POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 300, 13 September 1920, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES

THIS WEEK'S BUSINESS

SOME OF THE BILLS

The House of Representatives is to meet at 7.30 p.m. for the first iMonday sitting of the session. • The Prime Minister has stated that business of minor importance will be feken, so that members who have not returned from week-end trips to their homes may not be -prejudiced. The Legislative Council will not meet until Wednesday. BUSINW ( HAND . SOME IMPORTANT BILLS. More important business is on Hie Order Paper at present than at any eariier stage of the session. The Laud and Income Tax Amendment Bill, tho Immigration Restriction Amendment Bill, the Military Service Amendment Bill, the Treaties of Peace Amendment Bill, the External Affairs Amendment Bill and the Wcstport Harbour Amendment Bill are among the measures awaitins their second reading. The Master and Apprentice Amendment Bill and the Civil List Bill are at the committee stage. The Marriage Amendment Bill is awaiting the consideration by the House of tho new clause added last weok by tho Legislative Council. .About' ft dozen private members' Bills nro lower dowu the Order Paper. The Anzac Day Bill

(Mr. Mitchell), declaring Anzac Day to be a national day of remembrance, is to ' com© before the House again and is suro to be passed. Mr. Hunter's Gamins Amendment Bill, to increase the number of Tacing permits in favour of country clubs, has noii yet Teached its second road'.ng.' The other prfvalo members' 'Bills are not likely to go much further. INCREASES IN TEACHERS' SALARIES WHEN THE PAYMENTS WILL BE MADE. Replying on Saturday morning to questions asked in tho House by Dr. A. K. Newman (Wellington East), the Minister of Education (Hon. C. J. Parr) said that the salary increases the Government was giving to teachers would place them in a position comparing more than favourably with that of the teaching services in Australasia, America and Great Briiiiiin. With regard to the primarv school teachers, he hoped that the Department would be able to distribute tho money before i|he end of tho present month. A large increase to secondary teachers 1 was to. bo made by special legislation. When the Bill went through, the distribution could be made. The same remark applied to technical school teachers. He hoped that tlhese payments would bo made well before Christmas. The increases would be retrospective to April 1, so that the teachers would not lose as the Tesult of delay.

THE ESTIMATES QUICK WORK ON SATURDAY. After spending over seven hours and a half on the Education Estimates, the House of Representatives passed tho votes for tho Mines Department within, two minutes on Saturday morning. Tho Prime Minister told the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. WiEford), :n answer to a question, that a Bill dealing with mining matters would provido an opportunity for general debate later in the session, and the members of the House were willing to postpone stating the* views about t|he encouragement of mining, the development of coalfields and so forth. The votes connected with the Cook Islands administration were taken at 1.15 a.m. The Hon. Dr. Pomare was missing at the moment, and Mr. Massey had charge of the estimates for a few minutes. He mentioned, in, answer to a question, that tho Commissioner for the Cook Islands was to be offered a' position as a Stipendiary Magistrate. Dr. Pomare appeared presently and would lave answered one or two questions if ho had been able to find his documents at Blort notice. "Failing that, ho promised to moke a statement covering the points ' later in ißie session, and the votes were put through Without further discussion.

THE OPPOSITION WHO FOLLOWS MR. WILFORD? The new Leader of the Opposition (Mr. T. M. Wilford) has Mr. T. K. Sidey beside him in the front Opposition bench. It is not easy at present lio know -what is the strength of Mr. Wilford's following. What is known is that the election of Mr. W:Mofd to be leader of the party was the decision of not mors than fifteen members. No other nomination was made at the caucus, but "the meeting was not a full one and there have been indications since that one or two members elected as Liberals and follow, ers of Sir Joseph Ward are drifting Snto independence. Mr. G. Wiitty (Riccarton) interested'the House for a moment on Friday night by retorting "Not my leader," when Mr. Wilford had been named ai the leader of his party. The member for Riccarton was speaking in heat at the time and he may not- have meant all that his words implied. STANDARD TIME BILL CLOCK MAT NOT BE ALTERED. The New Zealand Standard Time Bill, introduced by the Hon. G. J. Anderson (Minister of Internal Affairs), has been on the Order Paper since the early days of the session. It has not yet come up for second reading, and members are anticipating that it will not make any further progress. The Bill proposes to advance th* clock permanently in New Zealand by half an hour, by fixing standard Jime at 12 hours ahead of Greenwich time, Instead of 111 hours as at present. Country members do not like the Bill any better than they liked Mr. Sidey's Definition of Time Bill in other sessions, and the Bill would occupy a led of time if it came before the House.' The Government may not be willimg to find the time now that the busy end of the session has been reached. The chief argument in favour of the Bill is that it would effect a heavy saving in coal and power.

THE RAILWAYS STATEMENT Tho Railways Stoteinont is to reach the House of Representatives this week, and Hie estimates i'or the Railway Department are to be taken on Friday night. The Prime Minister hopes .to complete the estimates this week, and so increase the time available for the consideration of Government business. LABOUR'S" TASK

Two of the Bille on the Order Paper are to be opposed by the Labour group in the House. Mr. Holland has spoken, indeed, of the "last d'.'teh," but hit; party has noti yet shown much ability for that eort of political fightiug. The Bills are the Master and Apprentice Bill, providing for the apprenticing of British boys to New Zealand fanners under Government supervision, and the Military Service Amendment Bill, which proposes to make military defaulters punishable in the civil courts. This Bill applies to men who evaded military service during the war, and under its provisions shirkers unci objectors may be tried in the civil courts instead of before eotirtsmartinl. immigratioFrestriction The second rending of the Immigration Restriction Amendment Bill iS to bo moved this week. .Members are anxious that itbis Bill shall bo made thoroughly effective in keeping Asiatics out of New Zealand, but they are likely to ngTeo that absolute prohibition of Asiatic immigration is not feasible and ffliat tho permit system proposed br tho Government will bo sufficient 8f administered firmly. LICENSMTmATTERS Tile Licensing Amendment Bill, wh-'lch is intended to prevent evasion of tho spirit of the law by the transfer of JiWenses beyond statutory limits, is _ in danger of being killed by over-attention.

The Government dill not intend this Bill lb open up the general licensing question, av.d the Primo Minister has staled that he will drop it altogether if new clauses arc added But Mr. M'Callum (Waia-au) and Mr. Lysnar , (Gisborne), who have licensing policies of their own to put forward, are threatening to attempt grafting their ideas about liquor control on to the Bill. They are going to move amendments when the Bill gets iiitto committee.

TARANAKI'S OIL

Taranaki people are not, satisfied that tho o'l-producing capabilities of their districts have been sufficieniily tested, and have been asking that tho Government should undertako further tests. Mr. S. G. Smith (Taranaki) lias urged tho matter on the aStention of Ministers lately, and it is likely that the Government, will extend'its assistance by way of suteidy or grant, with the object! of ascertaining if payable quantities of oil can b» secured. It is suggested that ihn bores have been driven too far in the past and that;if they had been stopped when oil was first struck useful quantities of oi'l might have been secured, even if tho broken strata confines the oil to pockets. Futluro operations will test this theory.