ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17934, 30 October 1918, Page 7

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

DEBATE OPENED IN THE HOUSE. LABOUR PARTY'S MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE. REJECTED BY 48 TO 12. [Pbb Pbbss Association.] WELLINGTON, October 29. In the House of Representatives this evening Mr Anderson, in moving that a respectful address be presented to his Excellency the Governor-General in reply to his Excellency's speech, said that when he agreed to move the motion he did so out of respect to the Prime Minister personally and becauso he was from the outset one of those who favoured the formation of a National Cabinet. This ho did because ho foresaw what the Dominion was up against. In view of tho enormous difficulties we had to face, it was necessary that all party differences should bo sunk, and there was no better way of sinking them than by forming a National Government. Looking back on Dho past three years, he was bound to say that the Government had notcomo up to all his expectations, but ten years in the House had taught him the value of compromise. In small things they might have failed, but on broad principles they [had done better than any party Government could have done. Ho commended the Government's commercial enterprises. They had kept shipping well abreast of requirements. Their financial arrangements met requirements, though he thought more should have been raised by taxation rather than by loan. The transport of troops had been most creditable, there being only one mishap, while our camps were as well managed as in any part of the world. There had admittedly been mistakes and blunders, as in the case of tho butter tax and wheat purchases, but viewed broadly he thought the performances of the National Government were highly creditable. Dealing with tho cost of living, ho admitted the difficulties in t!he way, but thought more might have been done. He commended the opening of butchers' shops in Auckland, which had saved the people £9j,000, at a cost to tho State of £llOO, and expressed the opinion that the. Government should have acted more vigorously in the matter of tho liquor question. He hoped that Parliament would not be allowed to close before an arrangement had been made to let the people give expression to their desires in this matter. He mentioned many pin - oricks of which the Defence Department had been guilty, and; expressed the hope that the recruiting of men with three children would not go on, in view of the improved position at the front. Coming to thp Speech from the Throne, he expressed the opinion that compulsory residence and improvement was the only way to prevent the aggregation of land. In the matter of development of our groat natural sources of power, if the Government was not prepared to go on with schemes such as hydro-electrio schemes, they should delegate their powers to local bodies or to private syndicates. This was a war measure, because such development would give employment to our returned soldiers "and vastly increase tho productiveness of tho country, which stood in need of nothing 60 much as scientific cultivation. Our timber areas had been destroyed in a most reckless manner, and forestry required active encouragement. He was by no means satisfied with th© amount being done in this regard. Amongst our secondary industries the cultivation of cotton might be encouraged, because if tho war had taught one lesson more completely than another, it was that every country should bo selfcontained. What was the Government doing in the matter of shipping after tho war? Were we going to buy ships or build ships and run State-owned lines to the Old Country? The country was looking to tho National Government for a lead in this matter. Ho would like to ask what th© Government was doing to bring capital and labour to the settler. Had they a scheme prepared, or were thev going to let th© country go on in the haphazard manner We had been doing for years past? Every child born into the country had a right to sustenance, and if tho parents (Ould not provide it, the State should do so. It would pay the State to do so, becaus© no population was so valuable to a country as its native-born population. Provision was made for soldiers disabled in war, but what was being done for thoso workers . disabled in industrial warfare? The discussion which took place in the House that afternoon showed that there was need of somo further provision than now was being made. Greater educational facilities in rural districts were urged, and the 'adaptation of subjects to the occupation of pupils was strongly advocated by the speaker. In conclusion he said that whatever difficulties we had to face in the futuro, whether social or financial, he was confident that they would bo faced with that sturdy determination which not only was one of the best characteristics of the British race, but which in the past had been so magnificently demonstrated by the pioneers of the Dominion.

Mr Talbot, in seconding the motion, welcomed back to the Dominion the leaders of the House, who, he said, had been subjected to much adverse criticism, but in his opinion their going to England was justified, as it made a reality of that Imperial unity of which wo had been so fond of talking for many years past. They had done useful service in the Old Country, for which they deserved the best thanks of the Dominion. He felt, too, that our best thanks were due to our soldiers, who had showed marvellous progress on the battlefield and who had heloed to redeem what at one time looked like a hopeless position. For their magnificent service they wore deserving of our best thanks, and he hoped the Dominion would not fail in its duty to them. Discussing the position of the National Government, he said there was no doubt it did not occupy such a favourable position in the public estimation now as,it did at its inception. This, he thought, was largely due to the fact that party feeling _ had not been so completely sunk as it might have been. There also had been less complete unity amongst Ministers themselves, who had not pulled together sis heartily as they should have done. Evidence that Ministers realised that the public was not altogether (Satisfied was seen in the Speech from the Throne. Reference was made there to several matters which were occupying public attention, notably the cost of living. He thought that a Controller should have been appointed, and in other ways the Government did not seem fully to appreciate manv of the recommendations of the Cost of Living Commission. Ho instanced many articles which had risen in price without adequate explanation. B; • '.d, for instance, rose in price when flour rose, but it did not fall when the price of flour foil. Profiteering was going on in all directions without any attempt, eo far as anyone could see, on the part of the Government to regulate the prices which the public had to pay. On the producers' side as well as on the part of the consumers there were, grievances. Partners did not mind their wool being commandeered by the Government, but they dsd object to this wool being handed over to private manufacturers in the Old Country, who wcr? able to make huge profits out of an article which went Homo at fixed price*. Tb. 3 reference in the Speech la

an attempt to check aggregation was an admission that the legislation of 1913 was not effective. Anything J" tho direction of checking aggregation met with his support. Second-class land must bo hold in largo areas, but in those districts where the land was rich there should be no toleration ,of aggregation, for closer settlement was a prime necessity of tho country, vob ho was sorry to see that while closer settlement was going on in somo parts, aggregation was going on in others. There was too much unrest amongst settler* at present at the artificial value being given to land, which was not in tho interests of the country. Closely connected with closer settlement of tho land was tho repatriation of soldiers. He appealed to the Government to devise a good system of soldier settlements. All those men who wont upon tho land would not ho a success, and they would hav© to bo handled carefully and liberally. Civil aid should bo called in to assist the Government in this matter, and so help many men back into civil life as soon as possible, where they would resume their ordinary avocations which had been interrupted by tho necessity for going to the front. A plea was put in for generous financial assistance being given to the Education Department, which was handicapped in all directions through want of funds. At tho same time he warned the Minister against over-centralisation in his Department. Active tree-planting was advocated to replace our fast diminishing forests. Passing on to finance, tho speaker urged the Minister to restore tho mortgage tax, the present system operating most unfairly on .farmers. War loans raised free of taxation should bo stopped, as other countries had stopped them, otherwise wo would have growing up in this aountry a large class of rich people paying no taxation at all. Concluding, Mr Talbot expressed a hope that the session would bo a fruitful one, and that by the use of legislation passed it would bo the means of retrieving as far as possible the somewhat tarnished reputations of both members and Ministers. Mr Hindmarsh reviewed the result of tho recent by-elections throughout tho country, from which ho deduced tlhat the National Government was becoming unpopular, an opinion which he claimed would be verified if there were any more elections in other parts of the Dominion. When ho asked himself how this unpopularity had arisen, he found that the blame must be placed at tho door of tho Prime Minister. That the Prime Minister deserved blame ho was satisfied, because he had not been true to his principles. In proof of this he discussed the rent question in Wellington, contending that the Prime Minister played into the hands of the landlords- His legislation had been- a failure, and none would bo so ready to con_ firm this statement as his own Labour Department. Then on the butter question, while tho Prime Minister was away Cabinet made an effort to compel farmers to pay something for the country's organisation which was the means of getting them better prices. That he thought perfectly fair, but no sooner had the Prime Minister returned than he interfered and repudiated what the Cabinet had done. Had the Prime Minister supported Oris Cabinet he, (Mr Hindmarsh) believed tho opposition of farmers to the butter tax would soon have, ceased. As Minister of Lands, tho Prime Minister had introduced much land legislation into the House in which he dealt with the question of aggregation. He claimed to (have settled tho question of lamd aggregation, but to-night the mover and seconder of the address had complained that aggregation was going on, and the fact was so apparent that no one could deny it. He himself had more than once moved an amendment which would have effectively checked aggregation, but the Prime Minister had steadily set his face against it. for no other reason than that it would rulo out too many rich men, and that was one reason why the National Government was becoming unpopular. In.view of its waning popularity, tho Government was ill honour bound to have a general election at an early date, possibly March next, but so afraid was tho Government of an election that even the election of the Upper House had been postponed. Recently nineteen gentlemen had been nominated to that Chamber. Everybody, had been wondering how those men had been discovered, but they wero discovered. What no ono could understand was why these men had been appointed just after the session instead of before the session, when they could bo of some use to the'country. Amongst these appointees were a number of "rejects," yet who did not remember the scorn with which tho Prime Minister had in former years derided the appointment to the Council of men defeated at the polls, When these appointments were mado by tho Seddon or Ward Governments. Again, he said it was becauso tho Prime Minister paid no regard to consistency that the people wero turning against the Government. Continuing, Mr Hindmarsh contended.that the Government v 'S in tho hands of financial institut ms, whom they wero afraid of offending. In order to show that the Labour Party did not associate itself in any way with the National Government, he intended to move an amendment to the effect—■

That, as the Government had lamentably failed to deal with the questions of war profiteering and cost of living, his Excellency be advised that a genera! election should be held

early in the coming yearMr M'Combs seconded the amendment, and in doing so criticised tnc wheat purchases or tho Government. When the National Government was formed they wero told tho cost of living was going to bo, energetically dealt wit-n, but what was the. case? When tho Government took oilieo the sovereign was costing twenty-four shillings. Instead, however, of a reduction in that cost taking place the price oi the sovereign had steadily risen. Now it stood at £1 10s Ofcd. ' Various excuses had been put forward by the Minister of Finance in his budget for the increased cost of living. All those had proved futile. Worse still, this Government, which was pledged to reduce tho cost of living, had actually promoted legislation which could have no other effect than to increase the cost of living. Then the Government claimed to be a na trio tie Government, but the principal object of the Prime Minister's visit to the. Old Country was to exact the highest possible price for our produce from the British consumers, and so unblushing was the Government's action in this connection that Dr Bedford had declared that we were bleeding the British taxpayer, and that financially New Zealand was tho most unpatriotic portion of tho British. Empire. Under this Government rents had risen 33 per cent in ■Wellington, and little wonder, for the Government was offering giltedged securities free of taxation, so that when householders wantetd money to build homes they could not got it. The Government had increased Customs duties bv taxing the workers' tea, but how ,had thev treated tho profiteers? Tho war wonts tax had been defeated altogether, because tho Minister or inance said there were anomalies in it. Mr Bonar haw found anomalies m the tax in Britain, but instead of removing tho tax lie removed the anomalies. He .congratulated Mr Hindmarsh in moving tho amendment. If it wero not earned, it would only be another evidence that the House no longer was representative of tho people On a division being taken, the amendment was rejected by 48 to 12. the ayes being Messrs Brown, Eraser, Hindmarsh, Holland, M'Comhs, Poole. Payne, Smith (Taranaki), Dr Thackcr, Messrs Veitch. Walker and Witty.