OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11690, 27 June 1901, Page 6

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

THE NECESSITIES OF THE NORTH. VIEWS OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. CONFERENCE WITH. MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT. Tine annual meeting of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce with members of both Houses of Parliament representing the Auckland province, to discuss matters of special interest to the North, prior to the opening of Parliament, was held in the Harbour Board rooms yesterday. Mr. D. R. Caldwell, president of the Chamber, presided, and there were 75 members of the Chamber present. The following members of Parliament were present:—Hon. W. Swanson, M.L.C., and Messrs. W. J. Napier, G. Fowlds. R Monk, J. Bollard, W. F. Massey, Jackson Palmer, F. La wry, and .1. H. Wi'theford. M.H.R.'s. The Hon. W. T. Jennings, M.L.C., wrote from New Plymouth expressing his regret at his inability to attend. (.Mr ail subjects having a bearing on Auckland's welfare lie thought be could anticipate being in full accord with the Chamber. Mr. F. W. Lang. M.H.R.. telegraphed expressing Li* regret that he. cor. Id not attend, and stating that he would be glad to work with the other Auckland members in the interests of the Auckland province.

The Chairman, in opening the meeting, expressed regret at the attitude the present Government had adopted towards Chambers of Commerce. He could not speak for Southern Chambers, but bo could saythat the doors of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce are wide open to every respectable trader, no matter what his political opinions might be. Probably they would draw the line at an Anarchist, but otherwise they did not care what a man's political opinions might be. They felt sorry that the Government did not try to assist them. They had one aim, one ambition, and one desire, viz., to promote the welfare of this part of the colony especially, and to increase the prosperity of the whole colony. The Chamber was composed of a very large number of influential men, whose experience could be of considerable value to the Government in matters commercial, and they thought that the Government might perhaps recognise the position and experience of the members of the. Chambers by sometimes consulting the Chamber on commercial matters. He sincerely trusted the Auckland members of Parliament would bring that matter before the Government. It was the Chamber's intention this year to build a very large Chamber of Commerce, in which there would be a large hail for the purpose of displaying the products of the North, and he felt sure the Chamber would be pleased to allow any display of colonial products the Government might care to make.

LAND SETTLEMENT. The first question dealt with was that of land.' settlement, of which the Hon. E. Mitchelson had charge. Mr. Mitchftlson said that question was a most important one, more especially to the people in the Auckland provincial district. So far the Lands for Settlement Act had been of very small benefit to this district. In the South Island, up to March 31, 270.773 acres had been purchased, at a cost of £1,268,841, while in the North Island 55,391 acres had been purchased, at a cost of £265.032. Fortunately Auckland had not been blessed with large estates, and seeing that that was so it behoved the people to impress upon the members the necessity of urging the Government to open up those lands Which were within 'he restrict. They were large and extensive, raid when opened up would enable the Government to place upon the. land an enormous number of people, as the lands were eminently suited for close settlement. He thought that the time had arrived when they' should endeavour to get the Government to take up the question in earnest lii the King Country the Government had acquired between 500,000 and 600.000 acres, and during the past year only 5000 ices had been brought into the market. As showing the great demand for land, he mignt mention that at the last ballot in connection with a block of the land in questior there were over 1500 applicants. In it there was one particularly large block, of a first-class character, containing limestone and papa country, which was ideal for grazing purposes.* One argument of the Crown lor not opening up the land was that it would be necessary to construct a road through the centre, to connect with the railway which would take about two years Before the land could he occupied, the bush had to be felled, grass sown, and fences pub up. Those who took up the land could be going on with that work in the meantime, and so have the land ready for settlement when the road was completed, so that he did not think there was much reason in the Government's argument in favour of delaying the opening of the land. Coming to the North, which was of more vital importance to Auckland, seeing that in the trade with that part there would be no fear of competition, as there would be in connection with the Waikato lands the Government had a large quantity of firstclass land, which was, however, inaccessible, owing to the lack of roads. When the North Auckland railway was constructed it would enable metal to be conveyed from one end of the district, and the highways could then be made. In the Mangakahia district the Crown had a considerable quantity 01 land, and there was no reason why it should not be opened. The largest area, however, was in the hands of natives, and lay between Mangakahia, Kaikohe, and the Hokiar."a River. It was, in his opinion, the flower of the North, and would carry a large population. "'here was no reason, why 't should not be opened up. Under the Lands for Settlement Act the Government had the power to cosiipulsorily take for settlement purposes land which was already in occupation. It chat were right, it also surely muse be rgbt that the Crown should acquire land from the natives that was lying unoccupied and unused. (Hear, hear.) The time was within measurable distance when the kauri timber would disappear. The kauri gum would, of course, take a longer time to exhaust, but when those products disappeared there would be nothing to look forward to but the land. That was the only means of salvation if Auckland were to maintain her premier place. Seeing that that was so the question should be immediately approached, and all political differences should be sunk to assist whatever Government was in power to rapidly settle the district. On the East Coast, between (Sisborne and Roturaa, there was a considerable quantity of land which was considered firstclass. ' That land should also be opened up. (Applause.)

Mr. \V. J. Napier, M.1T.11., said he generally and heartily concurred with Mr. Mitchelson s remarks, and as far as he was concerned every effort would he made by him in conjunction with his colleagues to insist on the speedy opening up of the blocks of "land mentioned by Mr. .Mit.cliel.son. The large block of land between Kawakawa and the Ohura Valley, which was land of unexampled richness, should abo be opened up.

Mr. W. F. Massey, M.i 1.11., said there were hundreds of thousands of acres of Crown lands and hundereds of thousands of acres of native land :n this district lying unoccupied, and the sooner such land. was occupied the better it would be, not only for the prosperity of Auckland city, but for the prosperity of the whole district. lie held that it was the duty of whatever (Jovetnnienfc was in power to undertake the settlement of that land, and undertake it energetically. They all knew that there was an unsatisfied demand for land in the Auckland district. They had seen what took place recently, when there were 5900 applicants for a block of 5000 acres. Probably there were many bogus applications, but the fact of Ihcra being bogus applications proved that there was an unsatisfied demand for land, because every bogus applicant knew that i*' he was successful in the ballot he would be ably to sell the section at a good price immediately afterwards. They wanted these lan.is opened up, roaded, and bridged, and the sooner it was done the better. For himself, be would do his best in the. direction indicated.

Mr. J. Hoihird, M.H.K., urged that the conditions under which Crown lands had to lie taken up wire too severe. The amount of improvements demanded from the settlers by the < loveri.inent, which was equal to the capital '.'.due. in say. six year;?, was too sU'iiigenfc. Under sue!) conditions a poor

I man could not take up land. It required a man with capital to be able to expend the capital value on improvements in six years, The present conditions were much more difficult to comply with than were the conditions under the homestead system, which he considered much better than the present system. He thought the Chamber of Commerce should strengthen the hands of members of Parliament by expressing their opinion that the conditions under which Crown land had to be taken up were toe severe. Mr. (',, Fowlds, M.H.R.. said he was fully impressed with the importance of the question of land settlement in the interests of the colony in general, and of Auckland in particular, and anything he could do to hasten the process would be done. RAILWAY MATTERS. Mr. S. Vaile spoke on the question of railways. He referred first, to the Main Trunk line between Auckland and Wellington. From all he could gather that line was progressing as satisfactorily as possible from the northern end, and he believed there was no reason why it should not easily be completed to K'awakawa by September, as promised by the Hon. W. Hall-Jones. He was told also that the line could be completed to Tauuiaranui early next year, or possibly by December this year. Then there was likely to hi some little delay on account of the first gnat bridge being encountered, but he was told that it was intended to erect a temporary bridge over the river, so that the material could lie carried over, and the rails laid on the other side while the large bridge was being constructed. Then there was tho question of the extension of the line north of Auckland. He quite agreed with Mr. Mitchelson that this was of far more importance than the extension southward. Very few people in Auckland had any idea of the enormous amount of wealth lying undeveloped north of Auckland. There were at present over 150,000 acres of native land, and over 100,000 acres of Crown land there which might easily be made available for settlement. That being the case, it was a monstrous thing to delay the formation of the railways in that district. They must urge the Government to push on these railways at a much greater speed than at present. Auckland was entitled to this. The South Island had an advantage over the North in expenditure on roads and railways of nearly £4,000.000. to say nothing of the roads constructed out of public lands, and Wellington had an advantage over Auckland of £2,500,000. He hoped the Auckland members of Parliament would insist on a very large grant being placed on the Estimates this year for the extension of the railways- north of Auckland. The Gisborne line should also demand their careful attention. That line was now being carried on to Karaka., and between Napier and Karaka there was a. coastal line which had been surveyed in detail, and which would no doubt be pushed on to connect with Karaka. If that were done, the Gisborne trade would be given to Wellington. Already Wellington had taken the trade of Tarauaki and the trade of Hawke's Bay. and not entitled to the trade of Gisborne. Such a line should be constructed for the benefit of the colony generally, and what the Auckland people had to do was to insist on the Gisborne line being constructed from Rotorua to Gisborne before the line from Gisborne. to Napier. 'That was their rigid, and hey should insist on it. Moreover, the line "he advocated was far more necessary in the colonial interest than the coastal line, which was being made purely in Wellington's interests. It was worth noting that after the line got to Karaka there was also a coastal line surveyed to Hicks' Ray, and a, branch from Hicks' Bay to Opotiki. so that the whole of the East Coast would bo connected with Wellington before it was connected with Auckland. They should be firmly united, and insist that such a tiling should not be done. _ This line would tap "the immense Motu forest, the timber in which was estimated• as being worth over £1.000.000, and if the line as designed was carried out, then that timber trade would go to Wellington instead of to Auckland. The same thins was going on with the Stratford line. Work had been commenced from the southern end, and no commencement was being made from the northern end, so that there again the Wellington people would come into Auckland's territory without giving the Auckland merchants a chance to compete with them. They should insist on this line being constructed far more rapidly from the northern end than from the southern end. Seeing that Auckland contributed the largest share of any provincial district to the public revenue, that her trade was larger, and her population larger, i* was simply a disgrace the way the people of Auckland had allowed themselves to be treated by the Government. He hoped the time had arrive! when Auckland would wake up and insist on her just due. He hoped the Auckland members of Parliament would in future insist on the North Island, and Auckland in particular, getting a far luraor rpTivfscntiitinn in the Ministry.

Mr. R. Monk, M.H.R., said Mr. Vaile's remarks had stirred him to the feeling that the North had been served badly, but no worse, than it deserved. He rose especially to urge the more rapid extension of the railway north of Auckland. From his familiarity with the North he could say there was a great future before it, and that the people of Auckland were being deprived by the nonprogress of that line of advantages they might otherwise have. Mr. Mitckelson, while Minister lor Public Works, secured £60,000 for that line, and of that over £20,000 was diverted from its original purpose. The member tor Ohinemuri could bear him out in that, because he sat and allowed it to be diverted without a word of protest. The people of Auckland should be thoroughly aroused. They would only get what they were entitled to on the same principle as the widow obtained her rights from the unjust judge. Only by unanimity would they gel what they ought to get. Not only had the Government neglected large areas of land in the North while they bought estates down South, but last session they promoted the passing oi Acts of Parliament the purpose of which was to convert the owners of native lands into a huge landlord system, to the detriment, of the settlers of' the country. lie believed the Acts would be abortive, but. the purpose, of them was really to stultify and prevent the settlement of the lend. Some people asserted that the present Government had made thmselves famous lot their land settlement. The Government had nothing to do with it. Circumstances over which the Government had no control had given the Government special advantages. It was the man who invented the refrigerator, the man who enabled the New Zealand settlers to look at the state of the markets in London, the separator which enabled people to produce butter in large quantities, and the hard-working settler, who worked early and late—thee were the men who had made the land valuable. Let there be the same conditions existing now as existed in 1833 and 1834, when legs of mutton, were hawked about, at sixpence each, and where would the Government's land policy be. To-day the Government were perhaps the largest landholders in the world. What were they doing, with it? They were buying estates at large prices down South. Why did thev not utilise, the assets lying in largs blocks in the North? Hi; hoped that meeting would crystallise their thoughts .- nd that they would exercise a continuous influence that must sway the Government. Closing his remark.-;, Mr. Monk referred to the delayin constructing the Mokohiue viaduct on the Noil Island Main Trunk railway and the great cost of the work caused by the Government adopting day labour in its construction, instead of contracting. There had been a. waste of £100,000 at least in that work, and when it was done it was very doubtful if it would give the satisfaction a work of such magnitude should give. ' Mr. Jackson Palmer. M.H.R.. said he was sorry that party politics had been introduced by the last speaker. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the remark that he (Mr. Palmer) had allowed £20,000 to be diverted from the North Auckland line without saying, anything, he would give an answer, but would do so in anothei place. Me wished to go away with as much unanimity as possible. They must not think because he did nut reply at that, stage he bad not a very good answer. With regard tv pushing on the lines he could assure them of his support, lie had always done his til most to help on ' ? North Auckland line, as he realised its great importance to Auckland. Speaking of the Waihi-l'aeioa railway, he said that at his suggestion a plant for driving rock-drills had been ordered, and that would enable the work of making the tunnel to be done in half the time and at hall the cost, of the present system. Wluii. "'as required in iv.;l-

I war construction was modem plant-. me i Waihi line was a most important one, as the I mining industry was going to do a. lot for I the district. Opotiki, which had been menI tioned by a previous speaker, could be j brought into daily communication with Aucki land if. when the line was finished to j Waihi. the Government ran it 12 miles fur- ! ther on to Bowen Town, at the head of i Tauranga Harbour. Again, he could assure ; the Chamber that they would always have I is best, help in the matter of railways'. He i hoped that they would all go away without I any apple of discord being cast among them, ! and that the members would proceed to Weli lington, as they did last year, all deter- ! mined to pull together. i The president explained that the Chamber was a non-political body, and he Sincerely hoped that nothing would be said that could irritate or annoy any of the members. I Mr. R. R. Hunt considered that what was ! wanted was more speed in the construction I of tines, and that would not be secured with i the co-operative system. As an instance, I he quoted the case of the recent reception ! platform in connection with the Duke's visit. ! Tho Government said the price for construct- : in" it on co-operative labour was £350. bin ! the committee decided to call for tenders, : and the price came out at £140, showing the ! difference between the two systems. To get : speed in railway construction meant conI trading, and doing away with the co-opera- , tive system, which was a system of getting I Mr. J. H. Witheford, M.H.R.. assured j the meeting that they could depend upon ! it that the whole of the Auckland members i would act harmoniously in their interests. ; As regard? railway construction, it was only a. question of money. The Premier said that we must not boom the railways, and the Minister for Mines said that the mining must not be boomed, but he (Mr. Witheford) thought they should both be boomed. He considered that next, session ! would see a wonderful acceleration of the \ speed in the construction of our railways. ! The Hon. Mr. Hall-Jones, the Minister "for i Public: Works, had told him the previous ! evening that he (Mr. Witheford) could give ! his (the, Minister's) sanction to the state- . ment that the Main Trunk line would be } constructed within the time promised, four i years, from June, 1900. (Hear, hear.) As ! for the North Auckland line, he (Mr. Withei ford) regarded it as a most important rail- | way to have constructed. ! Mr. Napier said there was practical una- ! nimity of opinion among the Auckland memj bers on the question of railway construction. I They did not want to be " converted." As I to the method of construction of the Trunk j line he might say that the viaducts were |to be constructed by contract. 'the MinisI ter for Public Works admitted that the co- ! operative system, as applied to complex I works, was a mistake. ! THE 'FRISCO MAIL SERVICE. I Mr. Arthur Myers, in introducing the j question of the .San Francisco mail service, I said it was one that had almost invariably j received the unanimous support- of the Auck- ! land members. He was quite certain that the matter would come up again this session, and be decided upon. The contract expired in November next, and the company hud the option of making Wellington or Auckland the final port of call. "It was certain humiliating to our national dignity that the American mercantile laws prevented any British boats participating in the service, but he thought that we might hope that the Government, through the Imperial authorities, might, perhaps, exercise their influence in the desired direction. He sincerely hoped that the time was not far distant "when a British company would participate in the service, which was important, no':- only to ! Auckland, but to the colony. He would : like to impress upon the members that the I argument that, with business people, the I cable was superseding the mail was errone- , ous. A fast mail sendee was appreciated j just as much as ever it was. and as far as ! they were aware there was no service that j could bring the mans from London quicker than the San Francisco service. He hoped j the members would take it that the business | people looked upon it as a very important j one, and that the saving of one or two days i was a most important factor. He hoped j the members would pull together as they | did last session, and see that this valuable j service was not lost to us. Mr. Myers | drew attention to the great importance'the i line was in developing the tourist traffic to j the colony, and said he thought it was unj necessary for him to go over the arguments i in favour of Auckland being the port of call. Mr. J. If. Witheford. M.H.R., said the Chamber might rely on the Auckland members joining together to keep Auckland as tho port of call for the. San Francisco mail sendee. The Americans living in Samoa were now getting their supplies from New Zealand by that service every three weeks, and when the American transport Abarenda was last in Auckland they spent about £10.000 in repairing the vessel and purchasing supplies.

TRADE IX THE MANUKA!'. Mr. H. C. Tewsiey advocated tin- bringing ' of the Manukau Harbour under the AuckI land Harbour Board. Onehunga, he said, I was one of the main outlets from Auckj land, and it was time it became a live port. | Looking at the matter from a local stand - I point, they had Hokianga, Kawkia. Mokau, j Waitara, New Plymouth. Opunake, and : Wanganni all growing districts' and the na- | tural port for the greater part of the produce of these districts was Onthunga. Some arrangements should be made to improve the facilities of that port, and the first step was that the harbour should be under the control of the Auckland Harbour- Board. lint leaving aside the local fi-pect of the ease, if Onehungu Harbour was improved. there was no reason why steamers from | Sydney should, not go direct to Onehunga, | and save from eight to 24 hours on the run. . Members of Parliament might also do something to reduce the railway line between Auckland and Onehunga. He saw no reason why the present time of from 35 to 40 minutes should not be reduced to from 15 to 20 minutes. Looking to the future, there was no doubt that the construction of a ! canal would have to be faced. It was not a big matter. He understood Government estimates had hew made, and that the canal could be constructed for something like three-quarters of a million pounds sterling. Even if it came to £1.000,000, what would it be compared with the increase on the price of goods, caused by bringing them from Onehunga to Auckland. A side is«ue might be raised that the present, constitution and personnel of the Harbour Board was not all that could be desired. He admitted that, but ii: was a matter they could correct. They all felt that the members of the City Council had as much as thev could j do to look after the interests of the city j without being on the H.arhoui Board. Mr. Witheford said the Minister for Pub- | lie Works had promised him to put a sum on I the Estimates next sessioi* to completely dredge out the Manukau Harbour, so that j earners could come in at all states of the j tide. j CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT. . I Mr. Hugh Campbell slated the Chamber's I position with regard to the Conciliation and i Arbitration Act. He said the Chamber had ! no intention of criticising the principles of ; the Act, but there were one or I wo matters : in connection with the administration of the Act which the Chamber thought of great imj portance and worthy of the attention of i members of Parliament. First; of all, there I was the existence alongside each other of the j Hoards of Conciliation and the Arbitration ; Court, if. appeared to the Chamber that | one body would be sufficient, and that the I Court, of Arbitration was more likely to be j useful than the Conciliation Boards. The ■ next point was with regard to the vexed i question of the number or apprentices which ! might, lie taken into any trade. He held I that no set of men had sufficient intelligence '; to enable them to decide how many persons should be employed in any particular trade. ■ because they had not only to consider the • interests of the youth of the time, but also • what were to be the developments of the ! trade in the future. He submitted that j there should be an amendment of the law : providing that the Court should not have power to make any regulations with regard to the number of apprentices. The next point was with regard to the powers of the Court of Arbitration to call for the production of books. It might be contended that the | power to call for the production of books I had always been held and exercised by the I Courts, but in that case the power was limited to the particular entries in which the two parlies to an action were interested. The Court of Arbitration, however, had J power to compel any person to bring into , J Court the whole of his'books. They all i l;e,e\v bow difficult it was to ;jet capital to ]

go into new industries at nil, and he could conceive of no provision more calculated to hinder capital from going into industries than the provision in the Conciliation and Arbitration Act to which he had referred. Moreover, the conditions of one man's business was so different from the conditions of another's (through one having probably more capital, more experience, and larger sales than the other), that no conclusion could be drawn from the different rates of profit made by different firms. He held that a fair amendment in this law would be that only entries for the purpose of showing the rates of wages paid for a particular length of time in the past should be open to the inspection of the Court. Mr. Francis Hull said no had letters from Lis Loudon agents, showing that London people were absolutely tired of putting money into the goldlields so long as ike labour legislation of the country was of such a nature that after they had invested their money they did not know what the legislation would be to-morrow. During the last six months it had been almost impossible to sell shares on the Auckland Stock Exchange, because people refused to put their money into industries guided by these uncertain laws. Mr. Alex. Dewar said it was a disgrace to New Zealand that only one in three 01 our boys and girls was permitted to learn a trade. " Mr. John Mitchell, architect, said some amendment was required demanding from the, men who had a standard wage given to them something in the way of a standard of efficiency. That was ordinary fair play. He held that it was highly undesirable that men should be received into unions without some test being made as to tli2.V iitness for the trade the union represented. In Germany a man could not call himself an efficient journeyman until he had passed an examination by" a board of examiners.

WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT. Mr. F. G. Ewington dealt with the Workers' Compensation Act. He said tie believed the measure had been conceived with the very best possible intentions. air: was designed* to throw upon each particular industry burdens which had hitherto been borne by the individual. The Act provided nearly adequate insurance protection for all the 'interests affected, but land-own-ers, employers, and mortgagees were very seriously affected by it. and if they did not be careful when they were lending inonev, and in general dealings with regard to contracts, the first mortgagee would find himself in the position of a. second mortgagee, and employers and land-owners might be ruined. Mr. Ewington pointed out that if he employed a casual labourer in his garden he might* have to pay a heavy sum if the man met with an accident. There ought to be a clause .introduced which would enable casual labourers for a nominal figure to get a license or protective policy which he could show, so that the man who employed him might be protected. _ The meeting was continued from halt-past two till nearly five o'clock, and. probably on account of the lateness of the hour, none of the members of Parliament spoke on the last two questions.