PARLIAMENT. MR TAYLOR ON THE LAND BILL.

Feilding Star, Volume IV, Issue IV, 3 December 1909, Page 4

PARLIAMENT. MR TAYLOR ON THE LAND BILL.

PER TRESS ASSOCIATION. Wellington, December 2. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Council met in the afternoon. The Hospitals and Charitable Aid Bill was committed at clause 8, fixing the number of .members of a Hoard at not less than eight or more- than twenty, exclusive of any members appointed by the Governor in pursuance of section 22 of this Act. The Attorney-General moved to strike the words from ''exclusive." — Carried. Considerable discussion occurred on section 12, dealing with t"he methods of the election, a number of members opposing tho main principle clause, the Pullar franchise. Tho Attorney-General declared it was the pivotal clause of the whole Hill, and if it went the Rill would have to go to. — Adopted by 21 to 14. An addition was made on the motion of Hon. W. C. Smith, debarring a- paid officer, under any contributory local authority within the hospital district from being elected to the Hoard. Clause , r )7 — "Board may borrow upon security for building and other purposes* — was amended by the omission of sub-clauses 2 and the substitution of a sub-clause "that the Hoard may borrow by way of bank overdraft for ordinary recurrent expfiiditrue to the extent of the total amount of contributions payable to the Board by the contributary local authorities during the year and then unpaid with the estimated amount receivable by the Board during that year by way of subsidy. At clause 72, providing that a noard may make agreements for special terms as to the maintenance in hospitals of members of friendly societies, the Attorney-General moved that the term "children" should mean children under 18 years of age, instead of 10, as in the Bill. 1 After a long discussion the clause i was postponed. The Attorney-General moved 'to amend clause 128, so as to limit the hours of employment of iincertifieated nurses to sb" per week in hospitals of 100 beds.— Carried. The Bill was reported with amendments, antl the Council rose at 11.55 . rial's*? OF K]ifi>I{.ESENTATIVISS. ' The House met in the afternoon. i LAND LAWS AMENDMENT BILL. ! The report of the committee on the Land Laws Amendment Bill was brought down. It recommended that the Bill be allowed to proceed, with the amendments attached. The Chairman of Committee moved that the report lie on the table. Mr Taylor remarked that if, as had been said, the Bill had been shorn of ail its froehold clauses in committee, things had come to a pretty pass. The jiiberal Party was practically a coalition party and its policy was Only maintained by a combination of the votes on both sides. Mr Taylor proceeded to denounce the filching away i of private members' rights and the reticence on the land question shown by the Premier. Members were being treated with absolute contempt with regard to contemplated legislation and the personnel of the Cabinet. Ten clays ago only the Almighty and the Premier knew what the land policy was. The Dominion should at least have two months to -understand the position. The men who were howling for tho freehold were influenced by .selfishness begotten of well-doing founded on the State. The leasehold was tho only system under which a poor man could 'become a farmer. The whole Liberal principles on the land question, which were absolutely sound, were being sacrificed to the exigencies of party warfare. He hoped the Bill would meet with such a protest from the House that the Government would bo forced to igive the people six months to consider it. Mr Massey said his party believed in the freehold and also in giving the freehold tenure to leaseholders, when ablo to pay for the fee simple. In nineteen cases out of twenty country lands became valuable, not on account of public expenditure, but owing to tne energy and labours of the settlers.

Sir Joseph Ward said it was extraordinary that leaseholders were ready to grasp at any straw in order to prove sinister designs against the Government. He repelled the charges made by Mr Taylor, and denied the Opposition's statement that he drove his followers. He asserted that every measure introduced by the Government had been before "the people and every opportunity given to discuss it. How many leaseholders recognised the position of the land tenure? During the last thirty yoars it had been one of endeavouring to hold on to a portion of tho Crown lands. Critics of the Government proposals did not realise the position. The great majority of the leaseholders on Crown lauds had turned right round in favour of the Freehold, though they could never have got on the land but for tho leasehold system, financed by the State. The will of the majority of the people must prevail. The leaseholder lost sight of the fact that under the Land Bill the freehold was only granted under conditions that conserved the right of the State to share in the increased value of the lands. The Premier, replying to Mr Massoy, said tho Naval Defence Bill would he circulated next day, and a summary of the proceedings at the Defonce Conference would be placed before the House in a day or two; also that opportunities would be given to discuss the reports of the Timber nnd Police Commissions. The Hon. J. A. Millar, replying to Mr Herdman and Mr Herries, said the railways could be made to show equally good returns to those of New South Wales if fares were increased to tho level of those of the latter State, which paid much lower wages thnn the Dominion. Sir Joseph Ward, answering Mr Herries, denied there had been any delay in the work of the session. Nineteen Bills had been circulated. If railway charges for sheep were increased to those ruling in New South Wales, sheep farmers would have to pay an extra £90,000 a year over the present charges. The House w«s still sitting when the telegraph office closed.