go into Committee was then carried. The resolutions were put seriatim. At clause 2, Mr PIRANI complained that the Government had entered into a contract without the specific authority of the House. — The PREMIER explained that the Public Accounts Committee had reported in favour of the scheme, and the House had adopted that report. It was for the House to confirm or reject the pronosals, but the honour of the colony was at stake in the matter. —Mr ALLEN referred to the records of the House in proof of the statement that the Government had not had the proper authority of the House for entering into the agreement. — Replying to Mr Kelly, the PREMIER said in the event of New Zealand not being granted a representative on the board, he would come back to the House with the subject. The debate was interrupted by the 5.30 adjournment. On resuming, Clause 4. gave rise to some discussion, several members contending that where this" colony was interested to the extent of nearly ' £200,000, special representation should be given on' the board for construction and maintanrin? the cable. —Mr HERRIES moved an amendment to add after the word "board" the words " on which New Zealand shall have one representaiive." —This was accepted by the ' PREMIER. —Mr ALLEN complained that • the Premier had taken upon himself to agree ' to resolutions-without consulting the House, By whioh the colony was committed to a- large expenditure.—Me DUTHIE did not think that the House would approve of the scheme if representation was not granted to it. —The PREMIER reiterated that he felt as stroagly 1 as anyone on the necessity of New Zealand being represented. The resolution, *8 amended, was agreed to. No. 5 was agreed to with slight amendment. No. 6 passed without amendment. No. 7 was amended to the effect that the colony's guarantee do not exceed one-ninth instead of one-eighth.

! As amended, the resolutions were agreed to and reported to the House. j The House then went into Committee of Supply on ■ ' THE ESTIMATES. Class I, House of Representatives, £4570. — Item Reader and Clerk of Bills, £150.— The Hon. W. J. STEWARD complained that the sum was not sufficient. — Messrs DUTHIE, LEWIS, and FLATMAN agreed, and urged . that an increase be given. — On the item Chairman£so, some discussion ensued. — Mr J. HUTCHESON referred to the case of an ; assault on two decent married charwomen, asserting that if the Premier had not gone : down to the police station and interviewed j the persons charged with the offence it would | have been better for the Premier. He considered the penalty inflicted a travesty of justice.—The PREMEER in reply said that he wah glad of an opportunity of speaking on the subject. If a friend of his was in trouble and asked his assistance he would not, like a fair-TV eather friend, forsake him; and if again called upon in a similar case he would do as he had done in the case under notice. — Mr SCOBIE MACKENZIE blamed the Premier that in his desire to appeal to the multitude he had raised up questions that would retard business. — Mr HOGG characterised the assault in question as atrocious, and considered that the penalty inflicted was altogether out of proportion to the gravity of the offence. — Mr HUTCHESON said if the women in question had any social position they would ! not have been treated in the way they had. : The^ presence of the Premier visiting the ac- , cused in the cell was bound to have an effect ! upon the minds of the officers, or the- men [ who escaped punishment for the offence would i not have got; off so easily. — Mr PIRANI ! moved to reduce the second clerk assistant, • £300, by £5, which was lost.— Mr E. , G. i ALLEN moved that the item £150. Reader ! , and Clerk of Bills, be reduced by £1, with a 1 view to an increase being made in the Supple1 mentary Estimates. — Negatived.--On the • motion that the vote £4570 pass, the PRE- | MIER said it was a mistake that the matter ; of the recent assault case had been referred I to, and contended that the magisterial dei cisiou was a. just one. He defended his action : as friendly and honourable.— Mr DUTHIE , characterised the action of the Premier in > going to a prison cell to bail a man out as not consistent' with his office. — Mr KELLY said his remarks had been misrepresented by the Premier. He had said nothing derogatory to political leaprue3.— Mr SCOBIE MACKENZIE considered that policemen could not | be expected to do their duty when the Prej mier went about- the prison cells to bail out i people accused of a crime. — Mr FISHER j complained of the tyranny that would prevent charwomen or any other women joining ; a political association— Mr GILFEDDER j regretted that more experienced members of • the House had not set a better example than 1 waste so much time over such a trivial matter, j —Mr J. HUTCHESON regretted that the i Premier had not seen that he had acted withj out, judgment in the matter referred to. He ' had no intention of charging the Premier | with anything wrong, but rather with an error | of judgment. He explained with respecb to | the charge made by Sir Fisher that what he I said was that if the Government persisted in rewarding political services with material adj vantages it would_ result in time in a nation ! of suckers and crawlers being raised up. — The amendment to reduce the amount by £1 was ] lost. — An altercation between Messrs Fisher | and J. Hutoheson ensued, which lasted some ; time, when Captain RUSSELL said it was I evident that no business would be done that j night, and he intimated that he would move : to report progress. Even a hardened poli- '. tician like himself was disgusted with the pro- I ceedings, and he suggested that the House should adjourn instead of listening to memj bers reviling each other.— The PREMIER i hoped Captain Russell would not move to report progress, expressing his belief that the , House would now settle do^y^ to business. — j A discussion ensued, in which the Premier, I Messrs Duncan, Fisher, Kelly, J. Hutcheson, c and R. M'Kenzie took part. — The vote was j then put and carried as printed. General expenses, £13,498. — Item Chief Re- ' porter, £400.— Mr MORRISON moved that it be reduced by £1, as a protest against the chief reporter contributing articles to a New York paper, quotations from which he read, wTiich were of a party colour. — The j PREMIER supported the amendment as a protest against civil servants undertaking such work. — Mr PIRANI asserted that if the articles written had been in favour of the Government instead of against them nothing i would have been said about the matter. — Mr j ROLLESTON thought the action of the re- ' porter injudicious. Still he hoped the House would hesitate before passing the amendment, and advocated that the matter should be referred to the Speaker. — The amendment was . withdrawn, the understanding being that the ' matter should be- reported to the Speaker. 1 Mr MORRISON moved to reduce the vote, Chief Reporter JSansard staff, £400, by £1 j as a protest against that official having wiit- : ten an article on New Zealand politics for a New York paper. The PREMIER urged that Hansard reporters, like all civil servants, should keep out of nolitics, and said he should vote for the amendment. Mr PIRANI said the chief of the Hansard staff was attacked because he had impugned the labour legislation of the Government. j The PREMIER, replying to Mr O'REGAN, ; said if the motion was carried the matter i would be referred to the Printing and Debates Committee. I Eventually a motion to reduce the item , was withdrawn, on the understanding that , the matter would be brought before the j Printing and Debates Committee. The whole vote was passed without alteration. Progress was then reported. THE TRANSVAAL. There can be no doubt that the Premier, in referring this afternoon to the crisis in j South Africa, voiced the sentiments of the I vast majority of the people of New Zealand j in his sympathetic reference to the grievances jof the Uitlanders. When Mr Seddon asked leave to lay on the table a paper forwarded i by the Uitlanders* Association, setting forth their troubles, Mr Meredith interjected, | " What have we to do with it? " It was easy to see that Mr > Seddon had the House with , him wheu he replied that New Zealand was an integral part of the Empire, "and that anything affecting Britishers in any part of the world should interest us. Mr Guinness asketH whether the House would be given an opportunity of expressing an opinion upon the treatment to whioh the Uitlanders were subjected, and one or two members seemed inclined to make light of the subject, but Mr Seddon, amid " Hear, hear's " from • both sides of the House, declared that the question certainly ought not to be treated with levity. He went on to say that at the present moment those controlling the destinies of the Empire must feel that the occasion was a most trying and anxious- one. He did not think it well I that the House should enter into a discussion on the subject, as the time was not opportune. It was well known where their sympathies lay, ' and U th« ae^eggtty »r<#e i.l was well kftowp

what New Zealand was prepared to do to maintain the flag and insist on its being respected. The tone of Mr Seddon's reply on this occasion was much more dignified and statesmanlike than his usual method of dealing with the federation question. THE PACIFIC CABLE. Though the proposal of the Government with regard to the Pacific cable were rather warmly debated to-day, the objections of the Premier's critics were not directed against, the scheme itself (which appears to have the general support of the House), but against the method in which the matter was brought before the House, the want of expKcitnesa on • the part of Mr Seddon. and the inadequacy of the representation of New Zealand on the board. Several members also contended that thfc House should have been consultetd at an earlier stage, especially when the Premier admitted that a contraot had been practically entered into, and that New Zealand could not withdraw without dishonour. Mr Seddon admitted that New Zealand should have its own representative on the board, and said he would still contend strongly for it, and he believed the claim would eventually be conceded. The Committee of the Whole agreed to the proposals of the Government with a few slight amendments. They will be considered by the House later on. The act passed in Canada authorising the scheme is now on its way to New Zealand, and when it arrives Parliament will be asked to agree to a similar measure. CONTINGENCY EXPENSES. Particulars of the general contingency expenses were supplied to Parliament to-day. Amongst the items are:—Funeral expenses, Sir George Grey, £19; freight and cartage, £392; fuel and light, £3+2; law costs, £177; j opossums for acclimatisation, £102; overj coats for messengers, £8; passages of Labour delegates, £30; postages (official), Agentgeneral, £260;, subscriptions to newspapers, £104-; subscription to telephone exchange, £145; travelling allowances to Ministers, £938; expenses of Ministers, £94-2; expenses officers Colonial Secretary's department, £78 ; Agent-general attending conference 1 of hydrology at Liege, £18 10s. The total amounts to £3988. THE TOTALISATOR. Mr Flatman's Totalisator Gradual Extinction Bill provides that notwithstanding anything contained in "The Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1881," or " The Gaming Act, 1894" the number of licenses authorising the use of the totalisator, or which the-Colonial Secrei tary may lawfully issue in the year 1900, shall j not exceed 156; for 1901, 117; for 1902, 78 ; for 1903, 39; and from and after the year 1904 no licenses shall be issued. Under every license so issued the number of days for which the totalisator may be used at any one* race meeting shall be as follows: —(1) For a metropolitan club not more than three days at any one meeting held during the summer season, and two doys at any winter meeting; (2) for a country club not more than two days at any one meeting held during the summer season, and one day at any winter meeting. It shall not be lawful for any racing club using the totalisator to license any bookmakers to bet, and if such club so licenses a bookmaker on any day on \yhich the totalisator is to be used, then the license issued to such club to use the totalisator shall be immediately cancelled. THE ASSAULT ON CHARWOAIEN. The House went into Committee of j Supply on the Estimates to-night, and j some hours were spent in discuss- ' ing the recent assault on two of I the parliamentary charwomen. Mr Kelly (Invercargill) asked the Premier if it was true that no woman could get a billet as charwoman unless she belonged to the Woman's Social and Political League. This drew from the Premier a speech in defence of the charwomen, and Mr John Huteheson afterwards spoke warmly about the action of tha Premier of the colony in going down to the police cells at an early hour in the morning to see one of nis friends from the West Coast who had been locked up on a charge of assaulting two of the parliamentary charwomen. The action of the Premier in this matter, he said, could only have one significance with the police, and the decision of the stipendiary magistrate in the case was, he said, a travesty on justice. Mr Hogg also condemned the decision of the magistrate, and said there was no doubt that a most aggravated assault had been committed. The Premier, in reference to his visit to the police cells, said he was not a fair-weather friend, and on receiving a call to the police station he went at once to his friend, and he would. do so under similar circumstances again. He was sorry the hon. members had so low an opinion of the police as to think they would be influenced by his visiting the police station. Mr Scobie- Mackenzie charged the Premier with appealing to the multitude for electioneering purposes in connection with the story of a squalid midnight brawl. Mr Huteheson returned to the charge later on, arguing that the Premier had no need to-gp to the police station himself. He could easily have sent a deputy. WRANGLING MEMBERS. The debate on the Estimates to-night was largely made up of personal abuse, and aliroet everything under the sun except the matter really before the House—that is, the Estimates —was discussed. Mr John Hutcheson and Mr Fisher indulged in a very hot interchange of words, and these and other personalities went on for several hours, notwithstanding the protests of a number of members. This sort of thing proceeded till after 12 o'clock, when Captain Russell eaid he. was tired of hearing members reviling one another, and, as it was evident very little business would be done, he would move that progress be reported.