PARLIAMENT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9614, 4 October 1913, Page 7

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE TO SIT ON MONDAYS. RECORD OF WORK ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED. (Peb Pbesp Association.^ WELLINGTON, Oct. 3. Tho Hou?o met at 2.30 p.m. The Premier moved in accordance with notice that on and after tho 6th instant the House meet on Mondays at 7.30 p.m. for tho transaction of Government business. The motion gave rise 1o a lengthy debate, in which the Southern members protested against tho proposal as being unfair to them, while the Opposition generally contended that until the Government declared what measures it proposed to proceed with it was unfair to tako from the members the time necessary for recuperation after a heavy week'i work.

Mr Massey, in reply, quoted a return to show that he was not taking the Monday at an earlier date than in past years. He accused tho South Island members of political laziness and unwillingness to do their duty to their constituents. Concerning- the business of the session,- he pointed out that 22 Bills had been passed and sent to the Legislative Council. Four were in tho third reading stage and seven were before Select Committees; 14 were in the secondicading stage. The Government, he said. intended to take up Mr Hindmarsh's Distress Limitation Bill. Mr Isitt: it' you have done so much how have we obstructed you? Mr Mussey: "We have put these mea-

Kuri'-a through in spite of the obstruction of the hi ti. member opposite." So far us tho termination of the session was conccrnod, all he could say was that he intended to stay where ho was until the business of tho House was completed. A division was called for, when tho motion was carried by 38 to 23. Tho Defamation Bill was. on the motion of tho Hon. A. L. Herdman, read a second time pro forma. lie proposed to send it to tho Statutes Revision Committee, to ■.■'lnch Sir Joseph Ward objected. THE LAND BILL. PREMIER DEFENDS GOV EHNMINT POLICY. Mr Massey moved the second reading of ihe Land Bill He said the. Bill was aninstalment of the freehold policy of the Government. it, was proof that 'Parliament w-ds wiiling to recognise tho good work done by tho pioneers of the country. The success of tho settlor depended upon i wo things—security of tenure and good markets tor produce. That wa» what, tho Government aimed at. Good markets had .n'cn found for the produce on tho coast of North America, and for fruit on the east coast of South America. It was the duty oi the country to make the most of those opportunitiep. A great deal of non-s.-ns.) had been la lked about the Bill of last year thai, they were giving away the lights of the people; but the State' had ;.ever parted with the ownership of the land. What, it did v.rs to part only with the fee simple. Jt. was the duty of a man '•;:;» owned land in this country to bring mat land into the highest cultivation. If I. ■ did not do that he should be made to part with that land. If the producers were i > be pneouraged the Government must put liberal hud iaws on Hie Statute Book, but i.'iey must ne,i forget that as circumstances < iiangrd so must, their land laws. He ■ moled a i-oporr. from the VaJuer-Genpral giving details of private lands cut up and thrown open for settlement. The rfporl showed that between e ; ght and ninfi hundred thousand acres had b-en so dealt \Tith during tho past eighteen months. I.iealmg with the Bill, ho said that no portion of it had given him so much thought ** f h* aggregation proposal. Tho Govirnment did not propose to interfere with any secret aggregation that did !io t , interfere with ihe public good !| i eases where a man was ' aggregating against the public welfare provision had l>e<m made for interference by tlm Land Purchase Board and the Minister, who informed the owner that he either must cut up or hand the, land over to the Board or the Stats will compuisurily acquire it. In nine cases out of ten he believed the man himself would subdivide the land and make as much as he ;,< "ild out. of it. 110 had expntesod tho opinion that in ten years there would not be a large estato suitable for cutting up loft in ihu country, and he held that opinion now. Provision had been made in the Bill prohibiting companies from purchasing a, number of tuns. Tho principle was oneman one-run. in cases where rural land was over-\aiu.d by the Board, it could, bo .'-valued by tho Vainer -General, and that value would b" final.

The Premier sulci Llm old law stipulated that purchasers of Crown or settlement land shy 11 pay for their holdings in ton payments. It had been found that many settlors could not complete tho purchases in dil.l time, and it was now proposal to double tlic time. Provision was made that Crown lands without roads shall have all monies paid to the Crown which have accrued from tho sale or letting of land expended on the making of roads for access !•'•' such land-. Provision was made for the ol the foe simple of settlement lands lii-Id under the leaso-in-perpetuity. The principle of actuarial calculation was provided for. The Government had not the slightest intention of interfering with education endowments.

Sir Joseph Ward said that when Mr Mas ry cam.- into office the tenure of the land was settled on the freehold basis and ho recognised that fact; but in the Bill now before the liouso there was no pro-p-mi which was going to help settlement, lhere were several which would retard settlement, lie endorsed the views expressed by Mr Massey ro increasing tho exports o. the Dominion, and ho wanted to see this branch of our trade reach £100.000.000. Ireland was exporting three times as much as we were. The real agency in promoting Mtbdi vision was the land graduated tax. The aggregation proposals in the Bill were no: worth the paper they were \\Titton on. Tho tenure of ih< future was to be the limited freehold assisted bv the optional leasehold.

Mr h. >.ewm,-.n said Sir Joseph Ward's ncceptancc of the freehold tenure brought tho two parries in the House closer than they had ever been before, because the difference between the freehold and leasehold parties had been the principal line of derrnreal ion between them in the past. While the proposal to allow settlers on settlement lands to acquire the freehold was an important me, he regarded the provision for allowing city men to take up country lands without enforcing residence was tl - most important in the Bill, and he hoped the House would confirm it', and ho would appeal to the Labour Party to support it, as the only permanent solution of the labour problem was the close settlement of 1.1! d.

Mr W. D. S. MncDonald complained of the wnni <-( ronrte>sy on the part of the Government in nor putting up a Minister to roplv to the loader of the Opposition. A* to the freehold (enure, he claimed that practically .-very Crown tenant except those on endowment or settlement lands had the right to acquire the freehold since 1892, hut tlioro had been no great rush to <?et the freehold. He was a freeholder himself, but he recognised that without leasehold rhc bulk of our settlement would hare been impossible. He denounced the proposal to remit rhs residential conditions. The debate was continued by Messrs Wilson, Isitt and T. W. Rhodes