A MUCH-NEEDED CLEARANCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2528, 27 August 1902, Page 30

A MUCH-NEEDED CLEARANCE.

I The Statutes Repeal Bill^ which cam* 8 down to the House from the Statutes Revision Committee to-night, and successfully passed through committee, sweeps off the Statute Book nearly 500 useless acts. This ' o will clear tho way for a complete modifieaI tion of the law, and Mr Napier, who is : chairman of the Statutes Revision Comj_ | mittee, w urgiug the Ministry to now apo ■ point a Royal Commission to commence the ,_ I work of codification forthwith. The act ~ t just passed is the result of very arduous rg labour by the Statutes Revision Committee, ■ r special credit being due to the Hon. C. C. 0 Bowen, the Hon Major Steward, and Mr i_ W. J. Napier. The new edition of the statutes in .force will be greatly reduced in ; bulk as the result of tae act passed to-night, ANTHRAX. :a The following resolution, which was n agreed to unanimously at the last meeting .- of the Auckland Executive of the New Zeais land Farmers' Union, has been forwarded! r to Mr Ma-ssey: — -'That with a view of •s keeping out that maligurait disease anthrax^ so fatal to animal and human life, the c Auckland Executive Committee of the N&w; >f Zealand Farmers," Uirion urges the Governy ment to erect a sterilising plant on the d foreshore of the Auckland Harbour through* n which all imported bones shall be passed;'* I." JOTTINGS. Dr Wohlmorans ip now in Wellington, and! L v-ill leave on & visit of inspection to tLe q H&nmer Sanatorium on Friday. d r FRIDAY, AUGUST 22. ; - In the 1.-cgi.slatire Cowncil to-day the' c ' Fisheiies Conservation Bill was recommitted, 9 I and the clause proposing to authorise holders j of fishing licenses to c.invr on private prov perty struck out. The New Zealand Uni* ■• ver.=ity Rill was also recommitted, and tho s clause which proposed to give Chambers c£ y Commerce l'~e right to oleet members to £ the senate -,?»> struck out. An Imprest ) Supply Bill parted all stages. * FISHERIES CONSERVATION. B The Hon. W. C. WALKER moved to rej commit the Fisheries Conservation Ac# g | Amendment Bill, witli the view of eliminate s j irtg the clause added to the bill giving fisherJ men the right to enter upon private property, i,to take fish from rivers. He felt certain, ■> j unless compensation was granted, the pro- - I po3al could not be carried oufr, while n« r I believed private owners already gave rensour able facilities for entry upon their lands lot (he purpos2 of fishing in streamF. The Hon. Mr RIGG opposed the motion.. c He said the new clause was carried by ai s majority of five, and he contended no one had a right to call the fish in a river his . own property. \ The Hon. Messrs T. Kelly. Baillie, Harris, Ormond, Jennings, Louisaon, Grace, and , Arkreright supported the motion ; and the r Hon. Messrs Pitt, Feldwiek, Lee Smith, and) ( Jones opposed it. The motion was carried 'by 23 to 7, and ; the bill recommitted. The Hen. W. C. WALKER moved td strike out clause 4, giving the right to license-holders to enter unon private property.—The Hon. Mr RFGG moved all ' [ amendment to add the words "but not in .. 1 any garden or orchard " after the words " right to enter upon private land." — Tho : amendment was lost by 17 to 9. — A further | amendment by the Hon. Mr RIGG, to add/ the words '" ia any running stream," was also lost by 19 to 6 —The motion to strike out the clause was then put and carried by 19 to 7, and the bill reported with amendments. [ IMPREST SUPPLY. The- Imprest Supply Bill passed all stages* In the House of Representatives today, after some formal business had been transacted, an Imprest Supply Bill was introduced, with the result that a discussion followed on innumerable subject 3, and! it wa« not until well on in the evening th«* the bill was finally passed. The Statutes j Repeal, Bank Holidays, East Coast Native j Tiusts L&nd, Unclaimed Moaeya, Local I Authorities Indemnity, and the Second-hand j Dealers Bills were- all put through committee. IMPREST SUPPLY. An Imprest Supply Bill for £475,000 was introduced by Governor*3 Message, and aftrr a discussion which lasted five hours the bill passed its final stages. OTAGO UNIVERSITY. Sir JoEcph Ward to-day gave notice of » lull intituled an act to amend " The SavingaBank Profits Acf, 1678." The proposal is to iiraend the- interpretation so that the , expression '" institution " shall be deemed' to include tho Uni\e-rsjty of Otago. If the bill becomes law it will enable portion of the) profits of tlia Otago Savings Bank) to be de-voted to the assistance of the Otago University. STUD BnJ,. The Stud Bill which is now being considered by the Stock Committee will not, I believe, be brought before the House this session, but will be ckferred till next Parliament meets. In the meantime copies will be circulated among the agricultural socie--<ics and Farmers' Union branches in order to obtain their view? on the proposed le-gis* EAST COAST NATIVE LANDS. The East Coast Native Trust Lands Bill, of which the Acting-Premier gave notice yesterday, is on attempt to provide a solution for a difficulty which has existed int Poverty Bay for many years past in connection with the large blocks held in trust fofl a number of Natives by the Hon. Mr Carroll! and Mr Wi Pen, M.H.R. All the lands aro to be assigned by act to the Maori Land) Council v. ith indefeasable titles, subject to mortgages and other claims, the Maori Council to have power to deal with and manage the land m the interest of the Native owners, but the Bank of New Zealand (mortgagee) to have the control over thai working of the properties till it is paid in!, whole or in part. The debt to the banWsince 1895 is to be submitted to arbitration, and no further actions are to be permitted!* SATURDAY, AUGUST 23. ORCHARD AND GARDEN PESTS. • The Joint Stock Committee has concluded its consideration of the Orchard and Garden.' Pe.«=td Bill. It propo-c3 to strike ouli cfeuiFe 15, which provide? that nf> compensation should to paid for anything dona by an inspector in the discharge of hl3 duties, or any long or injury resulting there* from. A new clause is added providing) •A** in xe^aaat to the Auckland proyaiciaJ

iflistricfc (excluding the counties of Waiapu and Cook and so much of the counties of 'Wairoa and Hawke's Bay as are in that district} the diseases mentioned in the second •chedule shall not be deeme-d to be diseases except in so far as the Governor directs by Order-:n-Council. No such Order-in-Council shall be made except on the application of a majority of all the local bodies, but nothing in such Order-in-Council shall permit an evasion of the provisions of the l>rll designed to prevent tbe sale and distribution of infected plants and fruit.

OTAGO HOSPITALS

The receipts of the Lawrence Hospital for the year were £992 and the expendiuire £780. The report of tho assistant-inspector ■tates that everything is in excellent order, B.nd the hospital looked clean, bright, and comfortable.

Invercargill Hospital. — Tlie receipts were £2690 and the cxppiiditure £4090. The assistant-inspector reports that there were 29 men and 12 women patients. This hospital is in an eminently satisfactory condition under Dr Hendry, with Miss Ewart as matron. The nursing staff is working excellently. Serviceable out-patients' roonw iiave been added this year, and also more accommodation for tho nursing staff.

Wakatipu Hospital. — The receipts were £934 and the expenditure £911.

The report regarding the Biverton Hospital states that it ha 3 been on the up-grade for the last two year*, and that Dr Trotter and Miss Willis deserve crtnhfc for its increasing- efficiency.

• Dr Church, of Niuseby, as usual, gets aVord of praise for his work. This hospital, cays the 'report, is doing good work. Dr Church has a capable coadjutor in the ■natron (Mrs Harris). Much has been done to improve N&seby Hospital of late year 3, end the chief thing vow needed is a better laundry.

MONDAY. AUGUST 25. SMALL BIRDS NUISANCE

Some exception ha 3 been taken to >Tiat clause in the Birds Nuisance Bill imposing a penalty of £10 on anyone who allows an injurious bird to hutch within 10 chains of his residence or any other building. The Minister of Agriculture has given notice th*t in committee on the bill he will move ti alter the 10 chains to two chains and to reduce the penalty. He further proposes to •mend the bill so that all penalties received urder the act by a local body shall be paid to such local authority and to widen tbe definition of " local authority " by including Road Boards.