SESSION NOTES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VI, Issue 1788, 6 November 1919, Page 7

SESSION NOTES.

POST AND TELEGRAPHS. REPORT OF DEPARTMENT. [From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter.} "WELLINGTON, November 5. The report of the Post and Telegraph Department for the year 1918-19 Wftß laid on the table of the House of Representatives to-day. In his foreword, the Postmaster-General (Hon. J. G. Coates) says:—The statements included in the report show that the business of the department expanded during the year, notwithstanding that a state of war existed. The revenue amounted to £1,972,539, and the expenditure to £1,702,048. There was thus a balance of receipts over payments of £270,491. J In view of the fact that abnormally high prices ruled for 'materials re- ' quired for the maintenance of the department's services, the result is considered to be very satisfactory. The number of permanent officers of the department who joined the New Zealand Forces, for service in the Great War, was 2255. If the number of women employees and telegraph message boys be' deducted from the total number of officers, the percentage of the staff released for military service was 42. The numb»r of officers of the department who lost their lives in the service of the Empire was 225-. A notable event in the history of the department was the passing of the Post I and Telegraph Amendment Act, which provided for the department to be excluded from the operation of the Public Service Act, 1912, and for it to be reclassified, and for appofntments to, and within, the service to be made by the Public Service Commissioner, on the recommendation of a Promotion Board, j consisting of four senior officers of the department and another member of the service elected by the officers themselves. Under the new Act, an officer to be recqmmended for an appointment I shall be the one "best entitled by j merit." The work of installing automatic telephone exchanges at several principal J towns of the Dominion has been delayed seriously, owing to the difficulty experienced in obtaining material. With the conclusion of hostilities, and the consequent cessation of the manufacture of munitions, the manufacture of material is being expedited, and the work of installation is being proceeded with as expeditiously as possible. . Bills "Left In the Air." "

The session has ended with six Government Bills still on the Order Paper. They are:—Eotorua Town Lands Bill* (an old friend, offering the freehold of J Rotorua township lots), Industrial Con- " ciliation and Arbitration Amendment Bill, Dairy Industry Amendment Bill, Justices of the Peace Amendment Bill and Stone Quarries Amendment BilL ' Shop Assistants' Hours. The Prime Minister's Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Bill, whien . proposed to give the Aibitration Court • power to fix hours for shops and shop assistants, was fated to oblivion, as the session finished before it became law. To-day, Mr J. McCombs (Lyttelton) mentioned that the hours of shop as- ..-' sistants had been fixed in 1904 at 52 per week, and had not been altered since. . The Arbitration Court had expressed the opinion that the question should be t .dealt with by legislation this session. Mr McCombs asked if the Prime Minister intended to proceed with his Bill, bo that shop assistants might have an opportunity of going before the Court, and of having their hours fixed on some more reasonable basis. He understood 'that, since the Prime Minister's Billhad been placed on the Order Paper, he had received a number of telegrams from employers op the matter. Indeference to the wishes of the -em-' ployers, did the Prime Minister propose to withdraw the Billf

The Right Hon. W. F. Massey (Prime Minister) objected to the last suggestion. He had referred his Bill to the' ' officers of the Crown Law Department, who had reported that its subject matter was wholly irrelevant to the Act which it proposed to amend. The Crown Law Office found it almost impossible to draft anything that would be satisfactory. As it stood, the Bill, was coupling up the Shops and Offices Act and the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Under the circumstances, he could not possibly ask Parliament to agree to the Bill. All that he could do was, if he had an oppor- » ' tunity, to bring up a Shops and Offices Bill early next session, and go into the whole matter. Mr McCombs: Could not the Government put through a small one-clause , Bill, giving the Court power to fix hours for employees! Mr Massey: Then, in many places, the owners of sliops would be able to keep their businesses open after the / employees had gone, and tJ*3 last state j of things would be worse than the first. Mr McCombs: That happens now I Price of Kerosene. In a question to-day, Mr J. McCombs (Lyttclton) reported to the Prime Minister that at Takamatua, on Banks Peninsula, kerosene was selling at 27/6 per case, and he asked if the Board of Trade would inquire into the position, as he understood the board had fixed the price of kerosene at 21/- per case.

"I shall refer the matter to the Board of Trade," replied Mr Massey. Epidemic Commission. The report of the Epidemic Commission, which was given to the country about six months ago, was laid on the table of the House of Representatives only to-day. "That's a singular thing," remarked Mr G. Witty (Riccarton) when the Prime Minister produced it. "I have just received a letter from a man who died in the epidemic." (Laughter.) Mr J. Payne (Grey Lynn): The envelope must be scorched!

Mr Witty: It's no laughing matter! I said that I had received a'letter from the widow of a man who died in tho epidemic.