PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 October 1919, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. By Telegraph.—Press Association. ' Wellington. Last Night. The Legislative Council met at 2.30:. The Women's Parliamentary Rights"Bill (No. 2), was read a first time. The Invercargill Borough Boundaries, Extension Bill came up for its second reading. Various members objected to the Bill as it was aimed at one owner. The Hon. 0. Samuel raised a point of OTder on the ground that the measure was a private Bill and should be dealt with in the usual way. The debate was adjourned until tomorrow to enable the Speaker to consider the point. The following Bills were put through their final stages and passed: Hauraki Plains, Thames and Ohinemutu Councils, Inglewood County, Matakawa Countyj 1 Wellington City Empowering and Amendment, Auckland Harbor Board Loan and Empowering. Patea Haribor Amendment, and Wellington City Abattoirs Loan. The Council agreed to an amendment made by the House in the ChattelsTransfer Amendment Bill. Sir Francis Bell moved the second reading of the Treaties of Peace Bill. He said that while the acceptance of a. mandate over Samoa entailed respbrw sibilities, the Government felt it would be a craven and cowardly act to refuse to accept it. The Bill was read a second time, and with the External Affairs Bill, which) provides for the setting up of a Department of External Affairs, was put through committee. The" Public Health Amendment Bill and the Expeditionary Forces Voting Bill were read a second time. The Council adjourned at 4.45 p.m.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. , The House of Representatives met at 2.30 p.m. ' REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. Replying to the Hon. J. A, Hanan, Mr. Massey said the question of legislation dealing #ith child labor was not one that could be dealt with hur'riadly and satisfactorily. His idea was that, inquiry should be made during the recess by office) ? of the Labor Department, and when their reports were received legislation could be prepared and dealt with when the House met. If immediate steps were taken to prevent children Working he was afraid it would impose great hardship on many families, who in view of the high cost of living, were defending on their children's earnings. Replying to Mr. Veitch, Mr: Mas«y said he had not lost sight of the Workers' Accommodation Bill which he promised to bring down. He hoped to go into the question during the next few days. Replying to Mr. Sykes, Mr. Massey said the Government would, as soon as possible, go into the question of making Crown lands in Samoa available for soldiers' settlements. He was favorably impressed with the idea. Replying to Mr. P. Fraser, the Hon. W. H- Hemes said if the inquiry into the loss o'f the, steamer Tainui revealed the fact that the regulations governing the loading of benzine were not 'being enforced the Marine Department would see they were enforced. Replying to Mr. Poole, the Hon. W. H. Herries said he had already sent out instructions to make inquiry into the alleged finding of a box,of matches wedged in between cases of benzine in a steamer. He would hold an inquiry in the meantime which would be unofficial, but, if necessary, an official inquiry would be held. Replying to Mr. Nash, the Hon. J. B. Hine said there was a Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill on the stocks, but ho wa? afraid that owing to the lateness of the session it- could not be dealt with this year. The Undesirable Immigrants Kxcliision Bill was introduced by Governor's message and read a first time.

COMPENSATION FOR DAIRY PRODUCERS. Referring to the report of the Agricultural Committee on a petition of certain dairy companies, Mr. Massey said the Government had decided to compensate dairy producers who supplied the local markets during the war to the extent of the difference between the local price and the export value. The amount involved would be about £IIOO,OOO. Sir Joseph Ward endorsed the decision of the Government, as that decision was in accord with the policy lie publicly advocatedQUESTIONS TO MINISTERS. The remainder of the afternoon sitting was taken up with discussions on reports and Ministers' answers to questions . Amongst others, Ministers gave the following answers to questions:— That with reference to the engagement of a scientifically trained forester the High Commissioner has advertised in the United Kingdom for a director and an assistant director of forests. Both these officers must'bo graduates of s. recognised school of forestry and in addition the director must have had not less than five years' experience iu actual forest management, and the assistant director not less than two years. That instructions had already been issued that a polling booth is to be appointed to each military hospital where soldiers are in-patients." Polling places will also l>e appointed in each of the military camps. That it would be quite impossible during the present session to pass'legis. lation necessary to give effect to the suggestion that Maoris in the Dominion should have an opportunity of voting on the liquor queslion. That the proposals in the Education Amendment Bill now before Parliament and in the estimates include provisions for considerable increases in teachers' salaries, in addition to the increases granted last year, and as these further increases are to be made retrospective to March 31st last it will be unnecessary to pay further war bonuses. That it is not possible to carefully revise the values of all lands in New Zealand in one year. The re-vahmtion of lands is always proceeding and districts' selected for revision in each year are _those where there is reliable evidence of increased values. That the question of testing a system of light railways in New Zealand is at present before the Government, and arrangements have been made for obtaining information as to their use* in the war zone. That the Government cannot see its' w%y. to increase the rate of interest

paid by local bodies. Any increase in the direction indicated would be likely to cause an increase in the' ruling rate of interest chargeable through theDominion. That it is not proposed to make any special provision for coast defence troops employed in New Zealand during tho war. ■ That it is regretted that provision cannot be made this session for voting a, war bonus to superannuated civil servants. All available funds are required for other purposes. That the whole question of old-age and other pensions will be dealt with comprehensively next session, when it is hoped various anomalies will be removed. That inspectors of gear on ships are being appointed. That the present distribution of fotalisator licenses is in accordance with the recommendations made by the Gaming Commissions of 1910 and 1914, respectively. Population is not the only factor to be taken into consideration in detertihining allocation of totalizator licenses. That where administrative positions, carrying the gravest responsibilities in the interests of the State are concerned the head of the Department must bo permitted to exercise his judgment and right to se!ect for such positions officers upon whom he is dependent for advice and co.operation where 1 technical matters are concerned. This rule was followed when the chief mechanical engineer of railways was recently appointed. That it is not considered necessary at present for the State to establish works for the manufacture of Naura Island phosphates into superphosphate, as privately owned works already in existence can now deal with large quantities, in addition to which other works in process of erection and to he started shortly will have a capacity of more than double that of the existing vorxs. That pay and conditions of casual employees will be given due consideration when the rates of wages of the permanent railway staff are being dealt with. That the High Commissioner is being asked to endeavour to arrange with the Imperial authorities for a reduction to be made in the freight rates on hemp and tow 'shipped from the Dominion to United Kingdom ports. The ruling rates of freight are: Hemp £l6 10s, t&v £2O Bs. "The rates are bAsed upon the amount of space required for stowage. That the Government- will consider the laying on the table of Colonel Bettington's report as early as possible. That it is not proposed at present to remove the embargo on amateur wireless plantß, but the question will at a later date receive,further consideration. That the question of garrisoning the defended ports of New Zealand will Ibe considered- in conjunction with the report of Admiral Jellicoe. That the question of acquiring a dredge for, hire to Harbor Boards is under consideration, but at the present time, owing to the high prices ruling in the Old Country, no action is contemplated. That legislation is being introduced this session which it is expected will act as a very effective check on land aggregation. That in view of the fact that a weekly report is found sufficient in connection with all other products of the Dominion it is not thought that a twice weekly report on' the hemp market is ! necessary. The High Commissioner will, however, be requested to specially cable advice of any important sur.-fen ; of tho hemp market.

THE EVENING SESSION. The House resumed at 7 30 p.m. NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND. The Hon. W. H. Hemes moved the second reading of the National Provident Fund Amendment Bill. He explained it contained tnree yw features: Increasing Friendly Societies' maternity bonus from £2OO to £300; increasing the annual income of persons qualified to become contributors to the fund from £250 to £300; increasing the age of the above persons: from 45 to r>o. The other amendments were all correction of errors which had been discovered in administrating the original Act, and all went in the direction of widening and improving the main Act. . Mr. Harris contended that FriendlySocieties should be reimbursed to the full- extent of the extra liability they were now called uipon to bear :n consequence of thejr. members' war service. Mr. Talbot said this was one of the little Bills which would bring down blessings on the heads of the Government, but at the same time he thought the Government should assist Friendly Societies more generously in connection with the . management of the fund, otherwise the National Provident Fund would 'become an unfair rival of Friendly Societies, which everyone admitted were dMiu» most valuable work in 'the community. Mr. Payne 'said he considered Friendly Societies were obsolete and there ought to be a complete national scheme to cover all phases of the benefit. Mr. Buddo and Mr. Glover supported the Bill, which was read a second time on the voices.

MAORI LAND The Hon. W- H. Herries moved tlie second reading of the Native Townships Bill, which, he said, was to femove anomalies which had accumulated under the .Act of 1910. Tenants in Native townships, swh as Taumarnnui, Te Kuitl, andOtorohangacan purchase freehold of laud purchased from Natives by the Crown, but there was a great difficulty in effecting leases, and this Bill was an endeavour to formulate some cheap and easy system of leasehouT He anticipated the" Bill would be of great benefit to Natives. Sir Joseph Ward said the Bill was much required as he knew that people in Native townships had great difficulty In arranging, finance for building because of their unsatisfactory tenlire. Mr. Jennings said he' was satisfied there would be no injustice to Maoris under this Bill, because they could not sell their town lands unless they had ample land elsewhere. Mr. Payne drew attention to the fact that this Bill was fraught with most important issues for the Native race and yet there was not a single Native member present to give the House the benefit of his ideas on the measure. He suggested the second reading should be deferred until the Maori members were present. He feared the Bill was simply another device for filching land from the Natives. Mr. Pearce contended the Bill would place both Natives and Native townships in a better, not a worse, position. Mr. Witty condemned the Bill as calculated to impoverish Natives. To him the absence of the Maori members from the Chamber was inexplicable when such a Bill was under consideration. At this point Mr. Uru entered the Chamber. Mr. Young said the Bill had been eare-

fully considered by the Native Affairs committee, at which Native members pad been present and approver the Bill. Ho assured the House there was nothing in the Bill by which a scheming Pakeha could rob the Natives. Mr. Isitt said that on the assurance that Sir James Carroll and the Hon. A. T. Ngata had no objection' to the Bill he would support it. The Hon. W. D. S. McDonald said it was absolutely necessary to give some fair and reasonable tenure in Native townships, which was all this Bill did. The Hon. Dr. Pomare said the Native members were favorablo to the Bill and had agreed to it unanimously. There was no compulsion to a sale and if l he did sell a fair valuation was secured to him. The Hon. A- T. U«ata said a deputation of Native representatives from the King Country had come down and asked for some such legislation as this. Native members had carefully considered the Bill and approved it. Mr. Holland said the question waswhat was the Government going to do with the land after they bought it from the Natives. Were they going to hold it as State property or were they going to sell it again to private buyers? If they were going tp .do this, then he thought the Bill was scarcely worth while. The Bill was read a second time..

STATE FORESTS. Mr. Massey moved the State Forests Amendment Bill. He said the Bill sot up a State Forest Department which will look after the forests ofjthe Pom. inion, but it did not interfere with land suitable for settlements. It was also hoped reafforestation would tako' place under the Bill, which, he thought, would be found a good measure. . Mr. Seddon dealt with the unfortunate position in whieh the recent timber regulations placed local bodies and sawmillers on the West Coast. He thought this was the place where they should get some relief. Mr, Hudson supported the appeal made by Mr. Seddon, Mr. Holland hoped that when the State Forester was being selected men in New Zealand would not be overlooked. The Hon. D. Buddo protested against new forests being planted at a great distance from railheads. The Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald asked that certain lands, formerly State forests but destroyed by fire, should be added again to Crown lands. The Bill was supported by Mr. • Smith (Waimarino) and Mr. Field (Otaki). Mr. Massey, in reply, said if a capable man could be found he would be appointed State Forester. He confessed lie could not see at present how local bodies on the West Coast could be helped. He sympathised with them, and thought the whole subject should be carefully inquired into. While the Bill proposed to add certain lands to be State forest reserves, he gave the House assurance that settlement would not be interfered with.

The Bill was road a secoud time. THE WHEEL TAX. The Hon. J. B. Hine moved the neeqrnd reading of the Counties' Amendment Bill, which he explained gave the Government power to regulate charges made by counties in connection with the wheel tax. The Bill was read a second time. TRIAL BY JURY. Mr Massey moved the second reading of the Police Offences Amendment Bill, which, he said, was purely a departmental measure strengthening tie position of the police in the case of certain offences. * Mr Holland said he would oppose Clause 2, which perpetuated a system which sprang up in the war peripil, am} under which trial by jury was ed. The ordinary' laws of the land gave the authorities power to deal with any of the offences named, in the section. Why, then, was there need for another law which, dealt with the same ..offences in a different and worse way? In time of industrial unrest power was given to try accused summarily before a nmgHrate. This might he used most unfairly and with unjust eonse<|MfWß*. "Mr P. TYaser supported Mr Holland's' contention. The Bill was read a second time v „. BILLS IK COMMITTEE, " h -; The' House then went into committee on several Bills read a second time,. The National Provident Fund Amendment Bill passed committee with Unimportant amendments. " ■. In the Native Townships Amendment Bill Mr Fraser moved an amendment the effect of which would be to prevent the Crown selling any lands purchased in Native townships. The amendment was lost by 3J) votes to 11. The Bill was reported from committee without amendment. ■ .'. ' In the Counties Amendment Bill the: Minister moved a new clause giving Countv Councils power, to provjde a residence for a doctor practicing in the county. This was agreed to. The Hon. R. Beaton Rhodes moved a new sub-clause doubling the area of land which might surround the dwell, 1 - ing provided by a county for its employees. This was agreed to. The Bill was reported with amendments. The, State Forests Bill was reported* without .amendment. The Police Offences Amendment Bill was reported without amendment. All the Bills were read a third time and passed. The House rose, at I.M a.m.