AN AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 156, 4 July 1890, Page 2

AN AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT.

COMPENSATION FOR IMPROVEMENTS. ; I ; '■•■' M STARTLING DISCLOSURES. THREE MILLIONS OWING. , j * A panic was caused in bhe Soutii Australian - Assembly lasb week by the Commissions? , for. Crown Lands; Mr Howe, informing the J : House thab the contingent liabilities-in con- s'" nection with payment for squatters' imv provenients under the Act of 1884, would be hearly £~000,000. It Was only by acci- ; dent that he made the discovery. "Be bad '•; 1 occasion to interview the Surveyor-General, \q . who gave him this intelligence, ■ which f [ astonished and startled -. him as much as ib •, '■ could any hon. member of the Up ' till now he'had shared the general opi-ion •% that the outstanding liabilities for pom- fj f 1 pensation for -improvements could'nob j. ' amounb bo more than £100,000. .Members U 1 were absolutely struck dumb by this sbate- « • ment, until one or two rose and ~aid they 1 hoped bhere Was soirie misbake wibh regard to these liabilities,' Which, if real, dwarfed the existing deficib of £1;000,0,00. s ?« 1 Mr Playford, the leader of the Opposition, , ? 1 said he brdsbed and believed bhat there was '. some misbake, as he could nob believe thao«M the squatters had recently, expended ba- > tween £2,000,000 and £3,000,000 on 1 manenb improvemenbs. Mr Howe, in reply.'M said the figures had been carefully .preparedOg ' by bhe Surveyor-General. He all6wed thawg ; matberswere very serious,andhefioiißidered;« 1 that means should be taken t6 abrogate jp. e . JH 1 law of 1884, under which compensabidfr«f|| claimed, even if an especially lonjj*«|| tenure bad to be granted to the ■exchange, (Cheers.) Ib would be neQessojtfal bo place an additional £250,000 on the nextiM loan in order to meeb immediabe demßudfl||l| for compensation. (Sensation.) \ J!