POLITICAL JOTTINGS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9618, 11 October 1909, Page 7

POLITICAL JOTTINGS.

I The report of the Publ'c Trust ! Office for the year ended 3lst March, i 1909, states that the profits amounted Jto £10.850, Mr J. W. Poynton, ; Public Trustee, says that the growth 1 of business will necessitate mure acj commodatiun in the large towns of i the Dominion, and that it is desirable to acquire sitos for buildings. The office at Greymouth is described as "a disgrace to the institution." The expenses in connection with the visit of the American Fleet, not including £3,500 paid to the Reception Committee, totalled £5,706 The cost of the banquet to the Admiral and officers was £994, and the military review £1,094. There is also an item of £122 included in B. —I. for the albu n presented to President Roosevelt. An item of £214 is charged for payment of special trains (for members of Parliament I attending the visit of the fleet) on the \ Manavvatu railway.

"The retrenchment proposals will not be found to be the fault of thn Government," said Sir Joseph Ward iin the House on Friday, in alluding to a statement made by Mr Herdman during the debate on his Public Service Bill. Sir Joseph added that the Government at a difficult time realis- j ed its responsibilities, and that it did What was best in the interests of the country. "I am quite prepared," he continued, "to go into the matter at tha proper time, but this is ntither the time nor place. ... If it is a question of the appointments made during the last twelve months, lam prepared to go a great deal further. lam prepared to give names and salaries of persons appointed ovsr the last thirty-five years. If Mr Herdman imagines we are not ready to discuss this matter he is making a very great mistake."

When the constitution of the Labour Hills Committee was under re- | view in the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister pointed out that the Opposition had two xepresentatives, and there was also an independent member "Who is that?" queried several. "Mr McLaren," replied the Premier, who added that the member for Wellington East could not be regarded as a Government supporter—he was an independent member. The Hon. J. A. Millar, defending the nomination of the Goverment, stated that the endeavour had been to get each of the main centres represented, as it was there that Labour matters were most affected. He pointed out that one of the Government supporters un the committee was Mr J. P Luke P who could be depended upon to look after the interests of the employers The committee, as set up,, consists of Messrs Arnold, Bollard,. Davey,. Glover, Hardy, Luke, McLaren, Poole, the Prime Minister, and the Hon. J. A. Millar. I

Several intoresting items of expenditure are, detailed in B.—l return presented to Parliament. The following may be mentioned: Honorarium paid to Sir Robert Stout, chairman Native Lands Commission, £1,286; Mr A. T. Ngata, £709; travelling f.liowances for Native Lands Commission —Sir Robert Stout £SBO, Mr A. T. Ngata £269. Travelling expenses for the same grntlemen aggregated £73, and travelling allowances for the officers of the commission • £592. There is an item of £177 for translating the reports Maori. A sum of £447 waSfpaid to Mr A. L. D. Fraser while acting as native adviser to the commission, being allowance and travelling expenses. The -total co3t of the commission was £51 f 37. The sum of £SOO was paid to Mr Joliffe for his work in connection with the revision ot the statutes. The travelling allowances of Ministers totalled £1,493, and their travelling expenses £2,224. Allowances and expenses of private secretaries to Ministers amounted to £1,614. A sum of £SOO was paid to the Hon. W. Hall-Jones "to cover travelling expenses to London.

A return presented to the House of Representatives, on the motion of Mr Laurenson, shows that the total number of convictions for offences in the Ashburton electorate in 1901-2 was 230, in 1902-3 it was 215, in 1903-4 it was 133, and in 1904-5 it wag 130. The convictions for drunkenness were eighty-eight,. ; ninety-five , twenty-one, and twentytwo in the four years. The summon • j ses for debt were 299 in the first year of xhe period, 296 in the second, 384 in the third, and 305 in the fourth. A return relating to the Invercargill Court shows that convic • tions for all offences in 1904-6 numbered 810. with 29 committals, and in 1906-8 they numbered 843, with 22 committals. Convictions for drunken • ness fell from 313 in the first bienniurr, to 189 in the second. During the two years after no-license came into operation there were 163 cases of drunkenness in which the supply of liquor was traceable to sources outside the prohibition area. In one case the liquor was obtained within I the area. Of 941 offences of all kinds I 728 occurred within the area and 213 outside. Seventy prohibition orders were granted against persons residing in Invercargill and twenty-eight against persons residing outside the district.