THE COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 265, 1 August 1908, Page 7

THE COUNCIL.

CORONERS AMENDMENT BILL. The Coroners Act Amendment Bill was received from tho Lower Houso and read a first time. THE HIGH COMMISSIONER. Tho Hon. T. K. MACDONALD (Wellington) asked tho lion, the Attorney-General ".whether'there-is'any reason why full information of all business matters connected with the work of the High Commissioner'? office should not bo submitted to Parliament each session, duo caro being exercised that confidential i communications regarding loans and finance should not be disclosed." The ATTORNEY-GENERAL (Hoii. Dr. Findlay) said the question appeared to proceed from a wrong assumption. The High Commissioner ;was i not an administrative officer, or tho head .of a Department under Government control,', but a' Parliamentary officor. The reports mado by him for. the purposo of assisting the Government in concoction with various Departments of Government action in .England and New Zealand nocessarily included a .great deal of confidential matter.- This was not. separated from the non-confidential matter, and consequently if the reports were laid on the table with tho confidential matter deleted thoy,-would' ho without sequence and,, hardly intblligiblo. Moreover a very dangerous precedent would be established. The Government, for these 'reasons, did qot.'seo, its' way to accede to the request. '" ' I THE COST OF.rLIVINC. . DIFFICULTIES' .OF: . ' - ■ • WORKER, 1 ihe Hon.' J.'BARR (Canterbury) moved tho resolution already:published calling upon the Government' to"take..into'.'their' immediate consideration . the, devising, of spme further practical measures whereby the heavy cost of living *at present borno by tho married, workers as compared with the unmarried may be lessened, and that tho position of those with families be.'espocially considered." The mover said that there was not in Now Zealand a natural birthrate. ' This was duo partly to love of frivolity, but also to thq reluctance of people to bring up children in a stato of : poverty and : uncertainty . that would bo unfair to the children., He was glad to acknowledge that something had already "been Bono. Some of the Labour people injured their cause by refusing to give credit to the Government for anything. (Hoar, hoar:) . Consideration for-the married worker had been shown in tho-Land. Act of last year, the' Workers' Dwellings Act,- the Advances to Workers' Act, the . remission bf Customs duties on necessaries, and tho: Post and Telegraph and- Railway Classification schomes. Tho Government should-bo able to buy land for. workers' dwellings at the value put upon it-by tho owiiefl for ,taxing purposes, plus a certain percentage. Ho also advocated employers being required to give preference of employment to married men, and the development of the existing labour bureaux into Stato labour ageiicies on the same lines as in Germany.

Tho Cost of Living. Though the duty "on sugar had been rei ' mitted, the ' retail price was only slightly reduced;. while.articles in which sugar was. largely used, such as jam, were not reduced at all. : The 1 question of a maximum profit might h'nvo. to bo considered. He also ad- , vocated'free school books. : State Doctors. It was furthor necessary, in itho . interests of the workers, that tho medical profession should be lifted out of commercialism. Tho doctor should''bo'- employed and paid by the Government, and siiould regularly visit schools and tho homos of the people, without waiting'to be sent for, when it" was often too late' to save life. . The birth of a child sometimes'led to an'exponditure of as much as £100,- The education of girls in the duties, pertaining to motherhood was next' advocated, &nd ; it was urged that tho kind ofnurse needed in tho homes of working people was a mother nurse, who would take over all the responsibilities tif'tho house.' The; Hon. R.' A. LOUG HNAN (Wellington), in.seconding tho motion, described Mr.. Barr as tho real mouthpiece ; ; Tho. discussion was interrupted by" tho four' o'clock limit. ■ ; ; • SOCIETY OF ACCOUNTANTS BILL. ■ ■ Tho New Zealand. Society of Accountants iill passed its [fiiial- stages. THE CONSOLIDATED STATUTES. MR. JOLLIFFE AND THE COMT MISSONERS. " ' The Consolidated- Statutes Enactment ill was received from the. House of Roprejntatives. • The ATTORNEY-GENERAL (Hon. Dr. Jindlay), in moving tho-second reading, said he know from his own acquaintance with part of tlio work that it had been done in a very careful -.manner. Owing to tho work of the Chief Justico, the Solicitor-General and tho ex-Solicitor-General, New Zealand would now have" a consolidation of statute law that would bo without a rival in the King's dominions. The country was under an obligation to these gentlemen. Ho asked the Council to take the work on trust, and if any faults were discovered, they couid be corrected afterwards. Mr. Rigg indignant. The Hon. J. RIGG paid a tributo to tho part taken in tho matter by Mr. Jolliffe, tho law draughtsman, who was, be stated, the real, .author of tho work. Ho took exception to that portion of tho report of tho Commissioners in which they referred to Mr. Jolliffe, and said that, knowing that offieer as hn did, he 'declined to beliovo the statements mado therein, notwithstanding that it was in the report of tho Commissioners. Tlio bulk of tho work was Mr. Jollifre's, the frills were put on by tho Commissioners.

Ho attributed the roforcnco to Mr. Jolliffo to professional jealousy, and regarded it as a slander.

Tho Hon. E. C. J. STEVENS (Canterbury) also spoko strongly on tho matter, and said lie had never known a public officer attacked in the form of a charge laid before both Houses of Parliament without having an opportunity of putting his side of tho caso forward. He very deeply regretted that such a thing should have occurred. Tho Hon. T. KELLY (Taranaki) also thought tho paragraph should havo been omitted. The Hon. G. JONES (Otago) also deprecated the inclusion of tho paragraph. : Tho Hon. 11. A. LOUGRNAN (Wellington) suggested that the report might- be referred back to the Commissioners with a view to having tho paragraph delotcd. Tho Hon. T. THOMPSON (Auckland) regarded the action of the Commissioners as very ungenerous. ''Ungenerous and Uncalled For." The Hon. J. E., JENKINSON (Wellington) romarkod that tho Council soomed almost unanimous that the paragraph was ungenerous and uncalled for. Tho report should not bo allowed to lie on tho taole in its present form, and should be sent back to havo the paragraph erased. Ho also suggested that Parliament might also consider tno recognition of tho services rendered by Mr. Jolliffo. Tho Hon. C. LOUISSON (Canterbury) said he had as high a regard for Mr. Jolliffo and his work' as any member, but tho Commissioners had merely mado a statement of fact by way of explaining why Mr. Jolliffe's book was not adopted. Too much fuss had been made about-this. ■ Tho Hon. J. T. Paul (Otago) suggested that the Commissioners in their supplementary report, might introduce, words which 1 would in cfl'ect modify their reforcuco to Mr. ; Jolliffo. HOW. DR. FINDLAY'S REPLY. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that Mr. Jolliffo as Assistant Law' Draftsman in the Crown Law Drafting Office, was an official of one of the Departments in his charge. ,"He is," continued Dr. Findlay, "a painstaking, courteous, and exceedingly industrious man, always anxious to do his duty well, and so far as ho has the gifts of caro he exercises thom to tho fullest extent., I have an excellent officer in Mr. Jolliffe." In regard to the charges that had just been made against the Commissioners, members were quite freo to express thoir opinions on tho report, but no membor had a right to say that the Chief Justice, the Solicitor-General, and the ex-Solicitor-General had committed tho offence of slandor, as assorted by Mr. Rigg. Ho (Dr. Findlay) was not prepared to lot that pass. Mr. Rigg had imputed tho motive of professional jealousy to the Commissioners. The charge was not deserved, and was not one that any hon. member should make.' (Hear, hear.) Should Have Been Omitted.' As to whether the Commissioners' referonce to Mr. Jolliffe was couched in language that was desirablo or fair, that was entirely a different matter. He (Dr. Findlay) would havo liked td see some fuller and m'ore generous recognition of Mr. Jolliffe's services., (Hoar, hear.) He could not havo mentioned Mr. Jolliffo in his own introductory speech without being thrown back upon - the paragraph, already alluded to, which he would have liked, to see omitted. If tho statements were true would-it not have beon nicer if thoy had been left out altogether? Tho Commissioners might well have stated why they could not.*dopt Mr. Jolliffe's book, but their ' reference to his actions was a .mistake. Parliament had no power, to direct that the report of a Royal Commission, which was sent to tho Government, should bo altered. Tho very sensible suggestion of Mr. Paul might or might not be dealt with by the -Commissioners themselves. " ' Mr. Rigg In Explanation.. -Tho second reading was'thon carried; arid the Council,,iiy"cnt cinto, : . Committeo. on .- the. Bill., x--'-The Hon. J. Rigg said he did not assert that tho' reference to Mr. Jolliffo was- a slander in tho legal sen so; but he believed it was not true, and would so -boliovo, whoever signed it. It was the meanest statement that he had ever seen in a • public document.. He had suggested tho motive of professional joalousy as tho least offensive ho could think of. Ho had the highest respect for the signatories to the report, but documents were sometinles drawn up by an official. ' Hon. G. Jones: The seeretaTy. :■ (Laughter.) Tho ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in reply to Mrl Kelly, said the Government ■ was giving further consideration to the very difficult problem of consolidating tho Native laws. The Bill passed through all its stages without, amendment". r-'.. ,At 6.30 p.m. the Council adjourned until Wednesday,' August 10.