PARLIAMENT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 137, 11 June 1909, Page 7

PARLIAMENT.

' TO-MY'S BUSINESS. . LEGrSLATIVE COUNCIL r Address in reply. The /Council met at 2.30 p.m. to-day. THE MOVER. The* Hon. ,l as . M'Gowan moved the Addues-s-in-Reply. He said he would h» as lw.ef as possible, and vrould refer to. one .or two points only. The Imperial! Defence Co-nference would be one of tha modt important conferences that hadl over been held in Great Britain. Re« ff n 1 ring to the Dreadnought offer he de-. cfen-ed that New Zealand had never yetf >£<aid as much towards the support of th«f "British Navy as, she should have done., .(Hear, hear.) He regretted that some* people— not the workers but some who. professed to represent them— had sefini fit to suggest that the money requited} lor a Dreadnought could be better spent* m finding enjoyment. New Zealand! had a right to be proud of the genius! ol the man who had done, the riantf J. hl ?6 J at the right time. In doing vu*tf - he had he had staked the position of -his Government so lar a& the ratification ofi the offer was concerned. (Applause? Wards the upkeep of the British Navvj .New Zealand should not pay more than? her fair share, but the should pay her. fair share. He moved the motion— (An,' plause.) 1 ANCS?HER EX-MINISTER. The Ho*i. C. H. Mills seconded tli« ' m ?tion. "People, he said, had watched? i. with keen inieiesi the darkening clou* t over the European horizon. One lart?* pow/n- seemed to be almost courting ag-< . greesion. It was to he regretted thafl • wnilemany eminent men were doing/ ' tAeiv oest to promote peace others we™ ; doing thir utmost to carry out schemes' for butcnenng humanity wholesale. Con-, •Bequentjy Bruaia had to prov-jcle again.sfc! the possibility oi war. New Zealand** aubtidy to the British Navy wa* not! sumcient ; no doubt ws had to give according to our .neans, but we had to help to maintain Britain's, supremacy of( the s«s. Referring to financial matter* j lie bam the Dominion wa/s short ol capital. He advocated borrowing for letcw" timale nseda. Metaphorically tpeakingg what he asked was, n,oro natural than, _ that that a son requiring capital shouldf go to his father? The Hon. J. E. Jenkinson : Prettvi common too ! The Hoii.2lr._ Milk: Q uite tfg ht 100 „ so long as he &flowa that his work an I prospects are good. TChori. at Homo,, be continued, Sir Joseph Ward would! jave m3ny opportunities <yf doing a real" service to New Zealand .\ n -v eP p ect ofi financial mailers. OTHER SPEAKERS. The Hor. H. F. \Vigram supported the offer of the JAeadnoughl. As the debat* vas unlinked m ,ts scope, he", would srjy a few words on the questiono. aenral navigation. He was certain:, that i3i v very short time aerial navies-, lion -would be a live subject in practical po ldys, and "he suggested that Ihe Pome -\uj,ister, when at dome, should mak», «Himnes as to ihe development iharhad) V9Ken place. ' u The v B , On - J '- R - Sinclair, like those who had preceded him, approved th» } Dreadnought otfei. Made as it was, it? was, worth -infinitely moie than its money; value. It wou i d bave io£t itfi value f f Minister had hesitated while consiitu-, Uonal questions were being discussed. WatixKial defence was a national duty, ' u Qf t (jabl " et would have been craven ifit had not rightly interpreted ihe will' '-£ the people. Was it, he asked, iov these colonies, with their sjA-it of in- | dependence, to take help and shirk pay ?i j We had to do more than give Dread- , noughts j we had to see that our own defences were in order; that our docks" ' v.ere able to take in British shins of> J war. (Hear, hear.) We had to see thatf 3 coal supplies were stored at our bar-, r bours. (Hear, hear.) He was convinced that the Ministry had done the right! " thing, and that its action would be I supported from one end of the Domin-j, 5 ion to the other. } The Hon. C. M. Luke also empha-, bised at some length the necessity for J helping to maintain the supremacy of the British Navy. Diplomacy required6 something more than soft words and 1 l rounded periods. He welcomed and ap-" r plauded the New Zealand Government's' offer of a Dreadnought to the British ' Navy, and approved the representation, of the Dominion at the Imperial Defence > Conference by Sir Joseph Ward. Tho , country would not suffer by Parliament adjourning until 30th September, and, ' as Mr. Mills had suggested, the Prims: '■ Minister might be able to do o great deal of good when at Home, so far as our finances, were concerned. The Hon. J. Anstey spoke en similarlines. He urged the need for an effective. ■ and sensible system of defence. He did 1 ! 1 not wish to see the flower of our youngs : population drawn from industry, but ho did say we could do something infinitely better than was at present the case. The volunteers had too many "show" functions to attend ; thare • was too muck, shining up of boots, and too much gold! lace. (Hear, hear.) With respect to unemployment, he shhl it Mas not ne«.rly so acute as it had been at other lime* in the history of the Dominion; there was a ceitain amount of unemployment in Ihe tltieo, but things w ere' good in the countiy districts. The (speaker said" industry was hcirosscd by too muny lestrictious in the -employment oi labour,, and unemployment consequently ignited. . The best way to end the unemployed,. ' difficulty would be foi the Government' to throw open for settlement under tho leasehold system oveiy available section, of land. 'While he praised the Government for what it had done in the matter of land settlement, it was a fact that the lands administi-dtion was getting very bad. Everyono Mould lemembei- tho miserable Otekaike business. Then septions were frequently cut up too large. At Morven Hills, land capable of carrying one sheep to three acres was let m< .i 40,000-acre block. That land v.oukL have been capable of maintaining at least? six settlers Ho also condemno ! the' practice of i>\en permitting Crown &ottlers, who h:ul made money, buying, the goodwill of neighbouring Crow a sections. Mr. Anstey reiteratiu.l lh>i con. j demaatoiy remarks he made la?'. fj*«u>n I on the iii..i,Kiministrai:on o! ,(Ji«wi; l.uuls iby tiutl bodkb, college go\uii;ui -, ot | The llom. Mi. V.iHs h?fi ?pjken of Im.iui -.id depicshsi-jn. but ho had ilitu'gau'txl Vhe gi<-ai increase ni opoiU foi <-.M,,y ,lji> vc.ir, «.euipuied v.ilh M;iy 1 .^* \v.ir. , -ho Hon. \V. \V. .M'.C.iid!-'.il»o «i.oke. .'/J rOriN'KY-GENERAL IN KEPLV. In i-i]ib , tho Hon. Di. Inndkiy cmgiiUiiliit^J tho mover ;i:ul „et, ndor, ami- s<i.l ho w.ij, glad th.n ih^ Council had ,-o waimly pn.lui.-i'd lhs proposal.-- of the tJovc. nnivul ji i .<U jomninn tho scusic.i. So f.u . .- Mr. Anstoy's remarks on land a'lmin.tit.tlion, wero concerned, ho did nut >u'.nnt that they amounted to a condemnation of tha fiovernmont The Government was, ho said, doing its utmosl to promoto closer settlement. The motion was carried, and tho Coun^ oil ad.iourn.ed at 12.30 till 2,30 p.m.