PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 111, 18 August 1910, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL,

By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. T.e Council met at 2.30 p.m. VHE ETERNAL MOKAU CASE.

The Attorney-General made a specific denial of the imputations contained in a petition presented to the House by Joshua Jones, in relation to the Moka-ii estate, in which, amongst other things-, the Attorney-General was started to have acted professionally for Lewis, the purchaser from the mortgagor .of Jones' Mokau leases, and that he (Dr. Findlay) ihad improperly influenced the removal of a caveat lodged by Jones to stop the registration of a title to Lewis.

'INEBRIATES' HOMES,

The adjourned debate on the second 'readingi of the Crimes Act Amendment Bill was resumed by Hon. J. Rdgg, who disagreed with the details of the Bill. Referring to. inebriates' homes, he took exception to such institutions, being in the hands of any sectarian body. He thought the Government should control the whole of the reformatory institutions, and objected to the proposal that the reformatory method should come after the expiry of sentence, as still retaining the element of revenge. The question of the employment of prisoners was one which will have to be considered, for if prisoners were brought 'into competition with outside labor, it might endanger the successful carrying out of the Act. The Hon. Mr. Sinclair supported the Bill. Speaking of the superiority of the indeterminate sentence over the fixed sentence, he said there should be no question about the wisdom of leaving in the hands of the prisoner his own reformation and release. He felt confident the application of the Bill in proper cases would' mean the final release of a prisoner at an early period of an indeterminate sentence. The success of the mearere would depend. entirely upon • the manner in which it was administered. Jfl The debate adjourned, and the CounM rose. H

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2.30 p.m. ' , RAILWAY SERVICE. Replying to Mr.- Taylor (Chrietcburo the Hon. Mr. Millar said he had l promised to grant recognition to ' Engine : drivers' Union, but onlv to rec sider the matter when the members reached 800. He was prepared to recc mend to Cabinet to grant recogniti The matter would be further conside after further discussion. Sir J. G. Ward said the Amalgama Society of Railway Servants had d much to improve the. conditions of i way servants, largely owing to the i that it represented the railways sen as a whole. If the engine-drivers' eh were granted, it would not be long fore the surfacemen would desire a s arate union. He, however, considered would be far .better that railway s vants should be represented by one uni Petitions of the engine-drivers' merit careful consideration bv the House.

Mr. Fisher said the only way the > gine-dri-vers could obtain their rigl was by forming a.separate union. Mr. Hogan said it was waste of til discussing the matter at this junctu as this and other questions were befc r the Committee at the prest time.

OTHER QUESTIONS. ■■ ■ Replying to other questions, ttrt'MinM ter said that it was not intended jH place a .sum, of money.on the.estimaM as • compensation to J. J. Meikle, iH legislation enabling the case to be deH with- will be submitted to ParliameH during the session; that, in order to <H viate .difficulties created by the rulingH the Arbitration Court that the settH ment of a dispute arrived at by tfl parties to the same, cannot become H award until such is signed by all tH parties cited. An amending Bill will ■ brought before the House. That tflP matter of making a provision enabling uncertificated teachers to pass "D" examination in sections, will receive favorable consideration shortly when the regulations for examination and classification are revised. » The House rose at 5.30. iREAiD A SECOND TIME.

The following Bills were read a second time this evening, pro fornm: Mining Act Amendment, Shops and Offices Amendment, Inspection of Machinery Amendment, Kauri Gum Industry, Tramways Amendment, Coalmines Amendment. answers to questions' mjscusised.

The House proceeded to discuss answers to questions. Mr. Wright, referring to the Meikle case, hoped the latter would be dealt with once and for all.

Mr. Herries urged the claims of the veterans for old age pensions, and said that publicity .should be given to the fact that magistrates are holding enquiry ,into claims of old soldiers for medals as recognition of services in the Maori war.

Considerable discussion centred round the representation of country districts in the Upper House, Mr. Newman contending that the farming community were not sufficiently repress nted. Mr. Laurenson pointed out that there were nine members of the Upper House representing the farming class, which was a fair number on a commercial basis.

Replying to Mr. -Glover, the Hon. J. Millar said it was not the case that a Judge of the Arbitration Court required every party cited to sign the settlement arrived at by two parties for dispute before the same became an award, but only required a certain time to elapse to allow of any objections to the agreement being made. ABOLITION OF VACCINATION. Replying to Mr. Taylor (Thames), who demanded the abolition of the Vaccination Act, Mr. Buddo said that, owing to the exemption, a danger was creeping in of the supply of vaccine run 1 ning short, which might be a serious matter in case of an epidemic. Legislation would have .to be passed to meet this need. The abolition of vaccination would be opposed by a large section of the community. ' . . • A VETERAN'S PETITION.

The remainder of the sitting was taken up in discussing the Rigg 'case; arising out of a petition of veterans that the N.Z. Cross, granted to Harry Rigg for services,an the Bay of Plenty during the Maori War, be withdrawn. The committee had no uecommendation to make.

Mr. Hogg had moved that the report be referred back to the committee for further consideration.

The debate was adjourned, and the House rose at 12.10 a.m.