NEWS AND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 633, 9 October 1909, Page 10

NEWS AND NOTES.

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE; According to .the annual return .relating to tho Public Trust Office, which was laid on the table of tho 'House :yosterday,the.number of-' transactions increased in volume compared with the previous yenr, and tho net profits for tho yedf 'werb 1 X 10,850 lis, 4d,, It is stated in connection with the new offices at Welling, toia'that*'instead-of paring rent as in the past a considerable sum: will'bo received from tenants. The grovvthfof the "business will necessitate; accommodation in the largo townn, and it would bo - desirable to acquire building »lta with,a tl»«r' to erecting cfflui whoa required.. Is tins coom of a Itv ;un th« se«

partment will bo compelled to decentralise much of its business, and this will nienn more «Sn ? 1 various branches. Last year '' estates were dealt with, as compared with S ln 19 "8,-4276 in 1907, 3977 in 1906. 3685 in 1905, at,o in 1801, -(incl ;.'i3l4 in m .Then again Jw .°Mlw est4tes. handled last year was mm;' as ' against' <£5,531,658 'in 1908, #*.969,100 in 1907, <£4,303,680, in 1906, ,£3,840,339 1903 • £3,386 ' 11!4 in 19t)t . and £2,898,360 in MARINE DEPARTMENT.. The annual report of the' Marine; Department, which' was made available yesterday, states that the duties connected with tho engagement and discharge of seamen have Dccn well: .carried out at the various ports, and everything has worked satisfactorily. *or 'certificates of competency, as masters, mates, or engineers, 338 persons passed their esaminntion, and 176 failed. . Of those who passed 233 weremasters, mates, and engineers of sea-going ships, .55 were masters and engineers of steamships plying within restricted limit?, 5 were masters of Sshing bo'ats and onrgo .up to 25 tons, 1 was master of a fishing boat under 5 tons, 23 were engineers ships propelled by oil engines, engineers of similar vessels .ply- 1 uc restricted limits. During the year certificates were granted to 289 stenmers, 73 oil.i/ongine-, vessels, mid 18 intercolonial, sail- , Wi'h regard to fisheries, •it is better marketing.,system in the chief® -and - better . facilities 1 for sending fisli inland by train wonld undoubtedly increased demand, for fresh fish/ IC6 supply of fish at "Wellington hhs-'not been equal-to that of tho previous year, but the' in" som6'f|U&TteW"t6" have been'' loss". " It"'was reported' that 1 during 'the year 44;. vessels, had stranded, 1 1 had foundered, collisions had totalled 22, and there had been fires on 6 vessels, the total number of lives lost having been 117. PETITION FROM PROFESSOR. GILRUTH. _ The petitions presented to the House yester. ®?. I j} I " ! ' , * < led one from J. A. Gilruth, Professor y Scienco and • Pathology ■ for the University of Melbourne, and-formerly .Chief Government Veterinarian in' New .Zealand. -In Soptamljeir..-1904 (petitioner said), -whilst , he of a salary of X6OO per annum, tilo. lin [Mr Ip. I Government offered him, through Government)';.; the post:', of surgeon to, the Transvaal 'GovornWeflt at a salary of' 'rising' to -£1200 per annum. Notwithstanding that his engagement with .the New Zealand Government wa9 , terminable by either party upon thrie months notice, the New Zealand- Government declined to transmit the offer to' him, and in .Mnsequenco he did -not receive the appointment. Petitioner pointed out, inter alia, that the .scope for scientific work was much greater I? AMor-thaii in : New ' Zealand, and' that the officer who'had left the-position offered to ,'X^.t,} o the highest position in the Im:perial - Cjyir Veterinary Service. Mr. Gilruth" ifurther alleged 1 that ho did not receivo the consideration ; which the Prime'. Minister assur<M , hint would* be given to'make; tip tho loss :in; question. The action of the Government in 'not;ttftiismitting 'the offer to. him had beon oons.ttued- by .'other members of profession as. a reflection unon .his professional • skill and ,oharactei\..;He claimed compensation^fAr'ldSs or appointment ( in South' Africa, and also for' the loss of professional prestige which he had sustained. ■ • >

INTERESTING EXPENDITURE,'' . Several items of local interest, are contained in _the statement. of unauthorised' expenditure of the Consolidated Fund, brought down in the •Housryeswrdaj. It appears that 1 the amount 1 of; 450 ; was. paid ■ to; recoup thfc Imprest; Ac-' 'conht- of,, the Treasury Cashier, the -Treasury 'messenger-,, having been robbed in the Bank' bf Wellington. ; Compensation to ;w»e amount of £400 1 was paid .to the .widow' of A. H. M'Phail, head mnil-cnrfc driver, Wellington, who was accidentally,'.killed while in' tho performance of his duty-. .A .contribution ;to the Post and Telegraph Department "of half the cost .of the Wellington-Tahiti mail, service for the r quarter, 1909,;' at „''jC3sOo,'.' ac- : Wed £*.£875, 'A to.;the: Hon:--W. Hall-Jones -"to .cover-', his' proceeding-' assume tho office of Hiijh Contmissipnerw:aiid: Tttr, ?Fv- W:-Mansfield, chief.electoral officer, tb-; Ceived;-£66.15i.9d.'. as "travelling expense.": when visiting .-tho Australian-States.- Payments on behalf of. departments for soyrices in-excess of ;votes,: totalled ..*£50,889 ls<- ordinary, reserve account, and .^IO,OOO under -the Publio Works Fund. - ;

; NATIVE LAND COMMISSION. ; : The■'amounts, disbursed, last year.,in, coh-„ nectiqn,. ivith - ,the . Native Land Commission' are.'given m rOtnrn.Bl., It appears that the total expenditure was'£sl47.; Of. that'sum tho Hon. §ir R. Stout (president) drow £1288 as o ° ora «um from April 1, 1908, to February'2B, 1909, whilst the amount so'drawn .by the Hon. A L T^ N & :from ,m «y 21, 1908,.t0 February -28, 1909, .was, £709. ' In addition; the former arew.,£sßs ;by. way. of travelling expenses, and tho latter <£338 for. the same purpose. The clerk to'- the commission, Mr. .Pitt,, received salary from April 1, 1908,.t0 March 31, 1900, *• * n Edition-an allowance'of for. services renderod, botween January 1, .1908, anfc'December 31, 1908, and traveliiM oxpecses . -£279. Then again the 6ecrctary.j6';tße: commission, Jtr. Hill, was paid from/August 2D, 1807/. to Januexpenses totalling .£304. .Thormost important of tho other items was as follow:—Amount paid to Mr. A. L, D Fraser whilst acting as. Native adviser j a110w£447 travelling expenses £M, total : THE PUBLIC DEBT. : 'presented, to Parliament yesterdav, gives particulars.of-the Publio Debt, ■the following . are .the figures:— Publio Debt, 1908-9 ......J. «Mn> Public Debt, 1907-8 "Z"Z .Increase' for -year £4,484,637 of the inorease there are amounting to A , la fg° Portion of the loan for is , Baid 40 c OST r ; OF VISIT OF AMERICAN FLEET. • 'B1 return the expenses in con'bfl visit of the.-American Fleet to ; Wo)v Zealand cost the Dominion £5760. The principal'itear was the - military review (in--9 whioh ran into .£1091.. Next in- order of size was the cost of the banquet to the 'admiral and officers, which aggregated ,£o9i. From the .return it is also gathered that' decorations, flags, and illuminabons cost £488.') wages, gratuities, etc., JWfiO; hire of cabs and braKes,' ; travelling allownnces and expenses of commissioners, etc., £385 ;l dais on Queen Street Wharf and annexe to drill hall, £349; accommodation of American officers and others, £263; hire of dynamos, etc., £237) annexe at Government House, £194; album and address to President Roosevelt, £122; refreshments,served to visitors, £119j casket and address to Admiral Sperry, £60,- payment of Maori.,, at Rotorua, £50; and purchase ot-llaori .curios, £43)

SECOND BALLOT ACT. Among the,'figures given in Bl'return re-lating-to the public accounts are .those in connection with the disbursements under the Second Ballot Act. Altogether .£1613 53. 6d. Was claimed by 1 the thirty-five ' candidates who reached .the various second tests." It ia interesting to note that the smallest sum claimed was: .£l9 Is. byitho-Hon." J. Carrtili.whilst most of : the'other'candidates' expenses were jnst under the aiaxiinum amottAt allowed/-viz., ■ jeso..Mr; Geo.* Hutchison 6ent in accounts aggregating *49;195.' 9d;' .. ptjfLia SERVICE'SUPERANNUATION. The-ipublio Works' Superannuation Act came into'fdrce on January 1, 1908. During that year 6551 members of the Service, who were eligible oik Jamiary lj joined thei 'scheme, their annual contributions amounting to $75,924: Others who'beeame eligiblo during the year and joined nunibered'99s, their annual contributions being .£5709'."> Pensions' for ,£8950 18s. lOd. per annum were granted during tho year. The total assots of tho fund on December 31 were iJ71,993, ' . • IMPREST SUPPLY BILL. The following is tho' text of the Imprest bupply Bill, passed last evening;—ln addition to all sums'otherwise granted,. thero may bo issued and applied, by way of imprest, to. wards making good the supply, granted .to hi 9 Majesty fpr tho service of tho year ending March, 31, 1910 i—*(a) .Out of tho, respective funds and accounts (being part of the public account) specified in tho first, schedule'hereto, any-sums of money not oxceeUing in.tho whole .£"08,01)0,; as sot- iorth''in- that' schedule, . (b) Out 'of; the respective accounts.' mentioned in the 'second schedule horcto; .tho respective sums therein sot forth, not exceeding in the wh01e.'..411,000',". The aforosnid sums'shail be charged in tho manner hereafter tb bo expressed lh.any Act or Acts passed in:this present, "session', of. Parliament for appropriatine ten pttblio rwihuM of th» Dominion (or th« yew. eadlag Karch. -81, WO.' • ■ - • i

h S le schedules aro as follow: schedule: The Consolidated Fund. *450,00(1! the Public-Works Fftutl, jC2OO.OfJD; the Loans to' Local Bodies. Account; £5000,• ijhe Land for Settlements Account, £1000; 'Bio t State Forests Account, .£2500; the State C<bJnunes "Account, £30,000; the Scenery Presei'vation Account, £1000; the: Hutt ltailway and ltoad Improvement 'Account, £6000; the Itnil. I' ways Improvements Authorisation, - Act Account, £12,000';.; the Maori? Land "Sottleinent Act Account, f £500; total, \£7oßiooo.. Second scUodulp: .The Government;'lnsurance Account, £71)00; the Government Accident Insurance AecOu.it, .£1000; the State Fire Insurance Account, £1501); the Public Trust Office Account, the Government Advances to Settlers Offico Account, £800;, the Govoiminent Advances to. Workers Office Account, £200; total, £14,000. ■ • ■ JOTTINGS. "Well, wore here now," exclaimed an Opposition member, aiiudst laughter, when.- Mr. Mossey was'referring yesterday to; patf. difficulties of , criticism in the House. "And we're -here, to stay," added Mr. Massey: A nn'nnber: "Don't worry." Mr. Massey;"l'm noWworry?' ing in the' slightest. I have :no reason to worry like' the hon. gentleman.". Yesterday Mr. Eeid, M.P., for Bay of Islands, "presented a petition bearing 73? i signatures, asking that the ! further .extension of the Whangarei-ICawakawß railway to 'Kaikoha be included' in . this year's Authorisa'don Bill. Mr. Hall has given notice of the 'E'aipuku-. rau Reserves BillMr. 'Iferdman is to ask the ;'Government: whether, they intend to erect a new office in Molesworth. Street in place, of tie present dilapidated structure. Mr. Held is to ask the Postmasljrr-General whether he will have a suitable site on the present railway laud at Porirua sot apart for postal purposes, and build therpon a.' post office at the earliest possible date.. , "It is a,,fact which does nofc>pj>ear to be sufficiently known that this' country is veil supplied lrith.iCabinet-making wooe}s of. a superior quality,. and it is. a matter for regret that they are not known or utilised by furniture makers' to the ■ extent theyf. deserve."— Extract from the report of the Ember Commission. ,/ The total area of Crown land still available for sawmilling purposes-is 4,042,'180 acres, but at the present tirno, according to tbo report of the Timber. Commission, a great-part-of it is not at present in close enough to existing means of transport to render the utilisation Of .the' timber' ft pi-ofltabl& undertaking to the sawmiller. In many cases also the proportion.of:, hailling timber of'good quality, and in sufficient quantity, is not large enough to induce milling operations on a payable basis. For the: above and other, reasons, the-com-!missioners'represent'that it is not in tile interests of tho public that a sa,-wmiller should be inyited to purchase-unmarketable timber whin .tendering at Crown sales. i The name of Mr. Hogan ia mentioned- in connection" with'the position of Government Junior , Whip. ' .