PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 June 1916, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ABSENCE OF THE SPEAKEE,' -v By Telegraph.—Press Association, Wellington. Last Night. , \ The Council met ut 2.30 p.m., when i report of the Statutes Revision Com- ,j mittee upon the Military Service Bill' was received, and committal was made far it to be the order of the day for • Tuesday next. * Sir F. H. D. Bell said that member* of the Council were aware that their Speaker (Hon. C. J. Johnston), wm absent, having been called away by tha deatli of his daughter, Mrs. M. L. Levin, 1 who was the widow of a gallant gentleman who had recently died in the service of his King. He moved a motion'ol tympany with the Speaker and hi* family in their bereavement. This was seconded by Hon. Q. McLean, ard as a further mark of refpect and sympathy the Council at once ad-, journed. , ;i HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, QUESTIONS AN 11 ANSWERS' Mr. Wilford gave notice of intention to atk the Minister of Finance if, when framing the Finance Bill, will he differ* entiatc between earned and unearned incornea. In reply to Mr. Young, the Minister of Public Health stated that he had received a memorial concerning the discontent amongst patients at the Waikato consumptive sanatorium. An enquiry had been made by Dr. Hope Lewis, and only to-day he had received the re- x port,.which he had not yet had tin\e to peruse. He hoped to 'shortly make a Statement to the House on the master. In reply to Mr P. Webb, who asked if, in view of the many accidents takipg v place in tunnels, the Government would take steps to bring such public works *. under the Mines - Department, whose V officers thoroughly understood this class •" of work, tha Minister of Public Works said that this request had been made to several of his predecessor*, all of whom . turned it down, and he had no intention of departing from the practice of ■ his Department. Replying to Dr. Thaeker, the Premier stated that Surgeon-General Hendenon had reported that the milk supplied at ' • Featherston Camp had been tested on four different occasions, and had been found of excellent quality. When a shortage it-uirred, condensed milk of, } good quality was served to the men. ' . Sir Joseph Ward gave notice that on . , next sitting day he would introduce the Land and Incomj Tax and Finance Bills, the latter of which would contain banking legislation, which the House wonld '■' be asked to consider. ,i| . The Minister of Defence read extracts' from • letters received by parents rf soldiers on Transport 49, describing the if food served on board the ship, and re- ' j garding which Mr. Poole had raised s some question earlier in the week. The Minister deprecated the action of the member for Auckland West in raising ; the question in the way lie, had done. { His statements had gone throughout the length and breadth of , the Dominion. They were without certification, and con- > sequently created a good deal of feel- v ing. He greatly regretted that the re- ' T ports had been sprend abroad. ,j Mr. Poole defended his action, and he ' : i claimed, as a representative of the people, that he had a right to expose jj grievances in the House. " THE ESTIMATES. ? The House went into Committee of "J Supply, and resumed consideration of the Estimates. . Class 4.—Public Buildings Domain, '■! and Maintenance of Roads £117,800. X After a somewhat lengthy discussion the $ vote was passed, and the committee proceeded to discuss Class 41, Native Department NATIVE LANDS. At 7..10, Mr. Wi.lford continued the dis» cussion by referring to purchases of native land in the South Island, contending tha-, large areas had been taken by ' 1 the Crown, and fad not been paid for. ' J Hon W, H. Herries. in reply,, stfid that he did not think it right that the terms of ".robbery" and should bo applied to the transactions oJ previous Governments, nor did he like it to go abroad that the Natives had been ruthlessly bled of their lands oy past Administrations. As a matter of ■ fact, all New Zealand Governments, whatever their faults might have been, had made endeavors to keep as closely '1 as possible to the Treaty of Waitangi. The real question at issue was whether ■ sufficient reserves had been set aside for/, the South Island, but that was too a large a question to be discussed in the 1 Estimates. The vote was passed. GERMAN PATENTS. ;; Class 7.—Justice Department, £490,025 was taken Mr. Wilford asked what was being done to cancel German patents in the Dominion. The Minister replied that nothing had been done up to the present, and. Mr. Wilford moved that the vote be reduced by £l, as an " indication that German patents should be wiped out of the Dominion altogether, ' end at once. '' Hon. A. L. Herdman said that his impression was that the legislation of 1913 i gave power to cancel any German patents, There were no German patents of any value in force in New Zealand. Dr. A. K. Newman asked whether the j House would get an assurance that if « German patents did exist they would be ' wiped out. People were getting sick - of the sentimental way i n w hich this German question was being dealt with; , I Mr. Massey said he knew that legislation had been passed to deal with Ger- / man patents. If they had not been ■'! cancelled under that law he would re- '■ commend the Minister of Justice to do so at once. The Minister read from a depart -1 mental report to shqw that power waa - g : ven to individuals to apply for can- ■' i cellation of patents, but two applied tions had been received for cancellation 3 of trade marks. Mr. Herdman said that I if Germans had acted like blackguards -I there was no reason why we should. '! Mr. Statham, while he sympathised tM with the spirit of the motion did not *<:« support it, 1 On a division, Mr. Wilford'* amend- ill ment was defeated by 33 to 18 >S