THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1268, 25 October 1911, Page 6

THE HOUSE.

WIDOWS' PENSIONS BILL. WAGES OF RAILWAY MEN. The House met at 2,30 p.m. Mr. Or. W, RUSSELL (Avon) asked the Prime Minister whether his attention had been drawn, to the fact that the Joint Library Committee had reported recommending that a vote should bo' placed on tho Supplementary Estimates to provide for tlio establishment of a Government Department in connection with tho collection of early historical documents? He hoped that the Primo Minister would associate himself with the work of forming such a collection. Tho PRIME MINISTER replied that the fact had been brought under his nohoe, and that he would bo glad to assist'in any possible way towards tho formation of a collection of historical documents. PENSIONS TO WIDOWS. The "Widows' Pensions Bill was returned by the Governor with two amendments, of which one was unimportant. The PRIME MINISTER explained that the other amendment provided that no widow in receipt of. a pension under the Bill should receive more than »EIOO a year. In its original form the Bill provided that a pension should bo paid irrespective of personal earnings,: but should be subject to a deduction of .El for every J2l of income enjoyed by .the widow from sources other than personal earnings. As the Bill now stood a widowobtaining from private sources .£7O a year would bo entitled to a pension of £30 a year. Mr. ALLEN said he thought this would decrease the appropriation. ?r he ?!7" le Ministers 'No; it does not. j. iS n: is the object of it, then? Ho continued that he had pointed out, when the Bill was in Committee, that a . widow earning .£l5O or ,£2OO a year draw the full pension. Ho approved the amendment.

Mr. M LARLN suggested that the new Jiinit had possibly been placfd too low, and that it might be advisable to grant more liberal terms to widows. Mr. DILLON Tegrotted a tendency in members to always propose going one better when a humanitarian proposal was introduced. The PRIME MINISTER stated that ho did not propose meantime to increase the cost of the scheme. The amendments made by the Governor were agreed to. COUNCIL AMENDMENTS ACCEPTED, At. the evening sitting the amendments made by the Legislative Council in the Loca l Liections and Polls Amendment Dill, Legislativo Amendment Bill, and Tramways Amendment Bill were agreed i to. 0 ! IRON INDUSTRY BILL. Upon Mr. Massey pointing out that tho Iron and Steel Industry Bill was concerned with alienation of Crown lands, tho Bill was referred to the Lands Committee. Tho Bill was reported by tho Committeo without amendment at 10 p.m. NATIVE "WASHING-UP" BILL. REMARKABLE NEW CLAUSE. The Hon. A. T. NGATA, 011 behalf of iir J. Carroll, moved the sccond reading of the Nativo Land Claims Adjustment Bill. After briefly explaining the detail matter of the Bill as it stood, ho added that a new clauso would bo proposed to prevent aggregation of Nativo leasehold lands, This proposal was a consequence of an important judgment delivered on tho previous day by the Conrt of Appeal which practically nullified, so far as leaseholds were concerned, the limitation clauses of tho Act of 1909. , Mr. W. 11. HERRIUS (Tauranga) said no took strong objection to tho Government, when beaten in a lawsuit, attempting by legislation to destroy the effect of the judgment. Sir Joseph Ward: Do you know what is occurring? ■ Mr. Herries: It was intended to occur. It was never intended that von should ::o back and tako away the rigfits of thoso who took up leasss prior to 1909. Sir J. G. Ward: A man with a 100,00ft..■•re lease can aggregate all the small i.-eholds ronnd him at his pleasure. Mr. Berries said that if a man who "k up a lease 20 or 30 years ago was ••v to be prevented from felling, assignor mortgaging, that would bo an ■•.rferenco with the terms of his loase, vl wouid bo wrong. If tho Crown ob- ■ "■:«! to the judgment, that of tho Court

Appeal, the proper course was to go to Mis Privy Council. Ho had not yet seen Mi" clause, but what was suggested in tho Native Affairs Committee was retrospective legislation affccting leases dating from before tho 190-t Act. Tho Nativo Affairs Committee had .gone through the Bill, and ho thought there ivas no. objection to bo taken to tho clauses so far submitted.

; Ho repelled tho accusation that,the Opposition desired to confiscate Maori lands. Tlio first tiling to do was (o give the Maori tlio chance of cultivating his own lauds, and the Government policy did not give that chance. lie had as much as anybody to do with .suggesting the Native policy of the Opposition, and ho reckoned himself a Philo-Maori. Before the Nativo could be induced to settle on his own lafuls, and be given the same rights as Europeans tho communistic system must lie done away "with. Educated Natives, like the Native Minister and his colleague, should bo at once freed from Iho'shackles of the Native land laws. This would annl.v .to several thousand ■persons. If Sir John Findlay ever camo into that House, he (Mr. Merries) would Iw glad to fight shoulder to shoulder with him for the Opposition Native land policy, as outlined by him at Parnell.

Mr. SEDDON referred to Clause 11, which emiw.vers the Public Trustee to charge if he thinks fit only a peppercorn rental for lands leased under the "Westland and Nelson Native Reserves Act, ISS7, for religious or educational purposes. He suggested that a Royal Commission should, bo set up to deal with this and other clauses affecting tho reserves under tho sanio Act at Greymouth and Motueka.

ill*. T. PAR ATA (Southern Maori) advocated individualisation of Native lands. Maori lands should bo rated, but not before individualisation,- and not so fa to cause hardship to tho Natives. Tho opinion of tho Natives was that tho Opposition wanted to tako their land away l'rom them. TE RANGIHIROA (Northern Maori) thought that communism among the Maoris had outlived its usefulness, but thero were great difficulties in tho way of partitioning the lands. Tho putting of tho Maoris on tho samo footing as the white man was a consummation devoutly to bo wished, but he questioned whether the'majority of tho Natives were ready for tho removal of the safeguards. The Hon. A. T. NGATA, replying, said that tho judgment of the Court of Appeal in the Kopaataki ease turned on the meaning of the word "lessee," ill the limitation clauses of the Act of 1009, and the Court had held that it. did not inclmlo tho assignee of a lease. . The Solicitor-General was, therefore, afraid that tho_ whole of tho provisions against aggregation of Native leaseholds would bo set aside- The Minister instanced a case in his own district, where ono man held 30,000 or 10,000 of Native leasehold and 15,000 acres of freehold, while another— a few mites from him—held 20,000 acres of freehold and a similar area of Nativo leasehold. Under the law, as now interpreted by the Court, one of these men could acquire the wliolo of thoso two holdings of Native land. There was no graduated land tax on such lands, as upon European lands. In fact, unlimited aggregation of Native leaseholds was the natural outcome of the judgment, and I that should not be allowed under a Liberal Government. The SolicitorGeneral was of opinion that the clause suggested by him would cause no hardship. It would declare the law to be as it had hitherto been supposed to be. The Minister alsd replied to Mr. Herries's exposition of the Opposition policy, and said that the Opposition had two Native land policiis, one for outside tho House and one for use within it. Mr. Herries said that aggregation should be prevented without retrospective legislation. ;

Iho second reading was carried. The new clause was afterwards circulated. Sub-clause 1 declares tliat "lessee" and "sub-lessee" in Part XII of the Act of 19011 include "and at all times heretofore hnve included'a lessee by assignment and a sub-lessee by assignment." Sub-clause 2 provides that nothing in Part XII shall prevent the assignment or sub-letting of a leasehold estato in Native land to anyone who does not already liold more than 100 acres of Native, Crown, or European land, as owner, lessee, or sub-lessee,' solelv or jointly with another person. Sub-clause 3 fcrbids- tlio registration of instrtinienls. for the acquisition of interests in Native freehold land in tho absence of a statutory deof compliance with Part XII of t'ho Native Land Act, 1909. MINING BILL, The Hon. 11. M'KENZIE (Minister for Mines), in moving tho committal of fho Mining Amendment Act, said that it provided, among other matters, for tho bringing of tho oil industry for tho first time under regulation and control. • After some discussion the Bill was read a sccond time. PUBLIC RESERVES. The PRIME AIINISTER moved the second reading of tho Public 'Reserves Amvmliucut Bill, winch gives to the Governor, local authorities, and trustees powers to lease reserves by public auction or tender for term of 21 years, with right of renewal. Tho sccond reading was agreed to on tho voices. POST AND TELEGRAPH BILL. The PRIME MINISTER moved tho second reading of tho Post and Telegraph Amendment Hill. Ho stated that it was intended to extend tho use of the stamprecording machines to stamps other than postage stamps. Another clause, authorised tho issuo of licenses for wireless telegraphy stations oil ships registered in New .Zealand,

Answering Mr. Hemes, tho Premier stated that under tho agreement into which it .had entered with ths-Telefunken Company, the position of New Zealand was undoubtedly satisfactory. Litigation as to patent rights in other countries did not affect the position here. He understood . that Marconi was a director of the Tolefunken Company. Tho latter system had been selected because both tho capital cost of installation and the annual cost of working wero less than uiider nltarnative systems. In any event, New Zealand was covercd in respect of any possible infringement of "patent rights, by a guarantee of .£IO,OOO. The sccond reading was agreed to on the voices. RAILWAYS AMENDMENT BILL. WAGES RAISED IN ELECTION TEAR. The Hon. J. A. MILLAR moved the second reading of tho Government Railway Amendment Bill. Mr. 3IASSEY said members recognised that tho introduction of tho Bill was due to tho presentation of petitions by dissatisfied railway employees. Ho hoped that it would allay unrest. It was a pity that the hon. gentleman had made these increases in election year. If they wero deserved now, and they undoubtedly wore, they should have been made last year. By bringing down tho Bill this year tho hon. gentleman had laid himself open to a charge that he had done it for electioneering purposes. Mr. J. P. LUKE (Wellington Suburbs) commended tire Bill. On the whole tho wages of the railwayman now approximated to thoso paid in the shopj. Mr. C. 11. POOLE (Auckland West) expressed approval of the Bill. In the main it would give a good deal of satisfaction to the men, though some of them would think that they should havo got more. Mr. A. S. MALCOLM (Clutlia) said' it was quite evident that the House approved the Bill. _ He regretted that the Minister, in making provision for the men of the second division, had not done the sa.mo for tho men of the first division. No one who had investigated the claims of both divisions could fail to recognise that i»ach had its .grievances. Mr. G. WITTY (Riccarton) said that if anyone put a wrong construction on the fact that increases, wore being made in election year it would be the Opposition. The railwayraen would not do it, nor hon-est-thinking men. Mr. D. M'LAREN (Wellington East) denied that this Bill met the matters contained in tho petition of tho men of the second division. There were many things in tho petition not touched by'the Bill, The iil INI.STLR denied that election year had anything to do with increases made in this Bill. Neither had any pressure from outside. He was not goi'ng to do anything in regard to the First Division until the petitions sent in had been considered and reported upon. When action was taken to increaso salaries in the First Division, Parliament and the country would know all about it. r.s they now did in tho case of the Second Division. As to tho organisation of the service, the small number of accidents which occurred in New Zealand spoke for itself. The railwaymen need -rot think that they could come to Parliament every year and get an increase. The sccond reading was agreed to." BILLS. IN COMMITTEE. ■ The House went into Committee on the Bills which had been read a second time. (Left Sitting.)