PARLIAMENT.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19137, 21 October 1927, Page 11

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. BILLS IN COMMITTEE. (PRESS ASSOCIATION TEI.EQRAM.) WELLINGTON, October 10. In the House of Representatives the Petroleum Bill was rend a second time pro forma, and referred to the Native Affairs and Mines Committees. The Guardianship of Infants Amendment Bill was passed through Committee with a, minor amendment, road a third time, and passed. The Land Laws Amendment Bill was next taken in Committee. Mr Burnett (Temnka) questioned the wisdom of changing the name of Crown rangers to Held inspectors, if it meant that these officers were going to try to tcaeh the farmers how to farm their lands—the kind of thing men on the land resented very much. Mr Roid (Waikato) said he thought those soldier settlers who wero now on the land wero contented, industrious men, and he doubted if wo would hear very much more about the distressed soldier settlor. Mr Diekio (Patea) approved of the ehauge of name from "ranger" to "inspector." The. term "ranger" was distasteful to many people, but it was n mistake to suppose that field inspectors were to bo instructors. Replying to .1 general discussion on land settlement, the Minister eulogised the work of Crown land rangers, who, he said, wero doing very difficult work with a great deal of discretion. Referring to the claim that a settler who had lost his holding should have first chance to recover it when it, was reoffered, the Minister said thcro was nothing in the law to prevent this, but it was the. duty of the Land Board to solect suitable tenants, and it wouHl bo futile in many casos to- select men whose record of failure was so pronounced as to foreshadow failure in future. The Bill was speedily put through its Committee stage, with an amendment in Clause 6 moved by the Minister. "(2a) .-■ Where in the course of any arbitration proceedings under this soction the arbitrators desire the appointment of an umpire, thoy may, with the concurrence of the Minister for Justioe, appoint a Stipendiary Magistrate, and if the arbitrators in any case fail to agree as to the appointment of an umpire, the Commissioner, with a like concurrence, shall appoint a Stipendiary Magistrate as umpire." A minor amendment was also made by the Minister in Clause 7, and the Bill* was reported with these amendments. Shops and Offices. The Committee then proceoded to discuss the Shops and Offices Amendment Bill. The Opposition contended that Clause 2 meant that girls in shops would have to work an hour later than at present, which was not justiilcd. Mr McKeen moved to substitute 9.30 p.m. for 10.30 p.m., with a view of releasing employees an hour earlier than the Minister proposed. The Minister maintained that he was not increasing the hoivrs of labour, but for the convenience of the public, employees were being asked to work an hour later. The debate on Clauso 2 continued until after midnight,, when the Minister offered to have the clause redrafted in order that it would make legal, in shops which sold both confectionery and meals, the present practice of the screening off of confectionery at 9.30, and permitting the dining-roonis to remain open till 10.30. The Minister promised that he would prqtect eirls employed selling confectionery , from being drafted into the diningrqoTthfs understanding Mr McKeen withdrew his amendment, and tne clause was agreed to.

to the Conciliation Council, the Con J oiliation Commissioner must bo advised of the names of the persons- to act as arbitrators. Discretion is vested in the Commissioner to say. whether the nominees are qualified to act, and he is to call for othor nominations if he is not satisfied. If the respondents in a dispute cannot agree upon a suitable person as an arbitrator, the Commissioner is to have power to appoint a qualified person to act for them. The. arbitrators must have been engaged in the industry concerned within twelve months of the date of, their appointment. They are to be paid fees and travelling' expenses which are to be fixed by regulation; The Bill provides also for, the ap- ■ pointment of arbitrators in the Conciliation Council cases which are now before, or are about to come before the Conciliation. Council, " The compensation to be paid to the. present nominated assessors on the Arbitration Court is to be a sum calculated at the rate of £750 per year for the period betwe n the date they cease £o be members of tho Court, and the expiration of the period of three years from the date their appointments were gazetted. The clause in the Bill relating to exempted industries states-" Except « specifically provided in Section -i (which provides for the calling by the Minister for Labour of a compulsory conference to avoid strikes or lock-outs), nothing in the principal Act or w the amending Bill, shall apply to tho farm in* industry, °r to industries carried on* in dairy factories or to employers or to workers engaged in such industries. For the purpose of this section 'farming industry' means and includes all agricultural and pastoral and dairying operations, and all work of every description incidental to such operations when effected on a farm, but docs, not include market gardening or orcharding, or the cultivation of or operations concerning flax or timber 'Dairy factories' means and includes the build-, j n rra •r-rrin are carried on the manufacture and production of butter, cheese, and other products of milk, and all operations for and incidental to such manufacture and production, together with the lands adjacent to such buildings, and used in connexion therewith for all such purposes as aforesaid, and also includes buildings annexed or adjacent to dairy factories, and exclusively used as cold storage for the manufactures or products of dairy factories. ( Every award or industrial agreement in force on the passing of this Act shall to tlu> extent to which it applies to the farming industry or to dairy factories, cease to operate immediately on the expiration of the term for which it was made, save that it may thereafter be enforced in respect of any breach or other matter arising during such term."