PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15748, 13 February 1922, Page 9

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

WASHING-UP CLAUSES

(From Our Parliamentary Reponer.] WELLINGTON, this day.

A serious attempt is to lx l made to reduce the bulk of tbe annual Bill ielating to lands and local bodies, which is known for short as the Washing-up Bill. Mr. Malcolm, chairman of committees, asked the Prime Minister if he would have all the clauses of this measure referred to a joint committee on Bills for decision as to whether they were local Bills or otherwise. He reminded Mr. Massey of his prophesy that if the present unsatisfactory system continued there would be a disaster some dav.

Mr. Massey replied that be bad no need to emphasise the difficulties of the present session. lie proposed to ask Cabinet to agree to some arrangement on tbe lines suggested bv Mr. Malcolm, or some other method which would make it. impossible for clauses to appear which bad no right to be in tbe Bill. A MOOSE. EXPEDITION. The expenditure of £235 by the Internal Affairs Department upon an expedition to Fiordland to ascertain if moose have established themselves, aroused some, interest when the House was considering the estimates. Mr. Statham suggested that it was waste of money, because the member for Wakatipu could have given all the information. The lion. W. Downie Stewart ex plained that it was not, realised when the expedition was authorised that it would be so expensive to get an idea, regarding the establishment of moose. The expedition aroused a great deal of interest in South Otago.

Mr. Wilford : Why not admit that if was a waste of money?

The Minister: I don't see that, but T have decided that no further expedition will ho authorised unless 1 know what it is going to cost.

“What did they find?" asked a mem

“They claim to haye seen a moose replied the Minister.

COURT-MA RITA L SENTENCE WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT

A vote of £IOO in the defence estimates as compensation to H. H. Thompson, on account of being imprisoned wrongfully ns the result of a courtmartial sentence, was severely criticised by several members when the item came, up for approval in the House. Jt was suggested by Sir If. Rhodes that the Defence Committee had recommended this sum. but the chairman (Mr. Glenn) declared that he was personally very disappointed at, so small an amount appearing, as Mr. Thompson deserved a great deal more compensation for his wrongful imprisonment and the eonseqijent troubles. The Minister of Defence explained that tlie Government, could vote £239 for an expedition to see if moose liau' been established in the Sounds, but it. thought £IOO sufficient for a man who had suffered the. indignity of undeserved imprisonment.

Mr. Holland brought the criticism to a head by moving a £1 reduction in the Defence vote as air indication that the compensation to Mr. Thompson should lie more generous, hut on a division his motion was defeated by 23 votes to 17. SUPERANNUATED SERVANTS.

The leader of the Opposition (Mr Wil - ford) suggested to the Prime Minister that even on tho last day of the session ho might find it possible to do something for superannuated public servants, including raihvaymen, who laid found it impossible on their low pension rates to pay for rent and food.

"I don’t know whether you are aware of if or not.” replied Mr. Massey, "but three years ago I placed £IOO,OOO on the estimates for this purpose.” lie added that this sum laid been redact'd to £87,030, and was being renewed.this year. The Government had not stinted the bonus to widows, and so far as they were concerned be would do bis best to maintain the standard set, but in the ease ,of other pensioners each application would he considered on its merits, and the bonus would be continued for this vear tit any rate. CHINESE FACTORIES. The Minister of Label* who was urged by Mr. Fraser (Wellington South) to bring in legislation to control the establishment of Chinese joinery factories in New Zealand, told the House that t here was only one instance of the kind m New Zealand. Therefore, the Labor Department did not believe there was tiny necessity to pass special legislation. QUALITY OF HAS. A persistent advocate of a check on the quality of gas supplied by the gas companies of New Zealand is Air. Tarry (Auckland Central) -who obtained from the Minister of Internal Affairs a statement that lie hoped to be able to prepare tt measure for next session, which will impose statutory control over the calorific quality of gas. WRITTEN OFF: UNAUTHORISED EXPENDITURE. A schedule of the Appropriation Hill contains a list of unauthorised expenditure and items which have had to be. written off its irrecoverable. The latter include advances of rates, rents, and sundry goods under the Discharged Soldiers’” Settlement Act supplied to various soldiers, amounting to £4743 in the value of stores, and £20,404 cash written off. Another item is £12,T06, comprising remissions of rent and interest to discharged soldiers and others whose holdings are in an unproductive state or who have sustained losses of stock by floods. The Repatriation Department writes off £4904. being balances of various loans for furniture and business equipment supplied to returned soldiers who have died, left- the country, or have been unsuccessful in business. A writing-off process in respect, to expatients at State hospitals has also had to bo undertaken, the sums being: St. Helen’s hospital, £220: Waikato Sanatorium, £81; Rotorua isolation hospital, £134.