PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 134, 15 September 1910, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL By Telegraph.—Press Association. J Wellington, Last Night. ' In the Legislative Council this after* noon, <on the motion of the AttorneyGeneral, the Christchurch Tramways District Amendment Bill was read g second time. The By-laws. Bill was reported from committee with slight amendment and the Oaths Bill without amendment. The Rangitikei Land Drainage Bill and the Town Boards Amendment Bill wetfl • put through their final stages. Th® foreign insurance Companies Deposits * * Amendment Bill, passed by the ilousej was read a second time. PUBLIC DEBT EXTINCTION BILL. After a brief discussion, the Hon. Dr, Findlay moved the second reading of the i'ublic Lk'iH Extinction Bill, passed byj the House, authorising the creation ot a simkuig lund (or the extinction of thq public debt of New Zealand. Thft Attorney-General explained at lengtlli the general purpose of the Bill. It was, he said, a genuine attempt to make thq present generation bear their share of the buruen, and th.ose who came aftes to bear theirs. j; The Hon Mr. Sinclair seconded second reading of tli6 Bill, which he cor* dially supported as a sound and eatQ principle. The Bill itself answered all the criticism directed against it by ihQ House and the Press, it had evidently hwn well thought out, and in practice it would be found to work well. The Hon. J. iiigg contended the Bill would impose consiuerable burdens upoa the people, and questioned whether ia tue end it would be louud that one debt} had been extinguished only to another. . j HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ' v i The House met at 2.30. Replying to Air. Taylor (Christchurch)j regarding the subdivision of the Mackenzie County 011 lines recommended by, informal and statutory commissions, Mr, Buddo said the Government . were anxious to have the matter satisfactorily settled. Both commissions were in practical agreement. The danger was of cutting up runs into too limited - areas. fen- J. G. Ward said that instructions had been given for printing the reports He would luive no objection to refer thq oiiicial report to the Lands Committee. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. Keplying to questions, Ministers stated that although the departure of the 'Frisco mail steamer is arranged to alternate as near as possible .ioruiightly with the departure of a steamer from. Vancouver, it is was not practicable tQ auuKc similar arrangements from this end without the employment of a third steamer, which would require a very; large increase in subs ; , y. When the Vancouver steamers c.... at Auckland •the matter would be gone into with a. muw 01 arranging as nearly as possible tor forinight.y sailings botn ways; that the rucommeiidutioii of Mr. Hauan that lour capable subordinate oii'icers be con- * stituted a Classifica.ion Board for the special work of classification will be considered; that the Railway Department is collecting all available intorma- ' tion in regard to tne monorail, which nas not yet gone far beyond' the ex- ' ' periniuiu. suige. When this had been passed, the question as to what extent ; die system can be adopted with benefit to tiie Dominion of New Zealand would be uiiiy gone into; that the information relative to iron deposits and their working will be laid before the House next session. ; CRIMES AMENDMENT BILL. In the House in the evening, the de>, bate ou the Crimes Amendment Bill wao resumed. Mr. Fowlds, in reply, said he had no , reason to be displeased at the reception of the iiill. Replying to critics oi the Bill, lie said if tne power proposed to conferred on magistrates of passing in- 1 determinate sentences was taken away, - s it would mean that a large percentage of incipient criminals would not comet under the scope of the Bill. He hoped the House would realise that there werei good and substantial reasons for thei retention of this power. Regarding the; personnel of the Prison Board, the Minister suited that a combination of judicial oilicers with civil servants phould provide an ideal body for the purposes of the Bill. Referring to prison labour, Mr. Fowlds said this would be of such a kind as not to come into competition with ordinary labour. Objection had been taken to power being given to. constables to arrest a man out on parole without warrant on breach of license, but this was only a slight extension of the powers already conferred on the police. It would to a certain extent ba a violation of international courtesy to allow a probationer to leave the Dominion without the leave of the AttorneyGeneral. The Bill was read a second time and referred to the Statutes Revision Committee. * ■ THE EDUCATION QUESTION. ♦ ' " Mr. Fowlds moved the committal of the Education Amendment Bill. Mr. Massey expressed approval of the reinstatement of the capitation vote. Referring tp clause 7, which provides for medical inspection of school children by teachers or inspectors, he said this wai a matter that ought to be .dealt with by schools committees. He approved generally of the clauses dealing with the education of mentally defective and epileptic children. He took exception to clause 17, providing for compulsory attendance at continuation and technical schools. Before this was enforced, tech- 1 nical education ought to be perfected. Considerable indignation had been expressed at the regulation . requiring country children to attend at centres for proficiency examinations, and hp had received many communication* »on the : subject. He hoped that some way would 'be found out of the difficulty. There was at the present time considerable dissatisfaction with the administration of the Education Department, chiefly on account of its centralising tendency. Messrs. Stallworthy and Luke opposed the principle of compulsory attendance at technical schools. Mr. Te Rangihi roa considered that medical inspectors should be appointed to devote their whole time to the work of inspecting school children. A teacher could do much to assist in this work. Mr. Laurenson said the Dominion waß spending in round figures one million pounds a year in education. It was time to ask if the education system was nof! becoming too literary, and if it was pay. iiir* sufficient attention to the practical, affairs of life. It would be a good thing to appoint some members' of mo Hooie to inquire into the matter of education. Was it fitting for boys to become distort butors rather than producers of wealthj,; A knowledge of the facts did not fife youth for the battle