THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1196, 3 August 1911, Page 7

THE HOUSE.

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE. OPINIONS AB9UT TITLES. MR E. H. TAYLOR'S REMARKABLE IDEAS; The Address-in-Reply debate was reBume'd at 3.15 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Mr. W; D. S. MACDONALD (Bay of Plenty) congratulated the Speaker and 'the Acting-Prime .Minister upon their re- '?!! l i kni f lltllo( "l- Mr. Mactfonald stated that he had no desire to speak upon this Question, at any rate at that juncture. There did not seem to be any great deBiro on the part of members to air their discontents. After some reference to Opposition criticism of Government borrowing, Mr. Macdonald quoted figures with a view to showing that land settlement was proceeding at a satisfactory rate. Criticising the proposal of the "Leader of the Opposition' that Crown tenants of lease-in-perpctuity .lands should be allowed to purchase their holdings at the original value, plus one per cent., Mr. Macdonald stated that this would involve a loss to the country of ,£-1,761,000, the difforence between the present unimproved value of land, taken up under tho leasc-iu-per-petuity during the past 19 years, and the price proposed by the Leader of tho .Opposition. . Mr. Massey: "You don't include tho land for settlement." Mr. Mncdonald said his figures related to Crown lands taken up under lease-in-perpetuity. Mr. Massey: "Ah! That is a different question." As. to the land for settlement lands, said ; Mr. Macdonaltl, if anyone were entitled to get these lands, and the original value plus one per cent., it was not. recent purchasers, hut people who had broken in back-blocks lands. Satisfactory pro> gress was being made with the settlement ■of Native lands. Despite what had been said by the Opposition, the workers of New Zealand had never been better oil' than at the present time. It was true that there was a drift towards tho cities The only way to deal with this was to provide increased facilities for land set tlement, but, unless land could be obtained at a moderate price, an injury, instead of a benefit would be done to the people who were assisted to settle. Ho hoped that, attention would bo given to Tequests for back-blocks schools. Tho country appeared to have accepted tho new defence regulations with equanimity, and he considered that the scheme would operate without imposing any undue burden. THE MEMBER FOR PARNELL. BELIEVES IN AN ARISTOCRACY OF INTELLECT. Mr. F. LA WRY (Parnoll) said he looked npon an Address-in-Reply debate as a waste of time, a:id cousidered himself, at. that moment, a-s a political culprit. He congratulated the Speaker and tho Acting-Prime. Minister upon their knighthoods. Believing that these honours wcra well-deserved, the speaker d ! d not think that a hereditary aristocracy should be created in this country. TIo believed in an aristocracy of intellect. Mr. Lawry said he believed in tho present Government, and believed it would remain in office for many years, not by reason of its strength, but rather because of the mental poverty of the Opposition. Ho believed in a greater man than even tho member for Franklin. A member: "Is that Solomon?" Mr. Lawry: "Yes, Solomon." Solomon, In. added, must have, anticipated tho founding of the Opposition in this country when he said: "Thoro is nothing now . under tho sun." Lately the Opposition had found a policy, and such a policv! What was new in it was not. true, and what was true was not new. It was i.ho most beggarly thing he had ever licnrd emanating from men who professed to lead the politics of the country. Tho c/tggcstio.u of the Leader of the Oppbsi-

Hon that State tenants should ho given the right to buy their holdings at original values amounted to sheer piracy. It was worthy of note that, at any time, advertisement after advertisement appeared offering freehold for sale, but Crown leaseholds were never offered for sale.' The country was more prosperous now than it had ever been. If the people had not a good Government, the Government had a good people. There was very littlo in tho Speech from the Throne. .In his view, the policy of the Government at the present time was one of masterly inactivity. In that respect the people of New Zealand should hail it with satisfaction. If there was one thing in this world more to be deprecated than another/it was the, way in which they piled up legislation in (hat House, year after yea*. (Hour, hear.) If liie Loader of tho Opposition devoted one session to consolidating and simplifying the measures that now existed, lie would have a tenure of office such as no Premier had ever enjoyed. Tho greatest curse they had ever had in New Zealand, said llr. Lawry, were the lawyers who had occupied seats in Parliament. Responding to suggestions, Mr. Itfwry excepted the Hon. Mr. Ngata from his generalisation. Then he graciously added Mr. Sidey to the list of exceptions, and nlso Mr. Speaker and Mr. Field. Existing laws were so mixed aud so complicated that no man in the country could really understand what thev were. He agreed with the Leader of 'the Opposition that this country needed a sane system of local self-govern-ment. Parliament should be lifted from the condition o.f n. public board of works. A new system of local government should be passed, under which broad administrative powers would be conferred on the local authorities. The speaker would' like to see the land tax pooled and disbursed, not on a population basis, but in accordance with the requirements of tho population in country districts, especially in the back-blocks. " He joined the previous speaker in emphasising the claims of the back-blocks settlers. He defended the action of the Prime Minister in presenting the Dreadnought to Great Britain. THE BARONETCY. "A TREMENDOUS BLUNDER," Mr. C. H. POOLE (Auckland West) congratulated the Speaker and ActingPrime Minister upon the honour recently conferred upon them by his Majesty. He considered, however, that the Prime Minister in accepting tho baronetcy was guilty of a tremendous blunder. His acceptance of tho title would be injurious to the spirit of democracy that had been engendered in this country. The speaker recognised that it was not in his power or provinco to interfere with the titles or honours that a monarch might offer. But, as a democrat, he must raise his voice against the hereditary title which had been accepted and was being carried to this country for use in the future. The results of tho Imperial Conference had been gratifying. The prices now. demanded for butter and other commodities called for remark. Hundreds of thousands of people in this country wero called uponto pay too much for local products. Some effort would have to bo made before very long to secure a guarantee that consumers would receive at reasonable prices what they required for their maintenance and their existence. He had no direct proposition to make at that lime, but the advocates of State competition—and he was one—wero amply justified in carrying on an agitation for this 'sort of thing to happen. A problem existed at the present time in the increased cost of maintenance' on tho railways, due largely to the increase in the wages of operatives. This was as it should.he, and it was gratifying to know that the sum of ,£50,000 was to bo disbursed this year in raising salaries. It was uo concession to tho country to reduce railway rates and to bring down to starvation point tho maintenance cost of the railways. Some of the men.at the present time were not receiving as much ns they should for their services. _ The Minister for Railways must recognise that he had a verv tough proposition to deal with at the present time.

Mr. Millar: There is oni.V' one way: .to increase rates and passenger faro?. 'Mr. Toole said Hiero was no use in having a skinflint policy. ; J\lr. J-ooie. expresscii .approval-,-of the expedition shown by the. Government insurveying Native lands for settlement. He spoke of allegations that in some instances Native lands were allowed to escape rating, leaving tho whole of the.burden to ho borne by-white settle s. In many cases he had heard complaints- of inability on the part of local bodies to secure rates from Native lands. Apparently a discretionary power given to the Minister to exempt Native lands from rating had become general instead of particular. A member: That section has been repealed. Mr. Poolo rejoined that in any case where Natives escaped their fair share of taxation they should be compelled to fall into line with other settlers'and help to develop the country.

IMPERIAL FEDERATION. VIEWS OF MR. MALCOLM. Mr. A. S. MALCOLM (Clutha) said that the time for drift in regard to the question of Imperial Federation had passed. Tho people of the . Empire were of opinion that no danger could threaten them. But the face of affairs could chango in" a moment. At present the expanding power of Germany was a grave menace to the continued security of tho Empire. It was often said, "Oh, it is all bluff," but the experience of France and Russia suggested that it would be unwise to persist in this attitude. Continued efforts would ho made by Germany as years went on to strengthen herself as compared with Great Britain. How long could Britain continue to hold liar own in view of tho establishment of this and other great Powers? The British soldier was tho finest fighting man in the world to-day. Everything depended on organisation. He believed alt recognised that times had changed, that what had -done during the past continy would not do during the present century. Another great factor making a closer Imperial Federation desirable was the necessity ot keeping the white race pure. How long could New Zealand continue to exclude Japanese unless it had behind it the whole power of the British Empire? Even the great United States of America had been compelled to modify its restrictions on alien immigration. It was urged by some that the demand for closer Imperial Federation was premature. In his view these were timid counsels. The Empire must be organised in readiness to meet a great .peril. He would seenre this organisation by having a Parliament with representatives from all the responsible Dominion*. The constitution of this Parliament would occupy a commission for months aud possibly for years. A principal objection to Imperial Federation was that the people of New Zealand would never consent to be taxed by an outside body. This objection was fallacious. A Federal Parliament would as truly represent New Zenlancl as that Parliament represented, say, Marlborough Another objection urged was that New Zealand would have a very few members in the proposed Imperial Parliament. It was forgotten that the members of the federal body would represent principles rather than countries. After dealing with some further objections to the federation proposal, Mr. Malcolm contended that New Zealand's interests were Imperial and not local. The fear that national glory would bo diminished by federation was not a just fear. ■ The loyalty of New Zealand was happily beyond "question. "But what are we to bo loyal to?" asked Mr. Malcolm. It had been said that "America" was fast becoming a mere name, nnd the same danger applied to our own' affairs. There was a danger that national and State rights might loom so large that the Empire would become a thing of the past. A friend had said to him that tho British people would never federate "until they had been through the fire." It would be infinitely"better to frame a constitution in peace "and quietness, and the time given for doing it was not unlimited. To-day we were able to defend our interests iii a firm and spirited way against Germany, but in five .years' time this might bo no longer possible. A member: You are a pessimist. Mr. Dillon: Did we not have federation during the Boer war? Mr. Malcolm claimed that the Boer war showed the advantages Unit might he gained by federation. There was not onlv the danger from outside forces, but (he danger of disruption from within. If the various units of the Empire federated continuous peace would be ensured in tho case of one-fifth of the world's population. If the units of the. Empire broke apart war between one and another would 15a always a possibility.