PARLIAMENTARY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11778, 28 September 1901, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY.

GSXE3AL ASSEMBLY OF NEW ZEALAND. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Friday,' September 27.r-On. mcc ,ng 'at '2.3o p.m:, the Council" imzn< Jiately adjourned as a mark' of r< spect to the memory of the late Ho vl. Holmes. On resuming at 7.10 p.m. the In >rest Supply Bill (No. 4) for £570 )00 was passed through all it >tages without amendment, and th Jouncil rose. HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES Friday, September 27.— The Hous met at 2.30 p.m.., when the Premie moved an adjournment till 7.80 p.m as a mark of respect to the memor; of the late Hon. Matthew Holmes He said the Hon. Mr Holmes was i v-ery qld and highly respected xnem ber of . Parliament/ who ha'd ; done.i great service to. the colony- in year; •jone by, not the least of ;Which „ wa: his introduction into, the'.coloriy/" o pedigree stock froni\ the Mothei Country ,'■ '- Mr J*. Wt Thomson seconded ' tin motion,; and •Hoa.-,,T. Y. Buncai ilso spoke, the motion being agree< co, and the House adjourned. On resuming at 7.30 p.m., i The' Imprest Supply Bill (No. 4] I for ;£570,000; £570,000 was introduced by Go j vernor's message and read a- firsi time. - - - . - -- ! On the motion for its second reading, Mr- Mass'ey said he took this opportunity of "complaining of the treatment of troopers who had re turned from South Africa, especially those who had .supplied their owi; horses. Members of the Fourth Con 1 tingent had not received any allowance for their mounts as promised, He also complained that' members ol the First and Second . Contingent.* had been kept an unduly long period in Australia on their way home, and that those who. asked for leave to come home from the other side- had their fares deducted from their pay. The Premier said one of the cbnditions under which the men were enrolled- was that, their .equipments were . to be the property of the Crown. Many of the men supplied their own horses, some of which were afterwards bought from them by the Imperial Governments The New Zealand Government was not being paid for horses handed over "by troopers to the. Imperial Government^ but where those- horses -had belonged to troopers personally ,in the first instance he should not . object to the men being- paid for them by the Imperial authorities. The troopers- by the- Harlech ' Castle'" Wanted to remain in Australia for the Commonwealth celebrations, and he (Mr Se'ddon) eventually gave way, although some of the- men had simply taken French leave. Those men who wanted to come ■ back to New Zealand and not wait for the others were allowed to do so on signing an agreement to. -pay their own fares, which were to be ..deducted from their pay. but he (Mr Seddon) would see' that these men were now refunded the amounts that had been so deducted. The second reading was agreed to, and the Bill passed through Committee without amendment. * ■ i On the motion for the third reading a short debate took place with regard to troopers' horses, several members pointing out that many of the men supplied their own horses in order to get into the Contingents. .The Bill passed. its final stages. On the motion to go into Committee of Supply, Mr Bollard moved an amendment, " That it is desirable the Government should formulate this session proposals for further superannuation and classification ■of < the. railway service,- in order- that necessary provision- may be made on this year's Estimates." He urged that.- railway servants were underpaid, and that they should be at any rate raised to the same standard as the salaries of -officers of the Postal Department. : • - ;' Mr -Wilford said that last session he~had~a distinct promise from the Minister of Railways that a superannuation- scheme would be- introduced, and he knew . for a.'- fact that the closest attention was being given to that, branch of the subject. He thought this was not ah. opportun? time to bring the matter' forward. He urged ithe Minister to consider- the claims' "of the " permanent casuals," and- said that, after a man had.. been a certain number of years in -the- -service -of- the Department he should come within the scope of the superannuation scheme. Mr G. \V. Russell said other mem : bers had brought this- matter under the notice of the and had been assured that he was, pushing 1 it on as fast as he was able. ■ The Premier raised a point of order that any motion to increase the cost of the service must be brought down by Governor's message. The Government would accept the first part of the motion. The Deputy-Speaker ruled that the hitter part of the resolution was not "in order, viz., "in order that the necessary provision be n&ade in this year's Estimates." Mr Bollard , thereupon withdrew this part of" the motion. .', . Sir Joseph Ward said the subject was" very difficult, and he had ..been working steadily a£ "it "for a long time, and. it had also been before the Cabinet. It was a matter that must be made as perfect as possible before it was , submitted to the House: A Bill bad been prepared, and had been under consideration for months, but it was the difficulties surrounding such a scheme that had prevented its being brought before the House at an earlier date. " Any scheme propounded must be of a lasting character, and the Government, which was responsible for its working. Was not going to give way to pressure, and bring down a scheme before they were thoroughly satisfied that it would be unassailable in- years to come. Under the circumstances, he asked that the motion be withdrawn. Mr Hutcheson said he felt sure that what could be done would be done by the- Minister for Railways. An .amendment of the- Classification \ct was more needed for stationmasters than any other branch 'of the service. - , „ Mr Pirani said however much the Minister for Railways might desire to do justice to a certain section of the Railway employees it was impossible for him to do that unless the I Colonial Treasurer was equally anx- i ious ; therefore it was a proper thing that the matter should be brought before the House, and that members should show the Ministry they were as fully prepared to support such a scVeme as was tbe Minister for Railways. He deprecated, however, bringin" down a scheme at the end of the session, when it could not receive proper consideration. Mr Lang said there was a demand throughout the railway service fora classification scheme, and he thought the Minister ought to have given a distinct assurance that the am would be brought down this session. Eventually Mr Bollard's motion in its amended form was agreed to on the voices, and the House went into Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates. Class 111., Colonial Treasurer s Department .— £44,424 . Mr Meredith moved to reduce the salary of the Secretary t6 the Treasury (£800) by £50, the amount of the increase. . The Premier said tiiis officer by his ability had saved the colony thousceived £1500 a year. and of poundsf The Secretary to the Treasury in New South Wales reThe motion was lost by 30 to 25. On the vote for Old Age Pensions Office, £2780, the Premier said he found that imposition was being • practised with respect to persons , drawing pensions. Alter the session was over he intended to make a : change in regard to fche administra5 tion and to have official representai tion, though not by lawyers, when l the Court was investigating claims. The law would have to be amended to meet such cases. Mr Atkinson : The Premier has k given notice of an Old Age Pension Bill ; is that coming on ? Mr Seddon': Yes, it must, c Mr Guinness did not think there . was anything like the amount oi <» fraud and imposition that some •• members seemed to think ; the pite tancp was too small and he regretd ted that the Treasurer could not see c his wav to increase the weekly inp stalments to ten shillings. He hoped « the time would come when the pen- - sion would be universal. At preseni h | it was nothing else than a charit-able dole,

Mr Monk said one of the worst features of the old age pension was the indifference it had infused into the minds of well-to-do children as to the welfare of their parents. The only way to give an honest old age pension was to give it to all. The total vote passed unaltered. On the vote for Miscellaneous Services, Mr Pirani moved that tht item- " Salary of Registrar of Consols, £50," be struck out. He considered that this was entirely ornaniental position. Messrs Monk and Wilford suggested the establishment of the Civil Service Board in New Zealand, the latter saying that such a board would leave members from the pestering they were subject to by billet hunters. After some discussion Mr Pirani's motion was lost by 26 to 19. The total vote tor the Colonial Secretary's Department was then agreed to without alteration. Progress was reported, and the House rose at 12.35 a.m.