HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 41, 12 November 1907, Page 6

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

I ■ BILLS INTRODUCED. The Houso of Representatives mot at 7.30 p.m. • The following Bills wore introduced .and read a % first, time: —Fisheries • Conservation .'Act Amendment Bill (Hon. J. M'Gowan), /Mining Act Amendment Bill (Hon. J. .[.M'Gowan), Barmaids Abolition Bill (Mr. Ell). The Hon. R. M'Nab gave notice; to introduce the Co-operativo Dairy Companies A Bill was introduced by Governor's Mes'Bage to make provision for tho duplication of railway lines in Christclmrch, Auckland, and Dunedin. The sum proposed to be obtained, said Sir Joseph "Ward in reply to Mr. Massey, was £150,000. . / ~~ PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. On a motion by tho Hon. J. M'Gowan to f»o into Committee of Supply 011 the Public Works Statement, Mr. Massey, after express- ' sing surprise .that the Minister for l'ublic ."Works had not risen to defend his policy, considering the complaints that wero rife, went on to urge that tho Statement and Estimates should have boen down earlier. Ho know of no reason' why their arrival should bo so delayed; ho knew many why they should have come down earlier. Local bodies who wanted to got on with their works, and for that reason to know the allocations coming to them, had just cause for complaint, it meant that their works would be delayed until the season was too advanced. It was unfair to hold'the Statement back until seven months of the' financial year had gone. He entered his emphatic protest against it. Referring to the Estimates, he said there was

a falling off in the. amounts for roads and bridges. The amount voted. was £479,521, while last year it was £520,000. . New Money. If they subtracted tho sum unexpended I last year they, had £303,000 of . now .monoy this year. This sum/also .included amounts for .the opening, up of mining.districts, tourist roads, etc. Tho Government's most important work should be that which;they seemed to be .neglecting. He,, pointed out that £76,00 C) was allocated last year to the Tourist Department, arid- this year, there was in nil £6b,000 (£32,000 .0n.., the. Estimates and <£34,000 from the Consolidated Fund). x Mr. Poland: " Twenty-seven thousand for tourist roads this year.-', - Mr;, Massey; Yes.; He recognised tho importance of the tourist traffic to the Dominion, but, he thought, we were , going too far. -It looked like .getting twenty-five shillings for a sovereign. Less money should be spent on and more for the, benefit of the settlers: The Manawatu Railway. As to the Manawatu line, he, was.in favour .of the purchase,.but; he!pointed to the enterprise otjthe. promoters of . the company, and hoped .in the acquirement'of the line tho '■ fair. ". would bp, done ~to- the shareholders. He trusted no attempt, would he made,to take advantage of any technicality. Ho went on , to . express the hope that when tho bigger railway lilies were completed the smaller branches would receive attention., , Other Points. As to the utilisation of water power,: he urged that encouragement' should be given to private enterprise. instead of compelling delay until tnoy (the Government) could expend. millions—a time : that .perhaps would never cpmo, , Settlers would appreciate, what had been done in regard to,telephone extension, but he said the guarantees demanded were too high. [Referring again to submission of the Public Works Statement he suggested that .there should v bc a! memorandum of schedulo showing whetlior a 'vote, was aslced for by a local, body or by a ,member, or by both', arid, .whether." it was' reepmmonded, by the engineer for the,- district. This would provide a check on. improper expenditure. The Premier Replies. The Premier said the only way in which the Estimates could'bo brought down earlier would be for Parliament 'to meet in ! February. - This would not suit'those who desired to attend to their affairs during the months immediately following 'February. 'The change from, the'early days had-been made to suit the'country riiembersV They had-to have their ,policy measures- out of the way before they conld go into,the Public Works Statement. It was not , the fault - of tho Ministry that the, Statement was riot down earlier: if the fault lav.,anywhere it was with the system, and with , the, fact that they had to meet the convenience of tho country. members. Statements Refuted. ; , Referring, to tho statement that the, money for roads, "and bridges had been reduced, ho, said, that .the total appropriation this year, was £554j551. y.jniis was .the highest expenditure .for twenty-one years—with the exception of the last two; years. '«.Twb million odd. pounds was. being,,subinittbd altogether this year—an .enormous sum. It would be unwise to spend, nioro. In'regard to the Tourist 'Department, £27,000 of the - yote thereon'was, for roads, and if there were no Tourist Department the riioney, or a great part , of-it, would be spent in this way. ; He showed that the revenue froin thp Department had increased from £15,000 to £18,202. It was desirable to get outside peoplo intp tho country. Last year .they had brought into' the _ country 9648 visitors, and, estimating their expenditure per ' head at, £50,. ,the total would be £482,400 for the year. . The increase in revenue from the Department . .over the previous year was £2600. : 'S 1 Manawatu Railway. Referring to the. Manawatu Railway, tho Premier laid that when the Government had first decided to purchaso tho line it* had been on a sharo basis at 30s. per share. Their action had been Unfavourably .criticised, and the offer had been refused. Since, then lie (the Premier) had resolutely refused to entertain tho purchase, on a share basis,, and he had held to his. determination all-along. He referred to a valuable report furnished by Mr.' Blow, of the Public Works Department in rogard to the purchaso—for which report that officer deserved congratulation— ,and said that,from the . opinion therein .expressed the Government )in their present proposal were following the,right course. As long as thoy followed tho terms of the original agreement,. which was made under the Railways Construction and Land Act, 1881, no. fault corild bo found. •; But ( as to magnanimity being shown \ by 'the Government as seemed to bo suggested by the Leader of Opposition—they .would dp, what" was right under the agreem'erit ; sentiiriont would not enter into the, matter; There was no reason ; to'.'suggest they should make the company a presont for'what- .they They would do-what was required under ;the agreement, and,no,one could then .tako exception to. their,,action. Ho did riot know, what " technicality Mr.- Massey. Had-referred to, but he.could,assure hon. members that nothing unfair would bo donei Railway Policy., ' '■ As to railway, construction, they could only allocate the money available fairly, arid h'e defended the ..allocation. If. they extended more on . small,,liriesj' as was .-asked, thoy 'would-have'to curtail the amounts for tho main lines. They, could not go beyond their million annual loan unless they decided on a heaVy : borrowing policy. As to Central Otago, the Government recognised the necessity for dovoloping that portion of the Dominion, and they , wore, in earnest in. their intention to assist. Hc : meant ..to ask Parliament this session, to expend up-to £100,000 in irrigation work there. All. that could be done was being done in regard, to telephones and their extension in., the ..coiwtry districts.. . If concessions ,were .granted ; indiscriminately, and guarantees dispensed .with-v thero would be telephones, all ovei; tho colony that would not pay for years te come. The Government had to be careful in thisprospect if thoy wished to retain the present low rates in town and country. In conclusion, he contended that the Estimates wore fairly and';clearly set out. A South Island Critic. Mr. James Allen criticised the methods of voting money and contended it.could be very much improved. The Public .'Works Statement should be down earlier,in the year. As t') .the statement of the .Promier regarding Central,- Otago, ■ he was glad the. Government was going to give effect -to a, promise made on the evo of the, last ejection—a-promise that had given the Government, two seats at least. The vote lie declared was gotting out of hand. While the Tourist, Immigration, and Public Works Departments had exceeded their votes last year, there was an undor-expendituro' very considerably, on tho utilisation, of; water .power,; on roads and bridges, goldficlds, development and on mines dovelopitient.' The expenditure' on public buildings had increased far too rapidly within the last few years, and he pointed to tho Dunedi.n. railway. station as a sample of unnecessary plaborateness. Ho complained of tho proportion of allocations for roads to Otago, and said the vote thero had decreased 33 pet- cent, on last year. lib compared that with more liberal allocations, in other districts. He also complained of the Otago railway votes, stating that they also had been decreased. Marlborough Needs. Tho Hon. C. H. Mills urged that improvements should be made to the Picton wharf immediately. He was not satisfied with the money proposed to be spent in his district, but he rocognised that 'tho Department was doing its best with tho! sums at its disposal. Mr. W. Fraser (Wakatipu) said it was evident from the state of .tho Houso after tho supper adjournment, and tho difficulty in getting a quorum, that members wero tired

of .the session. .(Voices: "We aro.") .The Houso was not in the humour to give tlio Estimates proper .consideration.. Tlio present system of financing public works was wrong, but ho admitted that tlio Government which tried to reform it would mako itself oxtremely unpopular. Ho thought tlio Houso|siiotild ineot in May,- soon.'after the closo of tho financial year. Members could thon bo home before tho winter was over, and rafter the,Fublic Works Estimates were dealt with thero would bo soveral months for tlio. local bodios .to spend tlio monoy. Then there would not bo-, as at present, 30 or 40 por cent, of old votes appearing on tho Estimates. He was indignant and disappointed at tho declaration in tho statement that tho Otago Central Railway was not at present to .bo carried beyond Clyde. He hoped the Government would mako some definite statement as to wlion tho lino would bo carried further. The railway would pay indirectly, if not directly. Tlio Government was going to spond £600,000 to make a holo through tlio Southern Alps on tho Midland Railway, which would never pay. Ho did not opposb that, but surely thoy could spend a few thousands on tlio Otago Central; which was necessary for settlement in the : district. Young men wr.ro waiting to know whether tho railway was to bo continued before deciding, whether to remain in tho district >or not. Tho £3000 voto for irrigation was. too littlo to bo of any use. Ho hoped £100,000 would-bo available next 1 year. Had such a sum been'spent'ten''years ago, it would have been worth a million to-day. Auckland to the Bluff. Sir William Steward protested against the treatment of the County of Waim'ato, for which not. a single vote of .new money ..was placed on the Estimates. South Island members had loyally supported tho Government in mating appropriations for the North Island Main Trunk railway, and thoy expccted that when it was .completed tho line through from Blenheim to, tho Bluff wo.uld bo finished, thus linking up tho great trunk lino of the Dominion. Feeders, consisting of branch railways into tho country districts, wero also required, notably some.in' South Canterbury and Otago. Ho rogrottcd tho abolition of tho sugar duty, which might, have been utilised to provide monoy for necessary works in the back-blocks. Lateness of the Estimates. ~ ■' Mr. W. T. Jennings (Egmont) said Otago members had nothing to complain of. Threefourths of tho positions in tho Government service went to Otago. (Mr. T. Mackenzio:"That's because they're tho-best nien.") Tlio revonuo from: tho North Island had increased phenomenally, and tho peoplo would not bo content to stand quietly by without asking for their rights. After with approval of tho progress on tho Main Trunk line, tho lion, member went on 1 to urge tho claims of tlio Stratford - Ongaruho railway Owing to tho Estimates being submitted so late iii tho year, it would bo impossible for tlio District Road Engineers to got the monoy spent in tho five months that remained before tho closo of tho financial, year. , Mr. T. Mackenzie spoke of the needs of Otago in regard to-railways and irrigation, and protested against tho destruction for all time of valuablo land iu Otago! by mining operations. Auckland Members. Mr. Lang agreed with the suggestion that Parliament should meet in May, both for tho sako. of the convenience of members and for tho better expenditure of the sums on, tho Public Works' Estimates. ; Mr. Stallworthy said the Minister had doubled tlio, vote for tho Catlins. Rivor railway and the Orep.uki railway, ,and had talcbn off. a corresponding amount from the North Auckland railway. At 11.25 p.m. the bell was rung for a quorum. . > Mr. Poolo said tho North Island. was not within of the South Island as regards road construction. Many of tho roads -in tho Auckland district were scarcely navigable. If they could bo travelled at all, it must be in boats. He pleaded for moro effective lighting of the coasts of tho North Island, particularly from Auckland to Cape Maria Van Diomon. ' -• ' Mr. Remington, referring to tho fact, as pointed out by a provious speaker, that the road votes in the Wnnganui Road District had been overspent, pointed out that in' soveral instances the roads concerned wero primarily constructed to serve the Main Trunk railway works. He was fairly satisfied with the allocations on the Estimates for his district. He would regard an expenditure on the Otago Central Railway beyond. Clydo as the greatest white elephant the Dominion could go in for.. He spoko from his own observation of tho district.' Hoped They Could Spare |t. Mr. Reid wished the Government had been more generous to Otago, and particularly Taieri. Ho haid only to thank them for £200. He hoped they could spare it. Mr. Ell spoke with approval, of the .pro-' Sosal to. purchaso tho Manawatu Railway. to advocated an improved system 6f subsidies o,n rates. No ; district .that could cover the whole of its. expenses with, a rate of a{ penny in, the ,pound should recoivo a single shilling of subsidy from the Treasury., Some backward, .undeveloped districts should receive double what they,wero now getting. Mr. Okoy spoko of the needs of the back blocks; ■ . Tne Manawatu Una. , Mr. Field expressed pleasure at ,'t.ho contemplated purchaso of tile Manawatu Railway. It was .a pity that tlio negotiations initiated. several years, ago had failed. In the njeantime most of tho land held by the company had been sold. Some of this which had been,, cleared should have, remained in bush. . Its sheep-carrying capacity, was diminishing, and the-lower lands would bo in danger of being seriously ■. damaged by flood water coming down from this higher country.' The, point would bo raised whether the Government still bad power to buy the line under the Act of 1881 without any .percentage being added to the price. Hb hoped this would be decided in favour of the Government, and in any case lie did not think there was any reason for' treating the company with special generosity.. The local bodies along the lino would, lose the rates paid by the company on its property, and ho hoped' the Government would do something to assist them. . He was much, dissatisfied with tho votes for his'electorate. Very little new monoy. was included. . There was great need for roads in tho hack districts, as tho railway company, in disposing of the land, made no roads at all. Other members having spoken, tho Hon. J. M'Gowan rose to reply at, 1.15 a.m. He said if the Public Works Statement was brought down lato every session, it was .still regular. He was.sorry no was not so well acquainted with the requirements of tho respective districts as the Hon., W. Hall-Jones, but. he would endeavour to do his best, for all. The motion to go into committeo was carried at- 1.40 a.m., Tho first: item, was passed, and the House roso at 2.10 a.m.