NEWS AND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 287, 28 August 1908, Page 9

NEWS AND NOTES.

Is' it necessary to 1 view the body ? This has been tlio most contentious question connected with the Coroners Amendment Bill. At first Mr. M'Gowan proposed to reliovo .both: the coroner aiid his jury of this duty, but the House decided that tlio coroner must view the body, though tlio jury need not. The question reached anothor stage yesterday afternoon, when' the Statutes Revision ..Committee reported the Bill, to the Legis-, liitiv'e Council with a new clause providing tjiat it shall nqt ; be neccssary for tlio coroncr tp view the body; if a qualified medical man has certified that ; death' was duo ■to any iiifectious disease. .Before the' Bill was referred to the committee, Dr. Findlay had intimated that he would move in this direction. ■ ■

1 It was just before dawn camo peeping over tho hills yesterday morning that members of tho House of stole down through tho shrub-fringed wallcs of tho Parliament grounds and strode out for home. There is a certain amount of novelty about tho 'first late sitting of the session. The weariness of it comes later. The House that followed tho Education Estimates debate after the Leader of the House had refused to close the shutters at 1 o'clock was for a time fairly strong in numbers, but gradually' dwindled down until barely a quorum wero 'distributed about tho uncomfortable seats. The Opposition wero headed by' Messrs. Herries and J. Allen, tho. Leader of tho Opposition having .retired to recoup his still somewhat precarious health. The Prime Minister remained in the Chamber most of tho time. Four- hours wero spent in debating tho class, and tho proceedings wero dull and lesden-hued.

In moving the second reading of tho Auckland (Symonds Street) Cemeteries Bill, Mr. Kidd made use of tho term "nonconformists." "There aro 110 nonconformist denominations in this country," said Mr. Malcolm. Ho pointed out that this must be so sinco tlioro was no Stqto church. Tho uso of the tbrm, oven in private conversation, was indefensible. Ho took tho opportunity to say this because he did not think tho use of the term in tho Houso should be allowed to go unchallenged. .

A return obtained by Mr. Baumo shows that during the year 1907 there wero 56 bankruptcies at Auckland, as against 45 at Wellington, 29 at Christchuroh, and.2s at Dunedin. The dividends paid wero 4s. 2d. at Auckland, 10Jd. at Wellington, ss. 2Jd. at Christchuroh, and 7s. Id. at Dunedin. The gross total earnings by the official assignees amounted to £694 at Auckland, £109 at Wellington, £225 at Christchurch, and £37 at Dunedin. Tho large increase in private assignments at Auckland last year is shown by the fact that the amount, earned by tho Official Assignee in commission in such assignments was £618, as against £32 for 1906. There wero no similar earnings at tho three other centres.

Mr. Paratn, speaking in the House yesterday afternoon, said:—"l and other members are hero every day attending to the business of the Dominion and looking after the interests of tho Maori race, but I wish to draw the attention of the House and the country to tho fact- that whilst the hon. member for the Western Maori District was returned to look after the interests of his constituents, ho is continually staying away and neglecting his duty. This has heen going on for years. If I was absent for a week or a fortnight, my constituents,would call my attention to it." Mr. Parata said that although tho hon. member was not present, ho was receiving his honorarium. "It is time," ho said, "that, the House paid attention to the hon. member's neglect of his duty." ...

A MEMBER'S COMPLAINT. QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE. In the Houso yesterday afternoon the member for Rangitikci (Mr. Remington) brought up a niattor which ho thought was a breach of pririlege. He had receded avletter from Wsngtnui dated August 20, 190 S. It was as follows:— "Mr. A. G. Remington. I . " Dear Sir,—l have just returned to , j Wanganui from Wellington, where I had ' been to see you in reference'to'getting j an appointment out- of the Gorernment. ■ I • would v ber willing to withdraw my candiJ dature for Itstngitikoi in farour of you J should..yoit be successful. in .securing "mo ( a permanent appointment, and I will use 1 my influence to further your candidature as member for Rangitikei. I would .' prefer a billet in tho Wanganui district. "Yours truly, "R.N.JOHNSTON."' Mr, Reniinsttm proceeded that ho had brought the matter up because he thought

it an insult that a man who had announced himself as a Labour candidate should have sent a letter such as this. It was an insult to himself and every member of the House. If the Labour candidates — he did not wish his Labour colleagues in the House to t-iike umbrage—were going to act in this way it was a scandalous state of things. Mr. Remington walked, lip to tho Speaker, handed him the letter, and asked was it not a breach of privilege? A Member: He does not say what screw ho wants! The Speaker: It does not constitute a broach of the rules of tho House. "But without expressing a definite opinion, it strikes ma it is a breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act, relating to bribery 'and corruption. The Primo Minister suggested to Mr. Remington that after he had had further experience in these matters he would realise that tho best thing to do was to chuck such a letter in the lire. When, the second Ballot Bill was passed it would relievo members of suoh obnoxious experiences. Mr. Massey: When will that be? The Primo Minister: This session; don't you mako any mistake about that 1 (Laughter.)

EDUCATION- ESTIMATES. SCHOOL BOOKS. During discussion on the Education Estimates yesterday morning, after we went to press, Sir. Wilford moved to reduce tho Education Vote by £1., as an indication that a universal school book should be introduced. ; The Minister opposed the proposal on the ground that it would cause a monopoly, and would result in an increased cost in tho books. Tho whole question of the free supply of books was being considered, but it was a question of money, and when the Supplementary Estimates came down, the matter would bb considered. He hoped the motion would not be pursued. The Government was opposed to a uniformity in school books. . j The motion was carried by 22 to 16. : It was a coincidence that exactly twelve months ago to the very day Mr. _ Wilford should havo had a motion carried similar to this one. Technical Education.

A diversity of opinion is hold as to the utility of technical - and manual education as carried out in this country. Yesterday morning, in discussing the Education Estimates, Mr. J. Alien (Bruce) asked tho Minister if ho was satisfied with tho results of manual and technical education. After discussing this matter with experts ho had como to the conclusion that tho Department wanted reorganising from top to bottom. The money was to a large extent being wasted. Yet the voto this year was £5000 moro than last year. He did not regret tho increase, but ho regretted the expenditure for this object., Tho Minister replied that ho was satisfied they wero getting full value. Better results, for instance,, were being obtained from the agricultural classes. At the same tims he thought too much money was being paid for what might bo called the commercial classes. Tho arrangements of the boards; however, would not be hampered, and 'changes would bo made gradually. Higher capitation would be paid in other directions.

\ Nativo Education. Some interesting remarks on, Native education matters were made yesterday morning by Mr. Ngata. Replying, tho Minister promised to place Native teachers on the came footing as European school-teachers in tho matter of salary. For special cases of isolation a small sum had already been placed on tho Estimates, which showed that these claim? were recognised. He promised to consult the Minister for Agriculture regarding a scheme for Native cadets 011 farms.