HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1843, 17 May 1888, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Wednesday, May 16. Toe House met. at 230 p. m. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. • ha ve of absence tor a week was granted to Mr J. B. Whyte, and :-jv one month to Sir latins Yogel on argent private business. QUESTIONS, . R- plying to queationa It was stated that aa Amendment of the Gaming; and L tteciea Act, with a view of abolishing or reattiotlng the naa of the tqtalisator was allll under the consideration of Governmem ; that In no case had officers been dismissed from the Police Department and others taken on m their places j that a Bill would be Introduced dealing with the whole question of relief of Government settlers re valuation of their holdings ; that it was not intended to intetfare with the terms on whioh village homestead aettlflrs held their lands ; that (here Was very little possibility of an amended Bankruptcy Act this session, owing to the large number of amendments suggested ; that it was not intended to Introduce any measure this session dealing with looal government reform and the redaction m the number of looal bodies ; that the question of waste land boards was uuder the consideration of Govern* ment. '..'.. TOXAIIBATOBS AND THEATBIOAIi TICK GTS. Mr Beetham moved that, la the opiaion of this Housa, it la desirable that Govern* ment should introduce a measure during the present session providing that a pro* portion of the earnings of totallsatora and theat-ioal companies should be by Aot appropriated lor the purpose of hospitals and ohnrltable aid. He, said that about £10,000 oould ba received from tot alisators if 2 per oent were deducted from their earnings, whioh were computed to be about £500,030 or £603,000 a year. He thought alao that a small tax on theatrical tioketa would not press very hardly on anybody, as the By a tern worked well m Paris and other plaoes. Mr Goldle supported the motion. Mr Fiah and Colonel Fraaev also supported it, but strongly objected to any tax on theatrical companies. Mr Samuel disagreed with the proposal to put any tax on theatrical companies, bat he would support that portion of the motion relating to totalisators. Mr Fulton moved to amend the motion by inserting the words " That the totaltßator be abolished." r He was opposed to gambling m ever shape or form and was oertainly opposed to its being legalised by the parliament of the Oolqny. Me Withy supported the amendment. He felt satisfied that gambling .by ttaa totalisator had been made comparatively respeotable, and thai a large number of young meu were drafrn Into the pursuit at present. Mr Hutohlnson aßked the Houae to pause before committing itself on this question, Members expressed themselves strongly agaiaat the totaliaator, and yet they were now asked to pass a motion whioh would popularise it by raising revenue from it Dr Newman supported the* motion, and protested againat the large number of raoe meetings that were being held m every little town and village m the colon/. DrFitchett opposed it, and held that the totalizator minimised the evil of gambling m the colony. Mr Oarroll said that there was no harm m the totalisator. What was wanted was to bring it more under control than it was at present. If it was illegal, drink was also illegal. He as&ed why publiohouses Bhould not be abolished as well as the totaliaator. Mr Hobbs was not sure that theaccend* ment would meet the case, and was surprised that Government had not led the House. in Buob an important matter. He folly sympathised with the amendment. Mr Kerr thought it would be a wrong thing to do away with the totalisator at country meetings. His opinion was that it was the big- meetings that tried to swallow the little meetings, and there Was no dishonesty conneoted with totaliaators. He hoped that the House would go on with tho business and not trouble Itself with suoh matters. • 1; Mr Allen did not like either the motion or the amendment, as they were simply Bhnffi ng out of a difficulty. He thought there were many other things whioh should be taxod.before theatrical amu3ementß, which were often very amusing and instructive. He preferred to sac the whole- question of gambling, dealt with by Government. The Premier heartily supported the amendment. Mr Levoatam opposed both the amend* ment and the original resolution. Mr O'Connor supported the motion, Mr Dodson said they must either have totalisators or bookmakers. He held that totalieators had abolished bookmakers, and m doing that they had accomplished a good work. He should vote against both the motion and the amendment, Mr Fulton's amendmeut was then put and lost by 45 to 21. Mr Faldwick moved to omit the words "theatrioal companies" from the motion. Mr Beetham accepted this amendment, which was carried on the voices. The motion aa amended was then pat. Mr Taylor roao to speak and was inter* rupted by the 5 30 p.m. adjournment. The House resumed at 7 30 p.m. FIIIST READINGS. Bills to repeal the Loan Aot, and authoring tho borrowing of one million for immigration pnbljo works, and"othe,p purpoßGP, were received by njesaage froni the Governor, and read a Bret time. EDUCATIONAL FRANCHISE BILL. Major Steward moved the eoond reading of tho Educational Franchise Bill, to define and regulate the exercise of the educational franchise. He txplained the provisions of the Bill, and said it was no new measure to the House, having been before it on several previous occasions. Dr Fitohett eeoonded the motion, and said he considered the Bill was so drawn as to meet with the approval of the House. Tho Hon G. Fisher said Major Steward was to be oommendod for the amount of attention ho had given to this question^ but the objection to tho Bill was that it sought to amend the Education Aot of 1877- He queation d whethea it was wise to provide that every pets <n whose name appears upon nn eleotorai roll should bo

entitled to vote ac a householder for} School Ormroltteep, He Bnonld, however, * support the Bill with a good de.*l < f pleasure, and he hoped it would become , lawt Mr L*nce supported tho Bill, and wae §arp iaed it had not become hw long eincf. He supported thj nbnlition of (hep Cumulative vote. j Mr Reeves (St Albans) also Bupporledj th«. Bill, If <n"y form- thJrg, that It due! I a bow to cnmuUtive vntirg. Hohrp^d? th« Mirisor for Ec'uc.'.ton wm-d always ' dppfßO miiior^y cf r^jirpvijtatlon. Mr L^ v-.^tcm stror-g'y approved of the messnro Mr Marchanfc sopn- ftrd it, but would [ do bis ounoßt. !n CoiuGii'.tte to /e'.aiu ti:;> oumuUtlve vote. Hit John Hall aaid there was one olauae io the Bill which induced him to vote for It, the clause referring to a better system of nomination. Be aJao thought parents residing outside a school district should hive a voice m the election of the School Committee, providing they did not reside In another Bchool district. He should, however, oppose the olause which proposed to abolish the cumulative vote, Mr Allen was In favor of the Bill. Be thought all would agree that the present •yitem cf nominating School Committees W»s most disgraceful, and should be altered. He supported the abolition cf the cumulative vote. Mr Bsrron was very jealous of any interference with the Eduoatlon Aot, an : if any alteration were reqaired it should be made by the Minister for Education. He objeoted to the proposal to abolish the cumulative vote As he saw nothiug m the Bill to meet with his approval, he should vote against it. Mr Walker bad hoped that the reasonable nature of the proposals of the member for Waimate would have rendered his Bill acceptable to all the elements m the floaae. He trusted the Bill would pasa, as on the whole it was one that might be ■aid to be demanded m the best interests of the Education Act. Mr Moss objected to the BUI for two reasons ; first, because it was one the Government should havo brought m. He objeoted more strongly still to regulate the proceedings of pobllo meetings, ac wfti proposed by the Bill. Mr Grimmond did not think the Bill was necessary. Major Steward replied to the arguments brought fotward. He said he thought the reforms asked for were desirable ones. The motion for the second reading was agreed to on the voices. HOSPITALS AMENDMENT BILL. Me Hutchison moved the second reading of the Hospitals and Charitable Aid Institutions Bill, the object of whioh was to separate Fatea from the Wanganui district. Mr Taylor took a strong objection to any more tinkering with the Aot and moved that the second reading be that day six months. Mr Fulton seconded the amendment. Mr Seymour moved an ' adj urnment for a fortnight to give Government an opportunity of considering the principle involvad m the measure. Mr Hutchison accepted the adjournment whioh was carried by 46 to 30. figfe, OTAGO CENTRAL BAILWAY BILL. Mr Fyke moved the second reading of the Otago Central Railway Bill. Bat ing the recess it bad been redrafted by Sir F. WbiUker, but few alterations had been made and these were principally m the scheduler Alterations made by the House In discussing the Bill last session had been inserted, and it was now provided that a company should purchase the existing line, and so set free nearly half a million of money for profitable use elsewhere by Government. Every possible safeguard had been provided to secure the faithful execution of the work. The land whioh the company aeked for was worth ab>.ut £275,000, and the whole aim of the Bill was to open up country for s ttlemonr. It would be one of the company's first objeots to introduce population into a district whioh was now locked up. Mr Macketz'e (Waihcmo) took exception to the nature of the proposed land concessions. M»jor Steward thought Oatnaru ought to be linked with the line bb it would give • cheaper, shorter and easier route to the ■ «ea than by Hort Chalmers He hoped a provision would be made m the Bill for this. Mr Fish moved the adjournment of the debate for a fornight. Loot on the voices. The Bill was read a aeoond time by 53 to 12. JCAMO-K4.WAKAWA CONSTRUCTION BILL Mr Hobbs moved the second reading of the Kamo and Kawakawa Railway . Construction Bill, The line would only cost £20,0C0 and the Houbo had already ■pproved of the method of construction by the land grant*. Mr Monk supported the proposal. Mr Scobie Mackerzle regretted having to oppose the line which bad never t oen contemplated m the general rchemo of railways, and was altogether m a different position to the MaDawatu and Otago Central line?. He moved an amendment that it Is not expedient to consider the proposal m the present state oi the colony. On a division the amendment was carried by 23 to 21, the Bill consequently being thrown out. The House adjourned at 12.30.