HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 6048, 18 August 1880, Page 3

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

/ MONDAY, AUGUST 16. On the House going into Committee the fol-lowing-items in the Public Works Estimates were* passed :—Class 11., Public Works Department, £14,870■ 6a;j Bd.; Class 111., Railways.; ICawakawa,. £47,000 ; Wbangarei to TELamo, £49,000 ; Kaipara; ,to >.Waikato, £133*0,00; Waikato to Thames, £99,000 ; Wellington to Napier (Napier to Woodville), £37,000. —Mr. Gisbobne moved that this item he. struck-out in*order-to enable-the Govern--ment to bring down a vote of a similar amount for the continuance of the Wellington to Fox-; *ton—line.-—Some—discussion— ensued, during which Mr.'.' Hutchison spoke in favor of :-going bn .with the Foxton line, while Mr, Beethah ; pointed out that the lines the ‘Government, wished.to...complete were, calculated to open country which had no sea communication, which the West Coast had. The motion.being withdrawn,.. Mr. Seddon moved that the amount be reduced by £20,000, when the House divided, the motion being lost by 26 to 11. The item was. then carried as pro-;poaed.-T—Wellington to Napier. (Wellington to Woodville)* £85,000 ; Wellington to Foxton, £36,ooo,(already expended, £33,877 16s. lid.) —Mr. Hibst moved that this item be reduced by the available balance, but the motion was lost on tb© voice?.—Foxton to New Plymouth, £199,000 Nelson to Greymouth, £70,500 (including Greymouth Harbor Works, £33,910). —

Mr. Pitt moved,—That the item./Greymouth Harbor Works be reduced by £20,000. He considered that this was one; of the works that conld.be left over for a future time.— Mr. Weight supported the motion. Greymouth coal was good, and in great request for -certain purposes, but Greymouth was not the only place in the colony , where thete was coal, and .dess, expenditure - in. other ■. places..wnuld .probably make other coal equally available.— Mr. Sedi>o!7 also supported-the-proposal, and condemned the system which had been pursued by the engineer in very severe terms. He did not wish to be unneigbborly, but the money was just being thrown away. In some places loose gravel had actually been put in •without anything to hold it, and whoa that had gone stones were used. ■ These bad also gone into the channel, and it was through some of these being on the bar that vessels bad got holes bumped iu their bottoms. They had vi fact don© a great deal more harm than

good. It would be difficult to Bay how much more money would be required to complete the work;—Several other hon, members having spoken the motion was carried by 22 to 21, and. the vote, thus reduced, passed without farther discussion. The following is the division list: — Aye*, 22.—Messrs. Ailwright, Bullance, Powen, De Lautour, Finn, George, Hamlin, Harris, - Hirst (H.), Hursthouse, Hutchison, JoneV Levin, Lundon, Montgomery, Pitt (teller), Shephard, iStevens, Studbolme, Thomson, Turnbull, Wright (teller). Kozs,2l. —Messrs. Atkinson, Bain, Beetham (teller), (Jolbeck, Gisborne (teller), Hall, Johnston, McLean, Moorhouwe, Oliver, Secl•ion, Sheehan, fcutton, Swanson, Tuimn, Tawhai, Tomdana, Trimble, Wakefield, ■Whitaker, Whyte.

After some discussion of a desultory nature the chairman reported progress, and the House adjourned at 3.50 a.m. TUESDAY, AUGUST 17. The House met at 2.30 p.m. Several petitions and reports were laid upon the table and notices of motion given. The Hon. the Premier gave notice to move that Government business be taken on Ihursdays, after 7.30 p.m. The Hon. the Minister for Public works introduced the Public Works Bill in Committee. The hon. Minister, in reply to .a question, said that the Bill would be ready for circulation to-morrow, and that it was ou amendment of the Bill of X S 76The Bill was ordered to be read a second time on Friday next. In reply to a question put by Mr. Bowen, the Hon. Colonial Secretary said that a sum would be placed upon the Supplementary Estimates for the maintenance of public domains. Replying to Mr. Reeves, the Minister por Public Works stated that a sum would be placed upon the Supplementary Estimates for the construction of a road through the Cannibal Gorge. Replying to Mr. Reeves, the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer said that although certain brewers had declined to pay the duty they did so at their own risk, as the Act in question commenced from the Ist of August last. Xu reply to Mr. Barron, the Minister op Public Works stated that a letter had been sent by Mr. Armstrong to the Commissioner of Railways in the South Island in reference to the charges made against himself m *he Civil Service Report, and a copy would be laid upon the table. , Mr. Macandbew said that the report should be placed on record, as it involved serious accusation against a public servant well known to many members of that House. In reply to Mr. Johnjton, who asked the following question,—Under what authority liabilities were contracted ou the Foxton to

New Plymouth railway to the amount of £33,307 in excess of the amount appropriated by Parliament ?—The Hon. the Minister i'OR Public Works replied as follows : —The hon. gentleman is quite wrong in supposing that the whole of the money has been expended m Taranaki, As a matter of fact only £SOO has been spent in that province, the remainder having been in Wellington province. The Government had carefully avoided spending any money which had not been voted by the House. Replying to Mr. Allwright the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer explained that only one family had been removed to Lyttelton in the Hinemoa, On the motion for going into Committee of Supply, Sir George Gret proposed that the consideration of the resolutions passed in mittee of Supply be postponed. He considered for his own part that the present course pursued by the Government in the stoppage of these public works was doing the colony a very great deal of harm. He hoped the House would proceed with the revenue Bills before proceeding with Supply. It would in every way facilitate the despatch of public business to carry his motion. The Hon. the Premier was surprised at the course adopted by the hon. member for the Thames. He did not at all agree with the remarks made. They had heard the Financial Statement, and the statement of the Minister of Public Works, both of which had been fully discussed. He felt quite certain that if the course suggested, by Sir George Grey were adopted, the progress of the public business would be very greatly obstructed. He should, therefore, ask the House to reject the amendment. Mr. Moss said it seemed to him that the House was somewhat hazy as to Whether there was one million or three millions available for public works. His own impression was that there were three millions. (Laughter.) He would certainly like to know what the exact amount was. The amendment of Sir George Grey was then put and lost, and the resolutions passed in Committee of Supply were read a second time. Mr. Masters regretted that the item of £33,000 for the Greymouth harbor works hadbeen struck out on the previous evening. He moved that it be recommitted. The Hon, the Premier opposed the motion. Mr. Thomson said the reason the amount was struck out was because the Minister for Public Works had stated it would- cost £240,000 to carry out the works in question. The Hon. Mr. Oliver said this was not so, as-the work could be dropped at anytime, without the money already expended being looked upon as a loss. The sura of £240,000 was the total amount referred to for the completion of the works in Sir John Coode's report. Mr. Ormond'said the Welliogton-Napisr line was not receiving that justice which he considered it ought to do, and which the people had been led to believe would be the A general discussion followed, in the course of which several members ventilated the wants of their districts. The debate was ent short by the hour for adjournment. EVENING SITTING. On the House resuming at 7.30, the resolutions were brought up from the Committee of Supply and agreed to. : On the motion for going into Committee of Supply, Mr. Speight drew the attention of the House to the item £1433, which he understood was arrears- of pension to Hr. Pollen. He begged to more that the matter be referred to the Public Accounts Committee. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary seconded the resolution, which was put and agreed to without any further discussion. On the motion for going into committee being again put, . Mr. Montgomery said he wished to say a few words on the subject of the Chatham Islands and their representation. He considered the remarks of the Hon. the Premier had been made in the way of a joke, and he wished to have some information on the sub-

ject. He would like very much to know why those islands had been thrown in among his constituency, which - he considered would be in many respects very objectionable. He saw no mention of it whatever in the Representation Bilk He considered that something should be done to minister to the electoral wants of those islands, and he would ask the Hon. the Premier what he intended to do in the matter. The Hon. the Premier explained to the House that his' statement had not been made in the way of a joke, but in all seriousness, and the Government had considered there was a certain amount of identity between the Chatham Islands and Banks Peninsula, and the member who at the present time represented that constituency. So far as he himself was concerned he should feel very proud to represent such a constituency as that of the Chatham Islands. (Laughter.) The-House was briefly addressed by Messrs. George, Brown, Hirst, J. C, Brown, and Pyke. * " ' Mr. PrKE moved,—That in the opinion of this House the reduction of 10 per CeutJ should not apply ’to salaries of £2OO per annum and under.. A division on the motion—for the Speaker leaving the chair —was carried by 41 votes to 32. . . ■■ ' The Speaker then left the chair, and the House went into Committee of Supply. - Class llX.—Railways—Waitaki to Bluff, with branches, £356,000. Mr. Shrimski moved that the item £25,500 compensation to Otago Harbor BoarJ, be struck - out. - ' The motion was lost on the voices. Several members expressed their opinion that the estimates ought to be brought down ■more in detail than they : were at the present time. Por instance it was considered that'the one lump sum of £237,480 for the main line,

and* DuDtrooo, Ngapara, Port Chalmers, Brighton-rond* Outram, and' Lawrence branches, was very objectionable—Several members'spoke strongly on the subject. Ultimately "the Vote was passed, • '* Otago Central Railway, £BB,OOO. Mr. Bowen moved that the vote be reduced

by £20,000.' The; Hon. the Minister of. Public Works said the Vote was asked for the purpose mainly of giving work to the unemployed. . Mr. Gis* borne thought it wai a great mistake for the country to spend large Burnt of money for purpose of giving-work to the ; unemployed; It wa* a bad and a hampering system. -The Hon. the Premier defended the systtern of giving work to persons' who would bthor'Wise"stairvK The Government were doing the very best they could do uuder the circumstances. Mr. Pyke agreed with the remarks of the Hon. the Premier, and said the work done by the unemployed was as satisfactory as any work ever done in the colony.

/ Mr. LONDON considered the unemployed could be much better engaged than upon the Otago Central railway, which would be of very little practical use for the next half century to come. It would be far better to send them to his district. (Laughter.) Mr. SEDDON said we should always have unemployed unless the Government took some steps to place the people on the land. Mr. Macandrew said' it would be a great mistake to knock off the work on the Central Otago railway. He had a thorough conviction that this was by far the most important line that could be made in Otago. If carried as far as Lake Wanaka, the result to the country must be of a most beneficial character. He sincerely trusted the vote would not be reduced by the committee. Mr. Swanson spoke strongly in favor of placing the people upon the lands, always supposing they were of the right class. Mr. Weight spoke against the projected line, and proposed a reduction of the amount set apart for it by £30,000. Mr. Fyke could not understand the persistent hostility of the hon. member for the Coleridge to the line in question ; one thing he was quite certain, and that was that he was not personally acquainted with the country through which it was proposed to carry it. The Hon. the Minister oe Public) Works said that as soon as proper arrangements could be made a number of men would be taken off the Central Otago Railway and removed to other works. Mr. London would not object to the vote for unemployed, but he objected to the money being altogether spent upon the railway in question. Mr. Brown would like to remind the House, if they did not know it already, that the Commission who had reported on this line had passed through the country after daik, when it was impossible for them to see what it was like. Mr. Wright contradicted the statement, and said the Commissioners had every opportunity of seeing the country. Mr. Pulton spoke strongly in favor of the proposed railway, and hoped the House would pass the vote. Mr. Hutchison would support the vote as it stood, although he thought it would have been better if the amount had been put down as for the “ unemployed.” He spoke very strongly in favor of settling the people upon the land, and said he was sorry to see that the present Government set its face against this system, which after all was the one which would be moat beneficial to the country. Mr. Bowen said no Minister had ever given more time and trouble than Mr, Rolleston with a view to the settlement of the people on land. Mr. Hurst would sooner see the unemployed scattered over the length and breadth of the colony, than all employed upon one section of rail in any particular locality. Mr. De Lautoub, as one who knew the district through which the proposed line ran, would tell the House that the land was not of that poor character which been attributed to it by the Railway Commissioners, and other hon. gentlemen in that House. The hon. gentleman spoke at some length in favor of the railway, and dwelt with considerable emphasis on the valuable character of the laud through which it was to run. He did not at all agree with the remarks made by another hon. gentleman with regard to the facilities offered by the present Government for people going upon the land. Mr. Wright again defended the report of the Railway Commissioners so far as it affected the line in question. The proposed reduction of £20,000 was lost on a division by 33 to 28. After some further discussion the vote was reduced by £20,000. Mr. Macandrew said he went into the matter of this railway on its merits, and he did not consider that £150,000 would have been a bit too much to have placed on the estimates for the purpose of carrying it out. With regard to the cry that there was no money he did not for one moment believe in it. Mr. Pykb agresd with the last speaker that there was plenty of money in the land chest if the Government chose to avail itself of it. Vote £11,500. —Invercargill to Kingston. Mr. DeLautoub moved, —That the amount be reduced by £2500. The motiou was lost on a division by 33 to 17. Mr. Finn moved, —That the item be reduced by £SOO, but his motion was lost, and the vote, as printed, agreed to. Western Railways Vote.—£64,ooo. Mr. DeLautour moved, —That the amount be reduced by £SOO, but the motion was lost on a division by 35 to 13, and the vote agreed to as printed. It being now 1 o'clock Mr. Pyke moved, that progress be repotted. The Hon. the Premier opposed the motion for adjournment, and Mr. Pyke warned the Government that it they persisted in carrying on the work, not another item should pass so far as he was concerned. He called for a division on his motion for reporting progress, but did not press it. Mr. Pyke moved a reduction of the item, “From Otautau to Nightcaps, £12,000,” by £4OOO. The motiou was lost on a division, by 31 to 11. Mr. De Lauiour moved the vote be reduced by £ISOO. The motion was lost on a division by 35 to 9. : : The entire vote was then put and agreed to Class IV.—Survey of new lines of railways, £9550. • The House adjourned at 2 o’clock.