PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 90, 10 July 1908, Page 5

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

King Country hem:.. The various v..m:-. m n-r o : m Country were dc-b with b\ Ao hm nin.sts during his speech tV-li</\vuig the Address-in-Reply on July referring to the tow nship queMiuti the member for the district smo:—ibe main point on which I rose to speak on the Address-in-Reply is in regaro to a paragraph in the Speech wlv.ch reads as follows " The present lan- with respect to Native townships, such as i aumarunui. Te Kuiti- and J may acid, myself. Otorohanga and Kawhia—-and other centreshas been round to be unsatisfact r rv to Ei-ropesns. and the disabilities arising from this law will be Sir. the psvehoiogical moment has arrived, and it arrived at that time when the Prime Minister visited the Rohe Potae a fortnight ago. And here I must say, in answer to the criticism that has" been levelled against the Premier by some honourable members about going round the.country. that it was the best step he has taken since he became the head of the Government. He came at the suggestion of honourable members who complained that outlying dis-*-tricts were neglected by Ministers, and who suggested that they should go from time to time into those outlving places where settlers are debarred from seeing Ministers and officials owing to their isolation. It is the

duty of the Premier and of Ministers to go round and see these settlers, and ascertain their grievances. I can tell the Right Hon. the Premier and the honourable the Leader of the Opposition that some of his bwn strong adherents told me that the visit of the Premier has softened to some extent their feeling against the Government Mr Massey (Leader/of the Opposition). —You should see the letter I received to-night' from one of your constituents. Mr Jennings.—All right; I will be there at the proper time. In reference to removing the disabilities of settlers in these townships —Taumarunui, Te Kuiti, Otorohanga, and Kawhia —I visited them long ago, in conjunction with Air Lang and the late Mr Crowther. These places were, to a large extent, kainga Maoris, nearly fifteen years ago. To-day, Te Kuiti, Taumarunui, Ohakune, and other places are large thriving townships. Men and women are in these places to-day, doing pioneering" work, and making homes for themselves and their children, the same as my own and other pioneering people did sixty years ago. Under the present conditions they are not getting as fair a chance as our forefathers got ; and I congratulate the Government upon its proposal to give them better facilities, so that they may improve, the townships and themselves. I know honest men and women who are groaning under the disabilities that exist in many ways in ihe Kin;-. Country districts. Thev ask ro be treated fairly. No improvements can be made in regard to roading and sanitary matters in those townships, ' owing tb the present law. There are people there full of full of intelligence and energy, and they are not going to rest satisfied with the present state of things ; and I tell the | Premier he has done a wise thing in forecasting that some alteration will take place in regard to these Native townships. In speaking on the question of greater expenditure on back country roads, Mr Jennings said : —I am quite sure that this House will willingly grant the Government the one million to be'raised for this purpose. As a commercial concern alone, if roads can be improved and people can get their produce out, it will benefit the country considerably; and this million pounds will be paid back fivefold. I congratulate the Government on its proposal to borrow one million, and I hope that £250,000 will be spent for the period of four years. In speaking to the Address-in-Reply at the" dpening of Parliament Mr Jennings referred particularly to the

matter of education in bis electorate said : —I have had great difficulty, particularly along the North Island Main Trunk line, owing to the spread of settlement there in a few years, in getting sufiicient'educational facilities, not from the central Department, but from the various Education Boards. The Minister, in the replies he makes to the settlers, and to myself on behalf of the settlers, puts the whole responsibility on the Boards. In several cases there have been delays of probably eighteen months or two years after the settlers have shown . "that the number of children was large enough to justify the erection of a school : and yet nothing has been done in these cases, for the reason that the Boards have not sent their Inspectors to report. At Kakahi, where there is a Government sawmill, . the settlers asked for a school at the beginning of January. The Department made a grant of £IOO, yet up to the present time nothing has been done. The children have to go to Raurimu- a distance of fifteen or sixteen miles, through cold and wet and snow. Mr T. Mackenzie. — What sort of a Board have you sot Mr Jennings. —It is the Auckland Board." which.seems to be very dilatorv in regard to these matters. Again, the excuse for the non-erec-tion of the butiding was that the montv was tnsutkeicnt. \et within ico varus of the school site the Govern men t have their own sawmill, the manager of which told me that it he

got instructions he couic! cut up a building suitable for the children within a_ fortnight. What i? the use oj this kind the Edr.cati- >n ! Vpart mvnr cannot make usv •>!' ii ? !• u.udd the Department eouip ■.rasi-, e! ■. linkif the !'..r I'ul.fi-- \\ . •• !.:• would only aittiv-n* • da_- .-aw auik-r.-plaints front 'Pa > 1 mand M^ngnnc.-hi. dispute at i atii'iamum :!v» aimr-nr does not .-aem to •'■/'. '■ 3 - ! ■ 'wu that district -he p.-opiv. in a ay have come from ih? boinii idaad, Australia, auct -xll;^* ic-1. ■- used to better conditions so tar at the education of their children is concerned : and they are not g«>ing to

{ put up with the position in which 1 they now now And things. It is not | that they have any objection ( to the | :;; 1 \!n:!! 1■ t■ no mn 1 bc;" in c! ; ic>V'\ hi-; t!:v instruction it was . m:> v-.■ Kile! get. so that hkt- ! oiiw r children in the Dominion they R'li.-i'u !v weft ci'nipped to right tne . batik* '■ 1 ■' !if.\ The Government have : a township at Rangaroa, less than a mile from Taumarunui. In that ; township there is a school site, and | yet no school can be erected for 101 ! white children who would attend it. Mr T. Mackenzie. —Will not the Board give them a school ? Mr Jennings.—The Board will not and the Minister will not. :MrMassey.—The Board cannot do itgtf the Minister will not giye them the money. '

iMr Jennings.—These questions are such that they are seriously troubling v&ry many people, and I think the discontent expressed is reasonable. I hope that the good sense, of the Government will lead to the present unsatisfactory state of things being brought' to an end.