GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 3264, 22 October 1897, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; Thursday, October 21. The Speaker took the chair at 2 30 p.m. SUPREME COURT ACT AMENDMENT. On tho motion of the Hon l)r URAO.-i, this Bill was referred to tho Joint Statutes Revision Committee, and the Council at 2.50 adjourned till next Thursday. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Thursday, October 21. The House met at 2.30 p m. MUNICIPAL FRANCHISE ENLARGEMENT, jj r TaNNPaR moved tho second reading of his Municipal Franchise Enlargement Hill, which, he said, was to remove the restrictive nature of tho present franchise and plural voting. .At present little interest was taken in municipal elections, as shown by the laut that whereas 75 or 76 per cent, of electors voted for Parliamentary no such figures wore ever reached in municipal elections. As a rule, the ratepayers in the towns bcarcely polled half the votes on the roll, in (some cases only one-third, and even onefilth. A system of this kind, led to the * formation of cliques and petty governmentjin the truest sense of the term. 'During the last few years therb bad | bbezl increased interest in municipal matters, and tbo immediate reatilt had been the introduction of Bills in that House for tho extension df the frftnohieo. His proposal Was to confer tbo ftyinobino on every adult male dud female in «aoh borohgb in tho aaniq way that tbfprifj liaraentary franchise was now conferred, aiid he hold that if people were capable of voting ror members of Parliament ilwj fled to vote for municipal representatives. Tho voting on loan proposals would remain as hi pfoeertfc. . . . , t , The PREMIER, supported tbo prmdiple of the Bill, but bethought that the residential' qualification should bo longer than thceti nioriilis. Ho did not wish to cast reflections,' but in sanitary it was a (ideation of svlidthor a eolfiah policy had not been pursued in the past, and the health and welfare of tho pce-plo sacrificed. .. t . > , « Captain. would wot vote for tho Bill, as ho thought ic was avefy Pad one. He was in favour of popularising local government, bat there wore in this Bill so mariy palpably unjust provisions that ho could not support it. He did not agree that IhU principle of oiio-inftn»o:.e-vOto was ( a proper one either as regarded tl(,e Parliamentary frrtnohjs6 dr the municipal franchise. It the inordinate.deSird. of, tHo Unthinking, portion pf the ratepayers ttLfusK.irito largo.loans which already Had ruiaed many towns in tlio colony.; .. ... : v v Hr TATLOR -it was tho -property, vote which had been responsible for the. handing over of the gasworks and tramways of tho various cities of the colony to syndicates, instead of their being profitably worked by the municipal bodies themselves, Mr ALLEN opposed the Bill, and appealed to the Maoris to vote against it, because under present conditions they could not be Included.

Mr MORR-ISON said tho tramways of Wellington. reminded him of tho little “ doggie trucks ” hb used.to ride in on tbd tramways at thb mines. No municipality, popularly governed, would put up With them fof a day; It wd,s a fact that abdut 4000 ratejiaytfrs ifi Wellington dictated to 40,000 dr 60,000 inhabitants as to how they should be governed, arid this wag a ridiculous state of things. Tho foul dens and slums of Glasgow had disappeared on the introduction of a widened^ franchise, and tho same thing would ocotirinthe citio<j of Now Zealand if this Bill wore passed. Mr HOLLAND would supp'ort q. Bill t»ro* viding for a household franchise, but riot for a univcral franchise.

Mr J. HUrOHK-rON said there was no trouble in locating the man of bricks and mortar ; if one listened a minute they would hear him squeal. The landlord was like a fatted hog who objected to move even to have bis Utter shifted. Ho was prepared to accept for the present tho concession that rate-paying tenants should have a vote, leaving it for tile enhanced wisdom of the future to confer tho universal suffrage. Mr MdGOWAN said ho was agreeable to tho extension of tho franchise, blit not as far as this Bill provided. Messrs Carson and llolloston opposed the BUI. . ,

Mr SCOBIE MACKENZIE said he had been an atdent supporter of tho manhood suffrage,, whilst some who nOw posed fia Liberals Were opposed to it, blit the Governniout of th 6 colony was very different to municipal government. Consequently tho one effect of this Bill would,J)e that one set of men would prpvide the money and tho other,lot would spend it. Ho moved an amendment,‘‘.That it is inexpedient to pass this Bill until the House has bad an opportunity of considering the whole question of local government. n Mr MOO-tfE seconded tho amendment, and opposed the Bill. Mr OROWTHER said the Wellington tramway system was a very good one, and very cheap He opposed the Bill. Mr WILSON supported the Bill, and canvassed tho remarks of previous speakers. Mr BOLLARD opposed tho Bill. The House adjourned at 5.30 p.m. Evening Sitting.

On resuming, the Hon T. THOMPSON moved the adjournment of tho debate on tho Municipal Franchise Enlargement Bill till that day fortnight.—Agreed to. DEBATE ON THE BUDGET.

Mr J. W, THOMPSON resumed the debate on the Budget. He said there was an air of self-glorification about that document. He had heard things said about the co-operative system which would almost make one’s hair stand on end, showing that we wore not getting value for our money. To look at the figures in the Budget one would think that the colony was making very great progress asfar as her industries wore concerned. But the Registrar-General's report showed that the industries wore not so remunerative to employers as they wished, and therefore they were driven to tho employment of female labour. The land on which the factories and workshops were erected had decreased 17 per esnt. All over the colony the land had decreased in value, the landowners believed owing to the administration of the Government. Mr MONTGOMERY said there were 52 subjects in the Budget, and only 60 minutes in which to deal with thorn. The Estimates last year were all over-estimated and tho expenditure tho same, With six exceptions. This was not very serious, but some better arrangement might have been made. For the first time in the history of the colony the Opposition acknowledged that there was a surplus. Cash from land sales been taken to swell the surplus from time immemorial, and it was only the pot calling the kettle black for tho Opposition to take exception to the practice. He said the fact that the land tax had increased was a contradiction of the last speaker's statement that land values had decreased, Mr Ballanoo had not constructed any more public works out of revenue—indeed less—than the present Government had done. Regarding tho charge that the present Government had not been self-reliant, he pointed out that during tho past six years nearly *61,000,000 had been transferred to the Public Works Fund from the Consolidated Revenue. If that was not a start towards a self-reliant policy he would like to know what would be P He said it waa comparatively easy for the late Mr Ballanco to have been self-reliant, because at the time ho inaugurated that policy he was in the position of having a large balance loft over from a previous administration, and a large amount of sinking funds unexhausted available. Tbo Treasurer should have been too virtuous to seized the local bodies' sinking funds, considering tho largo surplus at his disposal. He was convinced as the result of his Parliamentary experience that sinking funds wore wrong in principle. It waa not safe to place temptations of this kind within tho roach of Colonial Treasurers. He preferred the alternative of excess of revenue over expenditure. He warned the Minister of Railways that his -6200,000 must be expended on rolling stock and not in maintenance if he wished to retain the confidence of tho House. Our railways were quite light enough already. It was against all constitutional practice to vote moneys before it was known what they were to be voted for. Local bodies did not do it, and Parliament should not do it. Therefore, this Government should institute a reform' and bring down its Public Works before its Financial Statement. Bo urged the Government to sot aside an area for a national park, and to take stops to preserve our remaining scenery.

Mr BIOHAEDSON said it was an ill compliment to the Queen that Her Majesty’s portrait should appear as the frontispiece of this Budget—such a Budget. There was in it much to road, little to learn and less to admire. Ho accused the Government of having broken the provisions of the Truck Act in top pi eg the price of certain tools out of the wages of co-operative labourers. Ho appealed to the Premier to strike the name of Meiklo (falsely accused of sheep-stealing) off the official records. The principal c-use of the colony’s prosperity was said to he cheap money. Little New Zealand did towards cheapening money. The Premier, walking down to the harbour with half a bucket of water, might as well expect to raise a tide. The Budget was so cleverly constructed that it might mean that the Treasurer was going to ask for a big loan or otherwise. This would bo soon when the Public Works Statement was brought down. S(Mr TAYLOB said tho fsurplus was not a fair one, because it was made up partly by amounts carried over from the previous year and the year before, and partly by the amount of £7300 derived from the sinking funds. He said it was important for the Premier to make it clear that tho table of reproductive and non-reproductive loan accounts could not bear the construction of dishonest manipulation which Sir Eobert Stout had placed upon it. He congratulated the Minister of Lands on tho fact that" tho Opposition had ceased to adversely criticise the Cheviot estate, which was now an assured success. He said tho offences charged against members of tho police force wore infinitesimal in comparison with those against the police administration, and it was into tho latter that an enquiry by Eoyal Commission was particularly needed. Mr LAWEY having spoken, Mr HEEBIES moved tho adjournment of tho debate.—Agreed to. The House adjourned at 12,10 a.m.