POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 23, 22 October 1919, Page 7

POLITICAL NOTES

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

"A woman shall not bo disqualified by eex or marriage from being- appointed as a momber of the Legislative Council or from' sitting or voting as a member thereof. ..." runs the solo clause of a llill which Sir Francis liell has givi-n notice of in the Legislative.Council. The JJill" will bo entitled the Women's Parliamentary Eights'Bill No. 2. The -fivst Bili, which had its rise in tlio Lower House, contained a provision similar to the above, but tho Council dolcted. that provision on tlio ground that tho Lower House had up right to initiate legislation altering tho constitution of the Council. Tne Council received satisfaction on . the question of privilege, and now its leader is introducing a Bill to ' restore (in effect) what was out away by ! the Council's amendment. ABOUT A FINE. The fine of ,£lO inflicted by a Wellington Magistrate oil a man wlio hiwl been oonvicted assaulting a constable on the ferry wnarf was mentioned in tho House of representatives by -Mr. L. M. Isitc (Christchurch North), who said that tho police ought to be protected ami that he did not think the line was adequate. Tho Prime Minister replied that he wos inclined to agree with the .member. But he' did not wish to cr.ticiso the action of the Magistrate. He coul-1 get particulars, but ho could not review the sentence. ' INCREASED INSURANCE. The Labour Department has notified tho occupiers of some workers' homes that tho amount of the insurance has been increased in consequence of the, increased cost or reinstateme.it in the event oi lire. . Tho change tins involved an increase in the insurance premiums. Mr. <J. Witty (Riccarton) -mentioned this matter in the House yesterday, and stated that lie considered it "an iniquitous' thing" that the charges against tenants e'hould ,he increased in this way. The Prime Minister said lie would bs glad to look into the matter. It appeared that lucre had merely been an increase in the insur- -. nnce, not'an increase in the insurance rates. HAURAKI PLAINS. The Minister of Lands (Hon. D. 11. ' Guthrie) stated ia the House of Repre- ' eentatives yesterday tlmt an urea oi MIHO acres of reclaimed land on the llaur.iki Plains was now ready for settlement. The settlers, who would be returned soldiers, would bo placed upon the land in ample time for next season's operations. Another block of 3000 acres would be ready next season, and a turtlier block of IiOOO* acres a year later. The land, added' Air. Guthrie, had not bccoino available as quickly as had been expected. I'ort.ons of the swamp took a ' long time to become firm. THE PRICE OF TEA. A report that the price of i tea may . rise to Is. per pound was..mentioned in the House by Sir. W. H. lucid (Otaki), who asked the Prime Minister, a question on-.tho. subject. Mr. Masscy said 'he had heard a. month 'or six weeks earlier that there was a very serious shortage in the tea crops of India and Ceylon, ind that the shortage probably would be followed by an increase, in the'price of tea. Ho would ask the Board of' Trade to report on tho subject. . PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. The Minister, of Public Works (Sir William I'raserj stated in the House of Representatives yesterday that tne Pub- • lie Works Statement would probably be presented to the House on Thursday i f this week. It had already been circulated throughout the country. The Mines . Statement was quite ready and would be laid on tho'table this week.' He ' had. signed it somo days ago and had" asked that it should be put in the proper'form for laying on the table, but it had not yet come back to him. Hon. A'. Ngata: A shortage of biuo ribbon'. ' THE COST OF LIVING. , The following, question touching tho activities of the Board of Trade will shortly bo asked by tho. Hon. H, L. Michel in the Legislative Council: "Will the government instruct tho Board of Trade to issue statements weekly, or as., often as may ; be deemed advisable, of tho market fluctuations, of foods Hnd other necessary commodities, ' ■ 60 that the people may understand tne | causes that onerato in bringing about any substantial increase or fall in prices?" THE 'EDUCATION PORTFOLIO. The Hon. G. J. .Garland said in the Legislative Council yesterday, that. he hoped and believed, the ( Hon. the Leader of tho * Council (Sir Francis Bell) would long hold, the portfolio' of Education. Ueferring to this remark, . Sir Francis Bell said later that the lion, gentleman had prophesied for him a destiny .that he would resist if the fates did not prove unjust. . , . : INFLUENZA~SCARES. The influenza scare, and even the peril of influenza, has passed long since, but the waterside workers of Welling-ton-still enforce'a 'quarantine against the steamers from Australia bringing passengers and mails. Dr. Thacker asked a question in the House' yesterday. | ou this matter. He asked why Australian steamers were held up in the port. '. oi Wellington twenty-four hours after they had besii,,inspected'by..the Port Health Officer and passed. Was the delay enforced by the Health authorities or was it due to the action of tho waterside workers? He said that it .seemed needless to hold steamers up, as they were not inspected again before the passengers were. allowed to land.

Mr.' Massey said that he wns not acquainted with all the particulars of this matte)-, having heard ■ of it only recently. Ho would give attention to the matter, and pass on the inquiry also to the Minister of Public Health; LANDS DEPARTMENT. ■ During the twelve months covered ,by the annual report of the Department of Lands and Surveys covering survey work 302,369 acres were dealt with in , "rural surveys" as against H-13,525 acres for the previous year. Tho decrease of •11,156 ncr«>s, it is slated, was due partly to the small field staff available and partly to the fact that so many of the suvveyors ■ have been employed .on the surveys of small estates lor soldier settlement instead of on large blocks of Crown lands. The area of native lands surveyed during the year for' the same reason showed a decrease from 271,181 acres to 211,027 acres. Tho cost of rural surveys remained tho 6ame, Is. Gd. per acre, but native, surveys went up from Is. (id., to Is. 7d» per acre. This was duo to tho cost of work done by private surveyors.

NATIVE TOWNSHIP TENURES. Tho Native Townships Amendment Bill, dealing with King Country tenures, has been considered by the Native Affairs Committee, which recommends that it be allowod to proceed with one amendment. Tho Bill provided that where the Native owners agreed to sell land affected to tho Crown the price should be hot less than tho value of the estate or tho interest of the Nativo owners as shown by the valuation roll. Tho amendment consists of tho addition to that clause' of tho words, "provided that such valuation shall not havo been mado for a longer period than one year before tho meeting of tho assembled owners."

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE. In the House of Representatives yesterday Mr. P. Eraser gavo notice of motion: Tliat, in tho opinion of this House, a magisterial inquiry should be mado into tho following(1) The method of ronkiilj appointments to tho staff of tho I'ublio Trust.Office; (2) the removal and continuous changing of officers in tho Department; (3) the appointment of specialist officers who are reported to 'lie subsequently found incompetent; (4) the alleged appointment of offiews from outside 0 tho sen-ice to permanent positions in tho offico over senior officers who havo boon in tho Department for yen re and aro competent to fill the positions; (5) tho management of the office by the Public / Trustee; (G) tho reasons hear'jig upon the tublio Trustee's desiro to withdraw the Apartment'from under tho Pubtio SerCommis&cmora; (7) the tfliola oir-,

cumstances nnd facts why ono officer in the Christchurch Agency was asked to resign without being shown a copy of tho ovidence on which ho was condemned; (8) the reason why so much alleged discontent, exists among tho officers of the permanent staff; (9) the reason why officers are not allowed a change of duly when they wish to have a change of duty in order to better themselves and the o/iice in general; and (10) the reason why tho recent Public Trustee Office Classification List was compiled by an officer who was not n member of tho office and consequently knew practically nothing of the capabi.ities of the officers. THE CONSCIENTIOUS OBIECTOPS. Mr. ,T. P. Lvko yesterday presented « petition iji the House of Representatives. The petiti in, wliijh was signed by fourteen electors, set forth: (I) That a commission has beeu nppointe.l to review the cases of objectors who are in prison for breaches of the Military Service Act, and that it is proposed to give favoured .treatment to those who, because ■ji religious convi'dions, f.uied to initipiy with the law, while other equally honest and conscientious objectors are to bear tho full penalty, of their offence. (2) Tl.at there should be such unfair discrimination—that men who are guilty oi the sumo offence should be treated differently because of their views nil religious questions—seems to your petitioners a grave reflection on the tolerant sjrlrit of the age ami the administation of justieo. . , (3) Your petitioners enter their emphatic, protest against such discrimiiiati.j i. and .espectl'ully pray thnt if any relief is to be given, to objectors hi e'er the Military Service Act, it ought, to be given not on the variable ground of religious belief, but oil the comn.o'i ground of tho honesty and real conviction of the objector. ' . The signatures were of people resident mostly in Christchurch, and on the West Coast