TME HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1562, 4 October 1912, Page 6

TME HOUSE.

INDUSTRIAL PEACE. The Housu met nt 2.30 p.m. Mr. W. A. .VEITCII (Wanganui) gave notice to ask tho Minister for Labour what methods, other than imprisonment, it was proposed to adopt for the furtherance of industrial peace in New Zealand. FLAXMILL ACCOMMODATION. Mr. J. ROBERTSON (Otaki) asked the .Minister for Labour whether he would lay on the tablo the report obtained by the labour Department on the subject of the accommodation of fla.tmill workers in the Manawatu district. The Hon. W. F. MASSE Y said that he would look through the report and if possible would lay it on the table of tho Houso on the following day. RECIPROCAL TARIFFS. Mr. T. BUXTON (Tcnuika) asked the Prime Minister what steps hail been taken to open up negotiations with Australia with the object of setting.up a reciprocal tariff in the two countries. He thought tho tiino was opportune for the opening of such negotiations. Tho Hon. W. F. MASSEY (Prime Minister) replied that it was quite impossible to deal with a subject of this importance during the remainder of, the present session. Steps were, h'owever, being taken to arrange a- conference during the recess of representatives from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and possibly South Africa.

SOUTHLAND FISHERIES. Sir J. WARD (Awarua.) asked the Minister for Marine whether ho would table the report of Mr. Ayson (Inspector of Fisheries) on. tho subject of the minimum permissible weight of fish caught between the Bhiff and Stewart Island. The. member for Awarua explained that the minimum' standard had been raised, and that this told very seriously against fishermen at the Bluff and in neighbouring localities. The Hon. F. M. B. FISHER said that Mr. Ayson and the Commissioner of Crown Lands in Southland had been appointed to inquire into thl3 question. It had been found necessary to get Stewart Island fishermen to visit the Bluff to givo evidence, and tho report of the officers conducting the inquiry had not yet been received. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. . Leave of absence for two days, on eecount of urgent business, was granted to Mr. J. G. Coates (Kaipara), on the motion of Mr. Mander. A BILL WITHDRAWN. The Marriage Amendment Bill was struck off the Order Paper on the motion of Mr. Fisher, who introduced the measure, as a private member, during the short session. DILWORTH TRUST. Mr. F. W. LANG (Manukau), chairman of the Joint Committee on Bills, reported that the committee had found that the Dilworth Trust , Amendment Bill was a local Bill. Mr. G. LAURENSON (Lyttelton) said the committee liad not been unanimous in its finding. It had been suggested that tho institution to which the money was left was a school open " to tho public, but in point of fact it was controlled by the Anglican Church. He held, therefore, that the bequest was not a public'bsquest, in that its benefits were more or less confined to one denomination, and that the Bill was therefore a private Bill. The report of the committee was laid on tho table.