PARLIAMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 195, 16 August 1907, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

(By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. jl iie "Wiiole of the afternoon's sitting was devoted to the discussion of petitions. Local bills were considered in the evening, among tnem being' the Auckland Hospital Acts' Amendment Bill, which was read a third time and passed. ESTIMATES. At 11.20 a.m. the order paper was completed, and the House went into Committee ot Supply. On the vote for the Colonial Secretary's Department of £45,339, Messrs. Witty and Davey complained of the work of the representation commissioners, and the way in which the electorates had been cut up. Mr. Lang moved the reduction of the item "expenses of general election £220 ' by £1, as an indication that the returning officers should be better paid. Sir J. Ward thought the twenty guineas now paid to returning officers was excellent pay for the work done. It was better to have uniformity of pay than to pay one 25 guineas and another 15 guineas, and so on, which would ■be unsatisfactory. In addition, it must be remembered that the returning officers got travelling allowances.

Mr. Hemes maintained that there should be differential treatment in this matter.

Mr. Jennings concurred. He instanced the new electorate of Taumarunui, covering 900 square miles, the worst electorate ever formed. It covered the whole of the outlying districts of the middle portion of the North Island and took in parts of Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, and Wellington districts. A returning officer for such an electorate had four or five weeks' work in carrying out his duties, and yet he was placed on the same basis as one carrying out lesser duties. Mr. Lang's motion was lost on the voices. Mr. J. Allen moved to reduce the item "expenses of representation commissioner £38"' by fl. as an indication that the" committee was dissatisfied with the provision made for fixing the boundaries of the electorates. There was no doubt that the work might have been better done. Mr. Hornsby said it appeared that the boundary commissioners had shut their eyes, allowed their pens to wander all over the place, and had then opened their eyes to see where they had got to. Mr. D. Reid complained of the commissioner's absolute disregard of community of interest.

Mr. Ell considered it was never contemplated that mc 28 per cent quota should be added to populations in the neighbourhood of towns, such as Timaru, Oamaru, New Plymouth, and Nelson. This would havp made a good deal of difference, and. in consequence, these districts would have had to spread out, and quite right too.

..Iγ. Wilford thanked the representation commissioners for the alteration they had made in his district. The work could not i have been done more satisfactorily if he had done it himself.

The vote was agreed. Mr Tanner hoped the Government would terminate the present unsatisfactory condition of things, which satisfied

Mr Laurenson realised the difficult task the Commissioners had, -when they attempted to deprive the South Island of several of its representatives. It was a task which could satisfy no one. The adding of 28 per cent to the country electorates might have been justified when the country was, so to speak, kept separate from the towns, but now that there were such good means of communication he thought the 28 per cent addition was monstrous. Our census takin? should be contemporaneous with that of Great Britain, taken every ten years, and made uniform through the British dominions. This would "save the continuous changing of electorates, and at the same time it would give some degree of stability when a member was elected to a seat.

Sir Joseph Ward said that where there was a constant shifting of population from one Island to another there was bound to be dissatisfaction with the alteration of the boundaries. If the member for Bruce carried his amendment that was not going to alter the matter in the slightest. He repeated, this was the wrong occasion to try and adjust. In any case, the Government was not going- to suggest any alteration in the law this session. Supposing the Government was willing, and, not having gone into the matter with a view to bringing it down, to submit legislation thds session, that wtiuld mean they would be there six or ten weeks longer. The. carrying of the amendment might be an indication that legislation should be brought down, but, when that was done, they would find it a very different thing to a mere academic performance in committee.

Mr Allen asked if they were to sit still whilst their electorates were ridiculously cut up, and community of interest destroyed.

Mr Allen's amendment was lost by 38 votes to 13, and the Electoral Department vote of £8767 was agreed to.