POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1371, 23 February 1912, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES

MORTGAGES IN 1910-11. A PARLIAMENTARY RETURN. A return presented to Parliament siiows that amounts of mortgages registered and released in the different districts during the last financial year were as follow:— Registered. Released. £ .e Auckland 3,8(!fi,07S 2,117,743 Poverty Hnv 82.1,507 Glo,'.H:i Hawko's Bar 1,!1'J1),7M 1,147,088 Taranaki ...' l,. r >!2,ll!l 1,045,85.1 Wellington 5,,158,'.1;12 ;j,7. r >7,':il Marlborough :!41,»55 •171,5'8 Nelson :i1j(!,(177 221,111 Canterbury 4,081,717 2,807,111)1 Utago 1,352,7(i! !)SB,!M(i Southland 1.0U0.f1011 ,187,20:) Westhuid 73,(1.10 J2,t(i2

THE COUNCIL. A brief sitting of (ho Legislative Council was held yesterday afternoon. Tho usual preliminaries were interrupted by an adjournment, to enable the Address-in-Rcply to his Excellency the Governor's Speech to be presented.

HYDRO-ELECTRICAL SCHEME, The Hon. B. M'Kenzio spent nearly half mi hour in the House of Representatives ■yesterday afternoon in reading a progress report on the hydro-electrical scheme at Lako Coleridge. From llio Press Gallery it was only possible to catch occasional fragments of li : s utterance, and Opposition members seemed to be equally out of it, for several of them, at intervals, mteriectcil that (hey could not hear Jlr. M'Kenzio, who vouchsafed no other reply to their protests tlian the remark: "Probably if you talked less, yon would hear better!"

IMPORTING STOCK. Mr. Okey intinialeii yesterday thut he would ask tlie Minister for Agriculturo whether, in order to facilitate the importation of purebred stock with the object of keeping up the quality of Dominion flocks, he would amend the quarantine regulations by reducing the fees charged on slock entering the country and also by allowing the time occupied on the voyage out to be counted in the quarantine period.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND FIRE. The estimated value of public buildings destroyed by fire during tile last 10 years was stated yesterday bv the Hon. B. M'lu'imo to be .£,17,(137. Mr. Massey askcil if that included school buildings. The -Minister said it did not. Mr. Mnssey said (lie school buildings alone destroyed by lire would reach about that sum. 1 , The estimated amount that would have been paid for insurance during that period was staled by the Minister to be .£90,000, not including school and railway buildings. RETURNS IN BRIEF. The ensh payments received on account of the sale of Crown lands during the past five vcars were as follow:—1907, 1908, JC45.520; 1909, .£09,321; 1910, .£45.028; 1911, .£7G,GIB. The number of inspectors engaged by the Stock, Dairying, and Noxious Weeds Departments in field duty is 112. Under Section 11 of the State-guaranteed Advances Act, 1910, 0.'2,003,750 has been advanced to 4260 settlers and JC515.560 to 1021 workers. The average number of men employed in the railway workshops in 1911 was as follows:—Newmarket, 301; East Town, 175; Napier, 87; l'etone, 470; Woslport, 03; Greymouth, 09; Addington, 523; Hillside, 417; Invereargill, 84. EAST COAST RAILWAY. Mr. Poland asked the Minister for Tublie Works on Wednesday when it was proposed to turn the first sod of the Wnihi-Taurangn section of (he East Coast railway. The Hon. 1!. M'Kenzie replied that steps were being taken to start the work from the Gisborne end. The Government was at presen: rather short of surveyors, but the work upon the railway would bo put in hand probably within a fortnight, and certainly within a month. UNCLAIMED MONEY. Dr. Pomare gave notice yesterday that he would ask tlio Minister in Charge of Iho Public Trust Department: (\) Why the .£15.410 7d. he has in hand for the West Coast Settlement Deserves Natives has been unclaimed? (2) Whether (his money has been used for any other purpose? and (3) whether ho will take immediate steps (o ascertain the rightful owners (o the same? WHAT THE COUNTRY WANTS. Some ejectors in, the country express their political convictions with a brightness and vigour that, might profitably bo imitated bv' their representatives in Parliament, following is the. text of a telegram which was received yesterday by an Independent member from one of his constituents: — "I never read such rubbish before'as Millar and Rnssell have been giving you. Can't (hey sec that it is the country (the boiui-fido working men in particular, myself included) that is shoving the Ward party out. We listen to no one. We can see mid think for our* selves." BRIEF MENTION, The repeal of Section R of the Crown Suits Act, 1910, has been proposed by Mr. C. E. Statham (Duncdin), on the ground that the provisions of the section seriously curtail tlio rights of Civil Servants and their dependents for compensation for injury or death in their employment. Mr, T.' Boston (Temuka) has renewed his agitation for a reduction of the tariff imposed upon. New Zealand produce shipped to Australia. Yesterday afternoon he gave notice of a suggestion that the Minister cf Customs should consider the advisability of entering into negotiations with the Commonwealth Government with a view to securing a more favourable • and equitable tariff. Ho stated that the : tariff imposed by the Commonwealth against New Zealand produce was nearly double that imposed in New Zealand i against Australian produce.