PARLIAMENT II SESSION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1924, 5 December 1913, Page 4

PARLIAMENT II SESSION.

. LICENSING LAW, GOVERNMENT BILL'THIS SESSION. REDUCTION OP.; MAJORITY. NATIVE LAND PROBLEMS DISCUSSED.

.The Legislative .Council sat at'2.3o p.m. The Naval Defence. Bill was received from the House of. ■'Representatives and read a first time;,

Immediately after tlio opening the Council adjourned until 4 "p.m. for tho. wedding of tho daughter of' the Loader of the Opposition.in the Houso of Representatives.'; ■ ...; .;". MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.' The Municipal Corporations .Amend-' ment Bill was further considered in Committee. . , ......'. '•An amendment was inserted on the motion of tlio-. Minister to • give the Couucil'poiver to order that at public entertainments in certain buildings under certain circumstances ■ qualified hrement shall be present. .. Clause 22 empowering municipalities to run motor bus .or' other passenger, transport services was also considered. Tho Hon. H. D. Bell moved to include in'ithc,- Bill an addition to tho clauso recommended by tho Statutes Revision Committee,' tho. effect 'of which addition was to- prohibit local authorities who had delegated to others the right to run tramways from running motor, services, in opposition , to the. trams being run under tho deed.of>delogatiqn. • The amendment .did .not pro.' hibit. the running '.of services) a's' •feeders to tho trams,oo r tho. running oE services in districts'in which tlio trams did not run. Tho Hon. W. Bcohan protested on' behalf of Auckland local bodies against the clause. ..-■•■ The Hon. H. D. Bell'said the amendment had been drafted by the Hon. O. Samuel and.agrcod'tb'.byi'tho'Cynifriitteo. unanimously. -,'He Mr.'"Bcll) 'owirtg; to the fact that'ho'had'had associations with the Auckland Tramway Coni-' pany took no part'iri "tho discussion nor. 1 had he voted upon it. .As Minister in charge of thq Bill, however, he thought Mr. Bcch'au was advocating a bad cause. There could .be no •objection ,to a municipality .which.owned its..'own' trams running motor or other passenger services,'but it waspo3siblo that a municipality which had delegated ' the right to' run trams' 'oh its streets 'to a company, as .in. Auckland,, might, by competition do 1 tho company a great injustice. ; 'At tho time ! ;of 'tho delegation of tlio Auckland . rights,,'.'the" 'Auckland Municipality had'agreed hot to' run trams in opposition to tho company, and at that time no such things as motor buses .wcro thought of., He thought ho ...could., say: truthfully that he had not been influenced to favour tho clauso by tho fact that he had formerly acted-'hs-f-advocate, for tho Auckland Tramway Company: ' ■■-■■-- ■■ Tlio Hon.-J; Duthkv said'very full evi-' deuce had been put before tho Committee, and both, sides had been well represented by counsel.' 'Finally Mr, Sam; uel had drafted a. clauso which inittoo: thought, was | fair it's putting a, true interpretation on a contract honourably entered into. Tho Tramway Company in Auckland ■ wore • not - protected against private competition by motor btisos, but it .iva's'. clearly' unfair to', give tho' corporation this right. The' tramways wero well conducted, and they paid well,'but tho company paid a largo annual sum to the corporation for tho privilege ofrruttning. Tlio investment of capital in tho country was a good"thing for the country, and Parliament ought not to treat investors' unfairly. " A contract honourably made'ought to be carried, .out.. 'The Committee .had done ■ •fclicir very host .to bo-fair, and tho 'Council would be woll advised to agree to tho recommendation of tho Co'mijnittee. ■■..- ... '. :'C;

was. ngreed.tp :by 16' jvotes to' 6. ■■ ■ '■■■'■',i'- '■'•■■\ ■-.:' ■■!,<•<:

i Tho. Hon., H. ,D., Bell •.moved) to add: n, 'now chvaso rto "give"' municipalities power- to-borrow money by special order ' Sot workers' dwellings, provided they ftlid not .pledge as security for tho loan • a special rato. Tho council could borjrow money on the security of tho provperty by special order, but if they '.wished to lovy a special rato they iwoiild have, to appeal to tho ratepayers. The clause met with some opposition,' :nnd there was a disaussioni- of.-sonioi : length in 'consequence.',;, \' .•,':; ;; ",...,; i Tho Hon. J. Duthiq told.'whafr had teen the: experience of : {ho' workers' dwellings schome in the Hutt Valley. .There a number of cottages had been greeted, but there were frequently eight or nine of them .empty. -Tenants.-would )iot stay in {hem. The'humbug:df the. .business /was- qujtc apparent;,'-aiid 'it; •was no longer any ijso oven lor.''elec''' tioneoring m tho Hutfc Valley. Also tho Government had considerably ham'.pored the progress of tho Hutt Valley, iirsfc of all by-buying the Bpinii Sefctleanent for workers' dwellings at CO per cont. above its value. Then they bougut 'tho Nainai Settlement, and in that area land which had cost them £150 an acre was now. worth from £30 to £40 an acre. There woro no workers;' dwellings on any of tho. land. t The Government 'had dono injury to the' 'district in buying jit prices abovo the market, forcing up prices all round, and those prices had hot oven yofc fallen. This had acted . ,Vcry dotrimentally to the district. Tho clause wart agreed to, and tho Bill was reported, with amendments. [; SHODDY BOOTS., The Footwear.- Regulation, ißill-. was committed and reported with only verhal amendments.

OBSCENE TELECRAMS. The Post and Teiograp]i":Amondinont Bill was further considered in Committee. .: --;.-•! • ■.■„'.;. .._ ,»;. An amendment w,a» introduced., into the' Bill to givn speciher power to' the Government to framo regulations to prohibit tho transmission of obscene matter in telegrams. It had Jong been tho practice of tho Department, said Mr. Bell,, to rcfuso to send such matter, and it had alway3*beeni uvdofrxtodcl' that tho Department hadi'power to-r-e--fuse. This amendment would make- it' ((iiite clear that the Department could refuse to accept telegrams containing objectionable matter. the Bill was reported with amendments. LAND AGENTS,^... t /*£■ Tho Holt. H. IX-BELL'-nibVedtl]e > seooiid reading/of tho Land Agents Amendment Bill., 'explaining that tho object of the amendments was not to change, but' to' mak* 3nor«~effectiv«-4b»~-Bill passed'-last year. The Bill Jhad been passed origirutlly without very much 1 consideration, and defects m it_ had been discovered by a. year of practice. The Bill was read a second time on tho voices- '

FIRE BOARDS. The .Hon. H. D. BELL moved the second reading of tho Fire Boards Amendment Bill. Tho object of the Bill was, he said, to permit small boroughs and town districts,, with a of not less than 2000 persons to form Firo Boards. Tho Bill bad been asked for by small districts, who thought it a bardship that they could not require insurance companies to pay part of the cost of their fire brigades. Tho limit could, not bo altogether removed, because it. would bo impossible to allow all sorts of little places to form fire boards, but tho minimum had been reduced from a population of 2000 to 1000. _ Provision was also made to enable firo boards to expend a small sum annually for the amusement of members of fire brigades. It was certainly good for tho brigade- to .keep tho firemen at tho central station, and to do so it,was necessary to keep them amused. Ho.explained also tho operation of a clause' framed to prevent such corporations as Lloyd's, not domiciled in Now Zealand, for tho purposes of firo insurance business, from oscapins contribution -to fire boards. • The Bill was read a second time on the'voices. PATENTS. ■ The Patents, Designs, and Trademarks -jVVhcmlmcnfc Bill, a simple Bill of ono_ operativo clause, was read a second time without debate. '; " ""MARRIAGE LAWS. The Divorco and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Bill was read a second time pro forma and referred to tho Statutes Revision Committee. !, ...LAW PRACTITIONERS. > T|ie;;Law Practitioners Amendment Bill was also read a. second time pro forma, and referred to the Statutes Revision Committee. ....... MINOR BILLS. i Tho Railways Construction and Land Amendment Bill, the Stamp Duties Amendmpiat Bill, the Fruit Preserving Industry' Bill, tho Wanuamii School Sites Amendment Bill wero all read a second timo without discussion. ■' "the judicature. ; ThcHon. H. D. BELL moved that the Judicature Amendment Bill (read a second timo pro forma) bo committed. Ho explained the effect of the measure, and explained alsp that it was urgent that tho Bill ■ should bo passed without delay. . Tho .motion that tho Bill be committed was agreed to. v.'.:;f.: : final staces. ; -All tho Bills read a second time were put through Committee—eight Bills in half ~an hour. All the cloven Bills put through the Committee sta£o wcro read a third-time without debate. The; Council rose at 10.55 p.m.