ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1792, 3 July 1913, Page 8

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

; OPENING OF THE DEBATE.

, THE MOVER'S SPEECH.

■> Mr. C. A; WILKINSON (Egmont) mx 'ved: "That a respectful address , be pi* sented to his Excellency the Governor in' reply to his Excellency's speech." He con the tiovernment on the prosper. ity of the Dominion. There was no •unei nijvloyment in the country, although the' winter was far advanced; there were no i ndustrial disputes, and last'yeax the expo, rts for tho county had reached record figures. Wfliilo this was so, the prospects of good prioes for our products in the 1 uturo had never been brighter. Apart from th'a increasing demand for our go ods in London, there-was a prospect of mai iy of our staple products finding a ready i >ale in America when the tariff was revised, , as it was likely to be. He congratula: ted the Minister for Finanoe on the' sue cess of his mission to England. He was. not an advocate of heavy borrowing, but he was .sure that Now Zealand heaved a a' sigh of relief when' the news came thi it Mr. Allen had secured the money th at he wanted. Thefutureof the country n 'as, as was stated in the Speech, bound up', with the settlement of the land, and he hi 51>ed the Government would prosecute 1 vigorously the closer settlement policy to I. which they were committed. Kindred ,wa th thai question was the other question pf how to induce immigrants of the right kind to come to this country. Oao obsfacli > in the way of close settle- , ment and i ntonso farming was the inability of th 0 farmers to get workers. The influx ij f immigrants was not sufficient, and iti ost of the people who came werq used to i >ity life, and for that reason were unsuital >le as immigrants to this country. Ho i was glad to learn that tho Government \ proposed to introduce: • a Native Land h ! ill- At present the reservation of land s for the Natives- was having.- tho won >t possible results in causing t.W land' to' he wastefully or improperly farmed, and'; in ' demoralising tho Natives. He hope d that legislation would bo introduced to permit of the lessees of Native land i n Taranaki buying their lands outright. At present they had all absolute right of. renewal, for the Natives had no rig'ht of tl 3-entry—but on tho other hand tho Native s, however willing they might be • to do so, could not sell. The reason win ' the leasehold tenure under wl iicli i he lessees hold tile land wa p ba xl was that tho land was it the' end of each period of lease siibji >ct to revaluation, and there was under ' such 11, tenure no encouragement to t be tenant to improve it. Ho would like '.to see 'l;he State do something to allow t lie Maori to show what' he can do ns a 1 krmer. : At present the Maori was deter ioratingr lie had land, but he ivas makir ig no use> of it, and the Government shot ild assisit' natives' to settle on small farn as, General Criticism. He was 'very glad to see that the Government < rere going to aliow tho .settlers to help tl' iemselves if they wished to construct lig:' it railways. In Taranaki lni'<:p sums had been spent on the maintenance of. roads c iver which the traffic was heavy, when ' it ' would have been infinitelv cheaper f or the settlers to lay a'railway which wo- aid last without maintenance for manv v.ei irs. Previous Governments had aaver sllc fced tha oettlars to liiy ttww railways, &ad this was tho reason why

it had never been done. Now that the privilege was to be granted ho hoped the Government would not insist upon any standard gouge. He would like to 6eo a reform in the legislation governing lqcul elections in order that all tho elections for local bodies should be taken on the eamo day, and also the poll for the halfholiday. Regarding the half-holidav tho present system under which different towns in a district could fix dilferent da-, s could lead to confusion. He would prefer to 6ec tho poll taken over the whom district. He enumerated a number of articles in common use, most of them articles not manufactured in New Zealand, on which the Customs tariff should be reduced. To make up for tho loss of revenue he would suggest that a dtitv bo imposed on motor chassis (of which .£IBO,OOO worth came into New Zealand free last year), on cigarettes, and a tax on land agents. Increased incomo tax would make up the remainder. He would like to see something done to burst up the monopolies in this country, of whitn he mentioned several, tho most irupoilant of which were in sea transport- Perhaps tho Government might with advantage set up a Board of Commerce, similar to the board in America which could rogulato fares and freights to bo charged. Ho approved of the dofence scheme an l ho did not believe that any change of Government yrould bring about a change iu the defence system. Nor it rick' that we should have no defen;o at sea for our commerce. Ho had never agreed with the method - of paying a subsidy to tho Mother Country, nor had ho ever agreed in the opinion that colonial navies were "tin-pot affairs." He thought we should unite with Canada and Australia to establish a navy ■ in the Pacific, which could come under' tho control of the Imperial authorities in the event of war. In conclusion, he congratulated Mr. Speaker on his elevation to his important office. THE SECONDER. GOVERNMENT POLICY DEFENDED. • Mr. C. E. STATHAM (Dunedin Central) seconded the motion, and in doing so he congratulated his Escollency's advisers on the short, concise, and businesslike 6peech put into his Excellency's hand 6. Ho maintained that the Government, although they had been in ollico only, twelve months, had mode ' considerable progress in tho policy to which they had pledged themselves at the elections. Especially was this true in regard to finance. ■ The Government had como into office when there was no money in the Treasury, and there was at tho same time a world-wide stringency in the money markets. Tho position was aggravated by the fact that tho honourable, member for Awarua had neglected to raise money becauso he knew his Government was going out of office. The success of Mr. 1 Allen's mission to England showed that the people of England had confidence in the future of New Zealand. Mr. Russell: At 4 per cent! The Hon. W. Eraser: Yours ivas .at over 5 per cent. " <" Mr. Statham said that the loan had been raised .on better terms than any other loan in. the last few years. And the stock was now selling at a higherprice. Ono of the papers in New Zealand, the "Spectator, which he understood was owned by one of the large land-owners in the House—(laughter)—had said that the fact that' the stock was selling at a premium showed that tho country had lost some lj per cent. ' Mr. Russell: It showed how bad the flotation was. . : Mr. Statham 6aid that tho increaso of the price of the stock was a matter for congratulation, and ho quoted figures to show that the terms on which -the money was actually obtained were much better than any before.' ' ■ - Mr. Pcarce: /i'hey ■ would not lend it like that to the stop-gap' Ministry. Mr. Statham referred to ' tho jibe frequently offered to the Government, that they were tho friends of the large landowners. It was declared that millions of acres were in the hands of a few men. But had all this como to pass since July 6 of last year? Referring to Opposition charges of land ; agffreffation MY. Stathani, said that 'op 6 point made was that in the Pahiatua district a decline in population was. shown by tho last census. . Tho critics who mentioned! this had omitted to stato that the last consus Vas taken before the prosent Government took office. The Government was providing 'largo areas of land for settlement and £ums_ realised from land sales wore set apart in a special fund for the promotion of further settlement instead of being added to revenue as in the time of tho last Government. The Government had raised tho limit of borrowing under tho Advances to Workers Act from <£300 to .£4OO, ind under Advances to. Settlers from JBSOO to ' .£7OO. Notwithstanding the great financial stringency tho Government last year were able to spend more money upon public works ooid railways than was spent tho previous year. He oommended the- appWntmen of on English export as general manager for railways as a wise and progressive step. Speaking of pensions Mr.' Statham expressed the liopo that tho Government would this session reduce tha pension ago for women to GO, and also provido pensions at an earlier ago for blind and infirm people. Tho Government was pledged to put tho Upper House upon a more democratic basis. The Prime. Minister had done all that he could- last session to redeem his promise .and no doubt the Reform Bill would go through this year. Ho was glad to see that they were going to get local government reform. Mr. Russell laughed. • Mr. Statham: I am glad to seo th© hon. member for Avon laugh becauso he knows that we have been going to get local government reform for tho last 16 years. (Laughter.) Mr. Statham said he belioved military training should be part of tho education of every citizen of this country. Ho was glad to note that some amendments to tho Arbitration Act were promised, and he hoped they would' be of such a nature as to bring about and secure industrial peace. When tho Government took office thoy asked for an adjournment of only three weeks, and then set to work to familiarise themselves with their Department. They were not afraid, either,'to come back to tho House, and after a most successful session they set out to learn something about tho Dominion. ; • Mr. Russell:-Repeated "Hear, hears." (Loud laughter from tho Opposition.) . • Mr. Payne: Looking for the rainbow. Mr. Statham . pointed out, however, that the practice of Ministers travelling' had been entirely approved by the Mackenzie Ministry. In" conclusion, he said 1 that the Government might be called a Conservative Government in that it would aim to conserve tho best traditions of our race, and all that was good iri our legislation j a Liberal Gorernment. in that it was out to help those who needed help, and equal rights for all; and it was also entitled to be called a Progressive Government, becauso it was a Government that would keep abreast of. the times. It was, in. 6kort, an hpnest, straightforward Government, whioh would give wise administration. (Applause.) - i MR. W. D. S.,MACDONALD. i LAND SETTLEMENT.- i Mr. D. W. S. MACDONALD (Bay of Plenty) congratulated the mover and seconder on the temperate tone thoy had adopted in their speeches. Regarding tho statements of the member for Egmont about tho removal of .monopoly, lie could tay to the honourable member that if lie wanted to seo monopoly removed he should movo from' the sido of tho Houso on which ho now sat, for l\o was among those who had for mauy years defended monopolies. (Cries of "No.') He agreed in tho main with tho Government's proposals to mako the Upper House elective, but ho thought the Government wore not approaching the subject of refo-m of the Upper Houso so light-heartedly as they did last year. Perhaps they had learned in the meantime that there wero defects iu tho elective system, as well as in tho nominativo system. Ho was not, howover, in (greomont with all that tho member for Egmont had said regarding Niitho leaßos. Mr. Wilkinson had said that 'ho was anxious to do a fair thing by the Native, but he knew thorn wero a great many lessees in the Taranaki district who wore not anxious to do a fair thing by tho Natives. Ho would say further that under the present system it w*as not the European lessee, but the .Native owner, who was under an injustice. Crown Lands Settlement. Mr. Macdonald said that he must admit that hp was in a difficulty in discussing the Speech from the Ihroue. He recognised in it many t old friends, out tliore ■dras littla to indicate, in what direction the Bills projected would ko, i'be

Prime Minister had mado exaggerated statements about what he' proposed to do in the way of land settlement. He should havo told the people that practically tlio whole of the Grown lands had been settled by the Liboral Administration, with very grent success. Most .of the remaining Crown lands were second and third, class. Tho Prime • Minister, no doubt,' knew a good deal about the;tillago of small farms round' about Auckland, where he had lived all his life, but he was new'to tho business of opening back-block lands. Tlio Government, in .its haste to open lands for settlement, . lmd offered block? to which not a single road or track had been made. Ho was told'on reliablo au-' thority that one block in Taranakt; where all tho land-hunger was, had tailed to attract a singles applicant. , The Prime Minister: That is not true. Mr. G. W. llussell: Absolutely true. Mr. Macdonald v/enit on to contend that unsuitable land liaid been purchased by tho Government for settlement. He instanced the land recently acquired from Messrs. Beetham in the Wairarapa. This area, Mr. Macdonald stated, had been sold to the Government ait :14s. 9d. an acrc. Five thousand acres of this land, he was informed, carried 600 "steep.. He beheved that they wore fencing the rabbits off to keep them from .starving,' if thsy got on. Mr. Macdonald asked the' Prime Minister what' was the position regarding Crown lands when ho took office.' The Prime Minister: The worst possible position. Surveys had stopped. Mr. Macdonald quoted a return of tlio laiyl available for. settlement at. the end of 1912, and declared that" the land which tho present--Government had offered for settlement had been prepared _and surveyed under preceding Administrations. If the present Government Remained in office for ever, it could not settle more than a quarter as. much land as had been settled during the past twenty years, 'because there was no rnoto than a quarter of that area remaining in the country. The settlers who should be assisted to-day were the back-blocks settlers, who had established .themselves upon eecondclasa lands. This was much more important than enabling those who had already attained ai ..competence to acquire the freehold. Mr/Macdonald condemned the proposal of the member for Egm'ont regarding the .disposal of, Native lands. There were "European' settlers, he. said, who had not done very much better than the Nativo. Mr. Macdonald defended the administration of Native! lands carried out by. Sir Jas. Carroll. Had any other policy been followed, said, there would have been thousands of Native paupers in the country, to-day. He recognised that the present'. Native Minister was as anxious to treat the Maoris justly, as'his' predecessor had been. " Mr. . Macdonald. criticised at length the financial operations of . the Hon. Jas. Allen. The Hon. W.-FBASER moved the adjournment of the' debate at 10.55 p.m., and .tho House rose.'