PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2581, 1 October 1915, Page 4

PARLIAMENT

KING'S COUNSEL iJRISK WORK WITH BILLS - PATRIOTIC RAFFLES AGAIN ASSESSMENT OF MORTCACE TAXES. The Legislative Council met . .at ~ 8 p.m. r . The Railways Authorisation Bill, the Gaming Amendment Bill, -and ilie Auctioneers Amendment Bill; wero received from tho House and read a?fii'st time. Tlio amendments made by' His Excellency tho Governor in tho Finance Bill .were agreed to. 1 Amendments made- by tho Statutes . Revision Committee to the amendments of the House in tho Births and DeathsRegistration Amendment. Bill wore 1 agreed ; to. " * i - The Mortgages Extension Amendment ; Bill was put through Committee' with minor amendments, and the Discharged • Soldiers' Settlement Bill was put '. through Committeo without amendment. The Bills wera read o third time and passed.

RETENTION OF KING'S' COUNSEL. : In Committee on tho Law Practitioners Amendment '3ill, 1 - • \ The-Hgn. Sir Francis Bell moved to striko out Clause 3, inserted - ui the House on the motion of Mr. A. H. Hindmareh, prohibiting King's .Counsel appointed jfrom.' practising as solicitors, or having djpartner so acting. He objected'.to thiß "roundabout..way- of doing, oway -with - King's'; Counsel: Tho Hon. ■ 0. Samuel supported tho retention of the clause,'-.winch; he said, was made interests of the.- public and the law practitioners. He did not think any special duty was cast upon King's Counsel in Now Zear'm' ** lvas Bim P'y a high honour. The Hon. J. 'J l . Paul thought that the clause should be retained-. Certain' leading barristers in each, of the centres h.".d big reputations, and since K.C. had _ been added', to their names 1 the public had to pay lor a Second counsel. Tho institution of BSngfe Counsel here was only an expensive, luxury. ..... The Hon. J. D. Ormond thought that tho clause should be omitted. The tacked-on provision was- inappropriate and inopportune. . On a division tho clause, was struck out by 16 votes to 9. ' The-Bill was read a third time and passed.

PATRIOTIC RAFFLES. NOT'.WINKED AT BY THE GOVERNMENT. \ The Hon. Sir Francis Bell moved the second reading "of thf- Gaming 'Amendment Bill, to regulate patriotic raffles. Ho said that th'e impression prevailed that the Government had "winked".at these raffles in the past, but. that was not eo. Iu every case the applicants had been, informed -that there was no power to give the permission, and if they,, were .tarried but the promoters would nm tho.risk of being brought before But, the police knew Magistrate Would fine them. He absolutely .detested these methods of raising" money, for patriotic purposes, but thero • was' no way of stopping the' raffles i 'and*ftrt,,unionff;. Tho Hon. G. Carson* strongly opposed the measure;! ,iHe condemned the fact that there were British people who i would not contribute to the fluids for the wounded without the chance of their getting a;big. sum in return. Just one line in the Taxing Bill would briiig in all the money necessaryi .- ; ; The Hon. T.' Mac Gibbon opposed tho Bill-on the ground• that thoState had no right to 'encourage 1 wliat whs a vice in itself. • - The Hon. A. T. ,Maginnity --opposed the Bill, 'and said;, that'.there was; a readiness on the part;-'of/the people to pay willingly,:to,;tho' best of their ability. Tho methods:proposed were not necessary. Tlio Hon. J. G. Wi 'AiTKEN, was sorry that tho system of raffles'and art unions had been allowed ,t«Vgrow. Everyone felt that'to say anytlimg 'agaihst'those methods would have ' .been unpatriotic, but he was convinced' that if they had gone about decently in the matter they would have raised, the "money required.'; Hedid not think tbe.. polico had done their',duty .in-'respect'to' some' of ' the' methods adopted. The Hon. R. MOORE thought that there were ends which*justified the means. Although he did not like gambling pure and;;simple; he".would like to see all the money, possible raised, and would vote for-the ;Bijl. The Hon, J, G. W.Aitken: You tan get all. the money without such moans. The Hon. G. JOfdES thought the introduction of the measure showed that at. the outset all the money necessary in connection with tlio war should"have been raised by the Government. Instead of begging, they would then lia-ve had taxation to meet all requirements. Sir Francis Bell : • The , Government paid for every thing • J they asked for nothing.' , „:' v Tile Hon; Mr. Jones: What'about the Governor-asking assistance for'tho Hospifiil:.Ships? .V, ;'§ir^Francis-Bell: That has nothing to"-,dql with the Government at all. • ~Mr.Jones: Tlio Governor does it at the instigation of the Government. Francifj Bell: Nonsense. , Mr. Speaker: You must not refer to the Govenior at" all. The Jones: Tho fact that the Government lias not- done ite duty haS .brought about tho introdiiction of this measure. '

*./Attempt to Meet Difficulty. The Hon. SIR WALTER BUCHANAN said that the Government neither directJy'< iior indirectly asked for contributions from the district in which he resided. He spoke of that district because he-knew; the.'position.,- The people there,: whether rich or poor, rose magnificently aid subscribed. The' poorer clafceS.'Mftanything,' contributed more' readily than any other section in the Wairarapa. All the people there realised that the taxpayers would be pretty heavily; called upon to' meet the liabilities , of the Dominion, and they also? realised that a good deal more money -would bo necessary to meet exceptional demands. The Bill attempted to meet ono of the most difficult' problems, and it would prevent a wholesale breaking of the law. He would support the Bill because ha thought it was an honest attempt to meet the difficulty., .;. . . The Hon. C. H. MILLS thought the Bill would act as a controlling influence. The Hon. W. Earnshaw "supported the measure, for he said that circumstances altered cases. The Hon. SIR WILLIAM HALLJONES thought that only a Coalition Ministry would havo risked bringing in such a measure. If they condyie-d gambling in this respect, why not Tat-tc-rsall's sweeps, or a Monte Carlo in New Zealand? The money could- be raised ifithout such Bystems, and he commended the work in Wairarapa. It was!a credit to every man, woman, and child in the district, and if one man shone more than another it was Sir ' Walter Buchanan. (Hear, hear.) The people as a wholo did not want tho Bill. The Hon, iff. BEEHAN supported the Bill.

The Hon. J. BARB thought that there was an inclination to throw off all restraint because a'''-section of tlio public wanteu these raffles. If the lawhad not been "winked" at the position we wcro in would havo been brought more directly home to the people, and they would have subscribed tbo raoiioy without a sport being made of the need for -it.- Everything indicated that even yet the people oft New Zealand had not realised, the need of tho Empire. -The-Hon.; J. FISHER thought that it was demoralising to tho community to havo these Acts in operation.

• The Minister in Reply. Tho Hon. SIR FRANCIS BELL, in 1 reply, said that thero was a distinction between people who got up raffles for their own purposes and tho'so who got them up for patriotic purposes. Ho made it plain ihat ho Jiad no knowledge of what courso Magistrates would I adopt if prosecutions were instituted. It was regrettable that tho hospital ships aiid taxation had been mentioned. Ministers had welcomed assistance from local arid : general funds, but no assistance had been asked by the Ministers. Tho • Government was spending millions on •war purposes, and those funds only represented. thousands, so it was idle to say that they had been called to tho sistance of .the Government. vVith regard to the hospital ship it was offered by the Government to the Imperial. Government at the expense of the taxpayer. It was then suggested that tho people might like to subscribe the equipment of the ship, and that idea was "welcomed throughout the countrj'j except by those who did not like to subscrinc. The Hon. J. Barr: That is a shameful statement. ' Sir Francis Bel: I should be sorry to be offensive to the hon, gentleman. Mr'. Barr: It is offensive to the whole of tlio country. Sir Francis -Bell: I should be sorry to being offensive to the whole of the country. -I say the idea was welcomed throughout the country. . On ai division the second reading motion was carried by 16 votes to 11. Tho .division was,as follows:—. \ • Ayes ,(16). Noes (11). Bell Aitken - George ' • • . Paul . " Beeimn " Barr Earnshaw Mac Gibbon Carncross / Joiies, G. Moore MacGregor Buchanan Fisher Hardy Hall-Jones \ Morgan Carson '■ Ormond Maginnity Harris Simpson Thompson . AVigram Mills',. , Bawon • Samuel " • Amendments in Committee.

In Committee the Hon. J. Barr moved in effect to strike out Clause 2, the principal clause of tho Bill. The clause was passed on a division by. 14 rotes, to 10. The Hon. J. T. Paul moved a new clause to provide that the Act should bo deemed to bo repealed immediately on the declaration of peace. The clause was agreed to. The Hon. Sir Francis Bell moved a new clause to extend the number of racing days allowed under tho Gaming Act from 250 to 251. He explained that tho Wellington Racing. Club was prevented from holding/its meeting by reason of the stand being occupied as a hospital bv the Defence Department. There ivas' an arrangement made that one further day should be given in view •of the'meeting they had lost, and tho ■amendment was to provide for it. Tho Hons. J. Barr, T. Mac Gibbon, and J. T: Paul opposed the clause, one of the objections raised being that the extra day .would be given in perpetuity, undor ■ tlie'vaniendinent. • 'Sir' Francis Bell- said that there had been-an-old'.disagreement that one day's totalisator permit had been taken from the- club.- It was thought that this wouldbe an.-opportunity of settling: that" grievance. Tho extra day was not only for-this racing year, A' further amendment proposed was that Sunday should not be counted when the . days:, were computed over which totalisator, permits should operate. ' The-clauses' wero subjected to a lengthy opposition by Messrs. Barr and Paul, ahd eventually progress was reported.. ; :'The'Auctioneers Amendment Bill and the; Railways Authorisation Bill wer« put. .through : their final stages and passed. The . Council, rose at 0.40 a.m.