THE COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 644, 22 October 1909, Page 5

THE COUNCIL.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. The Hon E C! J STEVENS asked, when the Council resumed, yesterday, whether m the return ot mortgage;, irora April 1, 1907, to March 31, 1908, or in any similar subsequent « e t ,, shots nas payable vsas in any cases at the higher rates' nmoh were made bj the mortgages reducible when punctual payment of Interest was made. He said it i,as customary tor a inortgago to stipulate a certain rate oi interest, with provision that a low or rate would be accepted i£ prompt payment vrere made There. tfero manj cases in which the difference between the higher and tho lower »<» *f 2 per ctat. Ii the higher rate were taken for the purposes of tho Tetiirn, ita value wat. destroyed, becanse the information as to fte volume of mortgages was contained in another return. , i Dr. PIKDLAY said that in point of fact according to an old la* it was'illegal to "provtfti for a-specified rate of interest and then m'the sam,e document to proves that if the interest were not paid punctually a higher rate was reduce. The difficoltywas rat over by providing- ft specified payment and then, if the ampunt were paid promptly, a reduced .payment It was quite clear tftat the epeoihed rate was not always the. trao rate, and should not be taken into account m compiling the return £s a matter of fact, where'a maximum and minimum rate was. stipulated,, the com "3 X ™ Y? rate fcr i] P Proses pf the Tetnrn Tho higher Tate was covenanted was not acT' °° S!S * ! ? mpt Vp me ti The Hon.'J E JENKINSON talced whether U was tree that the specifications pf the new post office did not specifically stato' that all steelwork to be used m >'■ that building shpuld bp manufactured in tho Dominion, ana if there was any. truth in tho report that it might be imported . to hie question, Hγ Jenkmson. said he believed that ,811 work for public undertakings which could v qe made Dominion shquM not be imported. If ffie, specifications in the case in .queshon werft not framed as he suggested, he trusted that future specifications would contain s provision to the desired effect' ' ; I)r v said that there was no stipn- , lafcon in the specification l ! that the wort in cpiesbo;i should be manufactured within the Dominion The'contract was, however, so drawn ,tlut it wopld be impossible, certainlv impracticablt!, fijr it to be done outside- He might motion, for instance, that tho jointing ahd riveting had to be in cjxict accordance with the details These details were iurnishea from time,to time as the work pro I gW"J«' * s ww done in the ca<=e of the Pnblic | Trnst Qffice, fa regard to which building all I , tee work was \ manufactprrd here He could assure the Council that the details I epuld not be completed in time "to enable wprk to be completed I i ADDRESS-JN-REPLY. ! HOW TO PREVENT UNEMPLOYMENT. The Hon. J E THNKINSON (Wellington) resuming the debate on the Address in-Reply said ho hoprti ex-Minister"! would not get into tne habit of saying "Ko" when amendments were moved from his corner The Attorney faeneral should reform not only the Prison Department, but the Jnshce Department Ho thought a Court could bo set up which would settle industrial dispntes much more efficiently than was at present the case One or two business men, without the (assistance of Boheitora, would be able to settle, disputes emutnbly. With Mr. Me he believed that there was not so mueb,, nnomployment during the past winter as had been represented in eome of the newspapers It was true, how «v«r, that there -were numbers of cases of distress—that there were people who could Dot piok and choose us to what they should eat He did not behove that there was anv remaiy for unemployment, but they should insist i°f ,j watchword of Mr. Sinclair that preference «iou»d be gjven to goods manufactured in the pomimon It was regrettable to note that local bodies had on order to firms outside the country jeiflO.ffljO worth of dredges ' Provision made in Acts dealing with loans W local bodies that the local authorities sb« riot import any of their requirements which Could db made in New Zealand He did not blame the Government for tho amoimt of manufactures that was being imported but i, he would point out that there wero officials J fnlling over dne another to have requirements imported What happened P Why, Ministers were at the mercy of the heads of the Do Pti!™!*" inot ( tno speaker) did not believe that if locally-made manufacture's cost n little more, the people would complain It was ais opinion that commissions to Departmental oncers were not eptirejy unknown If the local bodies would co-oporate with the Government m giving preference to locally-made manu laqtures, it »ould go a long way tona'ds sohW the unemployed difficulty Hβ regretted that the P and 0 Cpmpany intended to compete with the Union Company It wa« his opinion that the Uijion Company should on «>r into the Home trado and that if it did no the Government would rivo it » substantial subsidy It would not surnriso him if the gawnt of the P and 0 fompanj to New Zl v *£* r he oukome ot the itcent trm maiie by Sir Joseph Ward Whilst so much money was frittered nwoy on public works it wa« no wonder thaf- Civil Servants complained upon being retren'Vd Ho hoped that ere ]on e, a .board wou!<| he set up which would «ee that all public works were undertaken Mi competently as if ther were hemg per formed for pnvate people Once again he would draw attention to thp ncrcssitv of establish Ing a nava port on the West Coast It was his View that m regard to technical edura tion the Government was throwing away thou pounds Th(> Pnrnpnl-a iron fields "iHJT-Jwere prolmWy thp richest in the *orld, Btrnvvs-jbe constrrod to the Dominion If the Stn?! Trust was nllowpil to pnrchise thl> fields tliev -nnnltl not be opened until tho tmst i "mured fhem ' Up-)!) tin motion of the Attompv-General thn (lehntfi wn= tnon ntljonrned, nnd it was ngrectl tn resnrno at 2 W p ra. to day