THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3671, 22 July 1924, Page 27

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

OPPOSITION 7 ATTACK DEFEATED. GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS. (Special Correspondent Otago Witness.) WELLINGTON, July 19. The -week in the House opened dully enough, though it must be admitted that the concluding speeches upon Mr Wilford’s Jio-eonfidence motion were among the least tedious of the debate. The end of the long-drawn-out parade was reached on Tuesday night, when, witn all the members of the House, with the exception of Mr J. C. Thomson, accounted for, the motion was rejected by 37 votes to 33. Mr Thomson’s vote, had it been exercised, presumably would have been cast on the side of the Opposition, and the relative strength of parties would have been revealed as it was determined last session. The result never was in serious doubt, and the purpose of the attack has not yet been made evident. Wednesday was another dull day in the House, but Thursday was brightened by a lively debate on the second Reading of Mr Isitt’s Religious Exeroises in' Schools Bill, which was rejected on what ■was largely a party division; and when the House adjourned for the week-end last night there was promise of work beginning in earnest when it resumed. The End in Sight.

When the House resumed on Tuesday after the week-end recess it was generally understood that the division on Mr Wilford’s amendment to the Address-in-Reply would be taken before the evening adjournment. The prospect of this early release from tedious iteration appeared to enliven the remaining speakers, and the speeches delivered during the afternoon and evening sittings, though not necessarily profound, were among the brightest and most entertaining heard during the course of the debate. Air A. J. Murdoch (Marsden) led off in this last lap, as it were, with a plea for more attention to the interests of the farmers and the workers than the Government, in his opinion, had been giving. Whatever the Minister of Agriculture might think about the matter, Mr Murdoch was satisfied himself that many of the farmers, despairing of assistance, from the Reformers, were throwing in their lot with the new Country Party. It was not his business, but he would like the Minister tQ be aware pf the fact. There were many things making the farmers disgruntled. There was the high price of land, the high rates of interest, the high charges for transport, and to all these troubles was added the scourge of contagious abortion, which was depleting many of the dairy herds in the North Island. Mr Murdoch mentioned incidentally that last season a constituent of his whose herd was threatened with extinction had imported a German serum called abortin, which had proved highly effective, only t-f o cows out of 28 treated being attacked by the scourge. The New Minister of Lands. The Hen. A. D. McLeod, the new Minister of Lands, who' followed Mr Murdoch, made a notable contribution to the debate, dealing crisply and* effectively with the criticism levelled against the Government. Having acquitted himself creditably in this task, he turned to the question of agricultural banks. He had long been of the opinion, he said, that the system of rural credits on the lines adopted in Denmark,, and more recently in several other countries m different parts of the world, was undoubtedly Sound; and that for one reason, and one reason only, because it brought about the “table,” or amortisation system of mortgages, thus enabling the farmers to make their land their bank. Nobody could safely argue against that particular idea. One of the great financial difficulties of this country was the short-term mortgage, which every five Years made it necessary for the farmers and others to go through all the worry of renewing their mortgages or raising other mortgages, thus giving an opportunity to their lawyer friends, who were all very good fellows” to get a good rake off. It had been said that the Government had refused to have anything to do with agricultural hanks; but the Government had done nothing of the sort. What it | had refused to do was to put State credit behind the agricultural bank. Land Values.

Referring to the complaint of Mr S. G. Smith, the member for Taranaki, that the land valuations were too high, Mr McLeod said that, as a matter of fact, the reason why the State Advances department could not lend the money the farmers wanted to borrow, was that the valuations were not high enough to justify the advances the farmers required. Yet Liberal members were urging that the Government should find all the money required by the farmers and for housing the people. The sooner all such Liberals ioined up with the avowedly Socialist Party the better it ■would be for their own constituencies, and for the proper division of the House. Labour and the Empire. Mr L. Mcllvride (Napier) lifted the debate out of mere local ruts to the wide expanse of Empire, in a carefully prepared speech. Speaking on the question of the Singapore naval base, he said it wcaild be remembered that, recently the people of England had cast out a Government and installed the first Labour Ministry of Britain, but it was found that notwithstanding this the sum of £10,000,000 had been secretly set out for the commencement of the work. Bitter experience had taught that the protection that was sought was not the protection of the hearts and homes of the people of New Zealand, hut of the capital of the magnates. The object was not our protection, but the oil fields of the Indies and the great untapped resources of China. Not only was China the richest coal country in the world, but she had the greatest iron resources, both essential to any country which hoped' to win out in this age of steel and oil. Hence the fierce scramble for the control of China by the capitalists of the Western World. The only barrier to these capitalists getting there was a barrier in the shape of a highly militarised Japan. The Coming Millenium. All this was very interesting, of course, hut muoh of it sounded quaintly coming from such an aggressive figure as the Labour member for Napier presents in the House. Another aspect of the matter was, he declared, that the British Empire would take the risk of condemning the people of the East to the Inhuman conditions under which the people of England were ground

down in the last hundred years, and all the profits might be made by the great capitalists. The English Labour Government was showing its fitness to govern by realising that after centuries of war the nation was getting no further forward. The Singapore dock meant war, and if the British people intended to get rid of war they should warmly support the Labour Party, which was striving for economic internationalism by peaceful penetration. Labour was against preferential tariffs, which would only perpetuate the struggle among the nations and last S o long as some other country was strong enough to batter down the door.

Wembley. Mr A. Harris (Waitemata) challenged all the detractors of the New Zealand Court at' the Empire Exhibition. He had left England the day before the opening of the Exhibition, but he had seen sufficient to satisfy mm that the Dominion would have every.reason to be proud of its display. Its exhibits were of a very liigh order and were well arranged. When the full history of the Exhibition came to be written, it would be acknowledged that New Zealand had done well and won a foremost place among the outlying portions of the Empire.

Months of Foolery. Mr A. Bell (Bay of Islands) had no patience with_ the debate or with the manner in which it had been conducted. Labour was the real Opposition in the House, and it would continue to be so. It was for the sensible members of the older parties to realise this fact at once, and instead of carrying on the foolery of the past eighteen months, the Liberals taunting the Prime Minister with not daring to appeal to the country and the Prime Minister responding in kind, they should come together and get about the business of the country. The sectarian issue had been raised in the House again and again—“on the question as to whether a man was a Holy Roman or a Yellow Belly”—and the whole business of government was being brought into disrepute. Mr Bell denied absolutely, and with much emphasis, the story that he had been instrumental in getting his opponent at the general election, the Hon. Vernon Peed, appointed to the Legislative Council. It was, he declared, a scandalous invention. He was more a Radical, he thought, than many of the members of the Liberal Party but he was elected as an Independent, anti finding the House as he did, he preferred e ?? rClse independence by supporting Mr Massey to being- dragged at the heels ot the Labour Party. The Division.

After Mr J. C. Rolleston and Air J. A. ~a had'Spoken briefly the division on Mr YV llford s motion was taken, the voting confirming the divisions of last session, thirty-three members went into the ‘ Ayes lobby and 37 into the ‘•Noes” lobby. There were four pairs, accounting I? r ® l & ht members. Air Statham was in the Speaker s chair, and ]VTr J. O. Thomson (W allace) was absent when the division was taken. With the result reported by the Speaker the House adjourned. Legislative Council.

M ltn the debate on the Address-in-Reply going on in the House, the Legislative Council had a light Order Paper, and after appointing Select Committees for the session adjourned. Question Day.

Wednesday being private members’ day, Ministers brought down printed answers to some 120 questions that had been submitted to them in the usual way. Many of these were discussed in a more or less languid fashion, the House, it would seem, being still wearied by its fortnight’s talking. The following Bills were put through the formality of being “read a first time,” which, of course, does not involve the tedium of reading them at all Sale of Eoou and Drugs Amendment Bill (Sir Alaui Pomare), Workers’ Compensation for Accident Bill (Air E. J. Howard, Christchurch South), Petone Borough Streets Bill (Mr T. M. Wilford, Hutt), Wellington City Atilk Supply Amendment Bill (Sir J. P. Luke, Wellington North), Sumner Borough Council and Heathcote County Council AlacCormack's Bay Vesting and Empowering Bill (Air J. APCornbs, Lyttelton). Licensing Poll Bill (Mr L. M. Isitt, Christchurch. North), Auckland City Abattoir Bill (Hon. C. J. Parr), Dominion State Bank Bill, Painters and Decorators’ Health Protection Bill, and Wanganui Borough Council Vesting and Empowering Bill (Air W. A. A T eitch, Wanganui). The local Bills were all referred to the Local Bills Committee.

The Pension System. The replies to questions- included one in response to an inquiry from Air T. M. Wilford seeking information concerning the Government’s intentions in regard to pensions. The Leader of the Opposition thought he had been supplied with insufficient particulars—with none at all, in fact. “The Alinister’s reply,” he said, “is certainly curt, and conveys the idea, ‘ Alind your own business.’ ” The Hon. G. J. Anderson assured the aggrieved member that nothing of the kind had been intended. Air Wilford pressed his point. The Alinister had not given him even the courtesy of an answer, he said. He had asked the Minister if he would this session bring down a comprehensive measure dealing with the whole of the pensions system of the Dominion, and providing for the extension of provisions for the blind and the invalided. To this the Alinister had replied : “ The question of amending the pension legislation of the Dominion is under consideration.” Air P. Fraser (Wellington Central) expressed sympathy with Air AVilford. He had put a number of questions in regard to pensions to the Alinister, and that gentleman had “extended himself” to the same extent as he had done in the case of the Leader of the Opposition. The Minister in Reply. The Hon. G. J. Anderson, in the course of redy to the criticism of his method of answering questions, said that, if the Alinister for Finance would provido him with two millions a year ho -would be very glad to do all that was asked for in regard to pensions. Pensions for the blind would be in the Bill when introduced. But he could not say, as the Leader of the Opposition bad asked, that there would be a comprehensive Pensions Bill this year: it was too big a question. Such a Bill, he held, would have to be put on a superannuation basis, and the whole scheme would have to he started afresh with the younger people, carrying on all those entitled to pensions under the present system. The country could not pay such pensions without taxation, and the only fair taxation for the purpose was by way

of contributions from the persons concerned. He hoped in this year’s Bill to remove a number of the existing anomalies. High Railway Rates. An inquiry addressed to the Alinister of Railways by Air F. Lye (Waikato), asking if he would give immediate consideration to the question of a substantial reduction of freight rates so far as all dairy produce was concerned, gave the Hon. J. G. Coates an opportunity to make a concise review of the situation. “ The department cannot agree with the suggestion that the railway freights charged on produce are very high,” Mr Coates stated in his printed reply. “The history of these rates shows that they were materially reduced in 1897 as a measure of assistance to the dairy industry, wiiicb was then in its infancy, and was represented as struggling for existence. The prices for the principal dairy products were then very low. These prices gradually increased very considerably, but up to 1915 no alteration was made in the classification of dairy produce, notwithstanding that very great increases had taken place in railway working costs. In that year butter and cheese were restored to their original classification prior to the reduction in 1897, and the present average freight on butter and cheese is only about -jd per pound. Having in view the fact that working costs per train-mile have increased since 1897 by over 200 per cent., it seems scarcely reasonable to contend that any injustice has been done to the dairy industry by restoring the original classification.” This, practically, is the essence of the Alinister’s previous statements on the subject. A Cleam of Hone.

As regards skim-milk powder,” the Alinister went on to say, “ the position is that this commodity is at present classified as Class 1). The next lower class—i.e., Class _ E —embraces principally such commodities as grain, flour and other cereals, manures, etc., of which flour is probably one of the highest in value. The wholesale price of flour is at present in the vicinity of £l7 per ton, as against £6O per ton, the value of skim-milk powder. The latter commodity is placed in the next higher class to flour —i.e.. Class D, —and is therefore a,s favourably classified in relation to Class E goods as circumstances permit, having regard to the fact that the placing of the powder in the same class as the other goods mentioned would not be warranted. It is hoped that circumstances may permit some reduction being effected in the increases that were made in the railway charges during the- war period, and this matter is being carefully gone- into in connection with the general revision of the railway tariff” Unemployment.

Referring to a number of questions that had been put to him concerning unemployment, the Hon. J. C. Coates, the Minister of Public Works, said that his department had in its employ 6500 men, and large contracts were starting whicti would absorb a further number of workmen. The Post and Telegraph Department had 1327 men employed in line-construction work, 224 of this number being employed in the Christchurch district. During recent months, the Post and Telegraph Department had engaged 90 per cent of Canterbury unemployed in connection with the extension of the telephone work in that district. From time to time more men would be engaged during the present winter and spring, as there was yet a considerable amount of work to be done in the Canterbury district. Further, the Christchurch Drainage Board also had large drainage works in hand, involving an expenditure of £700,000, and could absorb all the unemployed in Christchurch if the men reported to the local body.

Improved Conditions. The Hon. G. J. Anderson, Alinister of Labour, replying formally to similar questions, said:—(l), “Every endeavour is being made to place any men that are in needy circumstances. The number of applicants for employment at the Government Employment Bureaux throughout the Dominion is not much more than half the number for the same time last year, which was in turn about half that for the previous year. (2) It is not intended to introduce legislation of such a. controversial nature as unemployment allowances. ” Soldier Teachers. The Hon. J. Parr, the Alinister of Education, informed a questioner and the House at large that consideration was being given to the cases of soldier teachers who had lost service for superannuation purposes through going on active service. It was hoped, he added, that legislation would be introduced this session with a view of allowing these men to be registered as contributors to the Superannuation Fund, from the date of which, in the opinion of the Superannuation Board, they could have joined the fund had they not gone on active service. Selecting Justices.

Replying to a further question in his capacity of Alinister of Justice, the Hon. C. J. Parr, said that the police had no authority whatever from the Alinister or his Department to collect or _ supply information regarding the political opinions of any person nominated for the Commission of the Peace. The practice was that the Department, before recommending an appointment, directed the local magistrate to make careful inquiry respecting the character and suitability of any nominee for the Commission of the Peace, and the Alinister was almost invariably guided by the report of the magistrate, who made all inquiries.

Country Libraries. In answer to yot another question, the Hon. C. J. Parr said he was pleased to be able to announce that provision was being made on the year’s estimates for the reinstatement of the £3'odo subsidy to public libraries in country districts which had been withdrawn during the war-time economies.

Early Financial Statement. The question addressed, to the Prime Minister brought the reply that the Financial Statement probably would- be down on Tuesday next. It certainly would make its appearance one day next week. Soldiers’ Hornes.

In reply to a question put to him by Sir John Luke, the Hon. A. D. M'Leod, the Minister of Lands, stated that transfers to civilians of soldiers’ holdings on which advances had been made under the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act had been, and were being, approved in cases where It was absolutely necessary that a discharged soldier should divest himself of his interest in his holding, and a suitable discharged soldier could not be found as a purchaser.

Soldiers’ Land Revaluation. Another question put to Mr Al'Leod brought the reply that the reports and recommendations of the District P. evaluation Committees as submitted to the Revaluation Board set up to deal with soldier settlement contained information of a, private and confidential nature regrading soldier settlers’ financial affairs with the Department, mercantile firms, and private individuals, and could not bo disclosed as suggested. Such information, in the interests of the settlers, -must be treated as confidential, and it was therefore not intended to print the reports of the various district committees.

Cheap Money. The habit of Alinistera is to be concise in their answers to questions in the House. They are encouraged in this hy the printed word having been substituted for the spoken word. But as answers have shortened questions have lengthened. Mr F. Loo (Waikato) asked the Prime Alinister: “Whether, having regard to the great difficulty experienced by fanners in making arrangements to renew their mortgages, and the necessity of prevention of extortion, he w i!! take the necessary steps to establish adequate credit facilities for farmers at reasonable rates of interest, thus preventing extortionate interest and unreasonable bonus charges for renewals of mortgages? An instance is recorded in which a mortgagee is demanding a bonus of £2OO cash-as a condition of a renewal of a mortgage. ’ The Minister's reply was characteristic of a new custom, which, of course, saves a vast amount of time and reiteration. “The Government,” it ran, “is assisting in providing cheap money for advances to settlers, as is evidenced by the large sums made available in the lending departments during the last eighteen months.”

The Moratorium. The Prime Alinister introduced the Mortgages Final Extension Bill. The Aot will apply to all mortgages except trade mortgages, securities for loans under the Reparation Act, 1918. or mortgages executed subsequent to the date of the Act of 1919, the date of the original Mortgages Extension Act. The Act will not apply to any agreement for sale and purchase of land under the Workers’ Dwellings Act, 1919, or to any similar agreement regarding a leasehold interest in land unless freehold land is comprised with leasehold in- the agreement. The Supreme Court will be empowered to extend the due date of a mortgage, agreement or otjh.er document executed subsequent to the mortgage. _ The obligation of applying for an extension lies, however, with the mortgagor. Applications must he filed not later than December 31 next; otherwise no extension order may be made. The limit of extension is December 31, 1926. The Court may . exercise its jurisdiction, notwithstanding any agreement between the parties, and notwithstanding the fact that the date of payment of principal by the -mortgage or any previous extension has alreadypassed. Rate of Interest.

The clauses of the Bill affecting the rate of interest are as follows:—Where the rate of interest is a rate -exceeding 6j per cent, interest shall continue to be payable by the. mortgagor at such greater rates until repayment of the principal sum. Where the rate of interest is 6A per sent, or less, interest shall be payable at the rate of 6g per cent. If the date appointed for repayment of the principal sum is a date prior to the commencement of this Act, interest shall be payable from the commencement of the Ace at the rate of 61 per cent-., and in any other case interest shall be payable at the rate provided by the agreement. Early Criticism.

Air de la Perrelle (Aw-orua) was not. satisfied with the Government’s proposals for the protection of the farmers. 'The taxation policy of the Government, iie said, was making it increasingly difficult to borrow money on the security of rural lands, and many farmers, who were beginning to recover from the slump, would fail unless the protection of the moratorium was continued. The Government should give an immediate assurance that, full consideration would be accorded everjt case by -a- separate board of experts. The Prime Alinister had said, in effect, that the provisions made by the Alortgages Final Extension Bill for the deetermintion by the Supreme Court of claims by mortgagors appeared to ensure a more uniform method. A Supreme Court judge would not he acceptable to the majority of the farmers of the Dominion. Doubtless a Supreme Court judge trould be an expert in his own particular line, but the farmers w«ild hardly regard him as being an authority on these matters.

Women Justices of the Peace. Mr T. Al. Wilford, Leader of the Opposition, moved the second reading o_f the Justices Bill, which provides for the creation of women justices. Air W. D. Lysnar (Gisborne) opposed the Bill, demanding to know why Mr Wilord had advanced no reasons in support of his proposal. He was sure no women’s organisation in the Dominion had asked for such a measure. Air Wilford mildly suggested that Air Lysnar should vote and not talk. Air Lysnar insisted on his right to talk. The House, he said, had passed the measure twice already, and the Council had rejected it. He hoped the Council would throw it out again. The member for Gisborne having further asserted his right to talk, the motion for the. second reading was put to the House and carried, Air Lysnar appearing- to he the only dissentient. The House then adjourned.

Legislative Council. The Legislative Council, whose work had been delayed by the debate in the House on the no-confidence motion, occupied the greater part of its sitting with the second reading discussion of the Hon. J. AlacGregor’s Juries and Amendment Bill. Air AlacGregor pointed out that although the Bill had passed through all its stages in the Legislative Council four times, and had been on the Order Paper of the other Chamber four times, it had never been brought before it otherwise. Air Justice Salrriond had informed him only the day before that it was a most important Bill. He quoted the opinions of Mr Justice Adams, Sir John S-almond. and Air Justice Stringer, as they appeared in Hansard, in favour of the measure. He referred to a case in Wellington when a charge was made against a Government servant embozzlement, at the trial of which he was present. The evidence was most conclusive, and yet the jury could not agree unanimously on a- verdict, mainly because, he believed, there was a friend of the priso-

ner on the jury. The case was again heard at Christchurch, where the jury failed to agree, and the Government felt constrained to abandon the prosecution. Differing Opinions. The Hon. O. Samuel opposed the second reading, characterising the Bill as a measure to relieve judges and juries of some of their responsibilities. Wherever English speaking communities existed, ho said, unanimity was necessary in criminal convictions. The Hon. J. P. Campbell supported the Bill, as did Sir Francis Bell, “in the interests of justice.” The Horn T. W. Hislop “ opposed the alteration of a system which had been in force for a thousand years without o. proper investigation of the subject.” The Bill was read a second time on the voices, and the Council adjourned.

Mr Lysnar Again Pre-tests. The Justices of the Peace Bill, having received its second reading in the House on the previous day, was put through committee, read a third time, and passed on Friday. Mr Lysnar again protested against the proposal to make women eligible for appointment as justices, and, failing to obtain any sympathy for his uncompromising attitude towards the proposal, moved in committee that no woman under -iO years of age should be eligible for appointment. Mr Lysnar himself was anxious that the fate of his amendment should be decided on the voices, but there were cries for a division, and 17 members walked into the lobby with the member for Gisborne, 44 others casting their vote on the other side. Of the Ministers in the House, Mr Massey stood alone in opposition to the age limit, his eight colleagues voting with the minority. During the discussion, Mr Wilford was twitted with having changed his mind on the subject, and 1 a report in the Otago Daily Times, of a speech he had delivered six years ago, was called in witness against Him. The Leader of the Opposition admitted that six years ago he had made the statements attributed to him : but since then he had travelled in the United States of America and seen the immense amount of good work done by the “city mothers” and the women’s courts there. lie had neither broken a promise nor abused a pledge, and was not ashamed to change his mind when conviction was brought heme to him. Religious Exercises.

The feature of the day’s proceedings was the debate on the second reading of Mr L. M. Isitt’s Religious Exercises in Schools Bill. The member far Christchurch North explained at the outset that the Bill was a non-party measure, and that it was in no sense of “the word his own production. The Bill was the product of a meeting of the committee of the churches, which was attended by Archbishop Julius and representatives of the Anglican Churches, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Salvation Army. The solitary exception had been the Bishop of Dunedin, who maintained that the Bill did not go far enough. Mr Isitt said he was the mouthpiece of that committee. Proceeding to explain the provisions of the Bill, Mr Isitt said it was camouflage to suggest that children could not be gathered together before school lessons commenced, and hear the Lord’s Prayer and sing , O God our Help in Ages Past.'’ without being charged with endeavouring to institute State religion.

Opposition and Approval. Mr Wilford, who followed Mr Isitt, stated that at the recent election he had pledged himself to maintain the present system of free, secular, and compulsory education. He could not go behind that pledge or give it a different interpretation from the one he intended it to bear. The Hon. O. J. Parr, the Minister for Education, said that fifty years ago the reason for the secular aspect was that there was then no agreement among the denominations, but legislation had wisely decreed the difference between dogma and creed. Things stood differently to-day when there was a complete unanimity amongst the Protestant churches. He did not believe that a minister of religion should enter the schools, and this point was covered by the measure which merely asked for the repetition of the Lord’s rrayer, a simple hymn, and a short Biblical reading, without comment. With a due sense of responsibility as Minister of Education, he was unable to see how any harm could be done, but, on the contrary, thought that very much good would result. The Dominion was either a Christian country or it was not, and if so, as indicated by Mr Isitt, what was wTong with the measure? There would be ample opportunities for those who dissented from the principle and desired exemption. Labour’s Stand. Mr H. E. Holland, the chairman of the Labour Party, said his party stood pledged to its promises on the hustings, and must oppose the Bill. The churches were at loggerheads at the present time, and could not°agree, and if the measure went through disastrous results would follow. Men could not be made Christians by Act of Parliament, he said, and remarked on the fact that it was impossible for a business man to become a true Christian. Summing up the attitude of the Party, Mr Holland said it stood for the utmost freedom with respect to religious worship, freedom of conscience for people of varying views, and no State interference, so far as religion was concerned. The Prime Minister Speaks.

Mr Massey emphasised the fact that he wanted to say clearly and definitely that he proposed to vote for the second reading of the Bilk He believed in the principle of the measure, and he was going to support it. He realised, however, that it was not a party question. He quite expected, in fact, that if it went to a division he would find some members of the Cabinet in one lobby and some in the other. They and the members of the party were free to express their views and to vote as they liked on the Bill. He had been surprised to hear other speakers in the debate saying that to vote for the Bill would be to break pledges given to the electors that the educational system should be maintained free, secular, and compulsory. Such talk was nonsense. There was nothing non-secular in the Bill, and he was pleased to see that sectarianism had practically died out in New Zealand.

The Division. And so the debate ran on, for and against, till the division was taken just before 1 a.m. There were thirty-one Ayes, and thirty-two Noes, and three pairs, showing in a House of sixty-nine, a majority of one against the further progress of the Bill. Of the Ministers, Mr Coates was the only one that voted against the second reading, Messrs Anderson, Bollard, McLeod, Massey, Nosworthy, Parr, and Sir M. Pomare

voting with the Ayes, and Sir H. Rhodes being absent. On the result being announced the House adjourned. In Working Humour. The House was in a working humour yesterday at both the afternoon and evening sittings, and though members were released tor the week-end shortly before ID p.m., the adjournment was not taken till a considerable amount of business, including the second reading of five bills of some importance, had been transacted. The Police Force Amendment Bill aroused some interest, the Minister of Justice having to assure the House that it had been approved by the Commissioner of Police, and to submit to a fairly close examination himself as to the meaning and intention of various clauses. Mr Wilford was afraid the Bill would put too much power into the hands of the Minister to act by regulations, and Mr Holland was not sure the liberty of the subject was not being trenched upon. There were indications that the measure would be closely criticised when in committee. Island Fruit Trade, The presentation of the Cook Island report gave members on both sides of the House an oportunity to discuss the Island fruit trade. Incidentally, high compliments Were paid to Judge Arson, the Commissioner of Cook Islands, who was given credit for tact and much useful work. For the rest, the discussion resolved itself largely into a dispute between Wellington and Auckland members as to the respectve claims of their districts upon the trade. Sir Maui Romaic, the Minister in charge, said there was absolutely no doubt about the Auckland merchants having railed fruit to Wellington and shipped it to the South Island in order to glut the markets. The railway records proved this to be the case. The shipments to Wellington, the Minister added, would be continued, because Wellington ottered the better facilities for supplying the South Island. Members might be interested to know, said Sir Maui in conclusion, that the average prices of bananas in the four chief centres last year were as follows:—Auckland, 4s to 10s a case; Wellington, 16s to 21s; Christchurch, 17s to 22s 6d; Dunedin, 24s 3d to 27s 6d. The report was laid on the table of the House. Local Legislation Bill. In moving the second reading of the Local Legislation Bill, the Hon. R. F. Bollard said it was intended to supersede the Washing-up Bill, and so obviate rushing through legislation at the end of the session without sufficient consideration.

Lobby Ccssip. The incident of interest diming the week has not been the defeat of Mr Wilford’s no-confidence motion, but the rejection of Mr Isitt’s Religious Exercises in Schools Bill on the motion for its second reading. Mr Wilford’s motion was doomed to failure from the first, but Mr Isitt’s Bill, supported by the Prime Minister and all his colleagues, with the exception of Mr Coates, who voted with the Opposition, and Sir Heaton Rhodes, who was absent, was expected at least to get its second reading. Its rejection in the circumstances has put the disunited Opposition on good terms with itself, though it seems to have brought its two discordant elements no closer together.

The Prime Minister has given notice of his intention to introduce the Legislature Amendment Bill, and the Hon. R. F. Bollard of his intention to introduce the Gaming Amendment Bill. The former measure will deal with the Government’s proposed electoral reforms, and the latter with the number and distribution of totalizator licenses. Both are likely to be eagerly discussed and closely criticised. They are to be made non-party measures, an arrangement that will cut both ways, and it is difficult to predict their fate with any confidence. Labour has declared its hostility to Mr Massey’s proposal to institute one method of election for the big centres of population, and another for the rest of the country, and it probably is strong enough in a divided House to block the passage of the Legislature Bill. The Gaming Bill is equally controversial, and here, again. Labour may hold the key to the situation. The recent revelations in regard to trotting have not helped that sport in the estimation of the politicians, and this fact may prejudice the appeal of its promoters for additional licenses. On that point the fate of the Bill may hang. -T r Maui Pomare's frank championship of Wellington in its quarrel with Auckland over the Island fruit trade, though it prooahlv will not enhance the Minister’s popularity in the north, has won him much aprdause here. The local public, however, still is unable to understand why prices are so much higher in Wellington than they are in the Queen City.