PARLIAMENT.

Mataura Ensign, 1 July 1914, Page 7

PARLIAMENT.

R Legislative council. F** OKITW PHUgg A.8BOCUTIO!! . WBIiUX-GTOX, June 30. no Cumuli toei at 2.3f> p.m. UXD AGENTS AMEXISMEXT. * Vh ° n ' H -, D ' B<;11 (T*a'ter of the CbunT L.L ? yod for le »ve to introduce the £ fiT« A{ ?" ts Amendments Bill and the r; Br " n»«bn* was agreed to, . ', ■ COUNCIL RiKFOllll BILL. * u7J W L ?Kislative Council Itcfonm. Bill ,„,V road a INt time and the second rculinrr was fixed fo( . Jm . Mlai . t Masters ax© apprentices bill »' 110 . Mast ers and Apprentices Bill *"• alsi > Waa a first time, ' > S cn - 3: Bare (Canterbury) moved the! fWlreSssKio-Rqjiy. He claimed to rePresent Jiis own personal opinions and *«* the opinions of the Government v *aicli elected him to office. While the prosperity of the "ommioni ],. 0 hold that there was always a t this season of the ,vear a reejMYimr quantity of want lind destitti2*tl' • no atteni|»t was made to deal with this question. He deprecated' assisted 1 immigration except of those "itose relatives were well ahle to provide for them. He regretted that no •tfcenripb was to "be made to deal with

casual laibor. All that was needed was * jo adept a scheme- suited to the particular requirements of this country. "Was good 'and desirable for those *ho had land to acquire the freehold of tccir properties, but he thought that Wore long land would only be obtainable through an agent. The Govern* ntent had very little land left nonavailable for men 'without money and »n t»me- it would only be the man with' capital who could procure land. That • would mean that the single-taxer would Oome in with his proposals for land Complaints had reached him '/ ° f *•»•• system of balloting for \ land. He claimed that seme channel > eholild be left open for the man with -wsmall means to get upon the land, and /in. Was *' le .P rot ' l,(Gl * who was wanted. IThe extension of the workers' homes Jf scheme was most desirable, and would 1 | materially help to solve the problem of J -Jf employment. The speaker delft glared his intention of doing his utmost ■ to defeat the Bible-in-Schools Bill. A I referendum on a social ouestion was H one thing-and a referendum oil a moral question another. He was pleased to see that labor matters were mentioned ■ out theyiMasters and Apprentices Act L Would ildt'flo much good. He spoke 1 etromglv in favor of "Dominion awards advocated the adoption r{ a naprovident fund to the needs of bodies. In this way there was an for a general social insurance The principle of the Bill was reflected credit upon those

■ W»n. C. A. C. Hardy . (Canterbury) the motion. He complimented •the previous speaker upon the way in which he had moved 1 the resolution. The Governor's Speech was clear and fiiTaightfomvmd! and left, no opening for eritinsm. The value of land in New Zealand was far too high and if anything there would 'be weeping nnd-'wailmg. The land agent was largely vesponsiblo for these inflations 'in valuations. Dealing with the strike he complimented the Government upon the war in- which it had dealt with the trouble. He wanted to know what the Government intended to do with regard to the Cost of Living Commission. '"He was of the opinion that the trouble was not the cost of living hut the plane of liv '-.-.ifr. U- complimented the Government, for its administration of the Defeiiet. .Act. He approved of the estabhsrfirtieiit. of the Agricultural- 7!<«ird but did! "not approve of denominationalis™. The present system of instruction in schools was not godless and he quoted from school volumes to show that there ' were frequent references to Schiptural matters made. He was- sure that the Government was sincere in bringing down its licen.sin.ji proposals. ' Hon. J.' Rigg (Wellington) iouched on 'the cost of living, epposod . the • Legislative Council Bill, and the Bihle-in-Schools referendum, and said farewell to the Council on the eve of his expiry of office. Hon J. E. Jenkinson (Wellington)-, traced his 21 years' connection with the Council. He was proud to he a Liberal •whose policy had made the country prosjperous. Ho thanked Councillor's for their kindness during his term.

Hon. G. Jones (Otag'o) also spoke, and tho Council adjourned.

HOUSE OF REPriESENTATIVES

The House met at 2.H0 p.m. FORESTRY COMMISSION. Mr G. M. Thomson. (Duiicdin North) asked the. Prime Minister (lit. Hon. W. F. Ma-ssey) without notice whether lie jronld give the House an opportunity of jSmeeammg the Forestry Commission's fltgoort .broughti down in 15)12. Prime Minister replied that if «Rtssfaetory progress was made with government measures an opportunity in all probability would l>e given.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Leave.of absence was granted Messrs E. H. Clarke (Chalmers) and W. J. Dickio (Selwyn).

NEW BILLS

The Civil Service Officers (Guarantee Repeal and the Crimes Amendment and Definition Hills were introduced by Kon. A. L. Henlinan (.Minister for Justice), and the Immigration Restriction Amendment, Loral Elections and Pollfe Amendment and Local Elections Proportional Representation Hills were introduced by Hon. F. M. B. Fisher (Minister for Customs and Electoral Department). Tho Factories Amendment Hill was introduced by Mr T. M. Wilford (Hutt), wlio detailed iU provisions, the .main features of which are that whereas : n nil factories but woollen mills women and boys work only 45 hours per week, in woollen mills they .work 48 hours. The wages are also unequal and these the Bill sw-'k.> to bring in\o line. Mr AVilford also introduced the Hutt Park Tnc Fruit Preserving Industry Act. Amendment and tiie Magistrate's Court Consondatory .and Amending Bills were introduced by Governor'* message. The il-astr-nientioned !*'"■ consolidates -and amends the. enactments relating to the iurisdirt' 0 ' 1 of magistrates and justices 0 c t ] ie wace. ADJOURNMENT. li Tli" House rose at 3.25 p.m. to enable '"" the Wdress-in-Reply debate to be taken *i at 7.36 »»■■

THE EVENING SESSION. The itoaio'rcsumisd at 7.30 p.m t . I

I \ i } MrE. P. Lee (Oanfni) moved, "That! a respectful address ie presented to his I Excellency tin? GoyeiftdHri n,>nlv to the I Speech frsirtl tlie. Tlitfe.'' The speaker < congratulated the Prime Minister upon his selection .as PrivyjjCouncillor, by his Majesty the King,. ai|d then proceeded to dhcus.s the eommefrinl prosperity of the Dominion, for wliich Ik? claimed a large share of credit!*'"!' the Government. Ho claimed that the Government was entitled tij credit for the i manner iii which it hall -catered' for the farmers, in finding nefiniarkefcs and'the establishment of an. Agricultural Board. The? Jia.d also never-had such liberal land Taws as the present ones. ' The Government had al?o' confounded its enemies by. increasing . the . graduated (and tax, tluut benefitfhg the Dominion both in promoting settlement and increasing reveiiue, one million acres. having been settled' and £40,000 fceinjil added to the revenue. He Cfvuniented j on the tactics of the Opposition last se-sion, a,s contributing to 'blocking useful legislation. The cost of living «•»,« to be taken into .consideration by the Government, .but there : -were many things connected with.it which were beyond tliu oontiot of the Government. Such features as comd .within its jurisdiction the Government would carefully watch, such as a'reduction of Customs tariff, workers' homes, land taxation and similar reforms. - Pensions had been increased by the Government, bringinu needful help to the aged, while the 'State employees" had beeiti benefited by an. all-round increase in wages- and a suoeranntlation scheme. None, of these schemes were financial hut the Government had come to their assistance, and k»M)t them on a sound 'lwi*. In all "nsc< where taxation had been inere-sed bv the Government the incre"s«< had fallen on the wealthy. Ee twitted the. Or.i;esit"m with now wanting to amend the' Public S"rvil»e Ac*- rather than repeal it, as they flad former!v declared was tbeir intention.. The firdiiy- of the. Commission set up by the Mackenzie Government had justified the pacing of the Act. Its anrc'idinent might be desirable but its repeal never. Tin Government had rasped ir.ood ]o!/is-la'-ion: its members had been careful O'fTmiii'stra.tors audi ho was confident tin*- fne electors, who were the. real nrbiters, would oonfinn that opinion at the next general election. . Mr G. It. Svkes (MniTH-irronV in sc'—nd'Uj; the motion, said that alj the ni'TTeaTons for the future were hopeful. He suv pi ere'.t future benefit to the "Vminion bv the renewal of the* Sen mail service,' as si lar.se trado was- waiting? us on the western ■ e-nart of America.. A vigorous road-making and railwav-b.uildin.C policy was to be t urs'.K>d and the reflected benefit -would b" derived in opening up the eo.untrv and stimulatimr production. In cowMidin". he said that the outlook "as 'mod. pi-Ves for produce were good, and the ■l'lministration'i was undoubtedly;, good. With h due regard t" thrft. and e"onoiwv 'by th* people t\Us fib'.HiM indeed be "God's own country." NO'-CONFIDFN€E MOTION PROMISED. 'Sir Joseoh Ward (Leader of the Onposition), in replying, said that he. rworosedi to make an amendment, ''That the. House have no confidence in the Government because its rolie.y and administration are. not in the inter'-sts of the of the community."- He h'-itM' Mr Lee- w'th kn"win/r rothiing about the effect of the Public Service •\et. which had not resumed :n a .savin" - but in «ui increase of expenditure from £741,0G0 to £744.000. It was equally idle for the' member for Masterton to say that his rarty would inwove of the' incrco.se in the grapduat<-d land tax when' the Minister for .fnu">nec. whom he followed, had publicly declared thai' there ws"s to be no further in-iT.-,iv. The ■ vot entitled to the confidence of the pconic because of its method of doal'r": with the naval question. It had withdrawn the .subsidy from the British Navy and eomniHted itself to a loeal. luvvv. ' He minted f'l intertyiew fjiven by Hon. James Allen (Minister for DcfcnecV to show fliat he had clearly declared m favor of a local navy. The appointment of «i u.i'val adviser was a st<M> towards •that end, other-wise wlnt was the adviser to advise upon? He domed that the Admiralty was in favor of a local fleet and ouoted .1! .speech of the First 'Lord of the Admiralty in suprort of his view. '. Continuing after the suipper adjournment, Sir Joseph Ward, rcfen'inej to the Legislative Council, severely criticised, the postponement of the reform in the factof the Government's declaration that, it must he reformed. He deprecated the manner in -which settlers, local bodies, and workers were being treated, quoting the advances madfl to show that tie Liberal Party had treated these branches .of the com'"unity more generously. At Blenheim Hon. 'Jas. Allen had stated that he could have proved that the figures used in a nrospectus issued in connection with the Government loan'were erroneous, but lad' ho done so he would have been cutting his own throat. That statement had to .be explained. C'oncludina, Sir Joseph Ward accused the' (Government of 'want of courage, inasmuch as it had not brought in Bills on the wage question as party measures. Private members were put up to bring in legislation which the Government ought, to ha-ye faced: It had failed to carry out the greater pa'rt of its pledges and was therefore not worthy of the confidence of the people. Hon. . Jas. Allen (Minister for Finance) congratulated Sir Joseph Ward on the vigor of his speech., but not. on the material. The Government was prcipared to accept the no-confi-dence, motion. The Reformers could not be expected to deal with all the mlanks of their platform in t,wo years.' The lion, gentleman had been in office for 20 years,' and what had his party done a-bout insurance against sickness and unemployment? When the Government came into office it found the Legislative Council almost entirely composed! of nominees of the Liberal Government, and new appointments were necessary to get legislation through. He denied that aggregation of land was going on, due to legislation passed by his Government. The finances of the country were now sounder than ever before in the history of the country. The Advances to Settlers Department was so administered' that when he (Mr Allen) took office no Minister could make the accounts out. Why did not the Leader of the Opposition raise a loan :>m{ strengthen his Departments? Mr Allen further contended that- there was no money) to meet, commitments and liabilities when Sir Joseph Ward's sucessor took office. After the plunge came the aftermath. Mr Myers- had "to take his share and lie ,'OHr Allen) had to take his', but he was proud to sa-v that the position of the Department was never sounder than to-day. Money was being advanced' in large' amounts'. The Advances- to-.Settlers' Department had- £1.634,000 to its credit. The Loans to Local Bodies Department was also in a sound position, atid! money was be-

■in-iT advanced to the full limit of the law. Sir Joseph ,Ward tried to make the country believe that -the Government was not in favor of one imperial j Navy. The present Govenum nt was in j favor of an A.l Imperial' Navy, and the | speaker quoted from tiie 'London 'limes' to sii-ow that a local navy was] approved by the Admiralty. The (>,)-j position ridiculed the proposed acquisVj tion of one Bristol cruiser, •but the' Government had not committed the country to one penny expenditure on. ships. Those opposed to the Government'were little New Zealamlers. The best way to serve the Empire was to •establish lo:al independence and show i their .patriotism. '1 lie Admiralty 'broke i the agreement entered into at 'the Imperial Conference attended by Sir Joseph- Ward. Had Sir Josruh Ward taken Parliament or the .people into' his confidence with regard to the Declaration of London:-' Sir Joseph Ward's prrnosal for naval defence meant £500,000 a year. What the present Government proposed could cost only £Ua),0(;:) per annum. .Sir Joseph Ward' accused the- Government of not cutting doun ex ;• end it are and stopnin.-f borrowing. What it had promised to ttt> was-'to control expenditure and it could not be expected that they could cease .borrowing in such a young country. ADJOURNMENT. The debjite was adjourned on the motion of. Air Wilford '(Hint), and the House rose at IT.-15 p.m.