PARLIAMENT.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 9, 4 August 1911, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. WELLINGTON, August 1. The Council met at 7.30 p.m. Hon. J. McGowan made a persona explanation as to his position of acting leader of the Council. He had, he said been asked by the Prime Minister anc the acting-Prime Minister to cany ou the duties of Sir John Findlay during the latter's absense as well as he could He had accepted the position, feelinj it to be an honor, and was perfectly satisfied that he would get every assist ance from the Council. (Hear, hear.) Hon. J. Jenkinson considered thai Mr McGowan's experience in the othei Chamber warranted his being so placed and he congratulated the lion, gentleman on his appointment as leader. Hon. J. Rigg said that the Standing Orders made it clear that a message from the Governor could be presented only by a Minister of the Crowr. or some person duly appointed by the Minister. The explanation given by Mr McGowan was necessary; but it was not yet clear to him that a more formal communication should not have been received. Mr McGowan said that no more formal communication was necessary than had been made. Hon. J. It. Sinclair moved the Ad-dress-in-Iteply to the Governor's speech. He dealt exclusively witli Imperial questions, upon which he spoke for an hour and twenty minutes. He, laid down as an axiom that Imperial unity must necessarily and absolutely be preceded by preferential fiscal treatment within the Empire. He complained that, although three previous Conferences had passed resolutions in favor of preferential treatment within the Empire, the question had been entirely ignored at the recent Conference for the reason that the Mother Country was not in a position to put it into effect. He commended Sir Joseph Ward's views, but said that the day of their consummation was not yet. It was not necessary that the Imperial Council should be composed of premiers; but men of wise knowledge and sound judgment on colonial affairs should be appointed, and their opinions would be equivalent to the verdict of an inter-Imperial jury upon Imperial questions. Hon S. T. George seconded the motion. He remarked that any debate on the Governor's speech was a pure waste of time. He missed one thing in the speech, and that was the enunciation of a bold, forward policy. He would liked to have seen a bold policy brought down for completing the Main Trunk railway system. It was going on now; but going on very slowly. He thought it would be wise to raise a loan to complete these lines at the earliest possible moment. An Hon. Member: Twenty millions. Mr George said that even if it cost that it would not matter. They would all pay. He would have them all constructed at once. Increased popula- ' tion was also necessary. He pointed to the importance of the fullest consideration which might have the effect of restricting the introduction of capital. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2. In the Council the debate on the Ad-dress-in-lteply was continued by Hon. W. W. McCardle, who urged amendment of the Land Settlement Finance Act in the direction of bringing the provisions more within the scope of poorer men. He pointed out the necessity of some measure to prevent aggregation of land. The only way to secure this end was to amend the Land Transfer Act so as to limit the amount of land that any man might hold in fee simple. Regarding Hon. S. George's suggestion as to borrowing to immediately complete trunk railways he considered the scheme too huge for a country the size of New Zealand. Hon. J. Rigg said he wished to direct attention to a matter which appeared to him to infringe the rights and privileges of the Legislative Council. He referred to the invitations sent to members of the Legislature to attend the Coronation. Members of the Council appeared to have been overlooked, a circumstance which, to his mind, constituted a grave discourtesy to them. Referring to Imperial matters he said he saw great difficulties in the formation of an Imperial Council. Such a Council would be valueless in advising on the matter of war. There would be no time for such consideration, as the nations struck first, and that was their declaration of war. It was impossible, therefore, for the Council to consider such a matter. He failed to understand why some well-meaning people opposed military training. They did not appear to realise what would happen in the event of war. He felt sure that some day the young men who were now being trained would have to fight for their liberties in New Zealand. Referring to Mr George's speech in reference to the completion of trunk railways, he eaid it was one which would commend itself to any business man with capital. The debate was adjourned and the Council rose. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. \ TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. The House met as 7.30 p.m. ■ Hon J. Carroll (acting-Prime Min- ' ister) gave notice to ask the Speaker L at next' sitting day to issue a writ for Christchureh North by-election. [' SEEDS CONTROL. t The Seeds Control Bill was read a 3 first time. ; ADDRESS-IN-REPLY. i- Mr Jennings (Taumarunni) moved !, the Address-in-Reply. He wished, he 'i said, to refer to the honor conferred on 1 the Speaker, Sir A. R. Guinness who, B by unfailing courtesy, had won the ade miration of everyone in the House. '" With regard to his Excellency's speech, e the last paragraph but one claimed most of his attention. That paragraph " expressed a desire that the session should be a short one so as to allow the general election to be proceeded with. He did not like to see Parliament made a matter of perpetual motion. With regard to military-training, is there was a want in New Zealand boys of the present day of discipline. He stated tUt tto young men of tfc

future would be proud to belong to ; New Zealand Territorials. In connection with the settlement of lands in the Dominion, an astonishing amount of settlement 'had taken place in Taumarnnui district, and lie claimed that it was a standing credit to the land settlement policy of the Liberal party. In Taranaki Maori land district 40,000 acres had been held back for climatic and other purposes; 95,000 were being surveyed and would be opened for selection in September. There were only 825,000 acres of Maori lands left in Taranaki. In regard to the operation of the Maori Land Board, 31,000 acres in Taumafunui Maori land district were to be opened on the 14th prox. One of the great dangers to be grappled with in the future was the limitation of area of land. Mr Witty (Riccarton) in reply, said he wished to congratulate the Speaker, Sir A. It. Guinness, upon receiving the honor of knighthool. He also wished to. congratulate Sir James Carroll, his honoring being more significant, inasmuch as it was an honor conferred on the Maori race as well as on the Acting-Prime Minister. The Local Government Bill was, he said, badly needed and would be needed for a long time to come. ' With regard to the prospects of the farming community he mentioned the fact that grub in the South had made such ravages that feed would be scarce and stock would be dying in thousands later in the season. He was not wholly in favor of the Compulsory Training Act passed last session. He was more inclined to encourage the training of cadets in school. He wished to congratulate the Prime Minister on the work he had done in the Old Country. There were a number of people who were continually telling the country that the Dominion was not prosperous. This was not loyalty to the country. The increase in New Zealand for the year was 125,000, which compared very favorably with that of the two largest States in Australia. The public debt, he admitted, had increased to a great extent during the past 20 years; but the question was not how much was borrowed but what was done with the borrowed money. Forty-two million of debt had been spent on reproductive works. Mr Massey (Leader of the Opposition) said that he wished to congratulate the Speaker on the honor received from the King. So far as the speech from the throne was concerned he did not propose to discuss it at any length because it was not worthy of discussion. The present state of aifairs in New Zealand and the cost of living did not say a great deal for the administration of the past 20 years. The member for Taumarunui was hopelessly wrong when he quoted figures regarding land. There were only 16,762,000 acres of freehold land in New Zealand. He controverted Mr Witty's statement that only one of Air Hine's charges had been proved. Several charges had been proved. With regard to valuations he had complaints from all over New Zealand. The difficulty in connection with valuation was chat the higher a farmer improved his :and the more he was taxed. He would like to suggest that the more land was improved the less the owner should be taxed. A lot of people were leaving the country because they could not get land. During the recess he had travelled from one end of New Zealand to the other and he could say that there was enough Crown and native land in New Zealand to keep the present population going for ten years. Despite the Acting-Prime Minister's statement of the amount of land opened for closer settlement people were leaving the country because they were unable to get land. Regarding the Mokau transaction he was going to have an inquiry. The Order-in-Council lor the land to be sold at 10s an acre was contrary to the limitation clause in the Native Land Act. The land should have been acquired by the Crown and settled in the nclinary way. He complained that nothing was known as to what was being done by the Electoral Boundaries Commission, and he wanted to know the date of the general election. He considered amendment was urgently needed in the law providing for complete independence of the judicial bench. He advocated compulsory insurance against sickness and non-employment, and said that the heads of friendly societies mould be consulted by the Government in the matter. Mr Massey concluded ly unreservedly withdrawing the statement made by him in the heat of debate ! ast session which referred to the late dr T, E. Taylor. The withdrawal was eccived with applause. Hon. G. Fowlds (Minister for Education), who followed, said he was pleased it the withdrawal. He, too, congratulated the Speaker on the honor conferred on him. Referring to land matters he said that there were 17,591,563 acres ,-)f rural lands and 45,068 owners of these lands. In addition there were 3,000,000 acres of Maori land leased to Europeans and 45,000 acres in cultivation by Maoris. There were 8,000,000 acres of freehold land not in cultivation. Deducting mountain tops and useless land the total land unoccupied was only 2,000,000 acres. He did not wish to go into the Mokau case at any length, but if the matter were gone into he was certain that the Government would come out of it with credit. The Boundary Commission had done its work in a woek less than the previous Commission had taken. He congratulated Mr Massey's followers on being converted to proportional representation. The debate was adjourned and the House rose at 12.25 a.m. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2. The Houso met at 2.30 p.m. The Speaker was directed to issue a warrant to make out a new writ for the election of a member for Christchureh North in the room of the late Mr Taylor. Mr Fisher asked the acting-Prime Minister to afford the House time to discuss the report of the Representation Commission before the session closed. Sir James Carroll replied that it was rather premature to give an answer, as the report had not been received from the Commissioners. Replying to a question by Mr Field (Otaki) concerning a rumor that 11 burials of patients from the Porirua Asylum had taken place on one day, i Hon. G. Fowlds (Minister for Health) » said that there had been 30 cases ol i typhoid at the asylum, Thieo attend'

' ants had contracted fever but no nur- ! ses. There were no cases at the asylum j now, except that of one attendant, who had been removed to the hospital. There were four deaths in March, two in April, two in May, one in June. There had never been more than one death on any one day. ADDRESS-IN-REPLY. Mr Macdonald resumed the debate on the Address-ui-lteply. He congratulated Sir Arthur Guinness and Sir James Carroll on the honor conferred on them by the King. He traversed statements made by Mr Massey on the previous evening, and congratulated the administration on the splendid progress made of late years, especially in the matter of land settlement. He felt sure that now that the natives realised that the Government was doing its best for all concerned, they would como forward and offer their land for settlement. He wished to draw the attention of the Minister for Public Works to the great difficulty experienced by co-operative workers in getting their goods to camps, especially in winter, when many of the roads which were the only means of access were practically impassable. He suggested the erection of large stores, for storage purposes only, in the vicinity of the largest camps to facilitate the distribution of foodstuffs to those engaged on co-opera-tive works. With regard to the defence system the great majority of people in the country had adopted it, and were quite satisfied to have their children trained for defensive purposes. Mr Lawry (Parnell), continuing the debate, congratulated both Sir Arthur Guinness and Sir James Carroll on the honors received from the King. As to the Opposition policy, what was new in it was not true, and what was true was not new. The country was undoubtedly prosperous, and this was due to the excellent policy of the Government. Regarding the national debt, he considered that this was an illustration of the intrinsic worth of the country, and if it were offered in the public market a syndicate would readily be found to offer 300 per cent, for it, so high were our assets yalued. Mr Poole (Auckland West) followed. After congratulating Sir Arthur Guinness and Sir James Carroll on the reward for their services, he said he was still of opinion that the Prime Minister in accepting an hereditary title had made a stupendous blunder, and that his action was injurious to the principles of democracy. He recognised SitJoseph Ward's great work for the Dominion and the Empire; but still he must record his protest against his accepting an hereditary title. Dealing with the high cost of living, he said that the cause of the trouble was the expense of distribution, which needed remedy. To combat monopolies State competition was the best remedy at this stage. Hon. K. McKenzie, Hon. D. Bnddo and Hon. G. Fowlds were the only Ministers present, and Mr Poole emphasised his protest against this, saying that the Address-in-Reply was mainly to allow the Executive to hear what private members had to say. He dealt with the pay of railway employees, saying that the reduction of fares was no benefit to the country if employees were not paid a decent wage. This should be remedied, even if fares had to be "raised. He pleaded for greater expenditure on roads in the North Island, which had no natural means of transport like the South. file House adjourned at 5.30 p.m. On tli© House resuming Mr Poole said that one of the features of the session would be the introduction of the bare majority measure. Ha referred to the withdrawal by Mr Massey of charges made by him last session against the late Mr T. E. Taylor. Mr Massey's withdrawal was not a complete Vindication of Mr Taylor's character. He asked Mr Massey, if he did intend the withdrawal to be a whole-souled one, to let it stay there; . hut if he did not so intend he should I give full and complete vindication and so clear a dead man's character. Mr Malcolm (Clutha) dealt mainly with Imperial questions. Mr Luke (Wellington Suburbs), after referring to the good work done by Sir Joseph Ward at Home, protested against the letter's action in not telling them before he left what he was going to do there, but keeping it back till he got to Sydney some time later. He considered that New Zealand would have fared better at the Imperial Conference if the questions which were deliberated upon had been discussed on the floor of the House prior to the departure of the country's envoy. He condemned the "contemptible" (and he said he used the word advisedly) desire to shine alone. When the representatives came back from Home they must give an account of what went on at the Imperial Conference. Mr R. H. Taylor (Thames), in referring to the titles dispensed at the Coronation, said that those who sneered at titles were not true to the monarchy to which they belonged. If the King desired to honor any of his subjects, who were thev to decry these honors? The debate was adjourned and the House rose at 10.35 p.m.