"APPEAL FOR VOTES." MR. MASSEY'S OPINION OF THE BUDGET. DEBATE ON FINANCIAL STATEMENT OPENED. LACK OF A LAND POLICY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 64, 13 September 1911, Page 3

"APPEAL FOR VOTES." MR. MASSEY'S OPINION OF THE BUDGET. DEBATE ON FINANCIAL STATEMENT OPENED. LACK OF A LAND POLICY.

11 GOVERNMENT OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS." / "■"■■ In the presence, of crowded galleries aud a lull attendance of members, th© debate on the Budget commenced in the Honee of Rcprceentativcs last night. s My. Massey, Leader of the^Oppositioft, waa tho Host fipeuker. He realised, he ■tit), that he hnd undertaken, a v«ry heavy contract in starting to debate imch a. big Statement j for one reason, because it contained so many matters which were irrelevant and unworthy of a place in any Financial Statement delivered by the Minister of finance to the Parliament of New Zealand. I VOTE CATCHING. The Statement wae intended for vote catching, and no other purpose, but the trap was not cleverly laid, and he be« 1-Jeved tlmb in vain would the fleb of tile fowler bo laid in sight of the bird. (Laughter.) It was an appeal for vfctes J fiom a Government that had outlived its u«eftdnegj3. and which, according to one who was \mkh and was now outride, had lost the confidence of its supporters. The ,people Unew very well that they were bring aeked to sell their Votes, artd that they" would be asked to foot the bill when it came along, and he was quite •urn they would not be a party to any aiich transaction. PUBLIC DEBT EXTINCTION. A« to the Public Debt Extinction Act, I which hn regarded as a beneficent propneal. he wanted 'to call attention to nome important facts, By previous legislation—the* Government Loans to Local Bodies Act and another Act=~sinking ftmds were provided fov loans to local bodies and the old war loan. Those pinking funde had up to last ye&v amounted to £922,000, but by the Act J of last year that amount was used as a ' capital amount under the Act. Since then two loans had fallen dve t amounting to £16,000 and £52,000, respectively. Jf the Act of last year had not been m force those loans Would have been paid «>it, but as it wad, they were added to the total of the debt of tho Dominion, He had no doubt that some Government would come along in future and divert the sinking funds to some other purpose. The sum set apart this year for the extinction of the public debt of about eighty-one millions wafl only £li*,ooo or £13,000. while the debt itself liad been increased by between £6,000.000 and £7,000,000. Sir Joseph. Ward : That is not corfeet, and the hon. gentleman ought to know it. ' Mr. Masaey; The hon, gentleman knows that what I am saying is absolutely correct, As to Treasury bills, he asked the Prime Minister to state the exact position but he did know that at the 30th of June there were £400,000 outstanding. Ho challenged the Treasurer to proyG otherwise^ ; JStfECJ 1 ' OF. OPPOSITION . /. CftlTiClßMv He congratulated the Government on its proposals with tegafd ,'to his pro^ posaJs m connection with the Death Duties Act. because ho (Mr. Maasey) had made the same pf&posftte some time ago. (Laughter.) The newspapers would prove that to be the case. It proved the valtto and effect of Opposition criticism. , There had all along, been dissatisfaction with the working of the Act, and he was sure that when the Act was passed member* did not know they were giving theiv assent to harassing and vexatious legisMion. • The Act was designed to raise £150,000 a year, but he behoved nearer £300,000 Would bs raised, and hs hoped the Prime Minister woiild amend tho Act even further than he now; proposed. ffOR THE FARMERS. Ac to the Farmers' Cooperative Banks and the Family Land Settlement proposals, ho had no objection j on tho contrary, 'if the Bilk were satisfactory they would have his very hearty support. The Farmers' Banks were a new proposal as fa.r as ]S"ew Zealand was concerned, but the system had worked well in European countries, and he saw no reueon why it should nob work hers. Bub tho 1 stumbling block would be .the liability, of another man's debts. 'As to the _, Family Land Settlement proposal, ho welcomed it, but his objection waa that so very little land wa« being provided by tho Government for land for set.tlemsnt P«rposee. That was ' tho difficulty. The Prime. Minister knew perfectly well taut it was possible for the Government to provide suitable land if lb felt inclined ! to do so, • LAND POLICY WANTED. That was the only reference to the Jand policy of the Government, and thfo reference wa« jowly incidental. What he asked, was the policy of the Government on the great question 6f tenure? Did the Government favour the freehold or the leasehold? What did it favour? Why did, nob the Government come' out into tho, open on a great occasion such as this and tell the people where it Ftood. That was what the Government would do if,io wa« worthy of its position, but the Govortuneue did not 'do it: There was plenty of room for any Minister of l>ands to distinguish hiitis"lf in connection with the Land policy of th« country. Appaiently tho present Government had neither the will nor the energy, nor the administrative ability, and that- arose /r/jiit tho fact that the Right Hon. gentleman was Mintetei.' for Lands— and he w#s nob finding fault j with him in that Connection, it wv« proved by the fact that he was Minister of Lands, whiclifnteant that thetc was nn one in tho whole of the Cabinet bel ler fitted for it— no one was t,o weil fitted fnr it. How, ho afiked. oouid land settlement prosper under such condi- ' lions'/ A progfo.-siv6. land policy v<a? ncceasat'y t" the fu'ogie'-s of tfta co'antrj , ' and a, Government ihyfc did r.ot brn"^ F,ur,b a poliry iorwaid might not 1o Ift i y.L!o#ed to centime in offrr. FALLING OF1? IN SIiTTLtSMEXtf. B<*ttlemcnt of Clown lands wjb vtty i much lew last year, than the year before, and even that was ifisn than for the j^ur before, as shown, by the Lands fUrporfs jjr&ented to Parliament. In spite of the tremendous demand for hwuf 10,000 j acres le?s wern settled last y«ar ihan tli« i year before. There had a'eo hcen s> fw'.iug off of nearly two-thirda in the area of lauds for wtflement" provided. Sir Joseph Ward t Do you want u« t/> jfjvd £2 an acre mofo than the land is worth? Mr. Mas«*«y s Ilicra i* plenty if land available for settlement purposes at a reasonable price, and if his department cannot provide it t elia.ll be very glad to do so. and without commission j Sit' ,ht4sp\i Ward : They generally ask j (£S aft aei'e more than the land is worth. A/f. 5Id«&?y «a(<t h« waf< reminded of (the 50,000 acres of native land &hteh thg

Government allowed to be cold, and 1 which the Government could have acquired. • Sir Joseph. Ward: The- Government could not have acquired it. Mr. Maesey went on. to emphasise the demand for land that existed among the gum diggers in the North, a-nd the difficulty they had in obtaining sections. He hoped that what he said would have the effect of waking up the Prime Minister and the Department of Lands. INCREASE IN PUBLIC DEBT. Mr. Mamsey , complained that the Budget did not clearly set out the increased indebtedness of the Dominion ; he had no doubt the Prime Minister was not at all proud of it, because the increase amounted to £6,662,477. The attempts to mislea*d the public in regard to the public debt would do more harm than good. The subject of finance was the most important matter touched nn in the- Financial Statement. Once again lie ventured to advoc&te caution, though the caution might fall on deaf ears. He refrcred to statements by Sir Joseph Ward that the country should very carefully guard against any increase in borrowing. , Thia statement tvas made at a time when the country was borrowing three and a-half millions per year. What was the position when .the country was borrowing six and a-half millions per i year? Hp admitted cheerfully that the country had recovered from the shock j which'it received when the five million loan waa placed on the London money market. (Laughter from the Government benches.) The loan was not a failure on the part of the cottntry-~it was A failure because of bad administration. Ten months had now elapsed since the placing of the loan, and yet details of the cost had not yet been presented. In the Financial Statement a very great deal of space had been U£«d to cloud the transaction. He challenged the Government to tell the Houee the details of the loan. No one knew how far the eomewh.it extraordinary concessions offered had been taken advantage of by investors. He did not want to give any opportunity for being misrepresented, and he wished to make it quite clear that he did not object to borrowing, but he objected to the borrowing of the amounts that had been raised in recent years. He objected to- the Government's financial methods. On the opinion of a high financial authority they knew that money had been cent out of this country for investment. The Hon. T. Mackenzie : Why not? Mr ; Masseyj Became there ie room in this country for its investment. Mr. Mackenzie; Because they are getting 8 and 10 per cent, for it. Mr. Massey said it was evident he was treading on the Minister's corns, and Mr. Speaker peremptorily ordered that interjections should cease. Continuing, Mr. Massey dealt with the investments of the Post Office Savings Bank— money which was lent to the Government at 34 per cent. That was the point he wished to stress. It was quite certain that the five million loan would cost nearly 4 per cent. That being co. the people of New Zealand who deposited their money in Ihe Post Office Savings Bank should get the same rate of interest a« outside lenders got from the Government. RAILWAY WORkING.' Dealing with the railways, he said he was pleased to learn that the railway earnings had increased. The increase was, of course, due to the increase in long distance fares. He did not admit that the railways were .paying what was represented. It was pro? poeed to reduce fares on long distance travel, but something more snould be done. Suburban traffic should ,be encouraged and. the population 'of the towns spread over a larger area. Thie was the w»y to bring about the succeed *of a- town-planning scheme. He believed in one houee, one family, one landlord, Mid th» landlord in every instance the head of the family. STATE NOTE ISSUE. One of the most startling thing* : in the Statement was the reference to a State note issue. Had« the member for Slaaterton been in hie seat he would have felt inclined to congratulate Mr. Hogg on whs* had occurred. He a&w nothing very startling or wrong as it was set forth in the Statement, but the danger wa« thfs s That .some day the imnmter of Finance might com© along and ask for power to do away with the gold reserve or ask authority to issue paper for other purpose*— for the payment of services rendered to the State. Sir Joseph Ward : The proposals have nothing to do with a paper euwency. Sir. M&ssey repeated that he hoped the Government, would not go further than was indicated in the Statement. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. He ridiculed tha suggestion that- th* money invested inpublic buildings was interest bearing. Why we had not even an insurance or depreciation fund ! There were many matters in the statement which he had not attempted to deal with. Somo of the proposals he heartily supported. Anything that made for the good of the country would have hi* eupport. He did not agree with the hon. gentleman when he said that the people of the country did not feel the burden, of taxation. He agreed that' times werefairly good, but there were other opmione. When times were good, however, we should not live up to tho liirtit of our Depression would come ; it- followed prosperity aa 1 sure a*' night followed day, and when the time of depression did come they should bo in a position of employing 'the country 'e population. „ , BEFORE THE ELECTION. They were approaching the end of tho Parliamentary period, and in, a very lew weeks they would all be going out ofl office. He hoped that most , of them would be returned, and that the fronb benches of that, side (the Opposition) would have a, majority of ..supporters.* If members looked ba«fc they would' pee that there had been. a. tremendous increase in ta-satioti) and with that in« creaec there had been a tremendous increase in the cost of living. People had now far more difficulties in making ends meet than tvas the caee three years ago. A member : How would you relieve it? Mr. Massey s I have bee-n trying t« &how you for tlno last half hour. He believed that every man snould be paid in proportion to hi* work and his responsibility. _ There had been a vriy serious falling off in connection wlfit land settlement, '('here was unrest i:i the comitr'" .tnd tii,it uitiWif was not ihe ftvilf f d tho country. It was Ihf unit of tho («« eminent— a. GiA eminent, i hit bad outlKvd its itfcjfulncw. The. Government lia/J not tho ronfidonefc ot the. cfttmtn. and could nob rise to it.-* tesponsibjliticr. THE HON. D. 6UOOO \U REPLY. Tlw Hon. I). Buddo followed. As to the Opposition policy, he said ifc was not only a policy of shreds artd patchc?, bub looked very much as. if it was borrowed. Mr. Masspy wanted ths country to "fiivfl us a turn/ but he made a very pcov bid for the reeitrrsctiofk ftf the old party. The Opposition had g<tne out of office- with a bad reputation, and' during an exodus wbinh had nnb been equalled by auy of the Australasian colonies. Ac to the policy pub forward/ by the Opposition, he said the finances of the Dominion were announced every quarter, thp breakfast tabl© was practically free, the. amount of native Jand that c.f>u!d lie acquired by the Crown. vtna very small, the Opposition did not Ftipport the Town-Planning 1?ill recent- & Drought do.wn ; and .the GoYgfiiaient,

waa now proposing an amendment of the Old Age Pensions Act^-an Act which the Opposition had opposed. SETTLING THE LAND. As to land settlement, the Minister Said that altogeti.e* about- 2000,000 acres had been settled duri; g the past year, but' he read figures to show that in the last report of ihe New South Wales; Department far less had been taken up than in New Zealand. As to the land for settlements policy, he pointed out that we now had the Land Settlement Finance Act in operation. They also had to remember the high prices ruling for land, which did not Wafraflt the belief that the land con id be cut up and settled under profitable conditions. tt was- no use settling people on the land unless they could be 'shown to have a prospect of making a comfortable living. The land policy of the Government had been carried on at a speed consistent with eafety. THE PUBLIC DEBT AGAIN. Regarding the extinction of the Public Debjf, the total amount that was ta come out of the Consolidated Fund for that purpose was £144,880— an immense difference between the £12.000 or £13,000 mentioned by Mr. Massey. All Mr. Massey wanted to do was to justify hin having Voted against the Public Debt Extinction Bill last session. Sur3ly Mr. Massey did not want the country to pay off the public debt at au inordinate rate. Regarding the five million loan, the Ministef quoted from the London Standard, as pointing out that Ihe public appetite was only keen for highpriced returns, but that the price only fell half per cent, for a few hours- and then went back to par. Surely that was sufficient reply to what had been said i against the loan. CAPITAL FOR ABROAD. Mr. Massey had eaid that New Zealand capital was being cent out of New Zealand. This Government had never tried to keep up high rates of interest. and^ if any money went out pf the Dominion it was in search of higher rites than couW be obtained here. The country was getting cheap money, and the Government wtfuld not assist lendeis j to obtain higher Fates of interest. Statements about the withdrawal of capital were made all over the world for nrsrcial reasons, and some of them found j their way on to the floor of the House. | ' SAVINGS BANK INTEREST. In regard to the Post Office Savings Bank deposits, he said Mr, Massey knew very well why the interest, was [ fixed as it Was. Mr. Buddo defended the policy of the Government m relation to the non-insurance of public buildings, and < stated that many isiiite concerns in this country did tot insure their premises, Taxation of land vj lues where land .was held in largo &*eas had been increased, but that wa* dose with the support afld the syttijr.Jiy of the 'country. He referred to what rad been "taken off th© breakfast table." Mr. Maseey (facetiously) ; So much that you .have only got the table left ! Mr. Buddo went on to say that the tonntry had approved what tne Government had done right along the lino. While Mr. Massey complained a rout the Government's borrowing, he was asking for > railways for hi« own and other districts. The epeakei* leferred to the growth of New Zealand's industries, and declared that the country was prosperous and doing well. At 9,30 p.m. the House adjourned, in accordance with an arrangement entered into earlier in the day.