PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 15, 12 October 1917, Page 6

PARLIAMENT

ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES

SETTLING SOLDIERS ON THE 1 LAND WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND WHAT THE STATE PROPOSES The Houso of Representatives met yesterday at 2.30 p.m. Mr. SPEAKER made his customary end of the session announcement that honceforth it will be permissible to advance Bills that havo already been introduced through all remaining stages at one sitting. ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES. MANY GRIEVANCES. Air. J. T. M. UUKjNSSjUI: (U'airarapa) moved for leave to introduce the Electoral Boundaries Commission Bill. The object of the Bill, ho said, would be to ensure that in periodical readjustment ot boundaries the Commissioners would sec that there should bo community of interest in the 'electorates. The piescnt method of fixing boundaries wa-J not sensible. Apparently the Commissioners sole idea was to get boundaries enclosing a certain population, regardless of all other considerations. .. Mr H G. ELL (Christchurck South) said 'that the best solution of the problem would be to increase the number of seats. This would obviate the necessity for such unwieldy electorates in the faouth Island. ~ , Mr. J.' ANSTEY (Waitaki) said ho wished to protest against the present system of representation in Parliament. Fantastic results were obtained now by sticking too slavishly to the test of mere numbers.'' Tliere ought to be more consideration- for community of interest m electorates. In the new Waitaki electorate there were two detached districts fifty miles distant from any other part of the Waitaki electorate. Their communications were with Dunedm and liivercargill, and not with Waitaki. Mr. B. P. HUDSON (Jtotueka) complained of anomalies in the new cutting up of electorates in Nelson district. He nrgued in effect that the district tnat had actually been cut out was not Motueka, but Buller. The new-elector-ate called Buller did not contain the chief town of the Buller district, WestP Mr. W. A. VEITCH (Wanganui) had complaints to make about Wanganui electorate. Parts, of Wanganui suburbs were in other electorates, and the voting power of the people was dissipated. Mr. J. COLVIN (Buller) drew attention to anomalies in his district. ' Mr. G. V. PEARCE (Patea) supported in some measure the complaint of the member for Wnnganui. Into his own electorate had been put a part of the Borough of Wanganui, while country districts were added to Wanganui. Ho thou"ht the Commissioners should pay some attention to representations made to them in regard to the new boundaries by people who had 'local knowledge. Mr. J. M'COMBS (Lyttelton) urged that fair representation could be served only with very much larger group electorates, and election by a system of proportional representation.

Maori Representation. Mr. C. J. PARR (Eden) suggested.that the Native race wag over-represented. lhe Maoris were not entitled on a population basis to the four members who represented them in the House.. ~,,,. Mr. E. M'CALLTJM (Wainui) said that many of tho anomalies created by the labours of the Boundaries Commission would be removed if two electorates were combined and allowed to elect two members. He urged tho Government to give attention to the injustice inflicted upon hotel owners by the alteration of electoral boundaries. It was not.fair that, hotels should b9 closed arbitrarily because thev had been included in ft»License electorates by the Commissioners when boundaries werebeing adjusted It would be reasonable to have a fixed number of.electorates for theSoubi Tsland and then increase- the number ot North Island electorates in. accordance with the growth of population. The Prime Minister. The EEIME MINISTER said that he did not know what thv Bill contained, and probably nobody else did. He thought the Electoral Commissioners had done heir best under difficult conditions B* recognised there was injustice with regard to hotelkeepers. Hβ had asked Parliament to put this matter Tight fhree years, ago' and a clause had been inserted in the Act providing that wheio possible hotels should be >fl in wet districts. But apparently this was. not always possible. An anomaly existed with regard to Maori representation One of the Maori districts was very small in point of voting power, and others were very large. He thought some adjustment of the boundaries of Maori electorates should be made without any reduction of representation. An electoral BUI would be necessary next session. Objections to the proposed new boundaries would be received by the Commissioners up to November 6, so there was plenty of time for people to suggest lmproveMr ' C. PABATA (Southern Maori) said his electorate was the biggest in New Zealand and the Maori population was much scattered, though small. He thought the Natives were entitled to retain their representation. . Mr. T. M. WILFOED (Hutt) said that Upper Hutt and Mangaroa had been cut out of his electorate and put into Otaki. Other members discussed the Jiew boundaries as affecting their own electorates. Suggestions were made that the boundaries should be changed less frequently, and that the Commissioners I should pay more attention than in tho past to community of interest. After Mr. Hornsby had replied, the Bill was introduced and read a first time. LAND FOR SOLDIERS. THE GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS. The Right Hon. W. F. Massey (Prime Minister) moved the second, readi ing of 'the Discharged Soldiers' Settlei ment Amendment Bill. He said that ' the Bill contained amendments which ! experience had shown to be necessary in the legislation already passed by the House. Already the Government had settled 541 soldiers on the land, und he considered that this was a very good achievement. It was true that some few soldiers had taken up land and given it up again, but he was not counting those. The jmmljpr of 5« represented tho men who were still on the land. He was glad to say that the percentage ot failures among the soldiers was low At present ordinary settlement had practically stopped; all tho land was being reserved for soldiers. He detailed the areas of land, which were considerable, reserved for returned soldiers in diireront parts of New Zealand." The Government had in view a scheme for the settleniMit of bush lands by soldiers. "When tho men came back groups of them would be employed on day labour on blocks nb bush land in felling the bush and preparing the land for settlement. When the land was cleared and (trussed the soldiers would he given first chance ot ■jelectin" it. The Government had advanced "the sum of .£IO,OOO to a group of settlors in :i soldier settlement liv.tlio North Island, to enable men to grt in for dairy farming. He was silad to announce" that of this «mm fOOO with interest had been paid off. Experience of this Wml went to show that the Stitc w»nld not make a loss on it' sddier settlement enterprises. He feTT smt that the Bill would prove a useful one. He had to acknowledge gratefully the assistance that had been "iven to soldier-settlers by various people The soldier-settlers had lost a good friend t fl,« late Mr G P. Donnelly. Many Waarapl settlers had been particularly generous in assisting to establish returned folTiers on the land. The Government vtk anxious to carry this work ns far as possible towards complete success. . Mr G WITTY (Riccarton) said tuo Bill 'was a good one., The Government

ought fo bo particularly careful in its ohoice of land for tho returned soldiers. The sections should bo near tho markets, ami should be reasonably easy to work. Tho proposal to creato soldiers' settlements, whero tho men could havo eonic social life, was a good feature of tho Bill.

Some Suggestions. Mr. E. NEWMAN (Kaugitikei) said that if the proportion of returned soldiers raiuiring land in t'ho futuro was as great as in tlio past,, a very largo 4uantiiy of land would bo needed. Jno Government ought to reserve Crowu ana Bcltlciuent lands for the soldiers, in view of the possibility of the so'diers returning witniu the next twelve or eighteen months. VU classes of land would bo required. Many of the men woalrt come back in the best of lieu lth, prepared to go into the back country and mnko a success of pioneer wont. A good clause of the Bill enabled the Government to linance a discharged poldier in buying a single farm. This would make it possible for a returned man to take over the land of it man just going to. the iront. Ho would liko to see provision made for the talcing over of land held; by aliens and "shirkers." This land should bo taken at the Government valuation and settled by returned soldiers. The sentiment of tile country was that the men who had fought for the nation should have the nick- of the valuable laud. He would liko to see a soldier-farmer appointed as uperintendent of soldiers se I ements m each island. Provision should be; made for ffe education <n the soldiers childieu at the new settlements.

Helping Returned Men. The Hon. A. L. HERDMAN (fttwneyGeneral) said that there appeared to be an impression abroad that New . Ze<lland had a number of returned soldiers looking for work. That was not the case. The Discharged Soldiers' Information Department had disposed of the great majority of the returned men who had needed assistance. It was a gratifying fact that most of the returned men did not need • any assistance in resuming civilian occupations. For the men who did need assistance provision on a comprehensive scale had been made. I hero were forty branches of his- Department a Dr. ol Thacker: The only Department that has any soul in it/" . Mr Herdmaii said Ins experience ot the returned soldiers was that -they wished to get back to work as quickly as possible. They did not want charily, and they did not want to become dependants of the Government. Bub the Department stood at the disposal of each man until he was re-established. It was ready to provide technical training for men who wished-to learn trades, and it would supplement pensions while the men were receiving instruction. The Department had in hand a scheme for putting men into trades and making up the difference between the award wage and what they could earn during the period of training. This -jvouM provide training of the most practical kind for returned meu who might reauire to learn a trade or a new trade. The details would be discussed with the employers and'labour organisations. Theexisting technical schools were all at the disposal of returned soldiers, and so were the State farms. The establishment of a central training institution was not deemed advisable, since the men \ wished o live at or near their own hosies. Only five blind soldiers had returned to New Zealand, and two had since gone back to England. Two of the others wero receiving training and one was on holiday. The Work of the Department would become more difficult when the great mass of the men returned to, New Zealand at the end of the war, but arrangements were being made well in advance. Every man as he returned would have the work of the Department brought under his notice. A sum of. .£1,000,000 would be ready for expenditure, and tho cmet Government Departments, including Railways and Public Works, wou d have arrangements made for works that would employ some thousands of men. ino great majority of the men returning after the war would be fit and well, and he had- no* doubt that work would.bo pressed general approval of he JolK He advised the Government to buygood land if possible, Iwoauso ho thought eood land was the cheapest. Mr D H. GTJTHRIE (Oroua). made a point of tho importance of training inexperienced men before putting them on the land, and he regretted that tho government had not adopted such a plan. ■He criticised the operations of. thei Land Purchase Board, saying that there should Dβ more North Island representatives on the board, as the two practical members aKS.sx It mitted and «P° rtwl wlttl ° n ° - VCT "Tto Hie rose at 0.15 a.m.