POLITICAL NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1372, 24 February 1912, Page 9

POLITICAL NOTES.

THE COUNCIL. Four minutes sufficed to sec yesterday's Bating of the Legislative Council through. Prayers were followed by. tho ordinary formalities, and the Council then adjourned until Tuesday afternoon.

GRADUATED LAND TAX. In the Legislative Couucil. yesterday, the Hon. J. Bigg gave notice of his intention to nsk: (1) That a return bo laid on the table showing-tho total amount of graduated land tax that would be payabto if the rate wcro ono half-penny in tho pound on £5000 unimproved value, and tho graduation ono half-penny in the pound for each additional' .£IOOO of unimproved value. (2) Tho total amount of income tax that would bo payable if after allowing an exemption of JI3OO, tho rate on tho tnxablo balance under £m were Cd. in the £ and the gradation Id. in tho £ for each additional JJIOO of taxable balance.

WORKERS' HOMES. Mr. Glover 1 ;fasked tho Minister for ■ Labour yesterijay whether, in order to increase the facilities open to workers desirous of obtaining homes under -the homes scheme, he would consider tho advisability of letting one applicant select in whatever locality he might choose. Mr. Millar discouraged the suggestion; stating that its adoption would add materially to the cost of tho scheme. ' Under the old leasehold system. 12fi homes bad been erected. Under (he system which came into operation last year, 73 houses were in course of construction. Of these. 22 were at Auckland, 23 at Wellington (Island Bav), U at Christchurch, and 1-4 at Palmerston North.. Numerous other applications had como in. If tho Government agreed to the single houso prop*ctsal, ■ the expense involved would bo too great for tho Department to stand. Tile present minimum of six houses was a fair-one, and should bo adhered to. A. request that land for workmen's homes should bo acquired at Hamilton, Cambridge, and Te Awamutn has been Tnado -by Mr. J. A. -Young (Waikato).

THE AMOKURA.. Maori boys are, by tho existing regulation?, debarred from admission to tho training ship Amokurn. Mr. T. Parata (Southern' Maori) will ask the Government to amend the regulations to permit Native boys to be trained for the mercantile marine.

;. AN APOLOGY ACCEPTED, During the no-confidence debate on Thursday, evening, remarks wcro made by Mr; Brown (Napier) against which the member for Hawke's Bay' made a strong protest, as he considered them an unjustified reflection on his late father and on hituself. Yesterday afternoon Mr. Brown, in a personal explanation, explained that he had no intention of malum: a personal attack. He paid a'warm tribute to tho character of the lato Mr. Campbell, whom ho said he know personally. Mr. Brown added • that he accepted Mr. Campbell's statement that his estate had not been returned under different names to escape' the laud tax. Mr. Campbell replied that he accepted the explanation. In his opinion the attack had been made owtn<r to ..ignorance—Mr.. Brown had talked of matters about which he knew nothing.