STILL GOING

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 7, 8 July 1922, Page 11

STILL GOING

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE

ADJOURNED OVER WEEK-END

When the House of Representatives adjourned for the week-end last night the^ Address-in-Reply debate >vas still unfinished. Six more members spoke during the day, but no Minister was among them. , Mr. J. Edie (Bruce) contended that no effective answer had been made to the Opposition charges of Government failure to check land aggregation. He quoted extracts from a policy speech made by Mr. Massey in 1911, and said that many of the promises made then had not been fulfilled. Did the Prime Minister now hold the views he expressed in 1911 as to the need for reforming the Legislative Council and making it elective: Land for soldiers in his district had been bought at too high a price, and two estates were now being worked by tho .Government with managers because tho soldiers could not make them pay. There ' were some soldiers who had developed disabilities since their return from the. war, and who could not now, obtain assistance from Pensions, Defence, or Repatriation Departments. There should be some provision for them. POPULATION AND TAXATION. Mr. A. Harris (Waiteihata) considered that the national revenue from income tax could not be expected to show an improvement till-February, 1924, as it .would not be until then that tho tax for the current year would be collected. He suggested that it might be; possible to collect the tax earlier than nine months after the end of the year when the income was earned. A revaluation of the rural lands was urgently necessary, for the country was being bled fwhite by taxation. The only remedy jwas to increase the population—the Government could not ask the taxpayers for any more, and the orly way was to in- '! crease the 'number.. of taxpayers., New Zealand could absorb 50,000 carefullyselected immigrants a year. He supported the Government's attitude towards' the Civil servants' bonus cut, and urged it to reopen advances to soldiers for the purpose of building houses. Mr. Massey: "I look upon that as one of the most intportant directions in which we can spend money." Mr. R. M'CaUum .(Wairau) "said the present Ministry was faced, with financial difficulties such as no previous Governi ment had ever met, and therefore it was not a time for party fighting—let N that; wait until next November.' He asked .whether, in: present circumstances, it was wise to retain the Chatham in New Zealand waters, and whether it would not be (■better to ray a lump sum to the Admiralty The ship wpnld be useless by the time the next war occurred. Mr. Massey: "It will be replaced by ft new one in a little over a year." _ Mr. M'Callum: "And that is the way it goes on." Coming to finance, which he said was the main thing about which he wished to talk, he urged the Prime Minister not to renew tho rebates on land and income tax. That had been a cause of great complaint with those who had suffered a reduction of their bonuses. The cases of hardship among necessitous land and income tax payers could have been met -under • th.:' Ac t" of 1916, -.ah_ then the Wealthyi'vifho did not need'relief, would not halve received what to them was practically a gift. The country's greatest need at present was revenue, and to secure it capital must be attracted to the country. To do this he suggested that exemption from, death duties over a-given number of'years should be granted to capitalists bringing their capital to this country from Britain. Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hurunuif: "Encourage them to die in this country'" Mr. M'Callum: "No. I don't want them to die; I want them to bring the capital, the sinews of war." He supported the proposal to establish agricultural banks. TOWN AND COUNTRY. Mr. R. P. Hudson (Motueka) said he desired to refer specially to the question of land settlement and the development of our agricultural industries. The relative position in regard to town and rural population for some years past had been as follows:—1881, rural 6Q per cent., towns 40 per cent.; 1891, rural 54 per cent., towns 46 per cent.; 1911, approximately the same; 1921, rural 44 per cent., towns 56 per. cent. Every effort should be-made to discourage the drift to the cities, and to encourage country settlement. Country settlers ■ deserved every encouragement, considering the harishipf they had to face- in the early years of their work. He deprecated the co-operative contract system as it was now carried out. Every possible freedom should be given in' respect to the labour done by settlers in the way of small contract public works. ,' Assist- . ance should be given for the construction of light wharves at suitable places —from which settlers could ship their wool and other produce. He advocated the sending of a marine engineer periodically to the small harbours, with the view of -necessary improvements being carried out. A dredge;" or ' dredges should also be available for use in the small harbours. Improved educational advantages should given to country districts. The syllabus .-in."country jchools should be such as to give the children elementary instruction in agricultural subjects—instruction which would be of great use to them in their after life in the country. Alluding to the part-time working of our coal mines, the speaker suggested that it would be worth while the Government consider'ng the importance of coming to some irrangement with the coal mine-owners ;o purchase their surplus coal on a system of deferred payment. That would encourage the owners to work their mines full time. ■ PROTECTIVE RAILWAYS. Mr. R. Masters (Stratford) remarked that a feature of the present debate had been the amount of criticism of the-Gov-ernment by supporters of the Gevern- ' ment. He dealt at length with , soldier settlers' affairs (reported elsewhere), and, protested against the.railways being used for protective purpcSses, as it was unfair to the country people and to the Department itself. Protection should be secured from the Customs, and thereby spread over all the people, and not over, one class. He thought the Department was making a serious mistake in letting the railway tracks get into the state mentioned the other night by the member for, Wanganui. ' The Minister: "He is absolutely incorrect." Mr. Masters: "Well, it is shown in the railway statements." He quoted figures to. show that between 1912 and 1921 the miles of railways had increased, while the maintenance staff had decreased by 20| per cent. The margin lof public safety was falling too low. ; Finally, he said the Government had l failed in the marketing, of New Zealand produce. It was not marketed—it was merely sold. Mr. E. Newman (Manawatu) considered the present was no time to re-value "'Uiars' land, far the "price W pot

stabilised. He agreed with those members who held that new Railways "should have the approval of the Department before they were constructed, but he thought criticism should be withheld until the board to be appointed by the Minister had had a chance to show what it could do. He replied to the criticism which had been levelled at the cost of the High Commissioner's Department, maintaining that as to the High Commissioner himself no one but „ man of considerable means could hold that position, owing to the heavy expenditure he had to incur. As to the general charges for the office staff, etc., lie understood that a great deal of the increased expenditure during the past few years was owing to the increases which had been given in the way of the cost-of-living bonus.

The debate was adjourned, and the House rose at 9.35 p.m.