PARLIAMENTARY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13355, 3 August 1907, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY.

Per L'ress Association. legislative council. WELLINGTON'. Angus! 2. Tlis I'liumil in.-t a. 2.30 p.m. PIKE FOOD, liie following Seltu Committee w::« appoint din consider ilie Pine Fund 'Bill - .Mi- Callan, Dr Collins, Messrs Joiiss. T. Kelly. LuuisMiii. Paul. Samuel. Dr I' indJav. ami Mr George. PUBLIC TRUST. On thi- motion for going, into committee on lh> Public Trust Office Bill, Mr Samuel drew attention to the fact that the amendment:-; proposed by the Government made an entirely new Bill. Mr Kslly suggested that the Bill villi the amendments proposed should 1)3 lefeiTeil to the Statute; Br vision Committee. This va.i agre.d to. 'lhe Council adjourned at 2.55 p.m. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. '11: • House met at 2.3Q p.m. FIRST READINGS. The folloving Bills vere read a first time and referred to the. Local Bills Committee —Whangaivi Harbour Board, Greymouth Harbour Board Loan, and WaipawaBorough. PRAYER FOR REDRESS. ■ Arising out of the petition by Mr .?. O'Callaghan and tvo others praying for redress in the matter of the Granger street block, Wellington, vhieh vas acquired by the Harbour Board for the purposes of a dock and approach thersto, on the ground that the amount awarded them by ih-3 Compereat-ion Court wa-t inadequate, the A to L Committer recommended that the Government introducs a short measure enabling the petitioners to secure a rehearing by the Compensation Court. A long discussion followed- t.h? recommendation bv Mr Aitkfn. Mr Fisher, and' Mr Barter. ' The Premier said if the petition vere referred to the Government the Government vould look thorough'y into the matUr. The point to be considered vas whether the Harbour Board vas devoting the land to th* purposes- for vliich it was obtained, and if not whether the land should not reveit to the owners. Thiu point ought to be cleared up, and r.c a general principle he had no hesitation in saying that no public body ought to be allowed to use its powers of acquiring land if the land acquired vere not used for the purpose for; vhieh it vas taken. Whether, or nob that vas done in thia case he did not know. The Minister for Labour said that in tha Cabinet' and in the House he had always opposed tflia principle that ownera of land taken by public bodies had a right to obtain a lehearing if IBey .were not' satisfied with the award of the Compecwition Court. .

On a division the Committer's recommendation was rogatived by 52' votes to. seven votes, and the petition was referred back to the committee. STANDING ORDERS. ' Tha Premier moved that tho Standing Orders on local Bills be suspended for the present sa-don to far a.s to allow Bills that merely coceolidat>?d local Acts and ordinances already on the statute book and do not contain any alteration of the law, to bs introduced into the , House without compliance with tha Standing Orders, .and that the. Local Bills Committe-? be instructed to report in the- case of every such Bill whether or not it contained any alteration of tha law. The motion was agreed to on the voices. ASSESSMENT BILL,. Tha Premier stated that after careful consideration of the Assessment Bill, he thought it^desirable that it should go to tli? Public Accounts Committee. A number of membeii? had made representations that several of the clauses of the Bill were of a technical character, and that they should liiiVd an opportunity of fully understanding theso technicalities. For that reason hi proposed to move the second reading pro forma and to refer, the Bill to the Pub'.ic Accounts Committse. His object in doing this was in order to facilitate the passage of the Bill through the House. Mr Massey said that he agreed with the Premier's intention, as lit would enable members to grasp the teclinicalities of the Bill. . Mr J. Allen also agreed with the Premier's intention and expressed a desire to sej the Leader of the Opposition appointed to the Public Accounts Committee. Thp. Premier reiterated his willingness to subtitue Mr Massey for some other member of the Opposition on the Committee. Mr Allen said that when Mr Mackenzie was not placed on the Committee, as last year, the Leader of the Opposition should have bsen substituted. Mr Allen complained that out of a committee of ten only two were Opposition members. Tlie premier pointed out that the* percentage of Oppositionists on the Committee was a fair proportion, its the Hou:.e was constituted. He again expressed his willingness to substitute Mr Massey for another member. ; Mr Massey said he declined to accept the position under such conditions. He thought the people of the colony s liould know that the Premier had declined to plae the Leader of the Opposition on the most important ■committtee in the House — that dealing with the finance-. THE LOAN BILL; The Aid to Public Works and Land Settlement Biil was taken in Committtee. At clause 4 providing for the money to bs raised at a rate not exceeding 4£ per ent., Mi" Massey drew attention to the cable message in the previous day's pre-is intimating that New South Wales was raising a loan at 3£ per cent. He considered that New Zealand should be able to raise loans at as low a rate as any of Jhe Commonwealth Stat-js. The Premier faid that a 3£ per cent-, loan could not be raised, except under very heavy discount. The Government had to pay £25,000 beyond par for a 4 per cent, loan. Could the Opposition in the face of these facts expect the Government to float a 3£ per cent, loan? It could not be obtrained in the colony at that price. Mr Jas. Allen sa : d thai the Government obtained it from the post office at that rate. Mr Wilford declared that it was absurd to suppose that th- Colonial Treasurer would give 4 per cent., on a. gilt-edged security if he could obtain the loan at 3i rer ee'nt. If he could float the loan at 3£ per cent., hj? would certainly do so and create a record for him* elf. Mr Hemes agreed that 4 per cent, was th" b?st terms New Zealand could git. and did not think a 3£ per cent, loan would be profitable He did not agros with ih? Premier in regard to the post office as he thought it' right to give depositors the sam.- rate of intere-t as they gave other individuals. Mr Wilfhrd wvd that they could not take all tin' depositors' money. Mr Herrie; said that if was unfair to take money from the Department at a. less iar- than 'that paid to outsiders. The Hems? adjourned at 5.30 p.m. . On re.vmiiiiig at 7.30 p.m.. th? I'.i'.l was put ihrumjli all its istag^s. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY. Th- Housi- then Hfiit into commit f-e of supply. Mr Masx.-v rc.mplaimd t lint th- apricnltmal 1!-|hjil" had not been prevnf.-.l and that th:- i-ioiisj wa« not disp:i:.-d lo pa M lb,- Hgrii-uln-ral is-l iniat.s until ih ■ report was available IL- also asked wli n Hie Exhibition accounts would lv> placid befr.|V [)ie Hoiv:-?. He complained of tho

absence of the- Bl item. The Pr'lii'ut agreed that Mr Massey's rc-qmst.s were reasonable, but none of the eslimal-:.; would be gone into until each DepaUiiKiit concerned had its report, presented. ll* promised to circulate the Bl r.-p.;i-t next Wednesday. He stated that all po.-sible- informal ion relative to the Exhibition would be supplied and a statement of i-eceipli; and expenditure be in nu-nib.i-s' hands before the estimates weio li.'iaily presented. Mr dailies Allen, speaking on defence mattiiv.. said he. hoped the Premier would have given information of the new Council. He complained that' the harbours were not sufficiently protected and advocated a syslem of port defence, particularly the coaling ports. The Premk-r, in reply to the Opposition, said it was intended to charge -the cost of exlilbiting in connection with departmental displays at the Exhibition to the various Departments just as if each was a busine.r; firm. Speaking on defence "matters he said the reports of the conference did not coyer all his remarks regarding the safeguarding of these shores. One very important speech he had. made could not for obvious reui-oni> b? made public. He indicated that the Defence Department, was carrying out a definite policy, and that the Defence-Council vould bring dovn its report at the end of next week or close thereto. The colony did not require torpedoes,, and certainly vould not go in for submarines. It vas not intended to goin for a policy of having their ovn navy, as it was apparent that any trouble in which the Empire would ba involved vould not be settled near our shores. Referring to -the defence forces- the Premier said ha had not intended to do anything ifi regard to having a standing army, but a veil-equipped, fully-organised, volunteer syctem. He vas convinced that good markmansliip was an essential factor in .successful defence, and that adults in every Walk of life should be afforded opportunities of becoming ' good shots. He pro-posed-to strengthen the land'system of the defence forces. Mr J. Allen complained that too much, dependence ;vr..-3 being, placed on the- land forces; He urged, that greater attention should be given to harbour defence as they were in danger of an attack from the sea. Referring to the cadets he desired to know if it was intended that they "should remain under the Education Department, or were they going to bring them under the Defence Department. -■£.

-. The Premier said the Defence Council of Great Britain had;communicated with New Zealand regarding its . view,s.' Admiral Fawkes' was closely in touch with the Hgms authorities, and the policy of Great Britain regarding coast defence was in accord with what New Zealand proposed. It; wai; not intended to bring school -cadets under the Defence: Department, as it was infinitely better that they v should receive instruction from their -teachers. It was not desirable to give young children the idea that they were part of the defence forces. "-■'' ' -. -.-Mr McLachlan .said.that the colony was in no danger of attack from the cea. Mr Fisher complained that too little importance was attached to the ordnance corps, and .to' make: an efficient. in these corps took twelve monthc, whereas in-., fantrymen. could be made : sei-viceable in three months:. He staled .that the bearer and transport corps were . inadequate for requirements. He urged that a' boy bst-ween 12 and 21 should be compelled to fire oner thousand rounds on a range, and every niari, unless physically unfit, should be compelled to learn to shoot. He did not in any way advocato conscription. Mr Malcolm urged that the Government should keep,its books io. that the liabilities should show as in a private company. He advocated a supply, oi ammunition be-, ing kept in each island for emergencies, if not the establishment of arsenals in various centres. Referring to , the Defence Council he said there was. at least- one imported officer who was simply walking about because he had* nothing to do. This officer was an excellent and efficient one, and he (Mr Fisher) urged that he should be given something to do. Comparing the pay of the permanent artilleiy with that, of the police force, it was admitted'that the latter were badly paid, but the case of the former was tix times worse.Mr Barbel - complained of the inadequacy of the. pay of the x>eimahent forces. A number of men were only in receipt of 5s 6d per day and, out of this,they had to pay £l2 for kit and outfit. Mr Buddo: urged that obligation should be put upon all men under 25 to qualify in drill and markmamship, as it was hot sufficient to rely on volunteers for defence. Mr Major deplored the fact that- there was no ammunition factory in the South Island. • Mr Mackenzie urged that- the Government's London offices should be centralised as Victoria street was not suitable. Premises should be obtained in the neighbourhood cf Leadenhall ctreet. -Mr Massey urged that the Arbitration . and Conciliation Act should apply, to the State equally as to private individuals. Dealing with the telephone and telegraph system lie advocated extension.on a larger scale. The costs of connection in 'NewZealand to residents outside towns and cilitu were excessive and beyond the reach of. the ordinary individual. He hoped: that legislation would be introduced to enable local bodies to erect branch telephone lines; considered that every opportunity should be given to private individuals to erect their own telephones,, but it was not desirable that the trunk lines should be outside the control of the State. The Premier said that the telephone system ir, New Zealand was ahead of the-.s-j-o----tem in England, Canada, and Awtraiia, and in his opinion was ahead of theTJnited States. Some people in the country were desirous of talking over a 40 mile line for one penny, but he contended that fixpence was a moderate fee: a portion of the long distances fees went to pay attendants who otherwise would have to be provided for on the estimates. In reply to Mr Massey the Premier stated that a conversation over the trunk line for 25 miles was 3d for subscribers and 6d for.non-suJjGcribers. Mr Ma.:sey and Mr Graham each stated that they had been charged 6d. The Premier advised an application for a refund, and he would see that they received it. The debate was carried on by Mr Bennet, and Mr Hogg, who spoke upon d?fence matters-, and Mr Massey quoted figures to show that telephone charges in the Commonwealth wire , cheaper than in New Zealand. Mr Jumes Allen as.ked if the Premier would amend the law to allow the representation of'iLe South Island to remain ■Mi at- preo?nt. and give the North Inland the four <:r five additional members uie population required. Mr Wi:ty considered 80 members sufficient but thought the rearrangement of th- electoral lioundari.'.s- could have hoen i ill Vied nut more satisfactorily. Mr Flatinau said that if any alteration was to li- made in the boundaries it should hj.» dull' immediately in order to let olee-ini-s know in leiidims.s for next election. Mr T. Mackenzie, Mr Hall, Mr Barber, and Mr <i ret unlade continued the debate. The first itsm wars agreed to. At 12.50 a.m. progrea-i was reported. The House rose at 12.52 a.ni,