THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1833, 21 August 1913, Page 8

THE HOUSE.

The .House of Representatives met at 8.30 p.m. Tllia Church of England -Trusts Bill i(Mr. Statham) was read a first- time. • The committee appointed to considfcr the New Zealand Institute of Architects Bill was granted an additional fourteen days iin which to .report. FIRST READINGS. >' The following Bills were read a first , ;time:—River Boards Amendment Bill l[(Mr. Herdman), ( I.and Drainage Act ■'Amendment Bill (Mr. Massey), Science ■tmd Art Bill (Mr. Fiilifr), Local Elections and .Polls Amendment Bill (Mr. tHerdman), Counties Amendment Bill ■XM-r. Herdman). DOMINION .MUSEUM. The Hon. I'. M. B. FISHER, 011 being nsked by Mr. Russell, to explain the Science and Art Bill,; said that he proposed to ask the House to refer the Bill .to a'epeoial ujmmittee, of which ho hoped the hon. gentleman w r ould bo a member. Thfl Bill dealt with ttlie question of a eito for tlio Dominion Museum, and Dominion Art Gallery, control of the Gov'ernmont Museum at Wellington, care ,of historical books and' documents, and eo 08.,-. -. ~ -r- , Mr. Rtisseill: Is it a policy.measure? Mar. Herdman*. It is the result of the sitting of V special committee" set. up last eession, of which the 1 hon. gentleman was a member. ; -■■■''- - ! PUBLIC TRUST.REPORT. . Mr, G. W.• RUSSELL (Avon) asked wlhen it was intended to lay before the House the annual report ot tho. Public Trust Olhoei. ■ The Hon. ~ A.; L.. HERDMAN said .that the,.only .report required by statute to be laid upon-the .table had already' been pre•Bemted. ' „ .... Mr. Russell said tha,t .it wns usual to . have, an annual report- from'tho officer in jcharge of the Public Trust"'Department.. I'The Minister apparently, had in his mind, a report that was required by statute. Had .not tho Government a report in its 'possession ? . - : - , Mr. Herdman: The Guvornnmnt has nothing iii its possession that ought to be laid before Parliament. The hon. gentleman was misinformed: It Was true-that lastyear a statement.by the Public Trustee .was laid before the Hou.se, rind; that ;iu iflOO a'.similar statement was laid 011 :the table. In the present case there was ' nothing else that tho Government thoufjht it necessary to lay Iwfore tho House, .'the law had been complied with. ' Mr; Russell said that the Journals for 1909 included a Public. Trust report marked. B9 A. --Was it proposed to bring doivn 6uch a paper this year? Mr. Herdman: No report of a similar character will'be laid before the House this year. . ■ Mr. liussell: Is a similar icport in the possession.-..0f the Government? . Mrr Herdman: No. ■ ' . ,-RiPA ' ISLAND, A LABOUR MEMBER'S COMPLAINT. Mr. _P. C. WEBB (Grey) asked the Minister for - Defence, without notice, whether lie was nwnre that some fourteen boys had been taken from Blaokbqll, 011 the West Coast, to Ripa Island, while thousands of. boys in other, parts of New Zealand had not-yet been punished; that some lads had been punished several times while others hail not been punished at all; and whether he was aware that one lad, named Burns (from the West Coast), after serving one term, was re-arrested 0:1 Lyttcltou Wharf and sent back for another term of detention. These actions, declared Mr. Webb, were unfair, and he thought they should certainly take tip the stand and practice of giving all bovs & "square deal." ; No discrimination should be allowed at all. Tho Hon. JAMES ALLEN said that he was aware 'that some boys—he. thought, ■ fourteen—had been sent from tho West Coast to Ripa Island to undergo detention becauso they had not complied with the Defence Act. He was not aware that was rearrested 011 the Lyttelton~wharf and submitted to further detention, but be would have 'inquiries made. He did not know, that those boys had any particular grievance. They were very '.veil treated on Ripa Island, , and' were there because they would not complv with the law. He was very sorry they were there, and he -wished to gootjnes's thev would comply with the law and bo get rid of this trouble. Mr: Webb: I quite agree with that, but why not treat all the rest of them alike?

Mr. Allien: There are a good ninny who have not compliird with the law that wo have not yet been able to get hold of. Ho was informed thai a.i soon as any lad was discovered who had not complied with the law iie was brought before the Court. At the same time it was a job to get hold of them. He did not know of thousands who had not complied with the law. There were a few, bait many of them had gone away, and could not bo found. The Department had endeavoured .to secure the assistance of the police, but its efforts were not always successful. v