PARLIAMENTARY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 9761, 25 June 1892, Page 5

PARLIAMENTARY.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. [Per Press Association.] The Council met at 2.30. notice of motion. The Hon S. E. Sheimski gave notice to move for a return, showing the names-of; Government officers retired since, June* 1890. PERSONAL. The Hon J. B. Whttk made a personal explanation relative to the charges, that were being preferred against him. Of thoco charges he was innocent, but until they were disproved be should decline to ait ia the Council. He had merely taken his seat as a right, and having done so, h$ would retire. chairman of commiteees. The Hon W. D. H. Bailue, on the motion of Sir P, Buckley, was appointed Chairman of Committees. ADDBESS-IN-EEPLY. The Hon J. W. Babnicoat moved, the Address-in-Seply. He the Government upon the improved condition and prospects of the Colony. In a few well-chosen phrases he feelingly referred to the losses the Council had recently sustained from one cause or another. The Hoa P. Dignan simply seconded the motion. The Hon H. Scotland supported the motion, and congratulated the Government, upon its assertion of a great constitutional principle so far as it related to the cancellation oi the appointment of ex-Judge Edwards. Ho was the more glad because the contention of the Government had bean borne out by tho highest legal' authority in the realm. Referring to. tne few members present in the Council, ha; expressed tha hope that before long % certain section of the community, which at present was unrepresented in the Council, would have a voice ia its deliberations. The motion for the Address was agreed to without farther debate. The Council at 2.55 adjourned till Tuesday. HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. Friday, June 24. AFTERNOON SITTING. The House met at 2.30 p.m. COMPLIMENTARY PASSES. The Speaker read a letter from the General Manager of the Wellington*, Manawatu Railway to the effect that members’ railway passes would be avail* able over that line during the session. QUESTIONS. • Replying to Mr M'Guire, The Hon J. Ballance said the Government had some correspondence on this subject of giving relief to settlers within the New Plymouth harbour rating diatripf£ and tho matter would receive full consideration by the Government. Replying to Mr Eoileeton, whether the rumour that Ministers have on two occasions during the recess tendered important advice to tho Crown affecting the present constitution of the Upper House; and that the advice has not been accepted, ia correct! if so, will the Premier state for the infor* ■ mation of the House the course which Ministers have taken, and what they propose to do under the circumstances, Tho Hon J. Ballance said it was qnita correct that the Governor had been adviaed during the recess to make such additions to tho Legislative Council as, in tha opinion of the Government, were necessary to enable the Council more efficiently to discharge its functions, and to render it more ia harmony with tho opinion of tha country. That advice was not accepted by the Governor. In reply to the second.; portion of the question as to the course which Ministers intend to take under the circumstances, that would depend on the progress of legislation. BILLS. The following Bills were introduced Printers and Newspapers Registration Act ISG3 Amendment Bill. Manures Adulteration Prevention. Offensive Publications. Coroners Inquests. Noxious Weeds. Eleiv toral Bill. Civil Service Bill. Bankruptcy Bill. Inspection of Building Appliances. Industrial Conciliation Bill. Land Bill. Bill to Amend “ Mining Act 1891.” Land Boards Election Bill. Land for merits. Native Land Purchases. Naval and Military Settlers and Volunteers Land Grants. North Island Main Trunk Railway Loan Application Act Amendment. Sir John Hall gave notice of the introduction of a Bill conferring the franchise on women.

ADDHESS-IN-BEPX.T, Mr M'Leah moved the Address-in-Bep] to the Governor’s speech. He congcatm Isted his Excellency on assuming th< Governorship of the Colony. Ho felt suw that Lord Glasgow was a man who ha< left very few enemies in the Old Country and no doubt he would not leave ah] in this country. The present Goverad: had received a more cordial reoep tion m Wellington than any otha representative of her Majesty. Afte referring to the bereavement sustained b the Ecyal Family in the death of the Duk of Clarence, he said he was surprised t hear from the Governors'Speech that th finances of the Colony-Were in abetter cor dition than they'had been for the lai thirteen years. His surprise arose froi the fact that the Opposition had prognost cated that the Colony would be in such bad state when the House met this yea and so much capital had left the countr; that there would not be enough lef t'to pa the honorarium of members. He epu bated these statements, and quoted figpr to prove that the banks had still plenty money in their coffers. He also points out that during the reign of tbeContinnon Ministry in 1881 there were no less' fchi three millions in the banks of the Colon As to the exodus of population, it had be admitted by the Governor last yearth a great exodus bad taken place,but' this occasion the Speech stated that t exodus had stopped. He praised t Government for establishing a labo bureau, which had done great good, and hoped Ministers would look after tl branch of labour to the best of th ability. Bespecting the settlement of !u he had been perfectly amazed at ! amount of settlement going on in i Wellington district alone, -and I believed that the Government, vH

trying its best to settle people in $ it fide manner on the land. At th® ca time he thought it would taka five cr millions to properly provide this Colt with roads and bridges. He thought i Government had done right in appointi Mr Carroll, in the Interests of the Nath to the Cabinet, and he hoped that gen man would see that proper laws id made for Native lands, as he regrettet see that the Maori race was on the wi The mining industry was fortunate having Mr Seddon at its head, and he sure that hor. gentleman would do hia 1 to foster it. He regretted that there no allusion in the speech to the deve ment of coal mines, and ho hoped t during the present session eomatl would be done in this direction. He refei to the number of deaths that had ta place in the Council from time to time, also made allusion to the lamented deal Mr Macarthur, and lie regretted that Eolleston yesterday had not added t< few remarks a resolution of sympathy t Mr Macarthur’s family. Respecting proposal to change the management of railways, he should not pronounce opinion, but when the time came that a change was thought desirable, he sh give the whole question his maturest siieration. He supported the co-open system in public works, and hoped it w be continued, as the contract system ha< always been satisfactory. Coming t< Land and Income tax, he thought all should be taxed, and that there shou! no exemptions whatever. He should however, force any fads of hie own oj House, but if ba could not get his wi should be satisfied with getting whi could. He hoped the Electoral Bill n contain the principle of one-man-one-and that it would also provide foi female franchise. Ho was not quite pared to support the abolition of g juries, but ho hoped the Bill to be bre m would provide fair payment to j who gave their services either on civ criminal cases. As to the Payme Members Bill, he believed that should be fair payment for w

rendered, and to that extent he should rapport such a Bill if its operation were delayed till after the next general election. 'Ha approved of the proposal to appoint Boards of Conciliation* and he was cure that if such Boards had existed they would have speedily settled the late strike. HeT, personally, hated strikes as he hated poison, bat there was ho doubt that employers- sometimes aoted arbitrarily towards their men. In conclusion, he hoped that the matters mentioned in hia Excellency’s Speech would receive careful consideration by th ( e House, and he sincerely heped, with his Excellency, that God’s bldssing would indeed rest on their labours.

Mr. Sanotobd seconded the motion. He heartily endorsed Mr M’Lean’s sentiments as to the arrival of the new Governor, and else as, to the. serious loss which her Majesty, had sustained by the death of the Duke of Clarence. ■ The Speech made by his Excellency : met with his hearty support, as it recognised that the policy of the Government was a progressive one. He should not go into the details of the Speech at present, biit with respect -to the statement of the progress of the Colony, and the charge made by the Opposition that capital was leaving, he wished to say that the reason such a large amount of money was lying in the banks at present was by direct design cf their political opponents. His opinion was that not only was our public position improved, but private business in the Colony was. vastly improved of late. He held that it was the duty of the Government to afford very material relief to local industries; and if this could not be done thin year, a Select Committee should be appointed to look into the whole question. He thought it was a great tribute to the sagacity of Ministers that the new taxation should come out on the right side of the .ledger. No doubt there should be Some amendments, but not one iota of the principle should bo altered. He was gratified that the Government would give an opportunityof discussing the future management of the railways, as ho was satisfied that, the present management did not realise the wants of the country. Whatever proposals might be made by the Minister-tor Public Works, he hoped that no proposal would be made for going on the English market. If the business ■etr forth in-the Speech was faithfully carried put, he was sure it would add to the welfare of the people of the Colony. Mr Kolleston complimented the mover land seconder of the Address-in*Reply. He referred to. the passages in the Speech [which mentioned the Governor’s arrival in Itha Colony and the. sad death of the Duke lot Clarence. It was, to his mind, a great mistake that the House should agi os with the desire of the Government to forego nebate on . the Address-in-Reply. The ■Sqyernor’a Speech at the present time Lssumed the shape of a political document, Lnd it gave them an opportunity of criticising the acts 'of Ministers during the recess, the Speech was, neither better nor worse Khan average Speeches of this kind ; but it lontaiaed one novelty, inasmuch as a Speech was made to the Legislative Coun■ilwhicb, as tar as he remembered, hud lot been the case hitherto. He felt amo

hat the opinion expressed by the Governlent of the Council was not shared by the lolony generally. The Colony’s opinion was bat the members of that body were geatlelen who had done their duly to the ountry. Ho specia'ly alluded to the late Sr F. Whitaker and Mr Fulton as being len who were sincerely desirous of pre-

loting the interests of the people. Was i men like those who should te referred

the Premier as a Junta of Tories ho were eager to override the wishes of ■e people ? He felt really ashamed when B read that the Minister for Lands had Lted that ho would like to parade the [rsonal appearance of the members of U other House before an audience. The [eaent Government had been obtaining Ipnlar applause for the policy of its preIcessors, but no policy of . its own had len tried by the people. . He bed taken Lcial interest in the formation of special Itlemeute, but there was nothing before Ism to show that those settlements were Lug to be the success that was claimed | them. They were in fact only in tho 1.,. They , contain-, d a standing danger |the.interference of middlemen between K> Government and the settlers. They

Ice led to believe by the Government fct a large amount of bona fide tlement had been established which did k exist. The speech made no mention of I interview with General Booth, but be [r Rolleston) was aware that General Bth was led to expect that land would bet aside for an experimental settlement L moat undesirable class of people. He Itured to think that the settlement of I land had gone on as well under the Losition side of the House as under the nent Government. The action of toe rernment over the Land Bill lasi; year Iwed that it did not wish the BUI to Is, and that it wished to provoke I quarrel with the Council. Tnia Istion was far above politics, and ■ibera_ on both sides should sptch it with ajlesire to promote smdicornfirfdr'and prosperous settlers. H'.s I opinion was that the masses were Ikening to the delusion that wa* being ftiised on them fay the present Governit. The country looked to Ministers not Electioneering speeches, but for careful I judicious admin stralion. As to the Bit of the new taxation, he thought the Bsments of Ministers with respect to this Htion had done infinite injury to the Bitty. As to the proposal to change the Bagementof the railway.?, he thought the Bray employees themselves would be the Ito f eel the. effect of the change. The Bxier had stated emphatically that Be should be no insurance scheme, bub ■liniater for Public Works had stated Bbe. believed an insurance scheme was Biitely necessary in the interest of Bail way tmployeee. That showed the Herfnl unanimity that existed between Bsters. With respect to the present aesB Ministers would find the Opposition H to assist them in all necessary Bures, tut it would not assist them to I class legislation for the sake of a I popularity, and which he felt sure Hi* be injurious to the Colony.

, EVENING SITTING, e House resumed at 7.30. a Hon W. P. Reeves also congratuthe • mover and seconder of the ess. He said he bad especial reason igratulate the seconder, as be was a igue of his own in the representation irissohnrch, and he thought Mr SaadLrould prove an acquisition to the e. Referring to Mr Kolleston’s speech, pied that the Government wished to pt debate on she Address-in-Roply. (Opposition was perfectly within its kmdebatingitjSoloagaßnoob&truetioa tactised. The leader of the Opposition paracteriaed the Governor’s Speech as leading and untruthful prospectus, the hon gentleman had made no fce proposal of any kind for the benefit IColony. Ho charged Mr Rolliston leveral members of his party with L raised mi-leading and. alarming la the v subj. ct. of the withdrawal of ■!. The Government knew cf several ling letters that had been written ■the Colony to England. What cry fcer more damaging to the Colony ■hat of tbe exodus of capital ? And it lised solely for party purposes.. Tne I of the Opposition in this respect Ittecly unpatriotic. He quoted a k of Lord Onslow’s in Sydney to the that a great scare had been caused in Keuland as to the withdrawal of I, but that the feeling had been ■ in some cases for party purposes Bas the opinion of an impartial critic Be bad ceased to be Governor of the B. Ha defended the special sattieBof the Minister for Lands, and Bt Mr Rolleston bad no warrant for Bement that the settlers were not of Kde character. Mr Rolieaton had Bthat the Government possessed a By in the House, but not xa the B, but if they looked at the map Bould find that tbe Liberal party Bnted a much larger area of the Btbantbe Opposition, and a larger Bof broad acres. Referring to the B>f the Opposition’s remarks about ■Booth, the Government recognised H bad ao legal power to grant

'any areas of land, and General Booth was given to distinctly nnderstand that any arrangement that might be made with him would have- to be ratifieifc-fcy Parliament. The proposal was jfeduceAjfco writing, and would be laid before-rha House ; but the Government had ho more intention of bringing criminals to the Colony than it had of introducing African negroes. Mr Eolleston had spoken for an hour, but had proved nothing; he had not proved his case to the satisfaction of anybody. The vaiclict of the House would first bo given on the policy of the Government, and in a few weeks, or perhaps months, or it might be a year, by the country. The Government was not afraid to meet the verdict of the country when the time came for it to meet that tribunal.

Mr Scobsk Mackenzie reminded the House that it had been debating the Speech from the Throne, but Mr Reeves had scarcely touched on a single subject mentioned in that speech. In that respect his speech resembled the Speech from the Throne, as there was really nothing in either of them. Mr Reeves had denied that there was any desire on the part of the Government that the Address-in-Reply should not be discussed, but if that were so, why had the Premier yesterday so far forgotten him?elf as to hold out a bribe to the House that if the debate was finished in one day, the Financial Statement would bo brought down on Tuesday. If the Premier was so anxious to place the state of the finances before the country, why did ho not six weeks ago, when he had an opportunity, publish the position of the public accounts, which was necessary according to law ? The Opposition had been twitted with raising the cry of the exodus of capital, but if there was not an exodus of capital, there was, at any rate in the south, stagnation of enterprise and a very great accumulation of money in the banks. That should be a warning to the people of what was going on. They were told in the Governor’s Speech that the Colony was in a most prosperous state, but let anybody try to get a lad into an office, or a working man work, and they would sea how depressed the country really was. Assuming, however, that the the Colony was prosperous, it was the highest compliment that could be paid by the Government to its predecessors, as the policy of the present Government had not yet come into force at all. If the financial policy of the late Government afforded t-uch a wide margin of expenditure as the Government boasted of, what margin couldit expect under its own policy? Referring to the Minister for Lands’ repeated boast about land settlement, he said the special settlements were simply paper settlements, and had no existence in fact. He quoted from statistics to prove that no more settlement had taken place voider the present Government than under the late one. They had now eight Ministers, although in ISS7 the present Minister for Lands moved m the House to the effect that five Ministers were sufficient to carry on business. The law only j provided for sis Ministers, but the Govern- i meat had overridden that by appointing j eight, and ho regretted that the Post- : mastor-Geaeral and Mr Carroll should j have put themselves in the position | they were now in. As to the refusal of j the Governor to accept advice from tho j Government with respect to Council ap- i pointment?, he asked whether anybody | had ever heard of a Government asking ■; for a dissolution owing to a dispute with ! the Crown. He characterised the Address ao a whole aa catchpenny stuff ; which was not worth debating by ! the House; and notwithstanding Mr i Reeves’ mysterious utterances about a | general election being probably imminent, ; he felt quite convinced that there would bo ; no dissolution. If that statement was i made to intimidate the Council, he was I sure it would fail. f

Mr Auckland thought it an unfortunate admission for tfce Minister for .Education to make, that the Government represented broad acres. Ho imagined it tvas a boast of all Liberal Governments that they represented people, not land ; but tho teal fact was, that the Government did not represent the majority of the people at all. He criticised the Governor’s Speech at length, but considered that the Native policy, as carried out by Mr Cad man, was perhaps better than that of any previous Government. He would like to see the Civil Service put beyond the control of all Minister?, and strongly deprecated interference with the Railway Commissioners. He approved of some of the actions of the Government, but not of anything mentioned in the Governor’s Speech. Mr Rollix-ton, at 10.45, hoped the Premier would consent to sojourn the debate, aa several members on his side_ of the House wished to speak on the question, and others who had not yet arrived also desired to do so.

Tho Hon J. Ballance said he should not object, provided Mr Rolleston gave his assurance to do ins utmost to close the debase on Tuesday. He thought it undesirable that there should he a full debate till the Financial Statement was brought down. Mr Rolleston could not give any pledge of that kind. All he couid say was that his side wished to conduct tho business in a legitimate manner. Mr Guinness then moved the adjournment of the debats. Agreed to, and tho House adjourned at 10.50 p.m till Tuesday.