EVENING SITTING.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 221, 4 October 1906, Page 1

EVENING SITTING.

The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. QUESTIONS. Among the answers to questions was the following:—A Bill has been prepared" by the Government to overcome the defects recently pointed out by the Bupreme Court here in the Testators' Family Maintenance Act. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT. When the House met the Hon. the PREMIER made a Ministerial statement with respect to the following notice of motion which was not moved by the Member who had given notice of it, when the opportunity arose in due course during the afternoon: "Mr Wilf ord to move that there be laid before this House a return showing to whom the sum of £150,000 was first paid on behalf of the Midland Railway debenture holders, and what part of that sum reached the shareholders of the Midland Railway Company, and to whom the balance was paid; setting out the amounts in detail, with the dates on which such payments were made."

The PREMIER gave the whole history of the matter from the first-peti- ! tion presented by the debenture holders and shareholders of the Midland I Railway. Company-to the final payment to "the. representatives of the persons, concerned. He read the authority to pay over the debentures; the receipt of the Agent-General for the £150,000 debentures; the receipt of the Nation^ al Bank of New Zealand for the same for payment to the right people under the conditions named, in full satisfaction of all demands,, and an acknowledgment of the honourable behaviour of the Colony in every respect.. He read the receipt of Lord Ayebury, Chairman of the debenture holders, of £147,500 of these debentures (at Z\ per cent., bearing two years' currency). He read the resolution of the shareholders of the Midland Railway Company accepting £2500 of the debentures, and the receipt of their Secretary under authority of the resolution, and pointed out that both receipts to the National Bank fulfilled ; all the conditions. He said he had then shown* that the will of Parliament had been carried out at the earliest possible moment, in a manner showing that everything done by the representatives of the Colony had been accepted by the institutions which had petitioned for redress. He added his extreme surprise that any question had. been placed on the Order Paper, which he happened to know had, been taken as a reflection on those connected with the transaction; surprise which was, he' said, deepened; by the conduct of the Hon. Member who had refused to move his motion that afternoon,' and Who saw" that hie (the Premier) had been prevented frtJm moving'it nimseW i for the purpose of making the explana- : tiori necessary for clearing" the. position at once. He thought the hon.\Mem? ber's sense of duty ought to have induced him to help in getting out the explanation in a matter he knew to be of the utmost importance. Mr WILFORD, by way of personal explanation, took the opportunity of denying that he had by his motion intended to cast any reflection on anyone. Nothing had been further from his thoughts. At the same time -he would express his entire satisfaction with tEe clear and complete explanation made by the Premier, and he thought that the hon. gentleman should feel thankful to him for the opportunity he had afforded him of making that explanation. He had given notice of the motion as one of a small number of members of the late 6. Fisher's party. Messrs' Barclay, Hornsby, and R. MacKenzie were the others who had opposed the grant of £150,000 to the Company and the debenture holders. The Act recited that each shareholder and debenture holder should give a receipt in full, and an acknowledgment of the Colony's honourable conduct. He had got the information that the institutions had received the money, but he was left to his own; resources to see if the shareholders and debenture holders had given their individual signatures. His reason for not moving his motion in the afternoon was luat he did not oonsider the hour (five o'clock in the afternoon) a proper opportunity for ventilating this important matter as it ought to be. The PREMIER was glad to hear the hon. gentleman's disclaimer, and to receive his assurance of satisfaction with the explanation. At the same time, he could not let him wriggle out of the responsibility he had incurred by his conduct, which had delayed explanation. He was not opposing the motion. He was ready to give.the explanation, which would have been placed on the table of the House the next day. As it was, he would place the documents in the Speaker's hands, and certified copies would be given to the Clerk of the House. He had been ready to move- the motion himself. Mr WILFORD—Why did you not ask me? The PREMIER could not see that it was necessary. Mr Wilford ought to have known what to do. However, he took the opportunity of thanking the hon. gentleman for enabling him to make the explanation. Mr BAUME hoped the Premier would understand that he had opposed his moving the motion solely in the interest of his own motion. The PREMIER replied that Mr Baume would recognise that he .had returned good for evil by not blocking his motion. The matter then dropped. RECIPROCITY TREATY. The PREMIER moved: "That in adopting the report this House desires to express its appi'eciation of the eminent public services rendered by Mr Deakin and the late Mr Secldon in their efforts to establish trade reciprocity between the Commonwealth and New Zealand, and hopes that a scheme may yet be devised which will be satisfactory to both countries." The Premier said he proposed later on to introduce a Bill to place the matter on a proper basis, as otherwise every per-

son who had been doing business in the articles enumerated in the treaty would have claim against the Colony No one regretted more than he and his colleagues the fact that the Committee could not see its way to ratify the agreement entered into by the late Premier. They., could imagine the difficulty that would be experienced in framing a treaty that would be satisfactory to all classes. It was only after exhaustive enquiry that the full effect of the proposed treaty could be realised. Mr Seddon's aim was a high and a noble one, and his efforts would no doubt be rewarded by some practical result in the future. He,«sJiowever, very much regretted that the Government could not support the proposed treaty. As he said when placing the treaty before the House, the principal item was that of sugar. If they carried out what was proposed in the treaty in respect to sugar it would be placing the whole Colony in the hands oi one powerful company, which did business both in New Zealand and Australia, without giving any concession to the consumer in this Colony, although they would be sacrificing revenue to the extent of £186,000. The only way to give the consumer the benefit was to remove the sugar duty in regard to the world at large. A careful examination of the position by himself and his colleagues and the responsible officers of the Custom's Department showed that the result of the operation of the treaty would be entirely different from what had been intended' by Mr Seddon, in consequence of the command of the sugar market both in New Zealand and Australia being in the hands of one company. He was quite sure that if the late Premier were now alive he would, with a full knowledge of the details gathered by exhaustive investigation, change his opinion as to the effect of the proposal in regard to sugar. He did no t t propose to refer to the minor points of the treaty, as the sugar item was the all-important one. They couki not alter any items without destroying the whole treaty, otherwise some individual recommendation might have 'Been made. He very much regretted being unable to take the course he would dearly have liked to take, by moving the ratification of the agreement entered into by the late Premier, but he hoped v.nat the work already begun would be followed up in the future with good results. Mr MASSEY seconded the motion, and agreed with the sentiments expressetl by the Premier in regard to the efforts of the late Premier and Mr Deakin. The position was a difficult one to face, but he hoped some satisfactory arrangement would be arrived at in the near future. It was not necessary to wscuss the proposed treaty at any length. Only one witness examined before the Committee— the representative of the candle manufacturers—had expressed concurrence with the treaty, and it seemed to him that the candle manufacturers had a genuine grievance. The duty on im-_ ported candles at present was one penny a pound, whilst that on wax was fd alb, thus allowing only one farthing for New Zealand manufacturers to come and goon. He thought the duty oh wax should be remitted hi regard to;all countries. The main fact, to be consideVed was th.at the Colony would lose £165,000 a year by the operation of the treaty. / Under these circumstances the, treaty could not be agreed to. It was, however, surprising that the people of two' British countries ,should keep up the/present tariff war, ahd that until the last year or two no attempts had been "made to break it down. He hoped that the long-prom-ised revision of the ■ tariff would be undertakeh by the Government next year, and that the result would be the promotion of closer trade relations between New Zealand and Australia and other British countries. Mr LAURENSON supported the treaty, advocating free flour, and pointing out the advantage to mineral waters; barley, oats and hops. Mr ELL supported the Premier,, declaring the proposed treaty would riot assist New Zealand industries. -

Mr BUDDO considered it would be always hopeless to arrange a treaty with Australia. Mr T-. MACKENZIE pointed out the difficulty of dealing with the Australian sugar monopoly, and the impossibility of, getting New Zealand produce into Australia against- the Australian farmer.

Mr HANAN thought the whole advantage of the treaty was on the side of Australia. Mr T. SEBteO;N\ considered the treaty had been drawn up in the interest of a free breakfast table; that "it-was not in favour of monopolies; and he hoped, with the Premier, that a I treaty wjould in the near future be arranged which would become, as this one was intended, a link in the great Imperial connection. Mr MALCULM advocated the claims of lapal industry without Protection. Mr HOGG thought the losses under the treaty would be too great, especially in the sugar trade. . Mr FL ATM AN supported the motion of .the Premier, and echoed his hope. Mr THOMSON was against the treaty on the whole. Mr ALISON supported the motion for the sake of the fruit industry. The PREMIER, in reply, took the opportunity of expressing his sympathy" with the speech of Mr Seddon that evening. lie was sorry at the turn that matters had taken, nevertheless he congratulated Mr Seddon. He went on to explain that the Government had received so many resolutions and representations against the treaty that they saw that the country was against it. In the matter of sugar, he pointed out the certainty, were the treaty, to be adopted, of, being at the mercy of a monopoly. 'He- d~id not object to sacrifice the £180,000, but not in the interest of a monopoly. The future. hope was that the white- races on both sides of the water mie:ht make a really valuable treaty in their mutual interests. He agreed with those speakers who had insisted during the debate that both the farming and the manufacturing interests required the most careful consideration. Witn these remarks he hoped the treaty drawn up by the signatories might prove the forerunner of a really valuable treaty. The motion was carried on the voices. The House adjourned at 11.15 p.m.