EVENING SITTING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7893, 5 November 1904, Page 6

EVENING SITTING.

The House resumed at 7.30 p.m.

The second reading of the Land for Settlement Amendment Bill was carried by 44 to 15. PUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES. At 7.40 the House went into Committee ot Supply for consideration of the Public \Vorks Estimates. The first class taken was the Public Works Department (total vote £13,000). Mr James Allen (Bruce) protested against the inclusion in the Public Works Estimates of such charges as " repairs to and painting of courthouse," and so on. Such works should not, he urged, be charged to the Public Works Fund, which was practically a capital account. Harbour works, maintenance of roads, and so on, were also included, and they should appear as charges against the Consolidated Fund. The Chairman, at the instance of the Premier, ruled that the general policy of public works could not be discussed at that stage. Mr M. Kirk bride (Manukau) moved to reduce the vote by £1, as an indication that there should be no further increases of salaries until more liberal provision is made tor public works expenditure. The Hon. W. Hall-Jones urged that reasonable salaries should be paid, even if the amount for works were decreased. He hoped to see a Bill carried next year classifying every department of the Civil Service. Mr Harding contended that if the public works expenditure were reduced, salaries should also be cut down. He did not mean that individual salaries should be reduced, but he thought that the total amount expended on salaries should be curtailed.

Mr Mander found fault with the Government for paying too much attention to the highly-paid officials of the Public Service and neglecting the men who were poorly paid. When increases were granted they generally went to the highly-paid officials in Wellington. The officers in distant parts of the colony fared very badly in the matter of increases of salary.

Mr Taylor said what was urgently wanted was classification of the whole Public Service. These driblets of increases which were not evenly distributed provoked much adverse criticism and a good deal of irritation.

Mr Herdman maintained that until a non-political Public Service Board was appointed neither the Public Works Department nor any other branch of the Public Service would be in an efficient state.

The Minister challenged Mr Herdman to give an instance of any person, high or low, haying been appointed to a position on the Public Works Department for political services.

After considerable discussion Mr Kirkbride withdrew the amendment, and the total vot9 for the class passed unaltered.

Railway Construction £434,000. — Mr Harding moved to reduce the vote for the Helensville northwards railway (£10,000) by £1, as an indication that tho House is of opinion that that sum is insufficient and that an additional vote of £15,000 sbould be placed on the supplementary estimates. The Northern members strongly complained that the Auckland district had not received its fair share of the public works expenditure, Mr Baume declaring that " he was not going to support the Government any longer if they continued their policy of starving the Auckland district."

The motion for reduction of the vote was lost by 35 votes to 25.

Mr J. Vile moved the reduction of the total vote, so far as additions to open lines was concerned, by £1, as an indication that railways should be maintained out of revenue, and not out of capital. The Minister stated that only the usual practice was followed in New Zealand in the expenditure of capital on existing lines.*