NEWS AND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 679, 2 December 1909, Page 5

NEWS AND NOTES.

• ;;;•> "wSo. hldlwasted •time?" ; ,Mf.,Masseyasked'last evening if the Minister for Public.; Works' would tell the House when lie proposed to bring down the Public Works Statement and .Estimate; They we're within four months ■of the end of the financial. year, { and:there was a very considerable opinion not only.in the:: House, but- also in the country, thatwhat was taking place was not fair to one or- the other.: He hoped that- the Minister, intended to'.bring: down' the Statement at an early date.' .■>■•■':'. "-. ■'■'■.'. ".'

The; Hon.; E. MT£enzie said'he had no objection.'to giving l the. information 'if. Mr. Mas6ey. would tell. him when the, session was likely to. end.'...-." ■ '.':■." ; .--'.'. .-

: Mr; •Massey:'That'is for you to say. - Mr..M'Kenzie,;said , lit was usual for the'most important' business of .the- session to be taken before; the •Public ■'■ Works Statement- came down. 'The; Consolidated Estimates had not yet'been-dealt'with." '. The-. statement was all. ready, and would be brought'down as soon as .the- business:'would allow.' -.' ■• : 'Mr'.' -Massey replied' that he had. been doing everything: possible to facilitatei business, and the fact ,'of: the Consolidated Estimates not having 'been! dealt with was due to,gross'mismanagement, on the part of. the Government itself. Tho Public Works Statement should:have been laid' before :Pailiaiuent weeks ago. •'■ '■ •'The Minister retorted that the delay in dealing., with/:the 1 ' Estimates and -other, important business;was entirely due to the. obstructive, tactics" of some-members. '.'■' Who had wasted i-tim'e that afternoon?-. ' -~-.-'.. "This afternoon' Was' wasted.purposely," re-, plied! Mr,' Massey,"by members of. the Government party to- prevent any discussion tak'ing,place.on answers to questions." .;,This .'was;denied by.'Mr. Laurensbn (Lyttelton), who-stated'that a very important report —that dealing with water power regulations-r 'hadrbeen:brought fdown by, a. committee, which .natnxally-domanded'discnssion. ;WHAT -COURSE' WILL "BEvADOPTED? ' THE•: STATE fGIJABANTEED '.ADVANCES 'y ; ',';'\ ■.''•'/'.■'.''-'BILL.;';,.;:."■■.: '-...-,. "," .'■ ' Speculation" is rife as to' what attitude the Government-will now adopt in view of the insertion, against its wish, of an.amendment in "the; State' Guaranteed Advances Bill, to tho effect"that; sinking' funds of' non-State. guaranteed loans; need; not bo invested; in Government securities.,:'lt is understood' that when the Prihio'Minister secured the recommittal of tho Bilinie'was; erroneously of opinion'that there wore "present a.' sufficient number- of - his supporters' "to. delete "tho., pfovisioni whioh isso obnoxious': in" his" -eyes.-' C According to lobby gossip;!the Opposition.Whips came out in retrir'd::toYthe. ."/[pairing? on T:hat occasion with yine,; colours.';-- In'-, some quarters.it is be-lieved'-.that-Sir"•Joseph will again ask that'the Bill.'should-, bev recommitted, to;secure further '. of.'th V.clause- Others, '"again, 'aro'of opinion.that in.-.view of having .sustained two'"defeats on'the question, the' Government will'-not.'.bother fnrUier.'-with/respdct.'to.'the matter, this 'session. -.It, is extremely"unlikely thatvthe:'BiU''wUl,be;-dtßpr)6d..--'. . -~;•.,

;- ; REPORTS OKI-'PETITIONS. : : \ : '■! • According to the Public Petitions A to L Committee, the petition of Lieutenant-Colonel ' W. E. Gudgeon, C.M.G., of Auckland, praying 'for compbnsatioti' for loss of office in the Government service, 1 should bo referred:to the Government for-favourablo consideration. , .The Public Petitions A to L Committee has reported: that it is its opinion that tho petition of tho Eltham Borough Council, praying for the sum- of .£1176 Gs. 7d., boing amount ex-, pended.by thera in compensation. and expenses in connection with the .case Hawcra County Electric Company versus tho Mayor, etc.,' of Eltham should be referred to the Government for favourable consideration.. , As a result of a petition of John Jeffries, of Wellington, the Public Petitions A to L Comniitteo has reported that in its opinion the Government be recommended to pass, legislation providing that all those members of the polico-force who paid into the superannuation fund when between the ages of 60 and 65, and who have received no benefit for. such payment, should receive 'payment commensurate with the'services which they have rendered. .POSTAL OFFICER'S CLAIM: Among the petitions presented to Parliament yesterday was one affecting James Alwin Schmidt, post offico official, now of Wangariui. He states that in April, 1908, he was arrested in connection with the loss' of a' letter containing postal notes said to' have been posted at the Hikurangi. Post Office,- arid addressed to Auckland. Prior to'committal for trial,-ho suffered imprisonment for eight days. He was ultimately .acquitted, the; verdict of the ijury being a unanimous one, delivered without retirement. The only recompense that had been made to. him was the payment by the post office and the Department of the costs incurred by him. in.defending himself,, viz., £&. it would appear that the Department wore not willing that the stigma that has been cast ""Pon him should be removed. As a..result of his transfer his-widowed mother had been compelled to do the best she could without the aid he could give her were he living at home. He therefore applied for adequate recompense. : BRAKESON AUCKLAND TRAMS. With a view of obtaining power to deal,with the question of the braking equipment on the Auckland tram-cars the"' Minister - for Public Works. (the Hon. R. M'Kenzie) has informed the that waited on him on Thursday that he will'probably• introduce a short enabling Bill to that effect. He has again pointed out that the only power now possessed ,by. his Department is to stop the cars carrying passengers,: but this is an extreme course: that he'is desirous of avoiding. A HUMOROUS.INCIDENT. • ■Members'had great fun with Mr. Dillon, M.P. for .Hawke's Bay, just before 1 o'clock this morning.- He -was speaking on tho Designation, of Districts Amendment Bill. Ainid '- some interruption he suddenly turned upon his interrupters. "Will you hold your tongue while I.talk?" he asked. The; Chairman, who could scarcely suppress a-smile, asked Mr. Dillon-to withdraw the words. In doing so, Mr. Dillon said: "Perhaps I can say to them, 'Will you hold your peace, tMsnr"' Mr. Dillon went on to.say that no member was more ready to pay decorum to the chair: than himself. (Loud applause.), "Will you pay .'attention, sir?" he cried at a later stage .as the Chairman's attention was'diverted, for a momont. , REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. TROUBLE IN .TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. 'Answers to questions were brought down yesterday.. 'The following are' some ( of the principal replies:—:-.' 'The inquiry in .connection with:the Wellington": Telephone Exchange, the Prime Minister states, is one of discipline and regulation ,only. The Department is quite able,to discipline its officers without the assistance of a public inquiry., .'-. ■ > . ~.-,;:.' .The Civil Service. The Addington Workshops report, the reports on the, Police Force, and administration, o£ the Laitd: and Income' Tax Department, - and thegeneral state of the public' service can all be dealt with, states the Prime Minister, in the ordinary, way under, the Standing Orders, of tho House: Whether special" days can be set apart depends upon the progress made with" urgent matters now before the House. Land Matters. No offers of laud near Toxton have been received, by tho ; Government; Should any ;be received; they will be'given'due consideration. The question of planting sand-dunes with useful trees will be. considered. • '~ :'.■'"-. Railway Questions, j. Mr. Russell-(Avon) asked "the' Minister for Railways.whether he. would, before the power, of veto over decisions of. the Railway Appeal Board, notify in each • caso tho party interested that the question of'.'veto' was to be considered, and givo: him -.the. fight of appearing ; beforo' the Minister , either: personally or by proxy in order to. stato reasons for' or against the exercise of the' said power of veto. Mr. Millar replies that he cannot see his : way to adopt the suggestion. The Act provides for the 'Minister reviewing .'the decisions of the Appeal Boards, arid exercising the right of veto in casPs where'he -'considers tho circumstances warrant■ it. ■ ;. -. Boiler-plates to be' used in the manufacture of locomotives are imported from England because there ; are no manufacturers', of boilerplates m thei 'Dominion. The - importation of boiler : plates does not affect the question of the retirement of workmen from the various workshops.

No expenditure can be authorised to prov'ido a.-verandahat the Johusonville: railway station i.ne question of providing increased facilities to gain access to the Woodville station has been under consideration quito recently. As, howovcr, the work would'involve a. considerable expenditure, it cannot be undertaken at present. '•-.', : - "■ Educational., The fecial.' grant .of 9d. : per '. pupil. to school committees, which item does not appear on the for this year,', could without difficulty.m Mr. Fowlds's opinion, bo paid by the boards out of> their general fund.'- The item was first.paid in the financial year 1903-04.' On December 31, 1903, the total net credit balance of the general ..accounts of all the boards was -22000; at the'end of 1907, the total net balance was' nearly .. .£2-1,000, and in December, 1908 .'the amount/ of the balance had increased to over '.£29j000, all the boards having their' General accounts m credit. • It will thus be seen that the average increase of the balance is somewhat greater-than the total amount of'the grant*- . The:- Minister for Education says that he cannot see his way to introduce legislation making the provisions of the Superannuation Amendment Act retrospective. • Those who had already retired,, although receiving only M2oth of their salary for back service, were to some extent guarded by the provision. for a minimum"pen- . sion or £52 a year, .a- provision' which is not contained-in the amendment Act. : •'• .-' The Midwives Act. ; The Department' is. not aware that the administration! of the Midwives Act, 1904 has' pcco6iqned\ great hardship, .On the contrary '■ .m'.'thoso. districts where - registered midwives have not been available great care', has' been, taken not to increase the difficulties of backblock life' by a, too, rigid enforcement ■of the Act. No woman has-been cautioned or prosecuted who. has assisted her fellow, settlers in emergency,'and in'many instances a very libe©ral'interpretation has been allowed with regard to cases termed as those of emergency ;Duririg. the-past- year ah assistant trained midwife—has been : visiting the backblocks, giving personal instruction to resist tered, but.untrained, midwives, and reporting on the work of the'iatter, and inquiring gener"ally as to nursing facilities,- Efforts have also been made to get trained nnrses to take un .work. in ■' the backblocks- .:■■-,. '■'■'■ Other Replies. -The date for the issue' of holiday excursion tickets on the railways cannot be extended beyond' January 2. . . ■ ,■ The erection of a school at King's Eoad Lower Hutt, will be considered with the allocations ;of the funds available for the year. -The necessary apparatus to give an efficient and permanent light at Jackson's Head, Cook Strait, has/been procured, and it will ha erected on the beacon as soon as the strong winds which-prevail, at this time'of the year are oyer. ~-'.-■■

| - There ■' was no avoidablo delay in dealing with the mail-service tenders,- tho work of returning deposits being commenced in each district' immediately the tenders 'for that district had been considered by the PostmnstorOeneral. Tho first of the deposits was returned on - November 6, after which -the work proceeded rapidly. .The labour involved in tabulating and considering tho .mail-service "tenders from, all parts of the Dominion is very great. -' -.

No, instructions have been given for the wages paid to co-operative workmen employed on- the Stato ooal railway extension or elsewhore to be reduced. ;-.,-•"■

Informationis atpresent on record with re-ference.-'to' the moneys expended for compensation vand for.alterations4b Parliament Buildings: and new, buildings for the uso of Parliament and his.,Excell«noy I ,.aiid tho matter will be further .dealt- with' on thia year's Public Woika Estates.-. . , .--. \