FRIDAY, JULY 12.

Otago Witness, Issue 2471, 24 July 1901, Page 29

FRIDAY, JULY 12.

In the Legislative Council on Friday the Registration of Nurse-i Bill was recommitted, amended, and reported. The Local Authorities' Indemnity Bill v,as passed. The House of Representatives on Friday successfully tried morning sittings with early closing. The business done comprised the second reading of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment, the Cyanide Pioce-s Extension, the Public Health Act, Amendment, the Trusl.ee Act Amendment, the Chinese Immigrants Act Amendment, and the Accidents Compensation Bills. The Cemcteiy Trustees' Validation Bill was passed through all its stages, and the Refeicndum Bill was put through committee up to clau-e 7. CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. The Right Hon. Mr SEDDON moved the second reading of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Bill, the provisions of which ho shortly explained. He said the bill was of an equitable character, and contained no large departure from ihe existing law. Clause 3 made provision for registering as an industrial union of employers any foreign company carrying on business in New Zealand through an agent Other sections made it clear that trade unions ma;- be bound by an ay.aid, and may hf> joined as parties. The principal act left room for doubt on thpse points. The bill pre\entecl counsel appearing in connection with an industrial dispute, even if he was acting under power of attorney, and gave further protection to workers in regard to the preliminaries of a dispute. Mr MONK objected to the .arbitrariness of this bill, and protested against the fostering of industrial disturbance. Mr HERRIES quite agreed with the clause giving further protection to the workers in regard to the preliminaries of a dispute. Mr PILL said lh<= condition of the New Zealand working clashes was never better than at present. He attributed this to labour legislation.

Mr G. W. RUSSELL held that all workers should come under the operations of the act. / Mr PIRANI suggested that the Eight Hours Bill be included in this measure toregulate the hours of labour. Mr LA WRY supported the principle of the bill, but condemned patchy legislation instead of consolidating the labour laws. Mr JAMES ALLEN urged that express provision be made that no union should go off the register while an award is in force. Mr ATKINSON contended that under the amending bill recalcitrant unions would still be able to evade the provisions oi the principal act in regard to the enforcement of awards. Mr BOLLARD thought it time they applied the brake to labour legislation, a» there was already evidence of a turn in the tide of our prosperity. Mr PALMER retorted' that this was the same old Tory cry they had heard many times. Mr MILLAR said the Labour party had no desire to unjustly push things, but it was a great mistake to think the labour movement in New Zealand could be stopped. Messrs. LAURENSON and ARNOLD spoke strongly in favour of the bill. The debate was interrupted by the 1 o'clock adjournment. On resuming at 230 the debate was continued. Mr MASSEY scouted the idea that the Government were responsible for the present prosperity of the colony, and denied that the Farmers' LTnion was an offshoot of the National Association. Mr R. THOMPSON urged the amendment of the shipping laws in the direction ol compelling every coastal vessel to carry af least one apprentice. Sir JOSEPH WARD defended the Government from the charge that they had done nothing to assist the farming industry, and pointed to the change in the incidence of taxation, concessions in railway freight;?, and the exemption of improvements under the land and income tax as instances of the relief that had been afforded to farmers by the Government. Farmers had a perfect right to form legitimate unions, but if political organisations were being formed he must say it would be a very bad thing for the colony. It was rearrettable at thi stage in the history of New Zealand to hear the antiquated, old-fashioned notion, that had been given expression to bj Opposition members during this debato With regard to the bill before the House, he considered it a very necessary one. The Right Hon. Mr SEDDON, in replying, deprecated the attempt that was being m?de to set the country against the town, and twitted the Opposition with having opposed the proposals brought down by the Government for making concessions to farmers by reducing railway freights. He said the Opposition had done a gross and grave injustice to farmers by keening the railways in the hands of the commissioners, which was proved by the phenomenal success of the railways and the large concessions made since the Government took them over. As to farmers' unions, he must saythat, judging by its programme, it looked very much like a resusc-tation of the National Association. As aji answer to the assertion that industries had been retarded by the labour legislation of the Government, he pointed out that the number of persons employed in factories had been doubled during the last eight years, a«d he contended that as thp towns progressed so must the country He would be no party to disturbing the harmony existing between town and country. With regard to the bill under discussion, he said it was desired to be fair to all parties. Under the consolidating act of 1900 trades unions could static out and iarnovo an award, bu^ under this bill they could be forced to join in. The second reading was agreed to on th« ■voices, and the bill was referred to th Labour Bills Committee. THE CYANIDE PATENT. The Hon. J. M'GOWAN moved the second reading of the Cyanide Process Extension Bill, to extend the term of the patent rights acquired under " The Cvanidc Process Gold Extraction Act, lE97."— Agreed to on the voices. THE HEALTH ACT. Sir J. G. WARD moved the second reading of the Public Health Act Amendment Bill, to irolude the Chatham Islands in the scope of the principal act. — Agreed to on the voices. TRUSTEES. The Right Hon. Mr SEDDON moved the second reading of the Trustee Act Amendment Bill, a measure designed to bring th« law on this subject in the- colony into conformity with the law in England. — Agreed to on the voices. CHINESE IMMIGRATION The Right Hon. Mr SEDDON (in the absence of Mr Mills, Commissioner of Customs) moved the second reading of the Chinese Immigrants Act Amendment Bill, which, he explained, was intended to clcarlv define the responsibility of the ca-pftin or owners of vessels in regard to the disappearance of any member* of a Chinese crew. Ft was the intention of the Legislature that the onus of seeing that all Chinese on board left New Zealand with flic vo-spl thall rest on the captain or owners, and thf present bill made the point clear. It voukl not affect any dispute? at pie^eit at i ; ;ve. but would prevent trouble in future. — ■ Agreed to on the voices COMPENSATION FOR ACCIDENTS. Sir J. G. WARD moved the second leading of the Accidentfc Compensation Bill to pro-, vide for an independent medical exami-un-tion in cases of claims for compensation for accidents. He '-aid that in snme causes in which claims for compen-ation had been made, especially in the rai'way service, there was a suspicion of malingering, and this bill provided for an examination of tlie applicants by an independent medical ma.i. The bill would not in any way interfeie with the Workers' Compensation for Acci dents Act. After a brief debate, the second reading wa» agreed to on the voices. THE REFERENDUM BILL. Clause 4, which sets out what may b6 submitted to a referendum, was under discussion for some time. Subsection 1 of tha clause was amended, on Mr SEDDON 'S. motion, to provide that if a Government bill, introduced by message from the Go* ypmment. is a rejected bill within the meant ing of the act it shall be referred to a referendum.— On the motion of Mr SED* DON, a new subsection was added to provide that any bill passed twice by the House and rejected twice by the Legis-' lative Council may, by resolution of the. 1 Hotise, be referred to a referendum. — M -.' ELL moved a new subsection to the effcer

t&at -a referendum shall be taken on any particular question if 5 per cent, of the electors petition for it.— Mr SEDDON opposed this proposal, on the ground that it was unreasonable. — The amendment was lost % 40 votes to 9.— Clause 4 as amended was added to the bill. Clause 7. which provides when a referendum shall he taken, was amended to road • "The day appointed shall be not sooner than 28 nor later than 90 days after the , close of the session in which the question to be decided by referendum has been dealt with by Parliament."— Mr E. G. ALLEN moved to excise from this clause the provision that the date for the referendum sfeaJl not be the same day as that appointed for the election of any member of the House of Representatives. — This was agreed to. and, in place of the words struck out. Ma- SEDDON moved the insertion of the following words: — "and if between the 28 and 90 days there should be, a general election, then, in that case, the referendum shall be taken on that day."— Mr Spddon's addition -was agreed to on tho voices, and the clause as amended was parsed. In els-use 8, which enacts that a referendum shall be takeu in the same manner as in the case of a general elcet.on, Mr PISASI suggested an amendment to the effect that the referendum bo taken by post.— The PSEMIKK objected to Mr I? irani' = proposal, as t>sing an interference with the" secrecy of the ballot.— After considerable discussion on the clause, the PIIEMIER mo\ ed to renort progress on the bill, which was agreed to. BILL PASSED. The Cemetery Trustees Validat on Bill w.ts put through its final stages. EARLY CLOSING. The first day of the parliamentary " early closing movement " passed off very successfully. When haif-pas,t 10 p.m. arrived, the , members, to use * colloquialism, were still v fresh as paint, and the debate right up to the adjournment was carried on with a keen interest. When contrasted with the proceedings at a late utrtkig, where tha cvebate drags on with a wearisome uninterraptedne;ss by heavy-eyed, fagged members, tlie roi'dirt must unhesitatingly be given to the iiew order of things. A difficulty, however, which arises is that it leaves only two mornings for committee wor-k, unless the members geneiously place their services at the dispersal of .their country on Monday and Saturday, tlte two off days. Some of the noembers can hardly balievo that the Govpimtnenjt are in earnest about the innovation, but that remains to be been. This evening, after the "House rose, Mr J. H. "Withe ford entertained the members to a champagne fcuppar at Be'-lamy's, in honorr of the inauguration of the early sitting*. The pffair was met mccessful. THE REFERENDUM BILL. Some four or -five hour* were taken up discussing the Premier '^ Referendum Bill in committee, most of the argument centring round clause 4, which deals with vhal -may b<= (submitted lo n referend-im. Me-usr-. K f l and FowHs urged strongly ti'at the power of -flic initiative "should bo given to the people, and suggested that a petition signed' by not .less than 5 per cent, of the eieccois should be sufficiciit to refW any question to tlie people, an amendment to this effect being lost by 40 to 9. A BANKERS' PROTEST. An early protest against Ihe Shops and Offices -Bill has been made by the bank officials in Wellington. At a. meeting tonight of the -staffs of all the banks doing business in the city resolutions wer-c unanimously passed to the effect that the proposed legislation would be prejudicial to the interests of the ba-±ik officers of the olony : that the amonnt of overwork at night implied in the bill is much exaggerated : that the passage of the bill would be to the detriment of emplovee>, and the rime clau=e» unworkable if Vhe demands ol the business community are to be met *, that if bauks are compelled to pay overtime, it k reasonable to expect the benefits now enjoyed would be discontinued ; and fchwt petitions be presented to both Houses »sking that bauk» be exempted from the operation of the act. Petitions 'are to be circulated among the Wellington banks at once, and the co-operation of bank officers throughout the colony asked for. THE TREASURY AND THE AUDIT DEPARTMENT. As required by law, the correspondence Uiat hap passed between the Arcdijoi -general and the Treasurer with regard to the differences of opinion as +o accounts »vac laid on the •table, afternoon. The firct -case "was that m wJiic.'i an advance of £6T)O for the service of tlie Government steamer Tutauekai in conveying vifitois and representatives to the Australian Cominon,w<*fclth celebration*. Tiie amount wa« -asked for out of .vote No. 42— namely, £11,300. for working expenses outside the colony. Tlte objection taken was that the service outside ■the «oloiiy in the instance quoted was not in tiie -service of the Marine Department. Considerable correspondence took place relative to the question, and finally the Go-vernor-in-Council, under section 9 of the Public Revenues Act, decided that the fimi should be paid out of vote No. 42. There wafl also aii item of £156 17.-;, for supplies of provisions to the steamer Tutauekai v. hen the New Zealand contingent was convened to Sydney in connection with th» celebrations. A. similar course was adopted in this instance. Another case was that in wiiich the Auditor-general objected to £5651, accrued interest on -£500.080 of Bank of New Zealand preferred shares redeemed by the bant, being paid to the credit of the public account, and coiitended that under the Bank of New Zealand and Banking Act of 1895 iX should fee paid to O\e Public Trustee by an Orderin -Council. The amount wa? credited io the ruiecellautous revenue of the consolidated "fund. The Auditor-general, in a memo, to the Colonial Treaflwer, Eaid he was ol op hi ion that the inouey *hould be paid to the Public Trustee, und lie would eerdfv tho accounts subject to a note to that eflect. 3*-bt last case was one in which the Auditorgeneral objected to the «ost. of n road on the Starboreugh -estate being charged under ' the Land for Settlement* Act of 2900, on •the ground that such cost could not be , 'if-arged to $!•« Land for Settlement fund r . Afier a .good deal of correspondence had passed, between the Treasury and -tlie Audit IJepartmerrt. t'lsp amonnt v.as made a charge nn tlie Land for Settlements Ac: by an I>riier-in-(Jouneil SALARIES OF TEACHERS. The labours of the Royal Commission now considering the question of a scale of .salaries ior State school -teachers fire lik«ly feo be productive of good. The .order of reference -was to formulate a scheme that manld .come within £4 per head of the attendance at schools. Tiiis is aii increase

of 5s per head above what is now being paid. I understand that what might be considered a perfect system., that would do justice to all teachers, could be evolved if the sum per head granted wer.' increased to £4 2s. One result of the deliberations of the commission will probably be that ■women teachers will in the future receive fairer treatment m the matter of salaries. WHO HELPED THE FARMERS? Sir Joseph Ward resented the frequent allegations made to-day thai the Government policy was antagonistic to the farmer". He twitted the Opposition with having opposed the proposals of the Government for bringing relief to ihe farmers by gning them cheap money and the change from the property to the land tax. He pointed out that the Railway department had during the last five years made concessions amounting to £369.269. the great bulk of which bcnrfit«d the farmers. He admitted that prior to tho legislation and administration that had been in operation since 1891 the burden of taxation was unfairly placed upon the shoulders of the landholders, but since that time a great revolution had taken place, and to be told at this stage that they were doing what was inimical to the farmers' rutetest. because they were trying to prevent a loss of wages among the workers in the towns was not consistent with what were found to be the facts of the case JOTTINGS. Mr Laurenson. member for Lyttletou, on Mr Monk's _ oratory : "There is no member to whom I listen with more attention. I admire his polished diction, poetic style, his excellent delivery, >nd it ij a pity some more of us do not imitate him, for we never hear him descend to coarseness or personalities. Yet I am sure he wields as much influence as any man in the House." JOTTINGS. The Premier has, in his own elegant language, referred to the farmers union movemnt as the National Association in dieguise. Whether that is so or not, the fact is evident that it is being bitterly and persistently opposed by N " the Liberal donkey " — a bon mot from the member for Franklin. In view of the statements that have been made concerning the effects of trjwling in the Hauraki (hilf. the Hon. Air Jennings is asking the Government if they will cause immediate inquiry to he madp as to the effect trawling has had on the feeding and f»pawu:ug ground^ of New Zealand, as ifc has Leen alleged by &om« authorities that such effect is detrimental. Mr Sefldon, apropos of petitions in connection with one of the clauses of the Referendum Bill : " You can get signatures for sixpence each. I mean that the person securing them .gets that." A Voice: "And a glas- of beer." Mr Seddon: "I have heard it poiitively as-iereted that some of the la rye petitions and requisition* we have heard of cwt the promoters sixpence a head."