PARLIAMENT.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 47, 23 August 1895, Page 4

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. , Ybstbbdat's Astbrnoon sitting. ths bank op new zealand. The Hon. C. C. Bowen gave notice that he would ask thai the time for bringing up the report of the Bank Committee be extended till Tuesday. The Hon. B. Pharazyn moved for a return showing— l. The totals of all losses snttained by the Bank of New Zealand through advances to, or other transactions with, the directors of the Bank from its commence, moat.- 2. What, if any, are the total ac*. vanoes to the present directors, or othor obligations inonrred by them to the Bank. 3. What amount of loss has been sustained by the Bank through advances or other transactions to or with members of varionGovernments, and whether all these liabilities have been written off. The Attorney-General considered that the calling attention to the matter by the Hon B. Pharazyn would be sufficient to ensnre that the Bank Committee would obtain the information required. The matter was now ttibjudke, and the Government was anxious and determined to have the fullest information on th« tabjtot. Tie Hon. W. Beynoldi said that in the affairs of the Bank the grossest mismanagement — even approaching oriminality — had taken plaoo. He knew that great losses hod been earned to the Bank by advances to direotore, friends of directors, and membors of the Ministry. » The Attorney-General— Not of the present Ministry. The Hon. W. Beynolds said that advances had been made to members of Ministries cone by, and also to officers of the Bank. He moved to amend the motion by oalling also for information as to losseß sustained by the Bank through advances to, or other transactions with, its legal advisers and ite paid officers. After some disonesion the amendment was lost by 25 to 5. The Hon. B. Pharazyn offered to withdraw hia motion, reserving the right to bring it forward after the presentation of the report of the Committee. The Hon. J. Rigg objected to withdrawal, and a division was taken, resulting in th loss of the motion by 22 votes to 9. The Hon. J. MaoGregor moved that it be an instmotion to the Seleot Committee to state in its report, in addition to its oonolusions and recommendations, the reasons for the same, and the evidence on which suoh conclusions and recommendations have been arrived at, in so far as such, evidence can b» given without disclosing the affairs of the Bank's customers. The Hon. C. C. Bowen said it had already been left to the discretion of the Committee to decide what evidenoe they wonld report. He pointed out that the motion was useless, as the Committee included members of the Lower House, which the motion, if oarried, oould not affect. He urged the mover to withdraw his motion. The Hon. J. MaoGregor thereupon withdrew the motion. riBBT MADINQ. The Biver Boards ' Act Amendment Sill (the Hon. J. MaoGregor) was received frum th* Lower House and read a first time. TOTAL BTAGBB. The Threahing-maohine Owners' Lien Bill was read a third time and passed. The Gisborne High School Act Amendment Bill passed through Committee unamended, and passed its final stages. A BTTLINQ. The Speaker gave his ruling on the question submitted to him at the last sitting as to whether a olause proposing to repeal the Otago Dook Act, 1883, oould be inserted in the Dook Aot Amendment Bill, whioh is a Local Bill. He held that while the Conncil had power to deal with Local Bills as i> thonght fit, it was not just or right to insert suoh a clause in a Local Bill, as such an action would take by snrprise the persons interested in the Aot of 1883. The Counoil adjourned at 3.45 p.m. HOUSE OF BEPBEBENTATIVES. Yistmdat's Axt»bnoon Sitting. local bills. The following Bills, passed final stages, with amendments t—Timaru Publio Park (Mr. Hall-Jones), Inveroargill Corporation Beaezve (Mr. J. W. Kelly), and Dnnedin Loans Consolidation (Mr. Pinkerton). ttJUTXBTON TBTJST LUND BMPOWBBINQ. The second reading of this Bill, empowering the Masterton Trust Land Trustees to -■ mortgage the property for the purpose of providing a fund to build a Town Hall, was moved by Mr. Hogg. Mr. Allen said the Trust was originally created for education, a publio library, and purposes of general utility. A Town Hall was not of " general " utility, while technical education would be. The fund should be devoted to meet the desir* of the Maaterton people for technical eduoation, and if it were dissipated in the Town Hall proposal, teohnical eduoation in Masterton wonld be postponed for years. No sinking fund waa provided. Mr. Hogg said it was intended to have a teohnical school in connection with the Town Hall, as well aB debating oluhs, and he knew no institution likely to do so mnoh good to youth as a Town Hall. In 10 years the Trustee* would be able to pay off the debt. The seoond reading was carried by 42 to 13, and the Bill passed final stages. SERVANTS B1«STBT OFFICI BILL. This Bill was passed through Committee and final stages with the amendments of the Labour Bills Committee. Evbninq Sitting. Asiatic .and othir immigration bistbiction bill. In moving that this Bill be committed, the Minister for Labour said it had passed the Statutes Bevision Committee almost unaltered. Notwithstanding the adverse oritioism of last year's Bill, he had letters from all over the colony claiming the necessity for suoh a measure, and Australian .Labour leaders favourably oriticised it. It was orndely drafted, and introduced mainly to create discussion. Frieons now cost the colony £30,000 a year; lunatics, .£50,000; hospitals and obaritable aid, .£lBO,OOO. The taxpayers had already to spend nearly a quarter of a million on the care and the inoaroeration of the undesirable. We had quite enough imbecility, vice, and disease, without bringing more. If the colony opened the door to the drunkard, pauper, lnnatio, and men of inferior" races, undoubtedly these would multiply in the community. Measures so far taken had been in effectual. Asiatics had not been kept out Lunaoy was increasing, so were diseases suoh as tuberoulosis in the form of consumption. . The House should do its best to diminish the amount of vice and orime and disease now amongst us, and should not permit it to be increased from outride. The Chinese petition would lead one to imagine that they were muoh betttr than the average Europeans of the community. It was an ingenious and oleverly-worded document, but did not square with faots. Laßt year 170 Chinamen left the country, and if they took on an average 4200 they took .£33,000. He did not know whether they took so muoh, bnt believed they took out of the country .£-5,000 annually. Dr. King, Inspector Goldie, and Constable Walker had recorded tb» dirt, vioa, and immorality of the Chinese bouses in AnoUand. (Mr. O'Began and Mr. M'Gowan — " Europeans own the houses.) The Chinese were industrious, but if 'every Chinaman in the country left to-morrow, plenty of industrious unemployed would be ready to take their place. (Mr. W. Kelly— "Who'd grow the cabbageif") Because in one or two little places the vegetable trade had got into the hands of Chinamen, that was not to say there were not many whites who would be ready to take it up. The Chinese competition was unfair. The European had to live decently, support his wife, wear decent clothes, and contribute to oharitable aid. The Chinese quarters were nests of vioe; their competition was unfair, and their work was not wanted. It was said that Chinese were going already, but the; wew not going. They were increasing (A voice. — "What about the deaths?")' ' After the Aot of 1888, the number of Chinese diminished till 1893. Since then there has been an inoreaee. It was said that, because Englishmen had been foroed on China and Japan they should ' not exclude Chinese and Japanese here, but i Europeans in China were only allowed to settle obi few spots on the coast, where they only carried on wholesale trade with their own oountry, and did not compete with the Chinese small trader und labourer. They were told they must not try to keep out a highly oiviliied race like the Japanese. (Mr. B.,Thompson— " They won't allow you to keep them out.") European labourers were not allowed to go to Japan. Mr. Thompson wonld not be allowed to buy land in the Japanese capital, or to start a market garden or a shop there. (Mr. B. Thompson—" They would not oharge me .£lOO poll-tax for land-, ing.") The Europeans wandering over Japan were tourists spending their money with the Japanese, and we would not objeot to Japanese doing that here. He was isolined to doubt whether the Anglo-Saxon race had fallen so low and the British £mpirs fallen «o low as to allow the colony to be diotated to as to its laws by an out-of-the-way Asiatio Power, and if it did America would be glad to reoeive the colony and to protect it from such contingency, i • (Dissent.) If the Japanese said they would not allow this law, they would have to 1 declare war on the British nation. The Japanese at present did not want to send their labourers here, and would not objeot to their being exoludad. The law already excluded Chinamen who were British subjects, and the so-called Assyrian hawkers who came from Hindostan were •qually undesirable. They were not even producers, as the Chinese were. They did not lead sanitary lives, they were not moral, and not detirable. Tuberoulosii or consumption was beoomine a national taint in New Zealand (ories of " No"), yet patients suffering from this were being shipped out in numbers. The Bill was not as drastic as the American law. The Minister quoted American experience, a speech by Lord Boßebery, and the figures as to crime by Australian criminals in New Zealand formerly quoted by Mr. Oeo. Fisher in the House, as well as various newspaper extracts relating to English offenders being tat off on their promising to come out to New Zealand. He also instanced the crippled boy reoenUy found in Wellington s*°™? &P ihio P ed out from England. His Bill had not been brought in at the request of the Trades Unions. Dr. Newman ridiculed the last year's Bill The Atkinson Government in 1888 had prevented New Zealand from being flooded by Chinese, and Mr. Beeves was extending the Bill Of 1888. A large portion of the lunatios were born and brad in the colony, but the ' Bill should be supported, for they should keep out undMirable people- 'and keep out dUaaM. ajd^rime. Nations should look after thair'own oriminals and lunatios. Mr, Dnttiie said there were health regulations in existence, and ifaerp was abundance of power to prevent dJKlHf^beinir introdnetd, A» to Mr. PishSr^&loh.^hM the Ministry oanit into pow« TOty wer» going

o cure the poverty of the woria. Tha £ 10 i 8 ed this abroad m A™*™ l . I *., ana^ther* Ttt s a rush to this country of aU the people tfr Beeves had quoted. Since 188» 414 note Chinese had left the country than had •ome into it, and deaths had to be aooounted or in addition. The Chinese in .the conn;ry were snpplying the population with, vegetables, which would otherwise be unprocurable. There was double the quantity rf fruit imported into Wellington than into »ny other town, »nd it was Hold cheaper her* than in any other town, thanks to the method and oare of the Chinese. It was nndenrablo that there should be inorease in the number of Chinamen, but those here now wero doing no harm. An inorease of the poll-tax to £Z0 would be sufficient. I he conditions inNew Zealand were different to Amerioa. Tbe oloseness to Europe resulted in a continual danger from pauper immigrants. The Bill was a bid for popu"■s%: Stevens strongly supported the Bill. Mr. K. Thompson said it was ntter nonaenee to say this Bill was to prevent the flooding of the labour market. It was simply brought in to divert the attention of the working!men-a bit of politioal [elap.trap— for the* Chinese iv the colony did Lnot compete in the labour marketf *JW ™* c traders, miners, and market R**^" 8 : Chinese naturalised in Hongkong oduld not be poll-taxed, and Japan w>u» not tolerate * il?r!"o%eg»n said it wm the tfrtSftinees of the Chinamen that was objeoted to *y those who advocated European thrift. Sines*. H»l the- number of Chinese in New Zealand f J»d deoreased by a thousand, and it would M time enough to legislate when they w«t« coming in numbers. The wreok of the Catterthun showed- that the Chinese under such oiroumstanoes were as good as ourselves, and he knew personally of many arts to the oredit of the race. Mr. Collins considered it unfair to Bubmit our workpeople to competition with thOße who did not intend to remain amongst us, and many of whom were really Elaves wort* ing for slave masters. Mr K. M'Kenzie said the Chinese had done more harm on the gold&elds than anywhere else in the oountry. , Mr. Willis, while disapproving of any influx of Chinese labour, said the Chinese amongst us were honest, law-abiding, and induatrious people, and he had known great benevolence on their part, as for instance the Chineae baker in Auokland who distributed bread free in times of distress. The contract labour clauses were oppressive. Mr. M'Gowan considered the position taken up by the Minister harsh and unfeeling. Chinamen took upoallings whioh Europeans leftunfllled. The labouring classes would no doubt like a fence erected round the colony to keep out everyone else. The Chinaman, when he could not afford a good house, had to g8 to a oheap neighbourhood, but when a Chinaman had means he moved to a better Oddity, and there were swamps and gravel wastes all ore* the colony which Europeans would not tonoh, and which Chinamen had turned into gardenß. They added to the wealth of the country by getting gold from old goldfields. , „ ... Mr. Millß, while considering the principle fair, did not go so far as the Bill. , Mr. G. W. Russell did not consider the Bill went too far with regard to Asiatios, but he objected to the olauses relating to Europeans, and especially to " contraot labour." Mr. Buddo considered the Bill should molude negroes. Mr. Crowther objeoted to holding shipowners responsible for passengers over whom they had no control. Mr. W. Hutohison considered that siok uerßons should not he prevented from coming to the oolodt for the benefit of their health. Mr. T. Mackenzie said if Chinamen commanded a number of votes they would not hear them attaoked as some members had attaoked them. Chinamen had brought fruit and vegetables within the reaoh of the poor, and this Europeans would not do. Mr. Bell objeoted to the agents of a ship here, who had nothing whatever to do with the matter, being made liable to damageß. Was this fairP (Cries of " No.") It was an enormous extension of the Imbaoile Passengers Act, whioh provided that the ship should be responsible for five years for any lunatio, idiotic, deaf, dumb, blind, or inQrm person likely to become a oharge on a charitable institution. With regard to that class of peraonßthe shipmaster would know, and could refuse to take them, but under the English Passenger Aotß the shipmaster was compelled to take une persons. It would be impossible ior the captain or owners to tell whether a man might within three months apply for work to the Labour Bureau or for aid. The Imbecile Passengers Aot did all that was required. The Minister, in reply, said the Imbecile Passengers Aot did not go far enough. Various matters objeoted to conld be dealt with in Committee.. It was not proposed to exolude all invalids and persons coming to Now Zealand for their health, but they must put a stop to the inorease of consumption by excluding tuberculosis. The Bill was then committed, audprogresß immediately reported. The House rose at 12.55 p.m.