LANDS, LOANS AND TAXES

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 180, 25 April 1908, Page 6

LANDS, LOANS AND TAXES

MR. LANC, AS CRITIC. •Rational endowments a "blind."' (by TEiiEGItArH. —SrECIAIi CORRESPONDENT). ' ' - ' Auckland, April 24. • In tho course of his political address at . Onehiinga last night, Mr.. F. 'W. M.P: for •Manukau,'referring to. last session, said, , that.in ono da;-' 16 Bills were passed between. 2.30 . and 5.30 - p.m.,/whilst thousands and. thousands of pounds of-ostimates wero passed, in as many seconds.' : 'The reason, why the' Government was not ready , with its' Bills at? tho beginning-of a session'was that Ministers spont so .much of the recess in electioneering;". . MORE DEBT PER HEAD THAN IM > ."7 AUSTRALIA. -- Concerning'the question of tho increase, of tho public debt, li'o. said that -the. paxtyat present- in'. power'■■had. started,; to, bo a'non-borrowing Government,,,but:after,two or'threo years they began;to borrow on tho sly, and they subsequently did it openly.Sir "Joseph Ward had, told thorn that' it. was unfair to comparo' the debt pw' head -'of population in.New Zealand-'with that' of: England and- Other countries.;. He . would not 'ciispute that, but lie claimed that a-comparison with tlio; Australian States/ would he quite/fair. While; the-debt per capita was £56 in New, South'-Walesj £54: in Tasmania, and £43 in Victoria,- ! it ! was £67 : in. Nelw Zealand. . -It. did not seem right that Now Zealand should raise ' its money in. Australia;■ which' was itself a. borrowing country. 'If they,-'could not get their money in the' Doniinion it w;ould, surely be better .to go. direct to'the Old Country for. it, instead of getting 7 . it second-hand in Australia. (Hear, hear.) As to tlio surplus,, Sir Joseph Ward's .late chief, Mr. Ballance, hadtsaid that it was-not.a' good thing to/haye an excess of-revenue over expenditure. Ho (tho,. speaker) 'maintained tliat when the Government" were getting largo surpluses. ,year ■ after year, it was-time'that they- r.eduoed the taxation of tho .country. (Applause.) . i ; ~LAND v : In touching on theiyNational 1 Endowments, Mr. Lang, said that.-while, Mr. Massey had: estimated ;the total annual revenue from these lands at £49,000, the Primo' Minister..had nut it. at £86,000. Even if they took the higher estimate, what was', it .in comparison to the total.; sum. (about a million and a quarter j sterling) that was required for the purposes intended to;be benefited, by-the endowments?As a matter of fact, the Bill was-termed.an-"Endowment'.' Bill, as a "blind.'.' It should have been called a ' "Land Nationalisation i Bill," this being the real object ,of tho measure! | It would bo far better to sell the land ,'and invest the proceeds as aft endowment.' .The Prime Minister ' had the' Govern-' ment'was not in favour of land nationalisation, but what, had it done under the Lands for Settlement Act?; -\ It - had bought up nearly 1,000,000 acres, of land, and had leased it-to tenants without the option of the freehold. What was , this ..but , land nationalisation? Then, in regard to " the. national endowments, what did that policy amount to if it was not _ land nationalisation ? Then, in respect, to single tax, why did Sir Josopli Ward take a pronounced single taxer into his Cabinet, if he was not in favour of single tax? If a man, who was a sincere singlo taxer, did his duty when he joined the Ministry, he would endeavour to havo effect given to his views' on taxation. • SOCIALISM. /Sir Joseph Ward's remarks regarding Socialism: next claimed the speaker's attention. He, said that although the Primo Minister had delivered his Auckland speech, nobody seomed to be able to decide whether lie was or was not a Socialist. Some thought ■that'ho was an out-and-out Socialist, while others thought that his views tended in .the opposite direction. Some people thought ; that no opportunity should be given for thrift, but that all should share in common. Ho was of opinion that the • poorest man-in the Dominion should have a chance of rising to the highest position. Ho did not think ■that any man should bo kept'back because others wero not equal to him in ability. : (Ap-' plause.) Sir Joseph Ward had said that they were all agreed as to. the necessity of security of land ; tenure, and tho - need for reading tho country. The Government, how- : over,'.had not given tho settlers either one or tho other.

At the conclusion of the address, one or two questions were replied to by Mr. Lang, and on the motion of Mr. C. M'Leod, scoonded by Mr. G. Moody, he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address, coupled wifcli one of confidenoo as the representative-'of