PARLIAMENT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1867, 29 September 1913, Page 4

PARLIAMENT.

AN ALL-NIGHT SITTING. FINISHING THE ESTIMATES, "v WORK IN THE SMALL HOURS* ; POINTS'OT INTEREST. • Lato. sitting «in' Parliament is -usually associated with embittered party warfare, but tho Houso of Representatives sat: .all: through Friday night until Saturday morning in a comparatively , peaceful atmosphere. In tho lato hours : : , of-Et'icffty night party skirmishing of a , tamo, character was .conducted \to .tho accompaniment of sflorcs. At.1.30 a.m.. i : tho 'jilotiibor for Hutt'moved l to reduco i ■ Mr.! Royd ; Garhok's salary. This .'proposal* was rejected on ft division .about ; ; an hour, later. A iter war da tho Comr I . toy. a perfectly i good-humoured way; -and without 'any ! : protests •being .raised, to do tlie work' easily i hava beea-done : during ;tlio previous s afternoon.*and evening. As dawn ap; i ''. 'prodch'idi.': Sleeping: nieuiber's 'tvoka up 1 , . v> andj;tho'snores died atfay. It Was quite ' a cheerful' House; that disposed, in a leisurely., way, of tho, last sections of : tho »E^imatesi : 'as'.. tlie dawn or Saturj' day;;;mprning lighted/ tho windows. At f: . fivo'lminutes to six <tie last item was passed. , , * .. Wheil The Dominion went to press on • Saturday tnornirtg the Committee .was debating-an':amendment mov<Sd-by Mr. T. iL.'.Ayilford to reduco tho salary of tho Director of Physical Education (Air. Royd Garlick). by £200; J lho discussion was protracted, but did not bring any. new . iacts. to-light. .It ended at 2.35 il.m., ■ • when .a .division _ was . taken and the ;; ; amendment aegativod'.b'y ,29. votes to 20, The division was announced: —Noes, 30: Ayes, 29;. tat was corrected later, Tho lost a item in tho Education Class was , passed,,;fivo. minutes .later, . . POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT. V \ ~ CLASSIFIED SALARIES. The nest class taken .was that of tho Posit Telegraph Department. There . was a discussion as to the form ill r which . tho salaries of officers in this • Department should bo passed. On : the ■ Estimates tho amount required : for. salaries was shown, in a single' item, •but tho .Postmaster-General (the/ Hon. . R. il. Rhodes) had circulated ft f' schedule "showing tho number and amount of salaries in each grade and class in tho Department. ;• Sir Joseph Ward asked tho Post- •• master-General if ho approved of the • .way irii which the Estimates were made up in globb. Ho, wished to enter;his f protest; against . tho . Estimates . being presented'in this form.' It was not fair to the officers and not fair to the House, and he., was 'quite .sure it .was a wrong , procedure," ■' . 'In answer to Mr. G'. W. Russell, the Postmaster-General said that he had no : objection':to embodying tho schedule, giving details of salaries, in his Eiti- '■ • mates.'' : ■' ■ 1: i.

Tho Prime Minister said that one point'should bo cleared lip: the Com-: ; niissioners had nothing to do ; with mak- ' ing' flpUtfiose '-.Estimates:..• f-.Tbiese, were : Doparom&ititl Estimates. -.' : i X- that'itife^'are. of ' : '.tho' Post and Telegraph Department, without ? reference to the Commissioner ,at' all? • Tile-Prime Minister:' That is so. ?:■ ' TliblChairmaiuat this stage inter- : vened, to point out that: "Any amend* ;. nienfe in tho wording of an item requires | a Message from His Excellency the '. Govofnor." " »I.; .. . : Tls Prime; Minister'-", said.' that.; thp, (: whole - difficulty"had 'arisen, ■ in conso-. ; ' querice ? of''3elayV,in "issuing' the. classifl-' |; proper. To meet the difficulty : the Minister had circulated tho schedule i for the information of members. .' ;". It was at length decided that it-would '■~ bfc in order' to' embody--tho details of j . salaries .itf .tlio Estimates, as an.a'.i ..tabbed schedule, and this was doiie. " , Three sections of the 'class ■ iroro'paMi ed without discussion,-[mdHthe-last sec'•••>tion: "Miscollarieb'iisService's,'''washeld ; up only fdr three Mr.'G. : . W. Russell explained that during his term as a Ministor lie had reduced toe country's annual* printing bill ; by £200, bi instructing that the weekly (jues- : tions and answers should be prinwd in Hansard type'in the first-place, instead of in another typo first and in Hansard, typo later. Mr. Russell , also stated . that he had reduced the annual'butlay upon advertising., Ho expressed a - hope that, in view of thesq things, people' would no longer, sneer' at ; the. "ten minutes"-Ministry. ... . Publlo Health. , , ■ ■ The ,P,ubli-D'Health Estimates occupied I ,;the .attentio.4 of,the.,Committeo v for half an hour. '•; : . .•, • - Mr. Cr. W. Russell dealt at some ; lengtfh with the proposed erection of a now S,t, Helens. Maternity Hospital at Christchurclri.' -He -stated that tne plan , approved during the timo of , the Ward / Administration was an'extravagant one, ! which ; would entail an expenditure of £l i,COO.' While l:o was in office (as a : member of tho Mackenzie Ministry) an :' alternative plan had been prepared, ; accommodation would bo ; proyicled, for as . many .pationts, as under the more costly scheme, at an outlay ; of £4QQO. The Saving could be effected, Mr. Russell explained, by retaining !' tho present site and converting tho existingihospital into a nurses' liome.