PARLIAMENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2674, 2 December 1909, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

[Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON, Dec. 1. In the Legislative Council this atternoon the Wanganui Roman Catholic Lands Bill was read a third time and P! The Standing Orders were suspended for the rest of the session to enable local Bills to be passed all stages at one sitting. , . „ The Hon. H. F. Wigram moved for a return showing details of all revenue from passenger and goods traffic, rent of sidings and all other sources on the Auckland'- Onehunga, ChristchurcliLyttelton, Dunedm-Port Chalmeis, and Invercargill-Bluff railways, and. details of the expenditure thereon. The Attorney-General opposed the motion on the ground of the great expense. It would involve the scrutiny of millions of waybills. The motion was rejected. The following local Bills were putthrough all stages: Ellesmere Domain Board Empowering, Borough of South Dunedin Empowering Amendment, Waimoiri County, and Auckand and Suburban Drainage Amendment. HOSPITALS AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS BILL. The Attorney-General moved the second reading of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Bill, received from the House of Representatives, explaining at length its provisions. The Hon. J. E. Jenkinson welcomed the Bill, but indicated that he considered it necessary to effect a number of amendments; which should be introduced in committee. The debate was adjourned till 7.dU p.m. and the Council rose. In the Legislative Council at the evening sitting the debate on the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Bdl was resumed by the Hon. J. E. son, who dealt largely with the. training -and hours of nurses. He said that the system of training shou.d be practical and the hours of nurses, especially probationers, should be reduced. The Hon. 0. Samuel expressed approval of tho aim of bringing hospitals and charitable institutions under one control. The Government had acted wisely in framing the Bill in that directio'n. He did not approve of the proposed provision for the election or boards, and thought that -representatives on hospital and charitable aid boards should be elected as at present bv local bodies. Mr. Samuel proceeded to set out a number of committee objections to the provisions of the Bill. The Hon. 0. M. Luke considered that the Bill did not contain any proposal for more equitable representation than was provided under the existing laws. Women whose assistance would be very valuable would probably not be willing to contest’ an election, as would be necessary if the new proposals were adopted. He contended that the proposed regulation of the hours of nurses (56 a week) would be most unsatisfactory in some hospitals. It was impossible for a nurse to leave a patient on the ringing of a hell. A cast-iron rule was impossible in the matter of nurses hours. ... ’The Hon. J. Anstey adversely criticised the provisions for the election or representatives to hoards, and said that there was a departure from the true principles of representation in them. The system of election proposed would not result in the return of the best men. Some of the provisions were really absurd. The weaknesses of the Bill were in the centralisation’ it provided for, and that it loft the subsidy entirely at the sweet will of the Mimster. which precluded assured finance. The Hon. W. Beehan gave a general approval to the Bill, hut said that the clause relating to. friendly societies would! have to be amended. - The Hon. W. E. Collins heartily approved the principle of the Bill in the matter of hospitals, and said that it was’ unreasonable to' suppose that the hours of nurses could be rigidly fixed, though they could b e regulated in large institutions. ■ . , The Kon. G. Jones approved of the clause restricting the hours of nurses work to 58 j holding that an 8-honr day was long enough. „ The Hon. J. Marshall generally approved of the Bill. The Hon. J. T. Paul approved of the principle of the Bill. The Horn R. A. Loughnan generally approved of the Bill, but said that it was so important that reference to a Select Committee was essential. (Left Sitting.)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SHIPPING AND SEAMEN’S BILL

After midnight on Tuesday progress was reported, on the Shipping and Seamen Act Amendment Bill, and. the - House rose at 12.35 a.m. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. At the afternoon sitting to-day, replying to questions, Ministers stated: That the necessary apparatus for giving an efficient and permanent light at Jackson’s Head, Cook Strait, has been procured, and will be erected on the beacon as soon as the strong winds prevaling at the present time are over. That the Minister of Railways lias power under the Act to review decisions of the Railway Appeal Board, „and exercise the right of veto in & case where the circumstances warrant it, and cannot see his way to adopt the suggestion that before exercising his veto he should notify the party interested, and give him the right or appearing; before the Minister to state reasons for or against the veto. ' That no instructions havo been given for a reduction of the wages of cooperative workmen employed on the State coal railway extension, or elsewhere. _ . That there would be no legislation prohibiting: the salo of, chaff or seed infected with noxious weeds’ seed, but. that, next session it is proposed to deal with the purity and' quality of seeds bought or sold. WATER POWER ON GOLDFIELDS.. The Mines Committee, reporting on various petitions regarding charge of rent for the utilisation of water power, recommended that the request that power to grant liconses be vested in the Warden lie referred to the Government for consideration.

Mr. Taylor urged that jf water power were disposed of by lease, the Government should reserve the right of resumption. Ho strongly urged the Minister to remain firm in his attitude. Mr. Massey moved, as an amendment, “That the water power conditions under the Public Works Amendment Act, 1908, gazetted on June 4tli, 1909, be referred to tho Goldfields Committee for consideration, with a view to amendment.” He had no objection to the State’s rights being protected in connection with the water power of tho Dominion, lhe matter was one, not merely of local, but of great colonial importance. ' The Hon. R. McKenzie, replying to Mr. Massey, said that at the present time the charge per annum for one horse-power was 3s. Formerly it had been £l. A syndicate applying for water-power rights on the West Coast had taken up 800 acres of land which they were holding. The Land Acts should be amended so as to prevent speculators holding land without using it. He was not prepared to sacrifice the most valuable asset in the country, an asset which, he believed, would ultimately he more valuable than the railways, to a syndicate of London capitaL ists. , . , Mr. Massey’s amendment was lost }, y 43 to 22, and it was resolved that the report of the Mines Committee be laid on the table. The House then rose. SHIPPING AND SEAMEN’S BILL. At the evening sitting the Shipping and Seamen Act Amendment Bill was further considered in committee. On the motion of the Hon. J. A. Millar, a new sub-clause, 6, was added to clause 42, making the term “owner include a charterer to whom a ship is demised, also to delete the last two lines of clause 45, which provided that in assessing horse-power, account should be taken of the power of auxiliary engines which was developed by steam taken from the main boilers. Clause 49 was amended by substituting 20 tons for 15 in the provisions for the regulation of ships built in New Zealand.

A division was taken on tlie motion that clause 49 be passed, several members objecting to it as unnecessary, resulting in its retention by 42 votes. Clause 50 was amended so as to make the clause applicable to intercolonial and foreign-going ships in regard, to the shipment of wool, flax, tow, skins, or other combustible goods, also to provide £2OO as the fine for breach of the regulations in place of £SO. (Left Sitting.)/