TUESDAY, JULY 22.

Otago Witness, Issue 2524, 30 July 1902, Page 30

TUESDAY, JULY 22.

In the House of Representatives today the whole afternoon was spent in discussing a Wellington Harbour Board and Corporation Empowering Act Amendment Bill, which provider for a rehearing of the claims in which heavy compensation, had to be paid for taking property under the Public Works Act. No progress had been made up to the dinner adjournment. In the evening the Shipping and Seamen's Act Amendment Bill was read a second time pro forma. The House then went into Committee of Supply, and, as usual, a variety of subjects were discussed on the first item on the Estimates.

SHIPPING AND SEAMEN

On the motion of the Hon. Mr HALLJONES the Shipping and Seamen's Bill was read a second time pro forma, and referred to a Select Committee.

THE ESTIMATES

The House then went into Committee of Supply for consideration of the Estimates. On the first item, .Legislative Council, £1879.

Mr MASSEY asked whether anything had been done during the rece=s in the direction of arranging for a reciprocal treaty between New Zealand and Australia.

Sir J. G. WARD said the matter had not been overlooked by the Government, and they were awaiting the right time to act. When the right time came the Government would act to the be?t of their ability. The federal tariff had not passed both branches of the Legislature, and he had been informed by one of the Ministers on the other bide that nothing could be done until they knew what the revenue would be from their tariff. People, however, must recognise +hat, subject as Australia was to drought, a reciprocal tariff upon lines favourable to them, as well as to us, could with mutual advantage be framed.

Mr HORNSBY moved that the vote be reduced by £1 as an indication that particulars of the vote should be supplied to the House. He complained that one of the clerks on the Legislative Council "staff was a wealthy man, and the salary he was in receipt of from the State (£250) would be a perfect Godsend to many a struggling n.an who was out of employment.

Sir J. G. WARD said it would be a mo-t unfortunate thing- if a man were debarred from employment in trie public p^rvice because he possessed private means.

Mr HORNSBY paid that having entered bis protest he would not press hi-, motion. He was contending for a principle in the matter.

After a brief cli-eup ion, Mr Hornsby's motion was lobt on the voice-

Mr TANNER pointed out that the table at the end of the Finam-ial Stat"ineii*- did not make the position clear with regard to the £rOO,OOO worth of Imperial guaianteed debenture--. Of that amount £400,000 was lukl by the Po-tal Department, and he contended this ought to have been 'ft out clearly in the .Statement.

Messrs W FRASER and HERRIES spoke to a eimilar effect.

Mr WITHEFORD urged the Government to enter unou a more comprehensive system of land settlement in the Nortii Island.

Mr JAMES ALLEN called attention to the fact that there was no vole on the K.-.U-iii.-iifs this j«ar for a "-team wnice to South Africa. Hs a-ked whether -it wa< intended to make provision for it on the Supple mental"}- K;-tim:''es.

Sir J. G. WARD 'aid there was no wish oa the part of the Government to drop the negotiation? for die South Afi lean senicc At preoPi.t tlip Government did not know < \actlj where thpy were in the matter, but if tin 1 negotiation*, came to a head the neces-t-ar) vote v.Otild appear on the Supplemen tary Estimate*. T*p to the pTPsent, however, the contract with the Blue Star line had n-it been signed, and lie wa* very doubtful w hethpr it over would he h.tjned.

Mr Bt'DDO referred to th? tendency of the Education Department to carry out work previously uiulertaken by Education Boards, ai.d pointed out that this was home: done a' a gr°at increase in the c-j»t of the department. H<? a^o urged tl at the Minister of Education chould be ;> ineniber of the L ivri r Hcn-c.

Mr MONK ffmnlamol that the youth of thp ( olor-v wire unfairly treated under our i-hipping la*-., and debairjd from acqmr in.; a mariLiin^ pi nfc--if n.

Mr THOMAS \i.\( KF.NZ'K uri-. d that more lilit ral friat.nem shou'd l'«" adord.'d to primary eiusta ion m liic colon), pointing ouv iue disadvuuUiie^ uudei "huh piiuiary

education laboured at present. He condemned the tendency to centralize education control, and said it would be a back day for education in New Zealan i if more cen. tralisation was allowed than now c-xigred. The Defence vote was. iv his opinion, too large The volunteer movement should be encouraged, but he objected to the colony being saturated with militarism.

Mi G. W. RUSSELL hoped that the vote appearing on the Estimates for the purchase of Maori antiquities would be sneiit this year. He had hoped that tho Go'vornmeut would this session have brought down proposals for doing away with the subsidy to the San Francisco mail service, and giving it to an " all red " serv ice.

Mr COLLINS pointed out that during the last five years the Defence vote had increased from £63,000 to £189.000. and he believed that our defence? were not m a better condition than they were five years ago. Encouragement bhould be given to every man to become proficjent in the uh? of the rifle, but ho strongly objected to the formation of a standing army Mr MEREDITH complained of the centralising movement of the Education Department.

Mr M'GUHtE thought women teachers should get equal pay to that paid to male teachers if they did the same work, and that the inspectorial staff should be under tho control of the Education Department. Mr MASSEY agreed with the criticisms that had beca levelled at the Defence Department's expenditure. He contended that last year's exnenditure under thia hefidins> was not less than £400.000.— (Mr Hall-Jones': "It was le.=s.") Mr Mpssey: Well, the vote was £400.000, and he considered it out of all proportion to our population. A crfain amount of outlay on defence was ncee?sary, but a large "art of the sum now being expended could be better spent in other directions. He complained of armomtment* being made to the Legislative Council irrespective of political qualifications. Mr ELL maintained that there was a disposition to wipe out Education Boards and centra'ise our system of education, to all of which he objected.

Mr FISHER said he held strong! v the beli"f that Education Boards ought to be abolished. He would like to know when they were hkely to hear the end of tho royal v isit expenses, for which an additional vote of £2900 appeared on this year's Estimates.

Sir J. (4. WARD: This vote is the la=t

Mr PIRANI defended Education Boards, and said if the Education Department had control of the system for a year affairs would be in a hopples 3 muddle.

Mr NAPIER complained that vvh !e the pay of the Permanent Force of the colcay wat beini? increased, there was a tendency to degrade and snub the volunteers. Of £189,000 expended on defence last year, only £53,000 went to volunteers.

Mr HORNSBY contended that if Education Boards did their duty the c chool committees would not so frequently be in a bad position, a« at present. Although the Hou^e could ciot get an increase of the education vote, there wa* no difficulty in pett'ng ten- of thousands of pounds for keeping up a ridiculous system of a standing army It was time the House cried a stop in regard to this matter. The Hon. Mr HALL- JONES contended that the volunteers got far more than was stated by Mr Napier. He was against a standing army, and the cokay had no standing army. The Permanent Force they had did not number 350 men He urged that .they must get proper supplies of military stores, and that a certain nnra bcr of permanent men were necessary, whii" the officers were mainly artificers. Wheu the contingents had all returned the staff, which was necssanly larger than usual at present, would be gradually brought down to what it ought to be.

Mr LANG entered a protect againot the manner in wheh appointments were made to the Uppei House. It was monstrous that men who had had no experience whatever in politics should receive seats in the Legislative Council.

Mr THOS. MACKENZIE hoped that when the Education Department Estimates tame up for consideration the House would with no uncertain .sound express its disapproval of central control. Mr FISHER -aid he would offer no de-fi-iwe of the administration of the Kducation Department, but that was no proof that tho t-y-tem of centralisation vva- bad. M/PIRANI 'aid Education Boards might not Im? perfection, but how much woi>e would it be to put the administration of education in the hand, of the effete department we had at present 1 ' Mr JAS. ALLEN, referring to the South African senn-p. said the Blue Star line was Mr Sleigh, who was, now in London trymg to flcat a company to earn- out the service, and he was to be paid twice the mori^y that he had a year or two ago offered tv do it for. At that time -Mr Sleigh and the I'nion Company each offered to carry out a service for about £15,000.

Sir J. G. WARD said the I'nion Company had never made an offer to the Governme it to carry on a service to South Africa That company had in v tender as agents for th" 'South African Steam-hip Company, and he undei stood 'here was no such coin pany n> existence. The term'- of that off'>r were puch that the Government would not have been justified in taking it up for no thing. Mr Sleigh's tender wa- the only suitable one foi a direct seivice, and the arrangement to allow vessels to call at Australian port.- providing loading could not be completed in the c olony \va.- put in Inicause otherwti-e r.o c-ontract <-ould have b' en oMamed

Mi NAPIER, in condemning the adiniiiitration of the IWenre Department, said it kuked Ihhiiic-> niPthods, and urged that the servii-oa of a m.tii of cf-mmeicial experi-erif-e weio required to effect i>n improvement.

After further ducu-.-ion the fiv->t item v\as agrr-cd to on the voice-. Progress was repotted, and tlie Hou-e ro>e at 2 a.m. IMPORTANT TO SMALL FARMERS

A matter wh eh i» of interest to :J1 country *jttlers was brought up I) 3' a depu t:ition to the Minister of Agriculture this ipoi-iung. the settler- of the Wamuiomaia Valley represented, th r ou!?h Mr Field, a grievance und-er which tliey are suiferuig.Mr Fi-ld ".aid that the siu:t!l farmers m the \ alley Ime been in the habit of rear Mig and killing calve*- on their «ecuon3, and taking them into town and them to the •small but< h< r-. Latterly, however, the iuiihontiL's luue warned them that this ])U(tKC n.u-t be di-contuiued, a-" under t'lf Sl.ii.g'iitrrmg an 1 In^oection Act iiilu-. n.u-t l-i Pi-p t t''d b' tore b< ing killed. The cf.it <f ( .riji!,^' "lit that «imi''on i- that. !>} t. iking ili<- animal aliw to .1 li< ous'jd aUuiliteiLuu-.u and uLats of lnaacutiou. uiae-

tically all the profits of the transaction disappear, and thu3 one of the most lucrative sources of revenue is taken away from the settlers. The deputation urged that the enforcement of the act in this rt-speet had been instigated by the wholesale butchers, who desire to keep all the trade in their hands. Furthermore, they pointed out that pigs can be sold without inspection, and that calve 3 aie less liable to disease than pigs, and they therefore asked that, if possible, the act -hould be amended fco as to remedy their g-iievance. The Hon. Mr D\mcnn expressed the belief that plenty of timnipecfced meat was brought into Wellington and sold. He could not, of course, exempt the settler^ from the operations of the act. but he would inquire into the matter, and see if some arrangement could be made for amending the act. Personally, he did not think there would be any more danger in bringing in an uninspected calf than an uninspected pig RAILWAY ACCIDENTS IN OTAGO.

Reporting to the General Manager on the recent accident on the Dunedin section, the three heads of departments, Messrs Coom (Chief Engineer), Beattie (Chief Mechanical Engineer), and Gaw (Chief Traffic Manager), Bay : -" Of the whole of the accidents (not including- the derailment at Ssacliff, which we do not define, aB it is now under investigation), each is due to a separate and easilyrxplicable cau^e. In no way can it be said that it is due to either defects in the ro.ling stock, or the track, or to any want of care or forethought in the management. With proper safety appliances, such as the Westinghouse brake and the electric tr-*»in table, the whole of these accidents would liave been absolutely prevented, or the results greatly minimised. These appliances are now being- furnished ai =peedily as funds will permit. The 00-st of these accidents would have gone a long way towards equipping the whole of our railways. The officers of the department are quite as anxious as the Dublic to ascertain the cause of every accident which occurs, and there is no desire to withhold information, or neglect in any way to place the blame, where any exists, on the right shoulders. We ore of opinion that nothing would be gained by an inquiry by a general commission or any other outside tribunal."