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New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12625, 4 August 1904, Page 5

UNKNOWN

UOK LAND MEMBER'S SPEECH. A J?-PORTER OF CANTERA BURY. 'SPECHt COKP.F.SrOKDENT,] Wellington, Wednesday. Lawrt, member for Parnell, speak- ; the House to-day on the question of irliamontary votes for the North ml said the proper way to distribute the • funds was in accordance with the j of the districts. Alison: That is not done. f. Lawry: It '= done. r. Alison: It is uotr Lawry: It is not; very mannerly of lion, gentleman to give mo a flat con liction. [ r K. JlcKenzio: He does not know any ter. Ir. Lawry: I say the public funds are ! distributed with an equality never i\yn before the advent of the present Goiimont. If any people in this country I a right to growl it was the people of iterbury. When I used to ask Canter•y members to help me to got votes for North I was told that one Northern irict, the Marsden electorate, got more es in or.o year than the whole of Canbury. When I hear the railways of the rlh set against tho South it; has often •n an astonishing thing to me that the nterbury people are so good-natured as submit to tho insult. It is a wonder to that they don't stand up in (his House 1 say, '• Until this is stopped we will ck every vote for the North of Auekd." ,Ir. Lewis: Will you help us ? ,lr. Lawry: No; but it would serve the rth right if T did. I strongly object to 3 parochial business. The proper place spend money is where tho monc-y is most ided. From this point -Mr. Lawry went a different tack and condemned the pret system of Parliamentary grants as rotto the core, and he believed tho Leader the Opposition, if he got into power, uld help him (Mr. Lawry) to get a system local government which would take roads 1 bridges out of the hands of Parliant. (Applause.) What he wanted was to ,-e the whole of the land tax of the colony roted to opening up land by means of ids and bridges. Let all the money be t into one fund and distributed where rks are most urgently needed. Why mid a wealthy body like the Epsom Road ard, which had at one time to chuck its . ne away, get grants while settlers in tho intry districts had to plough through the id '! <Ir. Lewis: /Who was chairman of that Jhrd ? lr. Lawry: I was—(laughter)—but wo li, to spend out money. We struck the mi muni rate, an! we could not give our m<cv to the adjoining districts. Subsidies ahUd be given on. a graduated scale.