PARLIAMENTARY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13367, 17 August 1907, Page 6

PARLIAMENTARY.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON", August 16. Ihe House met at 2.30 p.m. committee of supply. Colonial Secretary's Department—AuditDepartment, £11,504; Registrar-Generals Department, £8272, and .High Commissioner's Department-, passed unaltered. Museum and Meteorological Department, £39ll.—Mr Fisher asked if the Government had taken any steps to erect a new moseumThe Premier was understood to say that tenders wers biing called for the erection ot a, new museum in brick, which would ako house the Maori relics and oth-.-r curios. Thcs vote passed unaltered. Under Miscellaneous Service, vote £28,581.—Mr Fisher referring to the votes rtlating to the lata Premier (portraits, busts and to on), urged that tney should all be put together and that the Governmenti should commemorate the deceased statesman's memory in a proper and fitting manner instead of frittering away money on all sorts of objects. Mr Massey asked if tha item, £lO5 for a picture, was the one hanging in the Whip's room. The Premier thought this amount wan for the picture in tne lobby. The Government had not purchased the pictui.u in the Whip's room. Mr Wilford remarked that whether the Government'had purchased the picture in the Whip's room or not, the Government, would be called on to pay for the damages, as someone had put a walking Gtick through it. Mr Massey referring to the item " cost of native land tenure commission, £1000," *aid it reminded him of the fable that thu mountain had laboured and brought foith a mouse. He asked how the amount waa to be distributed. Tha Premier said that details would be available when the Bill was brought down and payment of the Commissioners would be provided for in the Bill. The- item, under notice was for traveling expenses. Mr Massey urged that the Home should be supplied with details of the £l5'JO vote under the heading "travelling allowance of Ministers." It would be intereLt'ing to know, for iuGtance, what it' had cost the country while the Miniitt-r of Lands was travelling about explaining his Land Bill. Colonial Secretary's Department, total rote £75,554, passed unaltered. Crown Law Department, £4340. Mr Hanan asked for particulars of the work done by the counsel of the Departmentwho was paid £IOOO a year. Mr Joliffe, the law draftsman, had done txctllent work and was specially qualified for the work. Some reason should be given for this new appointment. There was no necessify to have two men doing the same work. Mr Heke objected to some of tlie- counsel's methods, and moved an amendment that the salary be reduced by £999. Mr Barclay isaid that if every Bill li.-td to remain in the law draftsman's olfiee until lie had mastered all thi detail?, some oi which might come before him for the first time. great delay and inconvenience, would arise. Counsel would take a long time to make himself conversant with the statutes of the colony, as he had only recently come from the University and was really in the position of a *" round peg in a square hole." Mr Wilford said that those, who hid been in the House any length of tims must recognise that if ever th.-y hail a conscientious servant who wc-. willing :o sacrifice himself and his time ev-n to the detriment of his health, that man \va.- Mr Joliffe. who for eight vears to his I Mr WilfonF* knowledge) had I> en at th- l>, t k and i all of Minister.-: and m i;i!>:;s through lon<j sitting;-, and had been i:d!id upon to draft important amendments to important Bills at five minut-.s' not ire. He did not- think that the salary of £IOOO a year paid to counsel w:.<; too high. He thought the members' objection to Professor Salmond was not that he was not a capable man. but because a capable and proved servant had been re'egat.d to the background. (Hear, hear.) Mr Buddo said he felt very sore that Professor Salrnond had superseded a .<■ rvant who had done invaluable M-ivic-e to

tlu House and the colony. If it was found nectary to pub an additional £IOOO on Hie estimate, that should have bsea granted to the servant who had done the work. Ti:e Premier said that some of the members had not tlie knowledge- of tlia position ihey thought th-ey possessed. Professor Salmond. did' noi supersede Mr JoiiiTe. Thousands of pounds had been paid in Hie past to other than the Department's law officers, and it was in order that thi> work ?iould be done br the Department's officerV. under the eye of the House that tlu appointment had be-:n made, and it was represented to the Government that Professor Salmond possessed ths qualifications thai were required, and that Vas why ho was appointed. He (the Premier) held a very high opinion of Mr Joliffe, and the work he had done The Premier said that Professor Salmond's services were available- for all departments, and the appointment wrr, made with a view of saving the colony money. Since Professor Salmond's appointment lie had' been offered by cable a far better position than he held here, but having accepted the colony's appointment he declined tha offer. The Government did not intend or desire to do an injustice to Mr JoiiiTe, and provision was being made on the Supplementary Estimates for an increase to his salary. Had 1 Profejiror Salmond not been appointed, some other person would have.had to be appointed. Mr Wilford reiterated that a salary of £IOOO was not too high for the position. The Housa adjourned at 5.30 p.m. On resuming at 7.30, Mr Tanner deprecated the discussion which had taken plac.-, and which would cause a stracgsi in tli3 gallery to think that the House was merely a court of registration. lie asserted that the draftsmanship of the Pure Food Bill was not a credit to the draftsman, and if this was the work oJ any official drawing a ealary of £IOCO r a year, tlir colony was getting tthe wort of the bargain, and in future the House would have to exercise ten times the vigilancs it had hitherto exercised. He also referred in l t-rms of condemnation to the drafting of the Motor 35111 and the Fire Brigades Bill. in- Massey consider: d that Mr Joliffe had been very bad.y treated in regard to tlu appointment of officer in charge of the law-drafting office. He had given good servie- to the country, and' yet had been superseded by a man who was notconversant with the requirements of the office. ' He was opposed to the setting up of thii officr without first consulting Parliament, and urged that notice should have be.-n placed on tha order paper relative to the creation of the office or the matter should have been placed on tlie eHimat:s before an appointment was made. Mr J. Allen said that Professor mond was perhaps better known in England than any other New Zealander; as a jurist h-.t was well known, and was a product of tlu New Zealand I'niversitv. Although he had b.-fn offered a position in England, he had decided to his credit to remain in th_. colony. He eulogised the drafting of the Lanil a nd Income" Tax Ass.wment Bill, which was a fine pi-.-cv of draftsmanship. Tlie Piei:u'er .vaid that appointnienfhad pievi.mslv nsn , mi de j u ; , s--imilar manner to Professor Salmond'.-:. The Government had po-.'.\r to make the.se appointm nts: if it had been a life appointment then i; would perhaps, b.t leasonable for members to make objection. The appointing would savj many hundreds of pounds to tlie colony, as the work of the l.gal department was indexing tremendously. At this ::»?.• Mr Kc-ke souglit pwiiiisiion to withdraw hi.-; amendim-nt- but memheis objected. Mr Stevens urged that Use question of pounds, shidings and p?nce should not he unduly ton-rid-ikl in connect ion with (he service.-; of a gent 1,-man with high attainment--:. The a:iie:iii.-ii-e::t. was negative I on the voices. Law Dialling Office. £l3oo.—Pa fi s-d unalt.red. Crown Law Department. £l34o.—Pass.'d unaltered. Defence Jlepai-tment. total vot- £lB4 - C 24. Mi- James Alien asked a number of questions a-; to what wa.s intended to bdone in regard to the defence of our shores. The Hon. Mr McvN'ab replied in t rms contained in the defence leport. ':

Mr Vi.-hV.- courier, d I hat tlu- House should hav- ;.;i <.'i»p<:ri-Hi;iLy ol' obcir-sing ;i!i,-i;i;i-:ii.-: ill lh- policy outlined in the d-. fence vim:!. It was r.aid that- the volunteer system lor the present should remain pur.-U- voluntaiy. What, did tins nieiiuV * V.'-'u- wo to have compu'sory military training'/ Th ■ volunteer system was ik'vpv ad ;■, higher standard of appreciation than at piesent. W-e urged that the (iov.inr.u-nt > ie.mld give particulars of their defence wli.me. and let the Nous.: have ;h- light to diseu-s the matter. .\!r Hogg v/as dir appointed with the estimates of lliis Department, inasmuch as they iv,re over £lsoo.in ■-■xeer.s of last year. ' Was it intended to alter Uie regulations in regard to rifle clubs so that ihey cfiiilii legain th- strength th-ej- formally hold:' H:' contended that if reasonable opportunities w-re given residents in the country districts to join rifle clubs, there would be absolutely no necessity to resort, to compulsory militaiy s-.'rvic-e. Mr Barber expK::s.-d sati:-{a'ctio:i thatan attempt had hi.'n made l<> b.-ti-.-r the conditions i.l' tlu- defence forces. He p(;inte<[ out ill- d. feds exiling in regard to lates of pay. and .-xpre-.vd a \vi: ; h that, they bo ivnh-die.l 111 the- supplem- ntarv estimates. The lion. Mr Mclsab sail that the colony was looking to s s on what lines defen'cv should 1).; continued. if the Council was not supported and volunteerin" ceased', the colony would have' to go in for a larger and more highly paid permanent fore.-. If the voluntejring system was not supported, it would have to -end, and a mmv costly system hi brought into force. The liovernm-s-nt wished to warn tha colony to this tfcect. It was intended to -.xtend the privileges of ritle clubs, and to remove the restrictions on those clubs situated at, a- distance from ths cx-ntrcs. Mr Field expressed a hope that a better supply of rilio ranges would be provid.-d, especially for the country districts. .Mr .1. Alien a:-.k-ed if th-e Council of Defence- intended to keep the royal artillery for their own particular work, i.'i they had been utilised for police and prison-ward-:r duty. Ha also desired to know if it was intended to carry out the recommendations of the D-e-fenct; Council relative to equipment. Mr Laurenson hoped that the increased vote would prove advantageous. He emphasised the necessity of encouraging the volunteers and rife clubs. Ona way to encourage volunteering was to give noncommissioned officers who made themselves -(efficient pi citrons in the permanent forces. It was impossible in tks permanent force to rise irom the ranks to the position of a commissioned officer. H-e urged on the Minister .that opportunities to rise to the commissioned rank should b_» given the rank and file of the forces. Mr Davey wanted to know what system was adopted in appointing cbnimieiioned officeis. The Hon. Mr McNab said that Mr Laurenson was -entirely in error in. saying that non-commissioned ..officers were barred from promotion to the commissioned rank. Only recently .two noncommissioned officers had received commissions, and it was the intention to cxitiid the system, of promotion to the commkeioned tanks. Mr Allen advocated a system of rifle ranges of 200 yards for the use of cadets. Mr Davey asked why a, gentleman from Auckland 1 , with one and a half years' service in the permanent force, had been appointed assistant adjutan;i>g;i)eral at Christchureh, whilst a volunteer officer who had iiien to the highest rank he could obtain in the volunteer force and who had 20 year's' service, was altogether ignored. This man had now leit the ten-ice. . V/orking Railways Department, £1.830,000. ' At the amount "£52,809 allowances to employees receiving net mare than 10s psr day; also allowances for Sunday duty ana special services," Mr Jamas Allan a:ke-.l what amount was expended last year when £45.003 was voted.

The. Premier said that under the system it was net possible to state the figures in detail, but the total amount expanded appeared at the foot of the statement. Mr Massey pointed out that detailed expenditure appeared in the pest and tele-' graph estimates and if it, could be *one there he could not understand why it could not be done in the railway .department. He rrged that the rta-ticnniasters should, be bettor paid ; as compared w.'th postmasters tliev were badly paid. Premier said that he intended to submit an amended classification and to improve 11m pay of a numbsr of railway employees. The total vote parced unaltered. Customs Department, £43.904. LRiSCELY PAID EX.VERT. Mr Davey said tite cniel Customs expen i.eeived i;bOJ a year, and lis untiersiooa also teceive.l 3uS per ttay Havel.ir.g allowance) -whether he travei.ed or not, ana if so he had been receiving equal to £l3oi, p : i- year. Hi- Hon. Mr Millar said that from inquiry he found that the expert was appointed i:i 1883, and the statement of Mr jjawy was absolutely correct. He had drawn the 3C-3 per day for seven days to the: ivt-ek. 'ins Government had the matter under consideration, and an alteration would be made. Air Hogg said the expert ought to be made to nisgorga the extra pay. He | thought the revelation ol travelling allowance mentioned would .'.tagger the country as well as the members, and if the Minister was unaware of tiie fact some one must have known of the payments, and tli.- lul.est light ought to be brought to bear on the matter. Tbo Hon. Mr Millar said that the engagement had b.en entered into bJbwcen tlie txpert and the late Sir Harry Atkinson, and that arrangement had bsen carried out. The: Government v> r as going to terminate- the; agreement and start afredi. Mr Massey said a feeling of une:.sin:i;s would be spread throughout the country when they read of this incident. lij lis:Belted that dttails of the amount paid to trvt-ry person in the -employ of the. colony should bs supplied to the House, and declared that for years there- had a systematic endeavour to cover up such transactions.;. The Premier said that the arrangement, had been made in writing by a Premier and liiibsequently confirmed by another Premier and Minister- of Customs-. The matter .should have been put on the estimates and now that it had been revealed lie agreed that enquiry should be. made into the subject in oickr to s;e- why the arrangement was made. The agreement had been confume J by four Ministers, and it was. unfair for Mr Maic.y to lay the- responsibility on the present Ministry. A general system like that under notice hat not been carried on in this uiunlrv. and tho only regrettable thing about this from his point of view was that it wa; not put on the v.stimaks in the first instance. Mr Massey reiterated that Mini.it.rs who had controlled tlte Ctctom.s- Department for the lr.iit'nineteen years were r< sponsible for the continuation of the agreement, and Ministers who held the position should have explained to the House. (Left sitting at 2 a.m.)