ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1197, 4 August 1911, Page 6

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

DEBATE PROCEEDS. IMPERIALISM AND LOCAL AFFAIRS. The debate upon the Address-in-Reply was resumed at 7.30 p.m. ■ . Mr J. STALL WORTHY- (Kaipara) echoed previous congratulations to the Speaker and Acting-Premier upon the honour done them by'his Majesty. In defending the land .policy of tho Government and discounting Opposition criticism, Mr. Stallworthy quoted extensively from the speech of the member for Thames (Mr. Taylor), delivered on tho previous evening.

Mr. Wright at length suggested that tho member should read the speech in extonso. , "I hear a discordant note," remarked Mr. Stallworthy. "It seems to come from the Cook If lands. I would advise the discordant noto to closo his organs of speech and open his organs of hearing. AVright was not always right, and it was very wrong of AVright to interrupt his (Mr. Stallworthy's) speech at that time.

Still quoting from the speech of tlio member for Thames, Mr. Stallworthy defended the acceptance of a baronetcy bv Sir Joseph Ward. The Speech was one of tho weakest and most, uninteresting that had been read from the Throne during his short career iu t!:o House. But he found no fault with it on that account. They wero not going to bo startled every year with a great programme. Mr. Stallwoithy strongly urged that tho construction of the North Auckland railway should be pushed ahead with all possible speed. He looked forward to scein" at least .£200,000 placed on the Estimates so that tho line might bo carried at least as far as Kaikohe. The Minister for Railways had said that this railway would pay only J per cent., but this was tho opinion of a man who did not know the country. Men who knew tho country well, tho members of the North Auckland Railway Commission, had stated that tho opinion of the Minister was absolutoly wrong. The line would open up areas of rich iand suitable for cutting up into dairy farms of about three hundred

acres. Concluding, Mr. Stallworthy declared himself satisfied that the country was on a good wicket. The Bond of Empire. ■ Mr. W. PHASER (Wakatipu) said that irost of them would agree with the previous speaker that Ihe Governor's Speech was uninteresting. They had had a number of long sermons from very short texts. While praising the address of the member forClutha on the subject of Imperial Federation, Mr. Fraser stated that, on this subject, he disagreed with his colleague. Unless the bond of union with tho Mother Country was in the hearts of the people it was of mighty little use on any parchment. Mr. ■ Fraser declared himself extremely pleased with the response made by the people of New Zealand to tho detence scheme initiated two years ago. He complimented tho Government on the success that had attended the importation of a commandant and staff. They had, ho believed, got a most excellent staff. In closing, Mr. .Fraser co.ngiatulated the Speaker and Acting-Pre-mier on their knighthood. A Maori Member. Dr. TE RANGIHIROA (Northern Maori), on behalf of the Maori race, congratulated the Speaker and Acting-Prem-ier on their knighthood. As the Speech from the Throne had not yet been translated into Maori, it was difficult for him as a Maori member to consider it in detail. There was a tendency, he complained, to consider the Maori as a useless appendage like tho .vermiform appendix. Much attention was devoted by the press to the settlement of Maori lands, but the settlement of the Maori race did not command'by any means so iriuc hattention. The Natives of the north were anxious that their land should bo partitioned so that they might do something to bring their land into cultivation. Maori land should be considered as land under entail. Its owners should not be permitted to squander sums acquired by land sales, but.should be required to expend money so raised in the improvement of their remaining lands. If tho. Government wished to encourage the Native people to riso iu this country it should assist them by establishing a department to leud them money on the security of their lands to enable them to work ihcfo lands. If agricultural education was i\ necessity in the case of Europeans,' it was much more necessary in the case of Maoris. He was confident that efforts expended in teaching the Natives how to make good use of their land would produce.admirable results. Experience in different parts of New Zealand had already shown this to be true. Dr. Rangihiroa spoko at length of the improvement which sanitation, attention to health and growing habits of industry had effected in tho condition of the Maori race, and declared himself confident that this improvement would continue. He spoko also of the great benefit , conferred by the establishment of Native schools. The Maoris had come to realise that, if'they were to do any good at all, they must work the land. And they could not work the land unless they were granted the assistance which- was necessary even to the European, with all his inherited- instincts. .The Maoris must have 'financial'assistance.. They had a proverb, "The-bird must have feathers before he can fly." If the Government wanted to assist the new fledged Maoris.to fly they must help.them to work their lands. A member; "What about bringing them under tho Advances to Settlers?" . Dr. Rangihiroa said that was what they wanted, but the. Maoris feared that unless a special sum were, ear-marked for them they would be elbowed out by the more energetic whites, who would keep on bustling and writing letters. ■ ■ ■

The Hj'ne Charges. . . Mr. W.. C. BUCHANAN (Wairarapa) said he had never known a"n Addrass-in-Hoply dobato. of a more dead and alive character;. Tho Minister for Education had missed an opportunity of dealing with questions of interest not touched upon in the Governor's Speech. In his remarks about tho Hine charges, tho Minister had stated that there was no' meaning in the charges, apart from an allegation of Tammany by the Government. The Minister had given no proof of this statement because there was no proof to give. 3ir. Buchanan quoted from tho Hansard n> port of a. speech by. Mr. Hogan (Wanganui), when the charges were boing discussed, .-inuwhich that member stated that although the original inference had been that the Goverruu'ent was concerned, it had become clear, during the progress of the debate, that Opposition members did not connect the Government with' the charges—that it was a matter between exniembers and their constituents. . Hγ. Powlds: "Hoar, hear, afterwards!" Mr. Buchanan ' said it was true that the member for Wanganui had mentioned an inference, but members on tho Government side of the Hotiaie v had drawn that inference unjustifiably, just' as the Minister for Education had done in ,his speech a short timo previously. A : Serious Leakage. Turning to the question of population, Mr. Buchanan stated that in 1908 tho excess of arrivals over departures from tho the Dominion numbered 14,261. In 1909 the excess of arrivals' over departures was 7019. Last year the excess dropped to 3408. . During the last six months, instead of an excess of arrivals over departures there had been a deficiency of 4029. Had it not been for assisted immigration, there must have been a' deficiency of between four and five thousand. He had called attention to this important matter during the previous session, and' pointed out tbat tho Government should give it attention. ■ . - Mr. Laurenson:. "Your figures -were shown to be Wrong last year." ■' . "Mr. Buchanan: "They are not wrong. I challenge any member of fue House to disprove the figures I have quoted. They are taken from the Gazette, and cannot be wrong, unless- the Gazette is wrong. There was a deficiency for tho past six months of 4029 persons." The-Hon' Mr. Buddo: "The same thin" happened last year." , ■ ° Mr. Buchanan: "The first six months of last year showed a deficiency 'of a- little over.2ooo. This year.it is 4000. In the year before last the shortage, on tho first six mouths was 82. Does the hon gentleman understand that?" On the first six months of the . year 190S, Mr. Buchanan .went on, there was a surplus of 2530. ■ ■ • . The Hon. D. Buddo; "And for tho year there was' an excess of 14,000." Mr. Buchanan: "I have stated so. The' hoii". gentleman' cannot escape from the conclusion that, there is something rotten in the State of Denmark when, in a timo. of undoubted prosperity iu many respects, we are losing-population'in this way.' ~ European and Maori Lano's. The hon. member for Taumaranui hud stated that there were 24 million acres of private freehold in the Dominion. The .Minister for Education had followed with a. statement that there were so maaiy as eight and a half million acres of private freehold, on which no improvements had been miadc". even to the extent of grassing the land. This reminded the speaker of the absurd statement made by the Minister for Education about the ivoolgrowers of the Dominion. Tho statement about the land was only to be accounted for by.au absurd want of knowledge of his subject by the Minister.. The land owned by Europeans, in both island*, included hundreds of thousands of acres of which no more could be made' than had- already been done. There was.a great deal of land which could not ire grassed. To attempt to grass it would be to throw money away. The comparison instituted by the 'Minister was absurd. Much of the Maori land had not even been fenced, it harboured noxious weeds, frequently nothing had been done, to reclaim it from a state of nature. Ho could not understand how the hon. gentleman had come to institute such an absurd comparison.

Tho Hon. G. Fowlds (alluding to European land): "I could show you thousands of acres with no improvements at all, and decent land at that." Mr. Buchanan admitted that some of tho land had not been improved as much as it might, have been. None the less, tlio comparison was absurd. . H e proceeded to qnote a statement by the Minister for Education in regard to a fall in the prico of wool. The Minister had stated that this would mainly affect the "wool kings." Against this was lo be. set the fact that of 21 million sheep 15,877.000 were owned by farmers owning less than a thousand sheep each. Tho Minister, as in this case, had been ludicrously wrong as to the land question. "Returning to the population question. Mr. Buchanan remarked that the country was losing numbers of people of means', and importing poor immigrants, who were un-

able to effectually replace thoso who wont away. Tho Government should use every effort to discover tire cause, nf this leakage, so that it might be checked. On the motion of Mr. Ell, the debate was adjourned, and Ilio House roso at 10.25 p.m.