EVENING SITTING.

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

EVENING SITTING.

The House resumed at 7.30. p,m. Mr BARBER, resuming, urged that an ad valorem and weight duty should be placed on, shoddy, which would have the effect of reducing the quantity of shoddy entering .the Colony, and would assist in the development of the Colony's woollen industry. He contended that in placing a duty on raw cotton they" would prevent colonial manufacturers from supplying a good, cheap material composed of new wool mixed with a little cotton, which was a good article, and competed with shoddy. The latter contained no new wool, hut only old and adulterated material. He urged that unless the industry received a little protection the worker in the Colony' would Be brought to the. same level as the sweated worker in the Old Country.

Mr THOMSON (Wallace) criticised the book-keeping system of the Colony, and urged that it should be reformed. He advocated the better payment of teachers and the placing of tlfe teachers' superannuation fund on a more sound basis. He characterised the Budget as a business one. He commended the Postmaster-General for the concessions granted. He advocated *the State's lending working miners money in the same manner as money was lent to settlers under the Advances to Settle.rs Act. Such concession would result in the development of the mineral wealth of the Colony. Referring to the naval subsidy, he thought that they should increase the subsidy to £60,000 per annum. Turning to endowments, he urged that the Government should have utilised settlement lands for the purpose. As it was, the proposal put forward would take years before any revenue would be available.

Mr McLACHLAN (Ashburton) con_sider.§d that 'the Leader of the Opposition's criticism "of the Budget Speech was a bit washy, whilst the Member for Bruce, in criticising the -railway revenue, showed that he was not up-to-date. He did not agree with the Government in all the remissions of taxation proposals ,and was particularly opposed to the remission of the sheep -tax. ■■■■■••■•. ■ "■-,,■.

Mr IZARD (Wellington North) suggested that the Minister for Customs should bring down legislation to en-; able him, in case of necessity, to take the duty off the necesaries of life. ferring to the proposed postal concessions, he did not think the majority of the people were- going to gain anything. He urged that a new post office and new railway station should be built in Welington. He had recently visited Taihape, but they did not require a post office of that description, which resembled a mosque; neither did they require a palatial railway station like that in Dunedin. Referring to the mail service via Suez, he urged that negotiations should be entered into with the Union Company to delay the steamer leaving Sydney on Saturday until Monday, and thus enable the English mail to be delivered in _ Welington on Thursday night or Friday morning, representing a gain of five days. He agreed with the proposals set forth for dealing with the restriction of Chinese entering the Colony, and instanced the test recently enforced in Australia, when the Customs authorities applied to what was | considered an undesirable immigrant a test in the Greek language. Such a test, if enforced, in this Colony, would prove effectual in restricting the entry of Chinese. Referring to the Land Bill, he did not believe in the Crown's parting with the lands. He advocated ■ the leasehold system, with 33 years' | lease, which was sufficiently long. The lease should contain provision for the perpetual right of renewal.

Mr HANAN (Invercargill) congratulated the Premier on bringing down a policy for the improvement of the condition of the people of the Colony. He advocated the adoption of a protective tariff, for the purpose of benefiting colonial industries. He was strongly opposed to allowing motor-cars to enter duty-free, and particularly in regard to. the bodies of cars, which could be made here, and give employment to numbers of workmen. Referring to the land proposals of the Government, he was satisfied with them, but would like the graduated land tax to commence at £20,000 instead of £40,000. He contended that the landless people cf the Colony wei'e not receiving the attention they deserved. The tendency was on the part of many Members of the House to legislate for men already in possession of land.

The PREMIER rose to reply at 11.15. He said that the criticism, so far as it had gone, had not disclosed any weakness in the Financial Statement. The Government had never experienced any difficulty in meeting loans as they became due, and never would. The proposal to borrow a million loan provided that it was to be borrowed, not in England but in New Zealand. Time and again money had been offered in Australia at a good premium, and there was no need to go to England for the loan; and there was no weakness in the proposals put forth. The same people who complained of borrowing money were always endeavouring to procure votes for the erection of large public buildings ;in their own constituencies. In Auckland they had experienced these demands, and the Member for Wellington Central had that day advocated the expenditure of money on a post office in Wellington. What was the use of anyone dealing in colossal hypocrisy in urging the Government to cease borrowing, when every day, there were questions on the order-paper asking for grants for cities and constituencies in the way of public buildings

and railway facilities and-for increases to the wages of public servants. Yet , the Members who were, asking for these grants for their own constituencies 1 were talking to their constituents and 1 deprecating the -borrowing of money. ; The Premier quoted figures showing 1 the various amounts expended on pub- ' lie works in various" portions of the I Colojjy: He suggested that Members Tshould render assistance by ceasing to ask for grants for their own constituencies if they desired to cease bor- | rowing. Dealing with the reductions !in the Customs tariff, he said that 1 everyone engaged in industries had the j opportunity of placing their views before the Minister. He contended that there never was a Customs tariff which had given such general satisfaction as the proposals set forth by the Government. The whole matter of Customs i had been gone into, with a view to assisting industries, compatible with reducing the" duties oil the necessaries ot i life. The Government was prepared to listen to suggestions on the floor of the House with a view to amending the ! tariff further, if it*could be shown that : industries were being interfered with. • There appeared to be an idea that the ! reduction on motor-cars was intended Ito benefit rich people. It was put be- ! fore the Government that a number of j businessmen were desirous of obtain- | ing motor-cars for purposes of their business, but were unable to do so owing to the duty on them. There were 3000 motor-cars in the Colony—there should be many more; and he asserted that if they had a proper share of these cars they would employ a number of workmen in the way of repairing and attending to these ears equal fo twothirds of the railway servants, and as motor-cars increased they would eventually employ as many men as the Railway Department. Motor-ears could not be made in the Colony at the present time, and taking off the duty did not affect motor-cars. In connection with the land and income tax,-he knew men who wanted to go further than the proposals in the Budget, but he contended that, while a compromise had been made in regard to advanced land legislation, a great deal of their desires were embodied in the Government proposals. There was a proposal to reduce the limit to £20,000^ but he pointed out that the Government proposals meant an immediate increase of £90,000. When the increase took place in 1904 and 1905 the increase amounted only to £23,000, but in 1906 . the increase was £62,000, and the next year it was £35,000. The Government was not^ taking off a penny-piece of those increases, but was putting £90,----000, on top of it. Those Members who urged that the Government should go lower had to consider their responsibilities. The point of the Government's proposals was that ordinary railway land had not been put upon reocrd, because the owners, of estates knew that they had only to stand out, and would be able to go to the Compensation Court, with the result that unfair values had been fixed, and the Government had been compelled to make these drastic proposals. The Bill not only prevents the aggregation of estates, but the divi-' sion of estates; and thej' would find the owners of land seeing that fair values were put upon land. The debate concluded, the House went into Committee on the,. Estimates, The, House rose at 0.23 a.m.