WEDNESDAY, JULY 2.

Clutha Leader, Volume XVII, Issue 834, 11 July 1890, Page 3

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2.

,;In the. House of Representatives-— ... i After the division on. the no-confiU-=ence debate-*-Mr Fish continued the financial 'debate.,...He said.there was nothing in the Financial Statement in the shape ..of. policy-^-nothing to j ustify it as a statesmanlike production to be placed ■before the country. There was no ■doubt whatever that much larger retrenchment could be effected, and. instead of reductions being'made several appointments - had been 'tnade. They were told that both the Public Works and Native departments be abolished, but both were "being increased. They were also to be asked to vote L 20,000 for the Defence ••de'partnient; but everybody'knew that /more, had. been spent on defence works til ready than the Colony could afford. 'As to the land policy of Government' he had the highest respect for, .Hon. Mr Richardson in his land administration, kiit 1 when he heard the serious 1 charges asjainst the,Lands,department, made by Hon. Mr Ballance, and Messrs M'Kenzie (Waihemo), and Reeves (St. Allans) he was forced to the-conclusion that there was something wrong with that administration. As to the property 1 fax, he had last session voted with the Government against his convictions to save a defeat. He did not expect the present Government would bring about any alteration in the matter'of taiatibn. He advocated the claims of the Otago Central railway •extension and North Island Trunk railway, and said the people of those districts would not rest till those lines were pushed forward with greater •speed. He regretted he could not •continue-to support the Government under the circumstances, but he trusted lie; would" hb, able to set the matter right with his constituents. Mr Peacock said it was refreshing to hear Mr Ballance speak about retrenchment in view of the attitude of the Government "of which he was a member on the same subject. The present Government had effected retrenchment, to the extent of L 290,000 and had promised retrenchment to the extent of L 300,000. Mr Ballance by his own showing would not do away with the property tax, but would retain it, exempting improvements, which.meant in most cases relieving the mortgagee. As to the surplus shown by the treasurer, he failed to see why Mr Ballance should endeavor to discredit the existence of a surplus. Tbe fact of the Treasurer being able to pay oft some of the liabilities of the Colony was a result that he should gain credit for, and it should undoubtedly be regarded asa surplus. He thought the finances of the Colony had been shown in a~ masterly way by the Colonial Treasurer, and he felt that the Statement would be largely read by people outside the Colony. His opinion was that the amendment proposed by Mr Ballance was purely an election cry, and he was strongly opposed to a premature dissolution. Mr Bryce said Mr Ballance's amendment had placed him in a position of considerable difficulty. He had intended, and still intended, to criticise the financial policy of the Government, but he thought it his duty to oppose any want of confidence motion brought forward by Mr Ballance and supported by his party, let the consequences be what they might. Mr Ballance made a good deal of the fact that the, Premier was outside the' House, but he omitted to state that there was a leader of the Opposition also outside the House ; and he (Mr Bryce) thought the amendment had been drafted by that leader. As to the Financial Statement, although he agreed that it was so complete and excellent that he would ask Mr Reeves to read it and he would he able to gather the condition of the Colony from it; still he wag not satisfied to look at the policy and condition, of the country in the light that it was set forth in the Financial Statement. He thought, however, that the present Government had gone further in the direction in which he (Mr Bryce) would like them to go than any Government which had preceeded them, and that was saying a great deal. One thing in the Statement .was tolerably dear —that was i that our command of borrowed money i had passed away for ever, and if they were passing away from that condition they were approaching a very critical and important phrase in the Colony's history. It was stated ,in the Financial Statement that the Government did not intend to borrow [for the purpose of opening'up Crown lands, but he (Mr Bryce).thought if borrowing was at all justifiable, it was for that yery purpose. There {was to be no borrowing, so far as \ words went, but the policy of the. country was one leading them straight oil to another loan, or worse, and in j that point of view it seemed to him highly unsatisfactory, as they were going to borrow in an indirect way, which would be much more objectionable from his point of view. He was as mucli against borrowing as any man ; but if he had to take his. choice between de-. ficienc'y ■ bills' and a direct loan, he would accept the,loan. If the public, insisted upon expenditure and not upon retrenchnienfc, let the position be put fairly before them,, so. that'they could face,the consequences. He again wished to say that, notwithstanding his comments,' the,present Government had

gone "further in. '.the direction, of good .finance ,tha"n any Government for many years past. Mr Hutchison pointed out that, despite all boasting':about retrenchment, there were no less than 113 extra' officials in Government departments for the last 12 months. As far as; he understood the; attitude .of the ! Opposition, they intended to resist any increase or continuance of taxation or any increase in expenditure. Mr Bryce had been cheered by the absence of borrowing proposals from the Stateme.ntj- .but a reference to the tables attached to the Statement .would convince anybody that engagements were to be met in London next year which would 1 necessitate borrowing. Next year a balance of L 1.,203,000 against J loans had to be met, and tli3 following i year a sum of L4,000j000 odd, in all; over L 5,000,000,,000,000, and yet they were to. have no more borrowing. These, with; ! the amounts thrown by the Colony tdj the New Plymouth Harbor Board and! other charges, would necessitate borrow-; ing in the London market within two! years no less than eight millions of money... He .ventured to. assert that the present Ministry, although they had a majority in the House, had not a majority outside it, and that they would be condemned at the hustings for their illegal actions and administration. Hon. T. Fergus said that even allowing for Mr Ballance's figures, there was a surplus left in the Treasury of L 33,000, which represented a real surplus. Mr Ballance had condenmed the proposal to devote the primage duty to school buildings, but the requirements of the education boards in this direction made it absolutely necessary that some provision should be made for school buildings in the various school districts of the Colony. He defended the action of the Government in reference to the advance to the New Plymouth Harbor Board. Then the Government were blamed by Mr Ballance for using the money borrowed for the North Island Trunk railway, but the Government of which Mr Baliance was a member were the first to interfere with that loan for buying land and opening up the Wanganui River. He had also twitted the Government about the small quantity of land purchased by the Government, and the large quantity obtained by the late Government, but a very sore feeling was left in the minds of the Natives by the manner in which their lands had been taken from them. As to the complaint that the Government had appointed too many land court judges, he (Mr Fergus) wished to say that there was sufficient work already in hand to occupy the judges for several years to come. The Government were also blamed for not abolishing the Public Works Department, but he had previously pointed out that as long as there was money to be expended it was impossible to do away with that department, and it had to be done gradually. The outlay on defence was already much reduced below the amount spent by the last Government. As to property tax exemptions, he challenged Mr Ballance to bring down a proposal for a tax on the unimproved value of the land and see what the result would Vie. Either the public must agree to forego their necessities in the way of postal and railway conveniences and school buildings, or they must be prepared to see next year's Estimates considerably increased. It was for providing for these necessities that the Government asked that the House should allow them the primage duty for another year or two. Mr Hutchison's speech contained personalities beneath the notice of the Government, aud he declined to go into the details of the charges made by that gentleman unless at the call of the leader of the Opposition. Major Steward spokn at length in reply to Mr Fergus' speech. He considered the question of, a real or. imaginary surplus was a mere bagatelle compared with the settlement of the waste lands of the Crown. . At midnight Mr Rhodes moved the adjournment of the debate, which was agreed to.