LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 44, 15 November 1907, Page 7

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

!. A MAORI PETITION. The Hon. .Mahuta te Wherowhcro presented a:.petition from a meeting of Maoris held in Wellington, asking that the Maori Land Settlement Bill be postponed until next ■ session. - The petition stated 'that the/Bill contained some features which the meeting . dicT not approve of, and tho petitioners wished to hold meetings in different parts of !the Dojninion during tho recess in order to ..discuss it. • '.On,'the-.'motion-of the hon. member tho petition was read.- It,was then -ordered to lie.on'r-the table. ' . THE SCHOOL JOURNAL. Tho.Hon. S. T. George gave notice to move hi the direction of having lessons in infant feeding 'and management published in the School Journal. GHEAP MANURE FOR FARMERS. The Hon,'T. Kelly moved, to ask the Government'" to take.' advantago <jf the powers conferred by tho .Water, ro'w.ers Act, 1903, and consider the propriety, of, establishing the manufacture" of calcium 'nitrate on Professor Birkeland's, process, thus 'providing -the farmers. with a 'cheap nitrogenous manure. The •. Attorney-General thanked the Hon. Mr. Kelly;.for his valuable ..suggestion, and promised to lay it fully'before his colleagues. The j Government, jliad received a report tho subject.'"He'.'a'defed'that, the chjef ■difficulty; in the .way was the financial on'«,;;rwjJ."in this"connection he quoted a ] paragraph.;on,;.tho., subject. power from the Public' Works Statement.. The Government, hoped, to arrange leases of,some af the ! ,watcr powers, with private.individuals' W mutually advantageous terms.' • The. motion ,was agreed to. I, .

FACTORIES -BILL. IMPORTANT AMENDMENTS MADE. The Factories .Act Amendment Bill was onimitted... In Clause 9, which provides, that. imder jertain circumstances. tho weekly half-holiday m a combined shop and factory may be given on the day of the statutory half-holiday, inr stead, of on Saturday, the Attorney-General moved to make the clause apply to boroughs, road and town districts with a population of less,.than 5000 (instead 'of '8000), and to delete ;the provision which makes tho clause apply .only where the number of persons employed in the shop exceeds the number employed in the. factory... ,

The Hon. J. Barr disapproved of tho whole clause in oitlier form. " .

The Hon. J. T. Paul said the proposals of the Attorney-General were.quite reasonable. Tjie amendment to substitute 5000 for 8000 was carried by 27,t0 1, and the proviso was struck out on the voices. Sub-clause 3 exempted " any- borough within a combined-district" from the operation of Clause 9. This, was amended by making the .exemption apply only to tho combined- districts of Auckland, Wellington,' Christchiirch; and Dunedin. / Chinese Laundries. Clause .12 provides that no Asiatic, shall work in any laundry for more than 48 hours in any one week.' The Hon. S. T. George moved to limit the hours to those between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. He said the inspectors could not always tell one Chinaman from another, and so tflo law would be evaded unless the hours wero defined. v The Attorney-General said this would cause great inconvenience to. the public, as quantities, of' laundry work were sometimes required to be done at short notice.

Tho Hon. T. Kennedy Macdonald read a petition fyom" Chineso lmindrymen in Wellington against. the restriction of hours, and stating that it would prevent"them earning their .-.living, in competition with Europeans, who were not subject to such - restrictions. They stated *also that the, work was very intermittent, and that tho proposed legislation imposed hardship , on the petitioners, some of whom) wero, Christians and 1 naturalised British subjects, and who had no other means of earning a living. Proceeding, the Hon. Mr. Macdonnld said that laundry work-often had to be dono by night for ships in port. Unfair Chinese Competition. Tho Attorney-General said that the European laundries were operated almost entirely by women, and it was provided by law that thoy- must not work between 6 p.m. arid 8 a.m., without a permit. These permits were restricted by law to' three hours in one day and 30 days in l one year with a proviso as to the distribution of thoso days. Tho Chinese, on the othci" haud, so he was informed, workednight and day, so that thoy evidently had an unfair advantage. The Hon. S. T.-George said the female laundry workers were- limited by an Arbitration award-to 45 hours a week." Chineso laundries were just being introduced in Auckland. They were all under one man, and thev worked at all hours. T'lio lion. J. T. Paul supported the Hon. S. T. George's amendment. "■ Tho Hon. T. K. Macdonald moved a prior amendment to make the. clause apply to all laundry workers.- He said he was personally opposed to Chinese immigration and would willingly impose a poll-tax of £1000 to keep them away, but he had been asked to move tho amendmont and did so as a duty. The Hon. F.- Trask supported the amendment mov'ed by the last speaker, for the snke vf fair play. /

Tho. Hon. V. C. F. Carncross took the lame view. He considered it an outrage, to prevent a man working, any---hours he pleased f he was his'own'employer. It was non•erisfl 'to"say . that ono could not tell two "hin'amen..apart.

The Hon. J. T. Paul said those who were supporting the clause were as anxious for

fair play as their opponents, but they wanted fair play for the wliito worlter. The white working woman did not get fair play against Chinamen.

Chinese Evading the Law. The Attorney-General said tho clause did not propose so groat a change in the law as some molnbcrs appeared to think. The Factories Act, '1001, provided that any building in which an Asiatic is employed in laundry work is a factory, and Clause 18 of that Act provided that no workor in a factory should work more than 48 hours in ono week without a permit. Chinese laundrymon had evaded that clause by claiming, when proceedings were taken against them, that >each of tho workers concerned was a partner in the business. They had even produced documents to "prove this Evasions of this sort were practised so widely that it was almost impossible to secure a conviction. ■ Tho principal ! object of the clause under discussion was to prevent such ovasions by prohibiting Asiatic occupiers of laundries, as well as their omployeos, from working moro than 48 hours a week. Tlio Hon. \V.,C. F. Carncross said it was roally tho white workor that was keeping the Chinese by patronising their shops. Tho Hon. T. K. Macdonald's amendment was defeated liv 15 votes to 8. Tho Hon. S. 1 T. George's amendment to prevent Asiatics in laundries working before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. was carricd by 13 to 10. ' Minimum Wage.

On tho motion of tho Attorney-General Clause 15 was amended so as to provide for a minimum wage to factory workers instead of a minimum rate of wage. He explained that this would prevent employers paying less than a week's wage when the employee was willing to work tho whole week. Tho,Hon. W. C. F. Carncross objected to Clause 16, which provides that no premises occupicd by a Chinese shall be registered' a factory, unless tho premises are. occupied by him at the passing of tho Act. Jhe Attorney-Goneral, in defending the clause, said, "Tho East is tho East, and tha ■\Vfsl is tho West, and we don't want tho KiSt." Ho admitted that tho best plan would he to keep the Chinese out altogeth t, hut that would be disallowed by tho Imperial authorities. " Tho Hon. W. C. F. Carncross said tho clause, if passed, would bo discreditable to the Dominion. It would bp un-British and cowardly legislation, and, apart from tho quostion of immigration of Chinese, bo unfair to those already here.

After further .discussion tho AttorneyGeneral moved to report progress with a view to having a drafting amendment made.

FIRST READINC. Tho Post Oflico Act Amendment Bill was received from tho Lower House, and read a first time. BILLS PASSED. Tho Railways Improvements Authorisation Bill, Butter Export Bill, Hospitals and Charitablo Institutions Bill, Defonce Act Amendment Bill, and Local Bodies Loans Act Amondment Bill, were read a second time, and passed rapidly through Committee and final stages. The Council rose at 10 p.m.