POLITICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13481, 4 July 1907, Page 7

POLITICAL NOTES.

T HE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

, [Bt TEtEGRArH.-SHCCrAL COHRESrONDENT. Wellington, Wednesday. -T W debate on the Address-in-Reply wa« • isumed this evening, by Mr. Massey ,wh< ' rising received a round of applaus< J* both sides of the House. At the out I the Loader of the Opposition made i Toint of the facts that it is usually the tw< Liar members of the House who are se : ,| ted to move and second the Address-in '!, L-iv' but on this occasion, unfortunatel) iv for the Government, by the will of the ejectors the two most recently appointed members of the House were on the Opposition benches, and were not supporters oJ the Government. . Mr Masscy twitted the Minister for Lands with having made statement* of ' po ii c y diametrically opposite to another Minister, and different also from the policy Alined in hi* "- I ™ l Bill. Now Mr. Mc , Vab had divided the Bill into three, and he (Mr. Massey) hoped that life was not ':going to play ■' inrce card trick on the Parliament and the people of this colony; but in any case, the Government had ercat,(l' fl feeling of '""'est and uneasiness among-the people *>" the land, and no mere modification of the Bill would satisfy these people that they were not trending ia. the direction of the single lax. Sir Joseph Ward, followed Mr. Massey, dealing with his speech in detail, and in a temperate manner. He retorted that Mr. Massey had now'gone back on his statements in regard to giving the freehold, to lease- m perpetuity holders. On June 28, 1905, ho proposed to give them the freehold at the original value; now he was prepared to give them the freehold on the capital value, after assessing the interests of the State and the individual. What the Government would not. agree to give was a present of 50 per cent, of the value simply because a. mail had a lease of the land for a thousand years. The debate was continued by Mr. Lewis, ,ho made a strong appeal for the retention • of the word "colony" in our official language. He referred to the splendid work done by the early colonists, and expressed an earnest hope that the words " colonist" : and "colony" would be cherished so long as the English language existed. Mr. Homsby, who . followed, devoted himself chiefly to the grievances of railway servants. . '•; 'The Minister for Lands, who replied to the various criticisms of his Department, ' made a short but vigorous speech, and Mr. Ell then took up tin; running.

, AUCKLAND'S PUBLIC BUILDINGS. Mr. Davey's remarks in regard to the respective amounts expanded on public : ■ works construction, in the North and South Islands were referred to by Mr. Massey to-night. He said the remarks made by the speakers at the recent Chamber of Commerce dinner at Auckland 1 were amply justified, and if the hon. gentleman would >' only go to Auckland with him he would ' be able to show him a number of dilapidated and even insanitary buildings, which ,'; , ■would cause him to alter his opinion. The Premier, who followed Mr. Massey, said that until recently Auckland had the .finest' railway station in the colony. He '.. .'referred 'to the new station at Dunedin, and said that, with, the altered conditions in various other places, including Auckland, new buildings would have to 'be j«rected in due course. Mr. Kidd is asking (the Postmaster-General when he proposes ■to make provision for a new and up-to-date jaost office in the city of Auckland.

. UPPER HOUSE APPOINTMENTS. • The recent appointments to ' the t Legis--K,tlve.v Council' were' referred to', by Mr. •Massey ' in his speech to-night. , Whilst he admitted that some of the appointments were good ones, there were others which were not. "Some of the men," he said, "have never done any public service, and • ar<s unknown to the public, and, in whom the public have no confidence. I have no doubt that the appointments were made • on account of political influence, but the good of the colony has not been taken into account." He went on to say that he had hoped that the new Government would democratise the Council, but he could only characterise as monstrous such a system of appointing men as -law-givers. He hoped < the time would soon come when the peoEle of,the colony would insist upon the egislative Council being made elective. The Premier, in replying, said that if they were going to have an elective Council, it . would be a duplication of the preseut system, and they might as well abolish the Council altogether. In'making the recent appointments it had been, the earnest desire of the Government to appoint men representative of the different industries in 1 the colony. A number of the newlyappointed councillors occupied seats in the gallery during the discussion «£ their merits and demerits, v. ;-A;

; V;; NATIVE LAND MATTERS. . - "It seems that the Commission has been set up, not to expedite matters, but to de- ...■• lay matters," declared Mi - . Ma,ssey to-night in referring to the slow progress made in regard to native land matters. "I believe it is- oaly a part,of the 'taihoa' policy, of which'the colony has had so much experience during the past 10 or 12 years." Re- ?: ferring to the recent acquisition by the Go--vernment of 15,009 acres of native land in the Auckland district, he said that it was a /matter for congratulation to know that this .land'was not to be allowed to go back to its primitive state -of fern and tea-tree. "But," he added, "if one-quarter of what ; 'one - hears about this land transaction is true, the whole matter should be inquired into by an impartial arid competent. tri- , ■:'bunal." The Premier denied that the * Commission was set up' for the purpose of delaying matters, and expressed himself confident that an "enormous area" of native land would be settled as the result of legislation which would be submitted this ses- , ' sion. KAURI TIMBER INDUSTRY. ._ A return in regard to the kauri timber industry is being moved for by Mr. Stallworthy. He asked that the return should • , show—(l) the estimated quantity of kauri timber held by the Crown in each of the Northern counties; (2) the quantity of standing kauri timber held by each of the sawmilling companies and individuals in : the same localities ; (3) the number of ■ mills owned by these persons, and engaged ■/-'in the-cutting of kauri, the number of hands employed therein, and the total a.quantity and value of the output for the , year 1906; (4) the total quantity exported last ; year, also the quantity and value, landed at Lyttelton. :" MANUKAU HARBOUR. , The data in connection with the proposed /. "constitution of a. Manukau Harbour Board to control the port of Onehunga. have been Placed before the Minister for Marine by Mr. Lang. ' . '. . HAIRDRESSERS' PETITION. . : ■""■'• A large number of hairdressers of Auck- . told, Parnell, Newmarket, Newton, and \ ' „ re Lynn, in a petition presented by the .-Hon. Geo. Fowlds, state that they had ; wen induced to sign a petition ill favour °< closing their shops at eight p.m. on ■ week nights and at 10 p.m. on Saturdays. ■ ; J-hey state that they signed tihe petition ' without due consideration, and they now asked: that the closing hours should remain as at present. ' '

, LAND FOR /SCHOOLS. •£** report of lands proposed to be reserved endowments for prfimary education was & led *° the House day. The list EST**: two ■<**«»* (In the Auckland disS, onß ot 341. aW in the Waimana ™ Sir? 011e ° f . ll | aCre:,, iu the Marae '