Latest Parliamentry News.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 228, 12 November 1887, Page 8

Latest Parliamentry News.

Sontos 3S»r Treatment of Ores ASrfiPfctfedck gives notice to-daft" of- m(*s«on for-a-btonus wt £5,000 for a better method 1 of fcrealA'ug goW and silver ore*.

Beep Level Prospecting. ■Mr«#fiiicock brought under $he wotice of tiho> Government yesterday the-fmportanco <of reinstating the vote for -deep level ipFospecting of goldfields. The -'Minister of •Mines said the regulations nov/ f provided for •assfefemce to a certain extonc,'-and Governimwit did not see their wsy* to go further. -f'he steam diamond drills «now required iwould cost £2,100 each, --so that a large amount of money was iuvolred. Mr Reeves twin ted out that steaua w»s not necepsary, *?Md that electricity .afc one-fourth cose i served the purpose arfanipably.

Children in 'Factories. The question of hours of labour for children m factories yfitß brought up in the House yesterday fyy Mr Moss. He said he saw by an article in the Onehunga paper, which had baen forwarded to him by an Auckland Association interested in these matters, that sixty children were to be employed in the OneJmnjja Woollen Factory. When they weie ilii'strec jived they were not to be paid wapee*, and that while under tuition girls mxpo to work 48 hours a week and boys .55 hours. The Premier said he had not scon the report, but, if true, there was vciy considerable ground for corajdaink whieli had the sympathy of the (jtovernmeut. They would make inquiries, a«d if it were found that children are called upon to work the hours named, it was finite time the House proceeded to further legislate in the mattar.

Reductions in Wage&, Mr Moss garco notice to-day to a.«k the Colonial Treasurer whether, amony the vaiious large fciuns which lie proposed to carry imjlobo as reductions in the public expenditure, theie arc included any reductions in the' wages ab present paid to skilled and unskilled uoikmen employed in tho pu'olic service. If so, will he inform the Houf-c of the extent and cbanartcr of such proposed reduction, as the initiative in that direction on the part of tho Government must gravely aflect the poeiiion of the lar^e masses oi our people -dependent on manual labour throughout tlio colony.

Sir George Groy and Land Sett ement. Sir Gcoige Grey succeeded in carrying the second leading of his Land for Settlements Bill Lust evening without division. An explanation of the provisions and intentions of the 5* 1 ill was given by Sir George, who claimed that it would have the eit«ct of bunging a number of new colonies into New Zealaud, and would, at the same time, induce numlsci> of the people at pie&enl in the colony to go into the country and es tablish homesteads ior themselves. We had heie tise skeleton of a great natiou, but it required to be iilled up, and the bill in question would achieve that object The measure gave the right to the Ciowiu to purchase lands iiom natiw and EurojKum owners, precautions being taken against jobbery. Piovision >*vas made for cat/ting the estates up into farms, representing 'in fair proportion the value •of the land. JThe.-e were to be open to -.the public for selection. The selector wo ald not be required to pun hase the faun, bur. would be allowed to pay in to rest on the value, and avould become proprietor on these terms. Power would be given. him, to turn his holding into freehold at any time by payment of purchase money. .In addition to allowing the .settler to go .oniilwj farm without paying any money, ,the bill provides that. Government should ndvauoe him funds wath which to build a house, should j rovide him with implements and with rations for twelve months for himself and family. The co?t of these goods was ! to be assessed, and interest on the amouns j charged at the aame rate as on the purchase of the farm. --Government were empowered to pay for elates purchased in what are called bonds, secured on the lands, and having the guarantee of the Government, on the system so successful in Prussia. Thr only other speaker on the question was tho Premier, «'ho recognised the importance of the subject, and would agree to the second reading, with the object of sending the bill to the Waste Lands Committee to see if some safckfactory a? rangement .could not be made. Ho could not agree with Sir George tjlixit this bill dealt with the question so .satisfactorily as had been thought, and fba felt that there were not sufficient precautions. The second reading was then agreed to on the voices.

State Aid to Catholic Schools. There were about fifteen "present at, the meeting of members favourable to State aid to Catholic schools. Excuses were re ceived from -others absent at committees and at the Municipal Conference. Mr Pyke was chairman. It was agreed that a bill be brought iu<dealing directly with the subject with a preamble setting forth why it | was necessary to make a concession to Catholics. Great unanimity prevailed. MrPykewas charged with the deaf ting of the bill, which will be submitted ti» another meeting on Monday or Tuesday. It was decided to call it the Roman Catholic School Bill, so as not to interfere with the Bible Reading in Schools Bill.

The Recent The interest shown t&soughout the colony in the recent elections ig shown by the fact that 111,911 votes were recorded, against 74,672 in 1&84. The total number of names on the irolls last year was 175,419 against 137,686 in!^. There were recorded 60,952 votes for tuembers elected, against 51,859 votes gi«ejo for defeated candidates.

Redactions of ffaces. The member for Parnell asked the tColonial Treasurer whether in carrying out the reductions in the public expenditure he intended making reductions in the wages present paid to skilled ftfld unskilled wqrkmen employed in the public service. He'hj^ard there were some men not in the public service who were paid weekly or daily wages, and ifc would be placing an enoumous power in the hands of any Govern' m.ent to allow them to regulate the rale of wages. If the Government z-educed fclio vate.of wages, a general reduction might be expected to follow throughout the colony, asithpusands of employers would bo ready to f ojflow the example cet them. The Premier said.that Governmentrecognised that sudden reductions should be made with the concurrence ojf , the House, and they had no intention of making reductions which Mr Moss s,eemed inclined to impute to them.

The Loan Proposal*. In GOftftevC&Ofl with the loan proposals, GovermftGfiifc are meeting with considerable oppositioo, and Otago members are likely to oppose the borrowing of any sum beyond what is necessary to meeb the deficiency bills now in circulation— that is to say, they object. to the borrowing of a second million as proposed. They think that both the Ofcago Central and Main Trunk lines should bo constructed by land grants, and will give their cordial support io that system of railway construction. Mr Fulton has been re- appointed chairman of tho Waste Lands Committee, ja po&ition from which fr§ w^s ousted by tho late Government.

Protecting Native Coal, The question of Protection was raised in a mild way yesterday afternoon, Mr Reeves (lningahua) moved, " That in th« opinion of thiß House it is desirable and necessary that an import duty of not less than 2s 6d per ton be imposed on all coal imported into the colony." He claimed that Now South Wales had protected itself .against the importation of New Zealand (produce *tnd oement, and said that ib behoved N-ew Zealand to look after her coal mines. He declared that the only peirsons who would be injuriously affected by the duty he proposed were the Union Steam Shipping Company. Mr Feldwick having secondod the motion, Mr Ward rose to oppose it. He declared himself a protectionist, but did not believe in dragging tbe question through the tire. Farmers were the backbone of the colony, and as they -exported their produce to Now South Wales they must be hampered by increasiiig thevduty on coal by half-a-crown. Mr Mills -said that having been directly challenged by the member for Inangahua, he denied that the coal trade was carried on in the interests of the company with which ho .was engaged. On the contrary, there were a. large number of sailing vessels iti lhetrade,nnd the effect of the duty proposed would be to drive them away and place the monopoly entirely in the hands of the Uuion Steamship Company. Mr Scddon supported the motion, and said he regretted to have to announce that one of the Westport Coal Company's mines (Coal-pit Heath) would have to be closed owing to tho want of consumption. Dr. Fitchett said that the eilect of the increased duty would be to give employment on the West Coast in the direction of native product, and Mr O'Connor added that the proposals should be made the batis of a reciprocal duty with New South Wiiles The Minister ot Education -said that the proposal placed protection in ics most objectionable light. Carrying the motion would affect every householder, and it sought to benefit one industry by seeking to direct a blow at every other in the colon}'. He might mention that the Wellington Woollen Company, which was a fetiong, protection Company had, in order to keep going, to u?e Newcastle coal because it was the cheape&t. After this expression of. opinion, Mr Joyce moved the adjournment of the debate for a fortnight, which was accepted by Mr Itecves, and which practically shelved the motion.

A Step Towards Local Government. Those members of the House who think . bhattheGovei'inncntin their Financial Statement did not strike the key of the position in neglecting to make pnnision for moie complete local government havo been aojieeably surprised by a reply made by the Minister for Public Works to a question by Mr Seddon yestetday afbsrnoon. The memhoc forKumarahad asked whether Government will, so far as practicable and with the view of reducing the public works departmental expenditure, place in the hands of Harbour Boards, County Councils, and Borough Councils that have competent engineeung 1 stalls, the expenditure of the vote for railways, harbour works, roads, and minor works situate within such harbour districts, boroughs and counties. Mr Mitchelbon replied that the intention ol the Government would be disclosed in the ■Public Works Statement. He might, how<ever, say that the intentions of Government i tended somewhat in the direction suggosted except in regard to railways and harbours.

Raising tho School Age. It irt alleged that if the school age is raised on the West Coast, and the capitation allowance lowered, the Westland Education Board will lose £1,500, and thus be unable to perform its functions. Mr Seddon theiefore want", the exceptional difficulties under which Education Boards in .mining districts labour taken into consideration, with a view to seeing .whether schools in mining. districts can.be placed on the same footing as country schools.

The Penny Postal System. The disadvantages under which country settlers labour in .regard to the postal system was brought beiore the House by Mr Valentine, who wanted an extension of the penny postal system made by ci eating country postal districts, or the system extended generally throughout the colony. The Postmaster-General replied that he had taken the matter into consideration, and had found it impossible to grant the concession asked. Such a concession had not been found practicable in.any other colonies and he was advised it would result in great loss of revenue. To make the penny postal system general throughout the colony would result in a loss of £25,C0J3.

Land Tenure. Mr Smith has moved for a return showing the number ot persons who have been settled on lands of the .colony under the different systems for the period 30th of last March to 30th September, including the number of persons who during that period have ballotted under the special settlement system.

Jotting*. The Legislative Councillors were more loyal than the elective chamber, and observed the Prince of Wales' Birthday. Mr Carroll's motion dealing with equality of the ,r.a.ces has been further adjourned for a week. Mr Samuels is moving to have the New Plymouth harbour question referred to a select committee. The protectionists meet on Friday to decide how best to obtain an expression of opinion on the question. Ministers expect to close the session within five weeks. Mr Guinness is again introducing a bill to abolish coroners' juries. The Midland Railway Committee held their first meeting yesterday. Government intend in the Public Works Statement to explain their local government proposals, Mr IJallance's Municipal Amendment Act, which provides for a poll tax of £100 on Chinese, has been postponed till December Ist. It will be opposed by the Government, and is certain to be rejected by the House. The friends of Mr Napier Bell have succeeded in getting a select committee appointed to inquire into the management of Westport Harbour Board.