PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 238, 1 October 1908, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. By .Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. ■He Council met at 2.30 p.m. Xhe Wellington Harbor Board Empowering Bill was read a third time tail passed. The Education Reserves Leases Validating and Empowering Act, 11)08, was read a first time. A committee was set up to consider the House's- disagreement wllili the Council's amendments to the Second Ballot Bill. I The Justices of thv Peace Amendment Bill was read a third time and passed. THE ARBITRATION BILL. The Hon. J. Rigg, resuming the debate on t!he sweond reading of the Arbitration Bill, said the Bill in its piesent state was an improvement on tic existing law. He approved of the option of giving the workers tile right to strike or go to arbitration, and defended the right of workers to strike. He detested any suggestion of an exertion wage as would result in the degeneration of the race. He urged that Conciliation Councils' recommendations j

should be given the force of an award. He condemned the Arbitration Court """ for failing to make an award in the farm laborers' dispute, and expressed • the opinion that in refusing to make an award the Court had exceeded its jurisdiction, lie intended to move an amendment in the direction of restricting tlrc powers of the Courx, the repeating of the clause making the president of the Court a life office, and removing the necessity of having a barrister or solicitor appointed as president. - The committee recommwnded the Council to adhere to its amendments in the Second Ballot Bill, -because- the 500 majority was inconsistent with the principles of the Bill, and because the amendment to clause 19 was necessary. The Council endorsed the committee's recommendation and adjourned at 5' p.m. The Council resumed at 7.30. Hon. Barr resumed the debate on the Arbitration Bill. He deprecated the strikes as having a demoralising effect on the community. and urged tbat strikes should not be tolerated in any shape or form. He added that an increase in the number of workers necessary to form a union from seven to , fifteen would be a real hardship to , numbers of workers.

Other members "having spoken, the second reading was agreed to on the yoices.

The Council adjourned at 11.30. I HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. .The House met at 2.30 p.m. QUESTIONS ANSWERED. Ministers, replying to questions, stated that it is not possible to widen the borrowing powers under tlie Government Loans to Local Bodies Act; when the Manawatu railway is taken Oyer, goods conveyed over that line will he subject to the Government scale of charges in operation at the time. Replying to a question asked by Mr. Bollard, without notice, the Minister said tie Government had no vessel to look for lie missing Loch Lomond. Those who knew had little hope that the ves- , ■el had not foundered. Thi Premier i said the only place where the vessel might possibly have drifted ashore would be at the Auckland Islands, and lie had asked the Governor that day if he could arrange for H.M.S. Encounter to visit the Auckland Islands with a view to verifying the accuracy or otherwise of the supposition he had indicated.

ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. Sir W. J. Steward, also without noItjce, aaked the Premier whether ne could make a statement regarding the delays in paying advances agreed to by the Advances to Settlers' Department. Many persons were seriously inconvenienced by the delay, and complaints were coming.from all parts of the Dominion regarding these delays.

Sir J, G. Ward said if the course followed lately in regard to this Depart-. meat were persisted in, he would be reluctantly compelled to instruct the Department to stop all further lending operations until the loans already agreed to had been completed, and until the time had elapsed proportional to the advances already made during the current financial year. The Department had only a certain amount, of money at its disposal and loans must be dealt with in sequence. The position was that the demands were so enormous that it was impossible to meet all of them. In one month

!£300,000 had been advanced, and if a they went on at that rate it would lie a impossible to meet all demands. Every- '' body had right to consideration, but '' if an attempt were made to "bring pres- ti sure to bear, lie would be obliged, with '' great, regret, to restrict the Departm*nt to suspend further operations for fl a time. V 1 RAILWAY ZONE SYSTEM. " (The Railways Committee, reporting On the petition of Samuel Voire pray- ' ing for a trial of his railway zone sys- ~ tern, recommended the matter to the " consideration of the Government. This . was adopted after a debate initialled by Mr. Berries and participated in by Vbe Hon. Hall-Jones, Mr. Massey and the Premier. The arguments pro. and '' con. were on similar lines to those ad- t vanced on, previous occasions on the n came topic. t/ SECOND BALLOT BILL. t In the discussion on the appointment fl Of managers to confer with a similar g committee of the Council relative to the n Council's insistence upon the amend- 0 jnents of the Second Ballot Bill, Mr. g Massey complained they were all from $ One side of the House, which wa» it grossly unfair, to which Sir Joseph! u Ward replied: "I am not going to let t you get to windward of me." He further said the Opposition had moved c heaven and earth to kill the Bill, and r be would be doing a gross injustice to p * tie House if he asked t3iat one mana- f ger (mould be selected from amongst t hia opponents. t NAVAL SUBSIDY BULL. i . Sir Joseph Ward moved' the second f reading of the Naval Subsidy Bill, pro- I yiding that during the period of ten t years commencing May 12th, 1J0S), a. i subsidy of £IOO,OOO shall be paid out 1 Of the consolidated fund to the Imperia i Government in aid of the imperial Navy such subsidy to supersede any • subsidy payable under the Naval Dc- i fence Act, 1908. Sir Joseph Ward c.v i plained that the subsidy was not load- i ii. with any conditions, and he felt no elaboration'was needed on his part to : recommend the Bill to the House. \\ e were " he said, "doing no more than we ought in recognition of the great services of the Imperial Navy." Mr Massey expressed satisfaction at having the Bill before the House, over which there was ipractically.no difference of opinion. He hoped a British squadron of warships would visit the Dominion to tospire ns with a. s-jnse of the power of the Empire. Mr James Allen said nobody would object' to the Bill, but it was desirable they should enquire what wa3 the position of the naval agreement existing hitherto. It was well-known that Australia had asked to be freed from th;? agreement, and if that happened the agreement would collapse altogether. He contended that we should put the coast line and harbors in a .proper state of defence, nnd averred that ..unipulsory service must come sooner or later. He said that New Zealand and Australia would in the course of time lave to see to the protection of trade routes in the Pacific, nnd h-e warned the country that though the Japanese were allies'of Britain, we here were do- i ing everything by immigration restrictions to make Asiatics our enemies, and we must be prepared to hold our own when the time came. | • After further discussion. Sir Joseph iWard replied at some length, quoting from his Imperial Conference speeches in regard to defence to illustrate hiJXrnit"of viwv nnd attitude in regard to Imperial defence New Zealand should play therein, and in relntion to Australian behaviour lie said we had no right to lay downanv conditions as to where the Admiralty should send any vcwk The Bill was read a second time. ADVANCES TO SETTLERS.

3ir Joseph moved the second reading of Hie Government Advances to Settlers Amendment Bill for increasing from fs.nno.nnn to cri.ooo.fton the sum at the disposal of IV ©Departmvnt from £200,000 to C'iOO.OOO. the mo T'Vs from tne Advances to Workers' hrnncli to extend tile usefulness of the D"p:irtment.

Mr. Alassev supported th" Rill, lml thought too much monev was Ir.-ina borrowed Tneallv hv the C.overnir,?!it Mr. Jerniin-'s rr !r e ( | tlr "■• '-•■ assisting WkMnrk cctllcrM V"iln tint It [ ( (tnnnld lie "(Tord-d (he V« ' - the \(t IT i - < i | i icrnn * I "' i * 1 i < mdust'- i * j'o fl In firm their 1-n ' i7•> rn <h ' ' ed for m w"n "i"c' l'reforn •'evenl oih-r mcritr rs - ipin I ('- ;- wn h (left S'ttmjrt