PARLIAMENT.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 174, 25 July 1907, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

[press association.]

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24

- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

THE FINANCIAL DEBATE

The House met at 2.30 p.m. Mr W. FRASER (Wakatipu) resumed the debate on the Financial Statement. He acknowledged that an improvement had taken place of late . years in the manner in which the aciounts were presented. He was, however, surprisedl to see the statement that the transfer of £750,000 to the Public "Works Fund had effected a saving in interest of £27,000. Surely that must have been meant for a joke ! There was no saving at all. The £2,----132,000 paid on interest and sinking fund was not the whole amount the - Oolony paid. There were other amounts, including land for settlement loans. The people should know exactly what the indebtedness was .every year, a"nd, no doubt, if it was all set out it would be several hundreds of thousands of pounds in excess -of the amount stated, here. As to the public debt of the Colony, certain items were properly deducted from the gross amount, but he urged that the s Government had no right to deduct £500,000 Bank of. New Zealand; preference shares held by the Government. He maintained, therefore,; that the net debt was improperly stated by that amount. He criticised the sinking fund, stating that the moneyso set apart was derived from borrowed money. He had'no faith in setting aside a sinking fund whilst they were everlastingly borrowing. It was a. pity that so little' attention was. taken by the public generally in the question "of finance. This apathy arose from the fact that the people looked to Parliament to see that things were kept right. He would like to see a Public Accdunts Committee, which should have power to inquire into every branch of the public accounts on its own initiative. No- . thing ought to be concealed from Members. What did the Public Accounts Committee inquire into ? Absolutely nothing; it only inquired into matters referred to it by the House. It should have power to bring officers before it and examine them. He contended that it should be furnished with all information-, whereas the fact Avas that information was withheld from the committee. Turning to land matters, he said that the Minister for Lands-had last night stated that Members opposing the land proposals were the friends of the big man, and the enemies of the small man; but that statement did not trouble him, and he was sure that it would not trouble those who sent him to represent them. He maintained that to give a man the freehold was to encourage him, and a freeholder would do more with his • land than under any other tenure. "This year's Land Bill was no better than last year's in its evident desire to do away with the freehold. The -same principle underlay it, that the Stato should not dispose of a single acre except on the leasehold tenure, with revaluation. Mr FISHER (Wellington Central) complained of the involved state of the Financial Statements-He compared it with that of Mr "Ballance in 1891. He said,-that since 1891 not a single ► -- - "Financial Statement""had been issued which was so lucid and easily explained. He stated that since 1902 the permanent appropriations had in^Sreased from £2,434,480 to £3,079,----079.' When the late Premier came into office the indebtedness of the Colony was £37,000,000; it had now increased by £22,328,000. The indebtedness per head had increased from, £60 5s 8d to £67 lls. He compared the present state of the affairs' of the Colony Avith the finances of Victoria, which, since the drought, had reduced its debt by over a million, as explained by recent press cables. He would like the Premier to explain why, in the face of the yearly-increas-ing surpluses, it was necessary to go to the London market to float loans? He contended that the Government made concessions where they should not have been given. Rebates had been - given to the farmers which should not have been. The sum of £21,000 was given last year iii postal concessions, and £17,000 in telegraph concessions; arid it was now proposed to give £20,000 in further postal concessions which' had never been askecL for. Then the sheep-tax was to be remitted, which was never asked fpr. A Member: The Farmers' Union asked for it. Mr FISHER: Yes, and they asked for the freehold, and got it, or are going to get it. Referring to the Midland Railway line, he said that he could take any five Members of the House over that line, and they would agree that the expenditure on the line was a most criminal waste of public money. Some of the land through which the line passed would not carry a sheep to 640 square miles. Refer"ring to the finances and the public accounts, he said that it was not possible for- any Member of the House "to obtain information of the public accounts of the Colony except by means of a Royal Commission. He added that the only means a Member had of getting access to a particular document was by making a.specific charge against a tmblic official. Mr BUDDO (Kaiapoi) complained still of the fact that the roads in the - country were bad. It would be better, before a settler was allowed to go on the land at all, that roads should be made. Referring to native lands, he said that settlement on the same was going on at too small a rate, owing, in great measure, to the fact that many natives themselves were averse to parting with their lands. He rea- •- • lised that the Commission was doing excellent work, but he was sure that . ■ there were large areas of native land which it would be difficult to deal with. In Hokianga they had found a large area of 500,000 acres in one block, and he suggested that this valuable land be divided in alternate . blocks, which would give the advantage of closer settlement and at the same time allow of the natives paying rates and taxes. Touching on tariff matters; he urged that lighter slippers and. shoes should be allowed to come into the Colony free, especially as they could not be profitably made in the Colony. Turning to the flour duty, he said that it was not possible to grow wheat profitably at less than 3s per bushel. He advocated granting protection up to 4s per bushel, but j ■ contended that a prohibitive duty should be placed on foreign flour. Mr BARBER (Newtown) considered j that the Government should set an example in the erection of public!

buildings. He differed from Mr Fisher in that he considered the Midland Railway one of the most important lines in the Colony, and the mineral country through which it passed was alone sufficient to warrant the Government in pushing on with the line. Mr Barber was still speaking when the House adjourned at 5.30 p.m.