THE SESSION

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 163, 12 July 1899, Page 2

THE SESSION

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

PRESENTING THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

(By Telegraph —Parliamentary Reporter.)

WELLINGTON, this day. The usual ceremony of presenting the address-in-reply to the Governor by the mover and seconder occupied some little time in the House yesterday, after which questions on the order paper were dealt with. FAIR RENT BILL. In reply to Mr R. Mackenzie, the Acting Minister of Lands said he hoped this session to pass a fair rent bill. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY. Mr Guinness asked a series of questions as to the construction of the Midland railway on the Jackson-Otira section, alleging that largo sums of money are being wasted therein, work on a watercourse, and which is destroyed, and has to be frequently renewed. Mr Hall-Jones replied that the questions might prejudice the case now aubjucllce between the Government a,nd the Midland Railway Company. He believed the offleer-in-chrvrge of the work was efficiently performing his duties and charges hitherto preferred against the official overseers had so far been disproved. MAORI OLD AGE PENSIONS. In reply to the Hon. Major Steward the Hon. Mr J. Carroll said it was Intended to appoint licensed interpreters to -visit the Maori districts in order to take the applications of aboriginal natives who are entitled to old age pensions. WORKMEN'S HOMES. In asking a question on this subject, Mr Bollard said that on th© last occasion when it was before the House, the Minister of Lands said he could not obtain the land except at an exorbitant price. Since then, however, he (Mr Bollard) had received an offer of 1000 acres of suitable land, and had conamtinlcated the fact to Mr McKerrow, Government Land Purchase Commissioner, and he now wished to know whether the Government would, purchase the land in question as the offer would soon lapse. , ; The Minister of Lands said the land in question had been reported upon by th© Land Purchase Commissioner, but no selection had taken place, and the Land Purchase Board had made no recommendation. THE MATAMATA ESTATE. Mr Herries asked the Acting Minister of Lands whether the Government intend to take steps to purchase the Waharoa portion of the Matamata Estate from the Assets Realisation Board. The Acting Minister of Lands said that some time ago an offer was made to purchase the estate, but the offer -was declined, th© Land Purchase Officer not seeing any necessity for the purchase until more information was received. DAIR.Y SCHOOL IN NORTH ISLAND. In r^ply to Mr Brown, the Minister for Agriculture said the question of establishing* a Dairy School for the North Island, was not yet settled, being a matter for the consideration of the experts, but he hoped a decision would shortly be come to. THE PROPOSED BALNEOLOGIST. Mr Herries asked whether the Gov« eminent had taken any further steps with regard to the appointment of a Balneologist for the Hot Springs district? The Acting Minister for Lands reeied that he did not think any furer steps had been taken in the matter, but the Agent-General was still looking- for a suitable man. REDUCTION OF CROWN LAND VALUE. ' Mr O'Meara asked the Government if it intends to amend the Land Act to empower Land Boards to deal with questions respecting the reduction of Crown lands values on lands already occupied by Crown tenants without the necessity of tenants surrendering their holdings as at present provided. The Acting Minister of Lands said lj« thought the true solution was a y«ir Rent Bill. COST OF COMMISSIONS. In reply to question the Acting Minister of Lands said he hoped to bring down on Wednesday the return relative to the cost of commissions during 21 years. FOOTPATH TO PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS. The preparations of the new Parliamentary Buildings for the accommodation of members were so close to the date fixed far the formal opening that there wag no time to make a de* gent footpath from Moleaworth-atreet. A. quantity of soft gravel was laid, into whicn members in the present ■wretched weather sink nearly to the smiles. Amongst others who are seriously conoerned about this is Mr Crowther, who to-day asked the Government to make an asphalt or ft flagged footway, but Mr Hall-Jones thought the work would be more effectively carried out if it was postponed until the recess. 7 IMPORTED LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. In reply to Mr Taylor as to whether the locomotive, engines imported from America during the past year have proved as capable as engines of English or local manufacture, the Minister for Railways said if the Government decided to manufacture all the locomotives required in the colony it would involve an outlay of half a million of money in enlarging the plant of the railway workshops, These ahopß had been so busily engaged that it was absolutely neces. isard to import engines, THE HANSARD REPORTING. Mr Carson, revived a proposal which he made to the House on a former occasion, which was to accommodate the Hansard reporters with seats on the floor of the House, where they would be in a much better position to hear distinctly, As it is many members axe almost inaudible to the reporters, not only of Hansard, but the press. Some allowance must of course be made for the bad acoustic properties of the chamber, but in addition to that the speakers, including two occupants of the Ministerial Benches, arc great sinners in this respect. However, the Government promise to bring the question before the Reporting1 Debates Committee, so that there is some hope of improvement. MND IN NOKTH ISLAND. In reply to Mr Massey the House

was informed that a return shall ■shortly be laid on the table showing the number of acres of land purchased out of the North Island Trunk Kailway Loan, the present approximate value of such land, and the accounts to show such moneys have , been paid. STRATFORD AND AWAKINO ROUTES. Mr Holland asked the Minister for Public Works what progress has been made by the experts who are examining- the Stratford and Awakino routes, and when the report is likely to be placed before the House. The Minister replied that pood progress had been made, and he hoped to have the report soon ready. WELLINGTON-LYTTELTON STEAM SERVICES. In reply to Mr Taylor the Minister of Marine said as the Government had indirectly learned that the Union Steamship Co. was introducing improvements in the coastal service it had been deemed prudent for the Government to await this change beforp taking steps to improve the Wel-lington-lyttelton steam service, as recommended by a Committee which sat last year. AUCKLAND AND TARANAKI ROAD. Mr Lang asked the Acting- Minister of Lands if he will place a sufficient sum ou the estimates to make the road between Auckland and Taranaki via Awakino suitable for wheel traffic. He said the House was led to believe last session that the work would be completed -within a few months, but so far as he could learn nothing had been done. A portion of the road was quite unfit-for traffic, though there was nothing- now to prevent the Government making it suitable for coach traffic during- the summer season. the Minister of Lands. in the course- of bis reply, said a coach and four had ■already been driven over the line, and a large amount ofexpenditure on the work was still going on, and would be continued. THE TUAKAU BRIDGE. In reply to Mr Lang, who asked the Acting Minister of Lands to place a sum on the estimates for the completion of the'bridge over the Waikato at Tuakau, Mr Hall-Jones said such works must be dealt with as a whole, and a proposed bridge must be considered in conjunction with other similar matters and the amount of money available. PUKEKOHE GOODS SHED. Mr Mnssey asked the Minister for Railways whether he will this session make provision to enlarge the Pukekohe goods shed, and give the necessary facilities to deal with the rapidly increasing business at that station.

The Minister said that he understood that a great deal of the inconvenience occurred through goods being left too long in the shed. However, the matter would be looked into. POST OFFICE AT PONSONBY. In reply to Mr Holland the Minister for Public Works said provision would be made in the next estimates for the erection of a post office at Ponsonby. EXPERIMENTAL FARM NEAR AUCKLAND. Mr Bollard asked the Acting Minister for Lands what steps he intended to take with regard to the establishment of an experimental farm in the vicinity of the city of Auckland. The Minister said the Government had no intention of the kind at present. AFTERNOON BUSINESS. The business of the afternoon, as will be seen from the above, mainly consisted of questions, which are designed for electioneering purposes. LAND FOR SETTLEMENT ACT AMENDMENT BILL. At half-past Beven the House proceeded to the orders of the day and the Premier moved the second reading of the above Bill, an epitome of which has already appeared in the "Star." The Premier fully explained the-prin-ciples of the measure, pointing out that the new provisions were few and in no way destructive of. the principal Act. Captain Russell complained that the Bill had not been circulated at an earlier date in order that ban. members might study its provisions. He challenged the statement of the Premier that the Bill contained any important'changes. Mr Mills (Marlborough) strongly supported the Bill, pointing out that in several of the large cities, of the colony the population is so congested that half a dozen families were crowded together under one roof. Mr Wason (Selwyn) contended that the Bill would not improve the housing of the population in the cities, and. he sug-gested that instead of the Government acquiring lands and parcelling them out to workmen the State should itself erect dwellings and let them to tenants belonging to the working classes in the towns.

Mr Bollard, whilst approving of. the State finding homes for working men, thought there, was n.O necessity for the Bill under discussion, because he was awara that an ample area of suitable land could be got within five miles of the large cities without the need for any special legislation on the subject. If syndicates could buy land and make large profits by cutting it up it tended to show that there was no necessity for the Bill. As he understood the measure the object was to provide homes for working men in the suburbs of the city. The hon. member for Eden proceeded to give a detailed description of his own proposals for the establishment of working men's homes. The Government had stated that no land suitable for the purpose proposed could be got at less than £10 per acre, but he had been offered a block of 1000 acres at £7, having the advantage of being near a railway station. It was proposed that each working man should be provided with five acres of land and a house value £100 by the State, with interest at 8 per cent., of which 1 per cent, should form a sinking fund. Each family should also be furnished with a railway ticket at £5 per annum, payable quarterly. The total cost of all these advantages he bad calculated at 6/3 per week.

Mr Hogg (Masterton), who was in a humorous vein, declared that he had been informed that the land at Waikumete, near Auckland, would not feed one mosquito to the acre, and if a man endeavoured to cultivate grass he would only produce mushrooms of a- poisonous character.

After the supper adjournment the debate on the motion for the second reading of the Land for Settlement Act Amendment Bill was continued by Mr Tanner (Avon), who said that in the matter of acquiring land for workmen's homes Auckland and Chrißtohurch required separate treatment. He strongly advocated a State

system of establishing these homes. He quoted figures showing that out of the totai expenditure on land for - settlement £ 780.00Q was spent in ; county districts as compared with £20,000 in the towns. Mr Gilfedder in supporting the second reading1 of the Bill advocated periodical re-valuation on the unimi proved value of land acquired under the Land for Settlement Act and purchase of estates by direct authority of Parliament as in the case of the Cheviot estate. He thought too much power was entrusted to the Land Purchase Boards. Mr Fisher strongly condemned the jerry buildings which are a disgrace to the city of Wellington and to humanity, and he expressed approval of the purchase nnd improvement of these properties by the State. Referring- to the fact that among The unemployed of Wellington aro many persons who are attracted by its prosperity, he said members of Parliament are persistently importuned to find work which they are xmable to •provide. | Mr It Thompson was of opinion that, the Government possessed ample | power to purchase lands, for settleiment, the only limit being that of money. He called attention to clause 5 of the BUI providing that land should be purchased at a fair market value, but who was to fix the valuation? If the owner was not satisfied with the valuation he would have to fight the Government in the. Court, • with the certainty that the preponderance of evidence would be against him. He (Mr Thompson) did not believe there wns so much false, swearing as before the Land Boards, As to the proposed five acres for workmen's ; homos he regarded the area as too small, (The Premier: In boroughs?) Ho thought matters were proceeding successfully under the existing Act, though he was not satisfied with the progress of land settlement in the North Islarrd, where large areas acquired by the Government were lying idle. Tt would, in his opinion, be far preferable to the proposals in the Bill to settle people on large areas instead of compelling men on small areas, where they would live a miserable hand to mouth existence. He deprecated any attempt to force the Amendment Bill before tho House until a fair trial had been made o£ the working of the original Act. The debate was adjourned on the motion of Mr Sligo. and the House rose at 12.30 p.m.