N.Z. PARLIAMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 30

N.Z. PARLIAMENT.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 19 The House met at 2.30. A BILL PASSED.

The Roman Catholic Archbishop Empowering Bill (Sir W. Buchanan) was read a third time and passed.

PUBLIC SERVICE CLASSIFICATION

In replying to Mr Russell the PRIME MINISTER said he hoped to have the public service classification list in his hands in a few days.

WORKERS' HOMES. In reply to Mr Ell the PRIME MINISTER said he was only too anxious to supply the demand for workers’ homes in Canterbury. There was a similar unsatisfied demand for such homes in all parts of the dominion, and if the Treasurer could let him have an extra £IOO,OOO per annum he could not spend it in a more satisfactory way than in puichasing land for workers’ homes. UNEXHAUSTED AUTHORITIES. Following were the unexhausted authorities for loans held by the Government on June 30, 1913: —Aid to water power works account, £420,000 ; State coal mines, £25,000; scenery preservation, £35,000; Naval Defence Act, £301,500; WellingtonHutt railway and road improvement, £5320; Railways Improvement Act, £95,470; Waihon and Ohinemuri Rivers improvement, £50,000; Native land settlement, £450,000: Maori land settlement, £450; land for settlements, £960,500; opening . up Crown lands for settlement, £74,045; Rangitaiki land drainage, £10,000; New Zealand State guaranteed advances, £5,024,000; total, £7,451,285. LAND TAXATION. A return dealing with the incidence of the graduated land tax, called for by Mr Myers, was presented to the House of Representatives to-day. Mr Myers’s questions were answered as follows : “The revenue from the graduated land tax for 1912-13 was £251,275. Of this, urban laid paid £71,191 and rural land £180,084. The increase in the revenue from the graduated land tax for 1912-13 over the previous year was £46,161. Of this it is estimated that urban land paid £13,078 and rural land £33,085.” WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. NEW BILLS. The Local Bodies Loan Bill, the Methodist Union Bill, the State Advances Bill, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop Empowering Bill were read a first time. The House met at 2.30 p.m. NEW BILLS. The River Boards Act Amendment Bill (the Hon. Mr Herdman) the Land Drainage Act Amendment Bill (the Hon. Mr Massey), the Science and Art Bill (the Hon. Mr lusher), the Local Elections and Tolls Act Amendment Bill (the Hon. Mr Herdman), and the Counties Act Amendment Bill (the Hon. Mr Herdman) were read a first time. MILITARY TRAINING In replying to Mr Webb, the Hon. Mr ALLEN said there was no discrimination in the matter of apprehending youths who refused to comply with the law regarding military training. Numbers of defaulters had not been brought to book, but it was very difficult to trace those who refused duty. As soon as they were found proceedings were immediately instituted. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. In reply to questions Ministers stated : That it was not the intention of the government to amend the Counties Act

to bring it into line with the Municipal Corporations Act and allow county councils to accept, money on deposit at call, the same as was provided in the Municipal Corporations Act. That the process of fixing by arbitration the value of land taken compulsorily for settlement had been found to be tedious and expensive, and an alteration to the present system would be made. Possibly the House would be asked to reconsider the matter this session.

That the charge of Is 6d now levied at ports for sorting goods at goods sheds could not be abolished, owing to the costly nature of the work.

That the examination of members of the police force to test their qualifications for promotion would be conducted under the regulations now in force. It was not the intention of the Government to postpone the holding of any examination fixed for the present year. That arrangements would be made for keeping open Post Office Savings Banks from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at those offices which were already open during that hour for the receipt of telegrams.

That the admission of Indian coolies into New Zealand from Fiji was now being dealt with. That the grant* of £SOO to t}re New Zealand Swimming Association, out of which that association made a grant to the Royal Life-saving Society, was considered to be sufficient provision for the present. That the amending of the Teachers Superannuation Act »o as to enable them to have their superannuation allowance computed on the best three years of their service instead of on the last three years was now under .consideration. TERRITORIALS.

The Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. Allen) stated to-day that he had drawn the attention of the Minister of Justice to the representations made in regard to the large amounts that had been deducted from the wages of Territorials by way of fines for breaches of the Defence Act. TRAINS AT MOSGIEL

Mr Clark to-day asked the Minister of Railways whether' he would carry out the promise of his predecessor to start the workers’ trains from Mosgiel township instead of from Mosgiel main station. In reply the Hon. Mr Hcrriea said Le had investigated this matter, but could not find any record of a promise being given that suburban trains would run from and to Mosgiel township. The existing station arrangements were not suitable, and could only be made so by the expenditure of a very large amount of money, which was not available at present. * Considerable alterations would be required at the Mosgiel station yard in connection with the duplication of the Dunedin-Mosgiel line, which was now in hand. In the meantime he was of opinion that it would be unwise to expend any money in altering the station yard or making a connection with the main line to enable trains to run to Mosgiel township, and he understood that the people in the district were not at all unanimous as to the advisability of making such an alteration. THE BANKING BILL. Mr Sidey asked the Government to-day whether it would, in any banking legislation that may be brought down this session. make general provisions which would enable any banking institution to be formed and to carry on business in New Zealand without the necessity of special empowering legislation in each case. Mr Massey replied in the negative. THURSDAY, AUGUST 21. OUTSIDE ENGAGEMENTS. Mr Clark is asking the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the head of one of the departments, of which he is the

Minister in charge, is drawing a salary of about £3OO a year to manage an outside estate while drawing a salary of £725 per year from the State. BIBLE IN SCHOOLS. Mr Hanan asked the Prime Minister yesterday whether he was in favour of or against a referendum on the subject of Bible-reading in schools. Mr Massey replied that he had already indicated that it was not intended to introduce legislation this session providing for a referendum on the subject of Biblereading in State schools, and with that answer the hon. member would have to be satisfied for the present. BOOK ON BIRDS.

Mr G. M. Thomson has given notice to ask the Government what arrangements had been made by the -previous Government- or the present Government in connection with the preparation of a work on the birds of New Zealand. In the Estimates this year an item of £IOOO was provided for a book on birds, while £2OO was voted last year for the same purpose. “TOOK THE ALTERNATIVE.”

In a question Mr MacDonald drew attention to a statement that the Wellington Garrison Officers’ Club recently refused membership to a certain officer by “black-balling” him in defiance of an instruction from the officer commanding the district that no officer could be put up for ballot.

In reply the Hon. Mr Allen said that headquarters ruled some time ago, as regards garrison officers’ clubs occupying premises provided by the department, that all commissioned officers were entitled to membership of such clubs without election by ballot, and gave the clubs concerned the option of abiding by such decision or vacating their present premises. The Wellington Garrison Officer’s’ Club had chosen the latter alternative. LEVEL CROSSINGS. Tire Hon. Mr Herrlcs stated yesterday that the attention of the Government had been drawn to the action of the Te Awarnntu Chamber of Commerce in circularising local bodies, and communications arising out of this had already been received from various bodies. The matter of protecting level crossings had, however, been engaging attention fur some time past. Proposals received from various inventors outside the department had been looked into. The Railway Department’s signal staff was also preparing designs of appliances, and full consideration would be given to all appliances and designs submitted. In the meantime reports were being obtained on all dangerous crossings. WIRELESS CHARGES. In reply to a question by Mr Russel! as to whether he would take steps to secure a reduction of the. cost of wireless messages on the coast of New Zealand, the Hon. Mr Rhodes said the wireless rates wore made up of the coast station and ship station charges. Inquiry would, however, be made to ascertain whether it was practicable to reduce the charges. It was necessary to confer with the wireless companies in this matter. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

In replying to a question by Mr Anderson as to the arrangements made by which pupils attending high and technical schools and students at the University might obtain instruction in wireless telegraphy and pursue its study, the Hon. Mr Allen said that classes for electricity, if recognised under the regulations for manual and technical instruction, were eligible for grants, which had been made from time to time on the application of the eon trolling authority of the classes concerned in aid of apparatus for demonstrating the principles of wireless telegraphy.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22. In the Legislative Council the Copyright Bill was read a third time and passed. The Local Bodies’ Loans Bill and the State Advances Bill were read a second time after a brief discussion. The Methodist Union Bill was referred to the Local Bills’ Committee after being-read a second time, as there was a doubt as to whether it was a private bill. The Council then adjourned till Thursday. At the conclusion of the debate on the Financial Statement the House went into Committee on the Estimates. On the first item of the Estimates (Legislative Council, £1512) Mr DAVY made an appeal for technical colleges on the lines of the Melbourne colleges for the apprentices in the railway workshops, so as to assist them to become more expert tradesmen. Mr RUSSELL asked the Prime Minister why he had spent £IOO,OOO less in tire administration of tire Lands Department than had been granted to him by the House. The Ward Government had settled 430,000 acres in 1911, but this Government, the motto of which was “Settlement, more settlement, and still more settlement,” had only settled 155,000 acres in its first year of office. The Hon. Mr MASSEY said that as Minister of Lands he had refused to renew the licenses of a large number of grazing runs pending legislation to be passed this' session. That accounted for the difference in area. The reason why the vote was not all expended was because an abnormal sum in rents came into the department, and consequently it was not necessary to draw on the vote to the full extent. Sir J. G. WARD asked the Minister of Finance what rates were paid for raising the last loan and whether these rates were lower than for any loan which he (Sir J. G. Ward) had raised.

The Hon. Mr ALLEN said the underwriters received 1 per cent., the brokers g per cent., and the Bank of England g p:r cent, commission. These charges were the same as the Ward Government had paid. Sir JOSEPH WARD then quoted Hansard of the last February session to show that Mr Allen had then charged his Government with paying excessive charges on its five million loan. He said the admission made by Mr Allen was an evidence that men were sobered by the responsibility of office, for with his wider knowledge of financial negotiations he had now admitted that he had been unable to got a reduction in the charges paid by New Zealand, Canada, and all the Australian States. The rates paid by him (Sir Joseph Ward) were not excessive. This was a matter of considerable importance to him, as he had been subjected to considerable criticism on the point. In reply to the Hon. Air Millar the Hon. Mr HERD MAN said that lees than £IO,OOO would cover the increases in salaries allocated by the Civil Service Commissioners. Mr FORBES entreated the Prime Minister to bring down the Land Bill early, so as to allow them to be done with the land question for some years. Renewals of pastoral leases and grazing runs had been held over in the past because there was not time to deal with them.

The Hon. Mr MASSEY, in replying, said the position was most complicated. A Bill would be brought down in time to allow both Houses - thoroughly to consider every phase of the land question. Mr BRADNEY complained of the paucity of the amount allocated for workers’ homes. He contended that, as things stood, the building of workers’ homes got into the hands of jerry builders and both house and worker suffered. Mr NGATA pointed out that under the proposed legislation magistrates would receive a maximum of £BOO, but no provision had been made for Native Land Court judges who drew less than £SOO. Ho asked the Prime Minister and the Native Minister to make known their intentions regarding the Native lands policy. Mr VEITCIT complained that the conditions in connection with the erection of work ere’ dwellings were most unsatisfactory. The timber being used was far below the standard. He suggested that timber for workers’ homes should be procured from the Government sawmills.

In reply to Mr Davey, the Hon. Mr HERBIES said he was of opinion that the apprentices in the railway workshops could get as good a training in the workshops as they could in any technical school in the dominion. In reply to Mr Ngala, ho said he recognised that if the salaries of magistrates were to be raised he would have to provide for the Native Land Court judges on the Supplementary Estimates. He claimed that his Native policy was perfectly open, and his policy Bill would be on the lines of his speeches throughout the country. He believed that tire measure dealing with the West Coast reserves would give satisfaction to all parties. Mr POLAND contended that in the multiplicity of Mr Allen’s portfolios he was not able to give that attention to education which it deserved. Particularly was the question of teachers’ salaries being neglected, and he asked the Minister to say what further reforms he was prepared to extend to the teachers. Mr LAURENSON advocated the appointment of two Ministers or several Parliamentary under-secretaries to assist Ministers to cope with the increase of departmental work. He strongly deprecated the expenditure of half a million per year on defence. Mr RUSSELL stated that a report on the Public Trust Office had been prepared by the Public Trustee, and he asked whether the Minister intended to lay that report on the table. The Hon .Mr HERDMAN declined to admit that any such report existed. Mr HERDMAN complained of grave disloyalty on the part of someone in the Public Trust Office. He said that information had been leaking out ever since

he had been a Minister, and he asked Mr Russell to give him the name of his informant as to the existence of this report. Mr RUSSELL said he had been given the information by a gentleman in the street, but he refused to disclose his name.

Mr POLAND contended that the Mining Department had been starved by the Ministers. The duties of the Public Works Department were too arduous lor a Minister who also had charge of mines. The Hon. Mr FRASER said there was no way in which the Government could waste more than in the so-called assistance to mining. It was suggested that there should be a State prospecting party, or that he should subsidise a private party. That policy he would not dream of adopting. The history of mining showed that private enterprise was more satisfactory in prospecting. He denied that the mining industry had- been neglected. The first item -\\'as passed, and the House rose at 0.45 a.m. TOP HAT MINISTRY.

“The first thing that they did after taking office was to put on top hats and rush off to get their photographs taken.” Thus spoke the Prime Minister in a goodhumoured allusion this afternoon to the

“Ten-rninutcs Ministry,” as he usually terms the short-lived Mackenzie Cabinet. “They looked like a row of undertakers’ assistants out for a picnic.”-—(Loud laughter.) “Where are the top hats now?” asked Mr Massey, amid further laughter.

MR MASSEY AND MR PAYNE. The subject of the member for Grey Lynn and his pledges was again referred to in the House this afternoon by Mr Massey in his speech on the Budget debate, but as Mr Payne was- not in the House just then the Prime Minister did not pursue the matter so far ag he had intended.

When Mr Payne touched on the subject a day or two ago he said that lie had not given any pledge fo vote with Mr Massey. Air Massey then indicated that Mr Payne had given a written promise to support him in the non-confidence motion against the Ward Government, and that he would produce it. “I now hold the letter in my hand,” said Mr Massey to-day, at the same time displaying a folded sheet of paper, but as the hon. member is not present I will not say any more. ■ Air Robertson : Read it, read it! Air Alassey: No, I will not read it in the hon. member’s absence.

When the Estimates were being considered in committee this evening Air Payne asked leave to invite the Prime Almister to produce the letter. The Chairman of Committees (Air Malcolm) ruled that the subject could be raised only when the Speaker was in tho chair. SATURDAY, AUUGST 23. • During the greater part of this week the House will probably be engaged on Bills which already figure on the orderpaper. A measure likely to be brought down within a day or two is a consolidation and amendment of the Land Settlement Finance Act. The Land Bill will not make its appearance until next week. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Bill will do brought down either at the end of this week or early next week. Amendments are in prospect to the graduated income tax proposals in the Land Tax and Income Tax Bill, which was introduced some time ago. The amendments, the Prime Minister states, will provide a more equitable scale of assessment. It hag been found that the scale now in vogue is absolutely wrong actuarially and otherwise. Probably before long the Government will move to take over Wednesday, which is at present devoted to the consideration of private bills, for Government business. This is done every session under a standing custom when • the business begins to pile up. It is expected that one of the first Wednesdays taken away from private members will be set aside for a discussion on the report of the Forestry Commission. THE CUSTOAIS BILL. No definite information is,yet obtainable as to when the promised Customs Tariff Bill will be introduced, but it is understood that it will probably be laid before the House somewhere about the end of October. PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. The Public Works Statement. Mr Alassey says, is unlikely to be brought down for another six weeks or but tho Railways Statement is nearly ready for presentation.