PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10835, 19 August 1898, Page 6

PARLIAMENT.

J [»Y TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION.] |f LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Thursday. Y The Council met at half-past two. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. Leave of absence was granted to Mr. Tairoa for 14 days, on account of illness. • VACCINATION. A motion by Mr. Jennings that only calf e lymph should be used by public vaccinators, ' and that the appointments of all these officials should be revoked was withdrawn " on the suggestion of the Minister for Educa- " tion, who stated that ar< amendment of the law was anticipated in the direction of 1 English legislation. THE BANKING BILL. [ The second reading of the Banking Bill was . moved by the Minister for Education, who urged that the measure was required, and . would place the institution in a sound and [ permanent position. Mr. Ormond unfavourably regarded the proposal to dispense with the executive J officer by Act of Parliament. It was a Government function and should be dis- ■ charged by them. He also questioned the I wisdom of abolishing the power of veto, and tfiought there should be some permanent . officer to report from time to time, and | generally safeguard the colony's interest. He intimated that after the second reading lie would move that a committee be set up to {inquire into the progress of the Bank since 1891 Mr. Stevens supported the appointment of ' a committee, and urged that the position of the shareholders;, who had suffered considerably, should be made more satisfactory. Or. Grace criticised the measure at some length, declaring in the course of his remarks that in his opinion the charges of corruption against politicians and others connected with the banking legislation, were unfounded. The debate was adjourned till next day. MUNICIPAL FRANCHISE. On the motion of Mr. Jones the debate on the second reading of the Municipal Franchise Reform Bill was adjourned, after a brief discussion, till next sitting. The Council rose at a-quarter to five. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Thursday. The House met at half-past two. IMPOUNDING BILL, The Impounding Bill was introduced and read a first time. THE DEBATE ON THE BUDGET. The Financial debate was resumed by Mi'. Flatnian, who showed that under Government control the railways had been managed in the interests of the farmers. It was impossible to Hatter the Railway Department too much on the manner in which the railways were managed. He considered that if the Opposition had not moved the amendment on Tuesday, the Financial debate would now have been ended, and money would have been voted, and the men re-employed on railway rolling stock. He was in favour of the establishment of State farms, provided they were systematically managed. Respecting the Savings Bank deposits, he contended that the progress of a country was evidenced by their amount, and quoted examples of prosperous countries in support of his argument. Mr. Hunter quoted figures to show that there had been more deaths and accidents on the railway since the Government took them over, as compared with the period they had been under the control of Commissioners. Referring to the statement that the Opposition had no policy, lie said the principal policy of an Opposition was to expose the shortcomings of the Government, and they wore not called upon, to enunciate a policy until they were in a position to give effect t ) it. When this time arrived, he believed the present Opposition would be in a position to propound a policy which would be acceptable to the people of the colony. In order to prevent accidents on the railways, the lines should be fenced, but when he had asked this to be done to a portion of a line in his district, he had received the reply j that it would have to stand down until more I urgently necessary works were done. j Mr. Meredith considered the time had not . arrived for borrowing for railway extension, | but he believed that in a few years, when more land was taken up and occupied, and | the volume of produce had increased, the ! people of the colony would be called on to express an opinion on the question of bor- ' rowing for railway extension. Before bor- j rowing even the half million proposed in the Budget, there should be a remission of taxa- ' tion to the same amount. He was much j pleased with the proposals for the remission of duties m favour of Great Britain, which ' lie thought would be approved of by the majority of the members of the House. He ccnsidered the administration of the Lands ( Department for the year had been most satisfactory, and said the number of forfeitures (533) and surrenders (171) was comparatively j small, compared with the number who took up sections (2058). Taking into consideration that £100,000 had been remitted in rail- , way freights on carriage, stock, fencing, and building material, and manures, lie con- , sidered the railways had been managed by the Minister for Railways in the interests i of the people of the colony. He thought j the Government should expend at least | £5000 in advertising New Zealand frozen ( meat. ,

Mr. Buchanan said if the Government had been really anxious to re-employ the men on the construction of railway rolling stock, they should have brought the Financial Statement down earlier. It could not be urged that the Opposition had been blocking business in view of the fact that the Government still possessed an overwhelming majority. He suggested tlirvt the Auditor-General should be authorised to grant returns approved by the Speaker to members of the House, in order that they should get information now denied by the despotic gentlemen in power. He was still speaking at the half-past five adjournment.

The House met at half-past seven. Mr. Buchanan resumed his speech on the Financial Statement, and combated the Premier's statement that the public dent per head had decreased under the present administration. In 1891, he pointed out, the indebtedness per head was £59 12s, while last year it was £60 9s. Taxation had also increased during the same period from £2 7s lid to £2 12s 6:1. The Government valuation had been the worst lie had witnessed since lie had had anything to do with public life. Many of the valuers had not gone on the land at all, but the worst feature had been that values in many cases had been made in the Wellington olHce. Mr. Duncan said the members of the Government party were just as desirous of getting information as the members of the Opposition were, but the latter made the mistake of asking for information in an unreasonable form. He hoped the Local Government Bill would soon pass, in order to remove the question of roads and bridges from the floor of the House.

Mr. Scobie Mackenzie, referring to the remarks of the last speaker, said that in accusing members of the Opposition of being under the thumb of the Bank of New Zealand, he had been appealing to the lowest and most ignorant passions in human nature. So far as he (Mr. Mackenzie) knew, no member on the Opposition side of the House owed the Bank anything. Taking \he Financial Statement in one hand, he proceeded to ass what comprehensive phrase described its dominant characteristic, in his opinion the Statement, as respecting some of its figures, revealed nothing more nor less than an audacious and at the same time odious falsification of miblic accounts. This was borne out by an examination of the table of surpluses and deficits, the figures of which, he contended, could not be verified by the audited public accounts. The table had the effect of traducing the political reputation of the late Mr. Ballance, as the deficit attributed to Sir H. Atkinson was, in reality, to bo attributed to Mr. Ballance. In 1891 the surplus was attributed' to Mr. Ballance, while in reality Sir 11. Atkinson should have had the ircoit. No language was too strong to condemn and denounce a table of this kind, which had been compiled with no other object than to deceive the people of the colony, who had no means of verifying it. Ai a proof that no' reliance could be placed on an assertion or proposal in the Statement, he referred to the proposal respecting the amount required for the new library, as stated in last year's Budget, and the amount now required to complete the work. The Governments attitude in the matter had been a conspiracy to deceive the people of New Zealand and throw Parliamentary , authority < to the winds. Those who had voted with the Government were accessories aft<?r the fact in

this conspiracy. ' He bad met many who considered the settlement of land had commenced when the present Government came into office, but he quoted from a table to show that from 1878 until the time the present Government took office, land settlement had been more vigorous than under the present administration. One compensating fact in the Statement was that there was a legal surplus, which, though a legal one, was none the less a manufactured one. He could not move an amendment, but could he have done so, he would have moved that no surplus, real or fictitious, is or ought to be considered a set-off against the moral evils engendered under the present Government, and the administrative blunders they have committed. He adversely criticised the recent appointments to the Legislative Council. Mr. Hogg complimented the last speaker on having introduced some animation into a debate which had opened more tamely than any other financial deoate he could recollect. The number of forfeitures under the present administration was not due to a bad land system, but to the fact that the eyes of the country had been secured by land monopolists, and the settlers at present had to be content with rough country. The prosperity of the colony was due in a large measure to the progressive policy of the Government, and at no time bad land brought such good prices. He considered the Minister for Lands had done more for the prosperity of the colony than any other previous Minister for Lands. Settlers could be materially assisted by giving them cheap land and making land accessible, and the Minister for Lands was doing his best with the means at his disposal to do so. Mr. J. W. Thomson, referring to the table of deficits and surpluses in the Statement, said the Colonial Treasurer before compiling it should have had some consideration for bis late colleague, Mr. Ballance, and should not have thrown a brick at Sir Julius Vogel, whom he had supported. He hoped the Treasurer's estimate of revenue for next year would prove incorrect, and that the expenditure would be under what was estimated. He intended to oppose the proposed increase of wages to surfacemen on railways, which, he considered, was uncalled for expenditure, and would be unpopular in the country districts. Increase in wages would mean that there would be an increase in the number of applications from young men for work on the railway. He considered they were attempting too much legislation this session. On the motion of Mr. E. G. Allen the debate was adjourned, and the House rose at twenty minutes past twelve.