PARLIAMENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9678, 30 December 1909, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ♦ THE STONEWALL. After we went to press yesterday the debate in regard to the proposed vote of £4OO for a Financial Adviser to the Go\ eminent in London was continued. The motion to reduce the item by £394 was last by 37 votes to 9. This was at 3 a.m. and Mr T. E. Taylor made some unpleasant remarks about what he regarded as the absurdity of the proceedings of the Opposition, The farce, he urged, should be played out to the bitter end. A Third Standard schoolboy would not, he urged, be so absurd. It was merely a matter o£ pi que. "I'm the judge of tactics, and I know how to use them." said Mr Massey, in retort. He described Mr Taylor as "the must unpopular man this Parliament has ever seen," and he also contended that Mr Taylor had been absolutely unsuccessful in his political career. Feeling ran high about this stage, even to the extent of one hon. member remarking, ''l'm as good a man as the hon. member outside of the House or inside of the House " There was, however, an undercurrent „of humour, and when a member ucasionally expressed himself pugnaciously, the rest of the House laughed. The peculiar point about the "stonewall" proceedings at this juncture was that most of the members present were awnka. Soon after jaylight a motion to report progress was lost by 37 votes to 9. ■ THE IRREDUCIBLE MINIMUM. In reply to questions, the chairman. Mr Wiford, definitely ruled that it was quite within the Standing Orders to move reduction of the item £by £ until it was reduced to the irreducible minimum. Sir Joseph Ward moved that progress be reported for the purpose of takh.g the Speaker's ruling. Eventually the Speaker ruled that the opponents of the vote were quite in order in moving to reiiuce it £ by £, and the House went again into committee of supply to consider the Estimates.

PATHETIG APPEALS. As the hours passed the attendance of members became smaller. The sun tried hard to ojtain an entrance into the chamber, but thick green blinda proved an obstacle that was not easily overcome, and the legisators merely suffered from heat mixed with a large amount of proliscity. The House'presented almost a pathetic spectacle. Very few members were awakej '''*&. great many were absent. It was 7.15 in the rnorniug before a vote was taken on the proposal to reduce the item of £4OO by £393. The amendment was lost by' 33 votes to 9. Shortly after 7.30 Mr Wilford, in his capacity as Chairman of Committees, "came down" severely on a member on the ground of tedious repetition, and most of those who were present said "near hear."

The motion to reduce the vote by £393 was lost on the voices, and Mr Massey then moved to reduce the total by £392. At this stage Sir JJ. G. Ward made a few remarks, to the effect that the liability had been entered into, and had to be paid by a straight out vote, and not by way of '.'unauthorised.' He suggested that the chairman should leave the chair until 2.30. p.mi,-and that in the meantime the motion for reduction be withdrawn. This was agreed to, and the House adjourned until 2.30.

AN AGREEMENT ARRIVED AT.

When the House resumed at 2.30, Mr Massey asked if the Premier intended to make any statement. The Premier repeated his former statement that he would keep the position clear until 30th June next, when the House could decide the matter. Mr Massey asked if that meant that in the event of the House deciding against the position Mr Reeves would be given three months' notice. The Premier said six months' notice was'required. He would leave the whole position open for review by the House before 30th June next. Mr Massey: That is the first straightforward and unqualified statement we've had. This was denied by a number of Government supporters, who said it had been several times plainly stated during the debate. Mr Massey declared that not a single member on his side of the House had known that the item was to be re-introduced in the Supplementary Estimates. The Premier said it was well known to the majority of the House that this vote would be placed on the Supplementary Estimates. Mr Massey then moved that the item of £4OO be reduced by £1 as an indication that lhare will be no further commitmtnts until after 30th June next. The motion was lost by 38 votes to 27. The chairman then put the question

that the vote be agreed to, and the item passed on the voices. THE DOMINION CAPITAL. WHERE WILL IT BE? The committee then proceeded todeal with the rest of the Estimates. On the Public Buildings vote, Mr Herdman asked what were the Government's intentions in regard to the future housing of Parliament. Mr R. McKenzie, Minister for Public Works, said the question of the capital of thfi Dominion was not yet settled. It would be premature for him to state now what their future intentions were. Mr Herdman expressed disappointment at the Minister's answer, and said the House ought to be informed if the Government had formulated any scheme for erection of permanent Parliamentary Buildings. Mr McKenzie considered that the present accommodation would be good enough for ten years, with; certain necessary alterations, which he would have carried out, during the.. recess. LEGAL EXPENSES QUERIED. On the Miscellaneous Services vote, Mr Massey, referring to the. • item of £450 for the Solicitor-Gen-eral's expenses to London, ask©'} if this bad to do wLh the WeL. ier claims, and it Sir Joseph Ward c Jd inform the House h< w the cutter stood.

The Prime Minister paid he could not divulge what had been done in this connection. Mr Masaey hoped that at an earlystage of next session the 1 papers 'dealing with this claim would be laid before the House. THE PIAKO SWAMP. On the Land and Survey vote,) £20,371, Mr Poland raised the question of lands being opened on - the Hauraki Pluins (Piako Swamp)" 1 snd, contended that this should he cut up into areas not exeediug 100 acres each. The land was well fitted fop settlement in small areas. The Prime Minister promised Jhe would look into the matter but theareas would not exceed 300 acres. THE ESTIMATES PASSED. The Supplementary Estimates were passed before the House adjourned at (i o'clock.

THE END, On resuming at 7.30 o'clock the Appropriation Bill was introduced by* Governor's Message. On the second . reading Mr Allen asked for information re clauses 18 and 19, dealing with irrigation and supply, and empowering the raising of £IOO,OOO for promoting settlement in arid territory. The Premier, in reply, said clause 19 repeated part of the clause in the Appropriation Bill, and was intended to provide tor irrigation in places whera it is required. Clause 26 provided that the provisions of the Legislature Act, 1908, should not apply to payments to members of the House, wh'i sat on the Timbeif Commission. The House went into committee: on the Bill. Mr Herrips objected to clause 26,, which he heli to be a bad in that it granted power to the Ministry to remunerate members for services on i.ommissions, without limitation. It was a dangerous power to be vested in any Ministry. s Sir Joseph Ward said the- Timber Commission, wasone on which it was necessary to have members ut Parliament upon. The whole report was a good one. Mr Massey said he woulJ not oppose the clause, but any sucii clause inserted in any future Appropriation) Bill would be, resisted to tin upmost.

The Jtfil! was put throjg i all the" '' stages and pasaed. Mr Hogan gave no'ice of mot.'oni that on the next sitting' day he would move that the House disagree with the ruling of the Speaker iu regard to the metho.l »djp-:edl' in connection with the £4OO vote on the Supplementary Estimates. This concluded the business of the.' House. Sir Joseph Ward made the usual felicitous speech on the Joeing of toesession. i Mr Massey endorsed the rea)ark& of the Premier. The Speaker returned t'mnk'i forr the congratulations of the H.ius •, and said he believed this whs the first; time he had not the pleasure of wishing members "A Merry Christmas? 1 "' at the close of the session. Mr Wilford, Chairman of Committees, also returned thanks. The following is the division liefe on Mr Massey's amendment to re™ duca the £4OO vote by £l:—Aye<i27.)i .{: Allen, Anderson, Buchanan, Clark Dive, J. Duncan, Fraser, Guthrie." Hardy, Heraman, Hemes, Lang-. Luke, McLaren, Malcolm, Mander, Massey, Newman, Nosworthy, Oki-J. Pearce, Phillips, Poile, Scott, G. M. Thomsoii, Wright, Noes (38): Arnold, Brown, Budlo; Buxton, Carroll, Craigie, Dillon, T„ Duncan, Ell, Field, Forbes, Fowlr'k' Graham, Greenslade, Hall, Hanar',' Hogan, Jennings, Lawry, son, McDonald, R. McKenzie, T. McKenzie, Millar, Ngata, Pa rat:-! Poland, Reed, Ross, Seddon, Sitfoy! Smith, Stallworthy. Steward, G fj' Taylor, T. E. Taylor, J, u. eon, Ward. Pairs :-~A,yes: Bollard Fisher. Baick. Noes: Calvin, Js, Raneituroa, Russell. ■■ i ' In the Legils*tive Council theiAjs propriatbn Bill was passed throupt alj its B*asrev. and' tje Gtounciii finally adjo.r...d.

256 eggs each. Fadman's strain purchased this season from Mrs James, Junr., Coromandel, who paid a big price for the winning pen. We noticed some fine types of young Indian Runner Ducks and Buff Orpingtons. One half of the Runners tvc re from Mr S. H. Scott, Onehungs, world's record 320 egg duck and her progeny. Here again Mr Jarrett believes in procuring absolutely the best to be obtained. Incidentally he paid a high compliment to Mr Scott, •whom he says can be absolutely relied upon in a duck or egg deal, his guarantee being a solid one. Mr Jarrett secured seven sittings this year from Mr Scott, so speaks from experience. It is pleasing to hear our advertisers spoken of in this manner. The other half of thd Runners are from progeny of Mr W. Knight's Greymouth competition winners, eggs obtaii ed from Mr S. S. Steele, Kim- j boiton. From these two grand strains his stock will have to be reckoned with this coming season. The Buff Orpington Ducks are also from Mr S. H. Scott's best layers. We noticed about a half-acre under crop in subdivisions of lucerne, clover, thousand headed kale, mangolds, and swede turnips, also rows of white beet a«d Jjttucc. All being grown for green feed. Everything throughout the yards and adjuncts has been fitted up with labour saving appliances. Grit mill, clover cutter, «tc, not the least useful is a small oil engine capable of crushing sufficient wheat, maize, etc., in an hour for a full supply for a week ahead. "Visitors continuously call to see this model little egg farm. Mr Jarrett, who is a very busy man otherwise Enraged, relies sokly upon the guiding hand of his wife and family for the rearing and care of the Chickens and poultry. While be attends to the correspondence and falection of iJtocJk, etc. Mr Jarrett will score heavily in the near future, numerous letters from would-be customers whom he could not supply stock to this season, havi.ig sold out early his limited Stock, he refused to supply stock not fully tested to his satisfaction. He remarked that stock good enough to sell should be good enough to breed from myself, if not, I keep one season for laying and then the happy despatch.