PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13485, 27 July 1907, Page 7

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

(Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 26. The Council met at 2.30. Hon. Mr Barr moved for a return showing the number of estates in the colony of an unimproved value between £20,000, and £30,000, and up to £200,000. The Hastings Recreation Reserves Bill was committed and progress reported. M 1 i.l blithe evening the Council passed the Imprest Supply Bill through all stages without discussion. ifolU^Ot' fIgpRESENTATIVES. , Vu': ; / ■ '< 4, The House met at 2.30. - A month's leave of absence was granted to MrJlhodes on account of ill-health. ReporQng on a petition for the, erection of a'Wdge at the WaitemataPnverhead, the A to L Petitions Compittee had B 0 recommendation to make, and advised that all further, petitions £or exgenditni^ of public works funds [be referred "direct by the Classification Committee to the Go^eraanent. > 5 j. Mr Massey ; advocated, setting ,; up a Public Works Committee to which all application for expenditure of 'Public Wftrks money 'should 4 - fee referred;" * Premier" said tKat no -matte*' what a committee said pr recommended, the Government had to allocate the ainoint avsilfihte. for, Public W orks *o tKe best advantage, and, guided byt'its officers, we^it into the^ork in' the process selection irrespective of anything else. .He added that no' new railway works- would beMindeSijak^H, as there were seventeen or^eighteen lines in hand, and to open up, new ,lines meant allocating Works Hfon«y^nul I riblets( / tb3cojftt^y;,the impression that new railways ''were being tfonstrTSctetf^tt imrticular : districts. He^;«w4fiia&Mft^%^^ ndenc y waato press, matters on the Government in a manner not fair or reasonable* -all sides of Jtfe c*e * House*. applications fdr ~*e£traordiaflOT?expe^f[&fspfr * N/q^oVerar itfent, unreslrft desired* wH'ain 1 *fiie cJolo■iiy, could meet .anything like the nuraHeri j?f &*fcpn!alsQns .? % wv fnblUi cipd fitii'Jagree; jwi^ Mr -^Massey's suggestion for a Public Works I<sbnsnrttee7 a'tf members woiacM have to jtjie country auring the recess inspecting, and taking evidence. They ■#buW t^quire 4 to b 4 paid,'*nd the cost tfc t*fe'icojin^ ; would be enormous. I * ' I^SfPREST SttfPLY BILL. v pEFy^MENT : €RITIt % V^&T^)fcßthl&h& a 4a 4 brought down by iGciv^r^nor's Message*, .. j ' TOn tbV mbti&n to gVS Hnto 'coninlittee tfa "the* Bilfj^lttr berries- spok© on tfte . 4iil3^s»-; * R^;«onteadf d.^h^t if the D^t " partment fiad been - properly maftagedj : boasted of ill /,Ae Statexpieat hay,^|been $yen wan it 'was'. > He did^not see any iftdic^filn^^esfeer effort 'hekfe made to j^Ke%B^-f.^i|^f^kto vHe <Aarge4 t iaie Department with shortsightedness 'i^ 4*Mr. rfes\^clf.- -te mac i|Ur« the :^f)r £50a,000 to increase i le rolling stock/ the Ejfouse would glad- & gitefit/aS there "was* difficulty in. re: Sard tp jplljija stQck,all .oyer, t^e polony; Se/VmplaiD*d that ? ne't profit, -qn ffi'ciepttaWinvested shoyfeg a *rsry snjall incr{ftee".rdur ; yig L ;)yie p^ist •even, years, while «&firQfit earning :per train had def rtim' £^69 in 1900 to £28.79 ifriafttodHft^m:atte»tionto the enormous increase joost 6f 5 construction jtor mile. -It ru seated year after year c^>st of,constijuct;iog per.mue pad steaqiT ; 1^ incrSa^Cij'^^. cp^^enaerf <isss it.9®Cr ikinly proye'a t^a,t under tne co-oper^r §vel^Aeni.t>ialioat;jef icokwtruction^had increased, and he hoped large public WorW^wra^in : 4)e- carried^out under the contract system. He asserted that Auckland lines had steadily increased as revenue producers, /whilst the InvercargUl line had steadily decreased. The Premier Said '"he wp* surprised to see Mr Herries doing what he had done on a forjner occasion. He thought, it was unfair to try 'to create the impression that any favouritism was being shown to any portion of the colony. His statements were contrary to fact. The House adjourned at 5\20 p.m. The House resumed at 7.30. The Premier, continuing, quoted figures illustrating the gVeat development which had taken place* "in the railway traffic since 1895, jind the efforts of the Government to cope with the increase. He pointed out that 129~locomotives, and 468 passenger, cars, had been -added to the rolling stock since 1895, showing that in many respects the demands had been met by increases u,p to and over 100 per cent. There was no difference between the class of rolling stock in the two_lslands,_and the same rules were in force from end to end of New Zealand. Referring to increase in the cost of construction, he pointed- out that the permanent way was built to>a higher standard than in the earl^'days in accordance w^tbv the heavier loads they were required to carry. During the time he had been Minister, for Railways, the weight of locomotives liad increased by' 30 tons. • fjeajing with the co-operative system, he defended it in a vigorous manner, pointing out that work had been found by .this , means for large bodies of workmen who otherwise would have been workless. On the whole, the co-operative system had been a good thing for the colony7"ln conclusion, he asserted tjiat the railway.system of New Zealand was second to none in the world, and had been responsible for great and lasting good to the colony. Mr Herries, replying, referred to accidents on the railways of the colony, and asserted tho-percentage, wag very great,. In*l9oo the percentage of accideifts" to employees was 1 to 24, in 1906 . 1- to 20, whereas in England the figures for 1904 were 1 to 150, and in 1905 1 •to 154. . ..,.,-.,•.... -\ Mr Massey said at the present time the railways, in the itforth Island earned more per" mile 'than the railways in the South Island. He did not agree with the Premier that, when the North Is- ' land Main Trunk line was completed, the earnings of the North Island lines per mile would show a reduction. He had been over the route, and was convinced that when the line was opened it would increase the earnings of the North Island lines. Timber alone in the King Contry would represent a good earning in freight to the railway. He contended that the miners and mine owners lost considerably through

the insufficiency of rolling stock on the Auckland lines. So great was this loss that out of 57 working days, the miners in the Huntly mines had lost 13 days — an average of £31 10s 8d a year. Mr Massey also briefly criticised the valuation system of the colony. Mr Fisher said he intended to place some figures before the Premier in respect to the' audit system of the colony, as in his opinion the time was ripe f or the system to be altered. He proceeded to state that under the Public Revenues Act of 1891 all vouchers should breturned to the Audit Department. This was not done. He urged that the Canadian audit system should be adopted, or, if not^ that the Public Accounts Committee should be empowered to call persons and examine them in^ connect i >a with accounts. Mr Mas. Allen pointed out that the cost of running per mile on the railwa ys had considerably increased since 1897. Then the cost per annum, was £149 per mile; in 1906 it was £252. He added that the Railway Department paid too much for the State coal used, lie asserted that officers of the Civil Service who had passed competitive examinations were being blocked in promoti m owing to other officers being promoted who had passed no examinations. He mentioned four instances in whi«;a Clerks of Courts had been appointed. One was a police constable, who ne/er passed any examination for the Civil Service. . Hon. J. McGowan, Minister of Jus.tice, said the practice of the Department had been tp appoint policemen as of the Court in small places, as ■it was not advisable to' place cadets in su^h positions. These' policemen made most excellent clerks. He asserted that he would not take the responsibility of sending young men to take positions of responsibility, in places \v\iich, owing to the scarcity of accomm ni'ttioumade it necessary to live in hotels. He added that none of the appointments complained of had blocked tho promotion of clerks wha had passed the Civil Service examination. Messrs Okey, Mills, and Lang continued the debate.' The Premier said the position at Huntly was that the mine proprietors had no hoppers or anything that would hold 100 tons of coal, but expected the Railway Department to supply waggons to be hauled by horses to the mines "and there await loading. No such practice was adopted in any other portion of the colony, but, where waggons had to wait, demurrage was charged. The Huntly coal mine owners should; provide their own hoppers and waggons. Referring to accidents on the railways, the Premier explained that, the slightest accident was recorded^ -jeveA :when- a man did not leave his work. In conclusion he claimed that the work of the Railway Department was being carried on satisfactorily and the amount set down on the* Loan Bill was sufficient to maintain that standard. . The BiH, ifrhieti pjfovideg for an appropriation' of £623,000, was put through all stages and passed. The" House adjduVned at 11.59.