House of Representatives.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 1, 26 September 1907, Page 6

House of Representatives.

OTAKI AND PORIRUA TRUSTS. : The Otaki and Porirua Empowering Bill ,to amalgamate tho Porirua and Otaki Trust properties and to enable .tho same.to bo hold and dealt with by tho Porirua'Trustees for tho purposes of tho. establishment and'maintenance of a. nativo. school at; Otaki, was read a third time.. - NEW RAILW.AYS. - THE : GOVERNMENT'!!.-POLICY. Referring to- tho'pe'titiori of J. MacGill and- others for a' brahch lino of .-railway to Waiuku ;t6'"'i;<JniK!ct that townsliip (With tho-main line, Mr. AY. F; Massoy _ (Franklin), ;,pjyfl that settlers in l this, case had a,good claim, as the line was promise'd'over twenty years ago, , at which''time'.'it had been surveyed. Nothing, however, had yet been dorte. The petTtioiftrs were not asking for an appropriation; simply that tho line bo, put' on, tho list of those,authorised....... . .'Mr'.., : J.. 0. Thomson' (Wallace) said his' electorate had been, promised ■ a Tailway • thirty -yours-ago,-'• but lis recognised', that main'-lines-bad to be completed first,.; and under those circumstances he_,did noi}; "intend to advance'his claims until'next year. The Leader .of ' the Opposition' must bo "awar6 that'ho branch'' lines were to be authorised" this'yearr-"- . '

■ Mr. AVi H. Herries (Bay of Plenty) .remarked- th'a,t,iicarly all., the nowly'authorised, ■Jinqs. were, in the South Island,' and that~since •'the authorisation had/ribt spread there ■ as should .be aii extension .of .lines .in tho part of the Colony.,whore ,it was most wanted.;. . Fair>Treatmont.'a-.::;-., The •-Premier,;-_'in' reply; : briefly outJinedn.the ..practice-..iin -regard to the .authorisation, of railways,..and said it was.npt. guite. as,.ropfcsonted by the 'prdvious speaker, _ a iia jthero was notliing'"iri"tlio ','statcmen't' : by".-'Mr Herries regUrclilVg''tlie '' N'ofth '-arid' tho South , Islands. The Government had seventeen miles of railways now authorised, .on, the schedule.--.;, Out; of-.the money Allocated for the purpose they could not undertake the 1 carrying out of any -new-lines at present.""ln-the•.case of ■ some.ofvi- the -.-authorised lines there flight, b'oVnepessity for .extension; but that was npt'.thc same, as undertaking .new ; railways.- Tho Government was : 6iidea'tauring^to'got-ricl !: of tho most ;important, when this was [completed,. at: least. £300,000 a year would.,l)p.,set free, to..he, devoted to. other lines. (Hear, hear.) Hon. mom- . be'rs must' accept the assurance of the Government' •ttiat' tlfey' woiild do what was.-,fair; ...;When ;tho-;time canio the .whole inattiQr would be r ,gouo into without prejudice... ~T,hp,.poultry would recognise from tlio largo , amount of money that was being : spent that the GoveVriitfeiit'' was *dlbiiig "all it could .in; -.the^matter-":'of7'providing rail-' ways. -Ho. was 'not' agaijist a progressive railway o policy; on the contrary,, very, '"strongly "in ' .'favour of' it.

ttbtftftW.'''

. In"rfeplyiiig ,, t6'"a 'question by Sir .William" 'Steward 'bn'''tl!6 matter of holidays', the-Premier said the Government- proposed to -submit legislation dealing .generall.y_.with tho holidays of the colpny.. They, would .endeavour to readjust'the holidays So that, while not increasing the- present number, tbom. perhaps a little some;,'pases, and arrange, the desire of the people._ If Parliament made good progress there 'was 'ho -'reason why the matt'cr'^'ould'liot be''fleiilt witii tins year;" " RAGCINC " IN WORKSHOPS. ■ ; -' ';"GRA : VE-' : COM'PIjAINTS. The..,following, question was asked the. : Acti;igrMinister.'ior:,Railways by Mr. ..Laureiison:. Whether he was awaro that'it was alleged that in a number - of'' railway -'cleaning-sheas throughout-the colony "ragging" of the most .brutal,. and, ifu.many cases revolting, description was practiseu on lads :first'.v-joining,--the--«service as cleaners; and if' he found that such was the case would ho make an oxample of t the..actual offenders, anu also see punishmentwas meted out to officers in charge of such shcd3 who had^poymittctj'ragging to reach-its-alleged-'present-scandalous proportions?

. The Minister rcplipd-that complaints had at- various times' 'been made that new cleaners had been interfered with by tie older mcmbers-n£.'the sheds, and every instance«-that;,, had been brought under notice..had. been fully investigated and suitabjp .punishment meted out._ Similar action would also be taken in the future.:;'lf cleaners who "were interfered'"'with would .promptly report the Matter and submit names, it would 11 g"o" 'ft long (vay towards' stamping'out the' practice. Spesifib' Cases.'

, Mr. Laurqnson. referred to a case at the -fimarji a lad had lieon sot oil-.to, by seven others. ■Ho, Lad iioen..!iul)]ect'(Kl ; tp gross phy.sical.,.irea'tmoii|i..camo ot highly ,rcspectf4i: par.eiitg, ' and the mother, desired that .hor.,soii should he •suspended pending ,an-' inquiry. Mr. iLaurensoii'said he had'alßo been told of a similar- ease at Wan'ganui. The treattiiellt" iii'itliis 11 iffStbiltio had hew; equally 'bad;''if' not' 'worse. He war. glad to hcitr someof'.the perpetrators had: jiecu dismissed.''';.Th;9so practices he 'believed .'.wore; carried "on throughout -the .'.country,-: aiid' Jie. would like 'cho,: Depurtiijoht tq iiiaTtc., strict inquiries. .It,.iyas.not:sufficient to wait : lor- the • complaints ffromvtlw victims. .Everyone) .knew, tlioi-disliko-yoiiths had to -tolling-:talcs,"-; .'.' ' Mr.' "J./'T;- Hogim r (Wangamii) remarked. that, the';;eases' .'reported at Wangairiri'had''not'token 'place in the Kast Tbwri : workshops, :but elsewhere ill the' district. '' He. gayo.:every credit to the officers who. that punishment, was, meted, .put .there to those perpetrators whodiad been discovered. THE CRADUATED LAND TAX. A RiCS"DIiTLESS _ I.' SSION. Tho-Honso, onl'rosriming at 7.30 p.m.', wchK.''iutd.\C6mmittcc for the •further coijsidcratioji .(if.'.the La hd and Income..Assessment 8i11,.Mr; Jameii 'Allen (Br.i.ce) and tho Leader of tho-Opposition' took exception to section. 1(1, s.ub-'s'rction 1, which 'makes'lessees'liable. foF't-'ie payment of .laud tax.as.il" they were owners. | A Question of Valuation.. I' Mr. Ixard (Vvellington'North) asked tho Premier whether' lie would bring

down legislation this session to introduce an equitable system of assessing tho interests of leaseholders for taxation. Thero wero case 3in which tho leaseholder's interest was practically valueless, and yet ho was taxed on it. Tho Premier said Mr. Izard's grievance was against tho Valuation department. Ho would transmit the complaint to tho Minister at tho head of that Department. - Mr. Baumo (Auckland East) said tho operation- of Clause 10 would depend very much upon the methods of tho Valuation Department, but, unless tho. clauso wero phssed virtually as it stood, tho purpose of tho Bill would bo defeated.

Tho Premier said that without,such !• clauso .a man might Jeaso ten estates, worth £39,000 each, from ten different owners, and would not bo liable to pay the increased graduated land tax. Town and Country. On the proposal to exempt business premises from tho operation of Clause 10, several protests were uttered against differential treatment between town and country.

Tho Premier said that members seemed to forget that business premises in the country, as well as in the towns, were exempt from the 25 per cent, addition in tho graduated land tax. If business premises were not thus exempted, the owners would raise tho rents, and this would cause hardship to small users.

Mr. Massey said ho was opposed to this unjust taxation, botli in tho town and the country.

Mr. Laurenson said that if Mr. Massey would movo-in tho direction of removing tho exemption of business premises from the 25 per cent, increase, ho would vote with him. -

Mr Wilford (Hutt) said there was not tho least chance .of any amendment being made in the Bill. The law draftsman was on his. trial, ,ar.d the House wanted him to be exalted or roasted. Tho Bill affected men who could'afford to test the validity of its 'provisions'. "You can move amendments till you aro black in the face, and ypu won't carry a single one. Why riot, keep quiet and establish a record by putting the Bill through in ten minutes?" (Laughter and hear, hear.)

Clause 10,-was passed as it stood, As Affecting Companies.

Section 11, rendering shareholders of a company liable as .if owners, of the ' company's land, met with some opposition 011 tho ground that tho taxwould be difficult to collect, and would have harassing rosult3.

Tho Premier pointed out that under the principal Act. adequate • provision was'made for collection;

Tho Section was then'passed unaltered.

Section 12, providing that two companies having the same shareholders shall bo deemed as one, was objected to by Mr. C. Lowis on the ground that it would bo unfair to children in a trust, estate. It-was impossible to conform ,to the principle of the Bill because division would not be made in the cost of a trust estate. Minors could not hold property, it had to bo li'ld in trust for thorn; and in such cases whore there was more than one child there would be hardship under this clause. Tho Section was then passed without amendment. Joint Owners. Section 13,, providing for joint ownprs to ! bo assessed both jointly and severally, was passed without comment. ...

Section 14, which:renders joint occupiers liable as if , joint ownors, was passed after objection had been made by the Leader of the Opposition on the grounds that members of "one family would be unfairly treated. ■

Clnuse 15, providing that a buyer in possession shall bo liable although tho conveyance has not boon executed, was passed; and also Clsuso 16, which states that tho seller is'to remain liable until certain conditions are 'fulfilled. ' ' - At this stage (11.30 p.m.) the House adjourned until 2.30 p.m. tomorrow. . ' HANSARD AND THE PRESS. MEMBERS' COMPLAINTS. Tho Reporting, Debates and Printing Committee of tho llouso of Representatives to-day reported that thej Bad agreed t otlio following ' resolutions:—(l) "That Hansard copies 0, short speeches in L.onnnittee of Supph bo furnished to members, to be re •turned within twolvo hours to th: supervisor, and that tho present prac tice-with regard-to'interjections bo adhored to; (2) that the attention l: tho Hansard staff be called to the faCi that a weakness exists in Hansard reporting} and that, with .a view t: remedying the defect, it be an instruo. .tion to each Hansard reporter to pu; his ,na meat the commencement -oi each-turn and tho beginning of cue! speech; (3) to- provide accommodation on tho floor of the House for tho Hansard reporters, and.that the portion of the gallery thus set free bo given orer to'tlio newspaper press;'(4) that it hr a recommcndatiou v to the Government that an arrangement- be -made te supply the Press of the colony with ;■ brief report of the proceedings of th< House of Representatives."

The Chairman, of the ■ Committer moved that the reportbe referred tc the Government for consideration.

The Loader of the Opposition called for a. division, but upon the Premier'; intimating that, while tho Government the. first three recommendations, thfv' wore opposed to the. fourth, Mr. Massey did not persist in taking !• division. Tho. motion was then agreed to. A Question of Privilege. At a later stage of the proceeding Mr. Hornsby drew attention to a paragraph in Tuesday's "Lyttelton Times' : regarding the. reporting of members speeches. Ho complained that a breach of privilege had been committed, tlm.' the paragraph had been written ljy " r.

oallow youth" (laughter), and that

newspaper reporters lampooned am., ■derided members " To get magnified' in their esteem vou must," lie said. " get drunk, take your boots off in Parliament, and put them on your desk. Then you can get a high plaec in tho esteem of those experience: pressmen of tho colony." If on tK other hand one behaved as a respectable member of .Parliament should hehave, then he was put amongst tho " also spoken." Members of the, House were smarting under a sense of injustice and rampant unfairness. There wore, lie alleged, members of that House who were under the ban of thc| newspaper Press of the colony.

Mr. Gray: Why aro they under a ban?

_M r. Hornsby: Because of persona) dislike and personal enmity. (Hon. members: No, no.) Also because of their opinions and because at one time or another they had dared to express! an opinion adverse to the monopoly! of the Press Association, also because' they had desired to banish from the columns of tho Press advertisements of a certain class. Mr. Hall: You'll catch it after this.! Mr. Hornsby: I've caught it already, but 1 am so used to it after an experience of strenuous newspaper and! political life (laughter) that I don't earo a tuppeiiy-ha'-penny what the Press of tho colony say about me. He concluded by moving that tho paragraph referred to was a breach of privilege.

During the lengthy discussion that, followed Messrs. a. L. D. Fraser audi Kish?r referred to the behaviour of nj member of ("he House, which had hee;i| brought before the country, and suggested that it should not be permitted

in future. Such conduct should ho treated with gravity, and not lovity on the floor of the Mouse. Other members also spoko. Remarks by tho Premier. , Tho Premier, in tho courso of his rmnarks, defended tho newspaper representatives from intentional misrepresentation and mis-reportisg. Regarding tho member of the. House who had bc*>n referred to, the Premier said that that gentleman had for a long period been regarded as one of tho most able men in tho House. As to tho behaviour of any member of the House ho declined absolutely to lie put in tho position of being tho censor of his brother members. (Hear, hear.) On tho floor of the House all members were equal, and others had exactly tho same power in these matters as ho had. None of the Standing Orders had, in tho case mentioned, been disobeyed, and unless they were ho would not take Up the position which it was suggested lie. should.

After further discussion, Mr. Hornsby's motion was lost on the voices.

COMPULSORY SERVICE. Mr. Fisher asked the Premier if he had read in tho evening paper an interview with Colonel Robin regarding compulsory military service, and what the attitude of tho Government was to bo on this question. The Premier said lio had just glanced at tho article in question, and the Government was not in favour of conscription. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Hornsby: It will coino to it. Every man should bo prepared to defend his country. Sir Joseph Ward concluded that ho had not carefully read tho report referred to, but later on he would make a statement on tho matter.