PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7869, 3 August 1911, Page 4

PARLIAMENT.

YESTERDAY’S PROCEEDINGS

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE CONTINUED. Tho Legislative Council met at 2.30 p.m. yesterday. LAND SETTLEMENT FINANCE. The debate upon the Addi'e.-s-in-Keply was resumed by the Hon. VV. A. McCardle (Auckland), who, after commenting upon the prosperity of the Dominion, said that great tilings had been done of late in the direction of bringing large tracts of land under cultivation. Considerable progress laid been made last year, and at tiie present time the necessary preliminary work was being pushed on us fast as possible. It bad been said the surveys were not being carried on speedily enough to keen pace with the requirements of tho country, but lie could not sec that more could well be done than was at present the case. Coinmenting upon the working of the Land Settlement Finance Act, bo said that before it could realise tlie anticipations of its friends it would have to be mado to apply to the wants of the poorer class of settlers. As tilings now wore no man with less than X3OU or X'GOO could take advantage of its provisions, for the first question put to an applicant was always; “How much money have you got?” He had been grieved to find that young men in the prime of life were refused the benefits of the Act simply because their capital was very limited. Some steps should also be taken to prevent tho aggregation of land. A stiffening of the graduated land tux had been urged as a remedy by some people, but lie believed that there was only one way of effectually cheeking and killing aggregation—and that was by amending the Land Transfer Act to limit the amount of land that any man could hold in foe simple. The process would bo very simple and efficacious. In regard to tho remarks made the jirevious evening by the Hon. S. T. George, he said that tho groat railway scheme Outlined by him seemed to be too huge for any small country like New Zealand to entertain. IMPERIAL AND LOCAL PROBLEMS. The Hon. J. Rigg (Wellington) said ho wanted to call attention to a matter which seemed to infringe on the rights and privileges of tho Legislative Council. It was in connection with the invitations sent to members of tho Legislature to attend the Coronation. The members of the Council appeared to have been quite overlooked, and altogether he thought a grave discourtesy had been shown them. Ho saw many difficulties in the way of the formation of any Imperial Council such as had recently been outlined. A council sitting in London, or peripatetic, and having representatives from tho Dominions in proportion to population, would be absolutely impossible. He did not believe in preferential trade between Great Britain and her dependencies. It was a question of shopkeeping merely, and had nothing to do with drawing together the bonds of Empire. What Great Britain really wanted was a protective policy, by which he meant a tariff upon articles she could produce herself and free entry for those she could not . produce. He thought that if Imperial unity were ever brought about it would be by the necessity of self-pre-servation. Touching upon tho internal defence of Now Zealand, ho said he was at a loss to understand why some people had taken such strong exception to tho universal military training scheme. Ho could not believe they recognised the seriousness of the jmsition here in the case of a European war.; It was, to his mind, an absolute certainty that those young people now being trained would 'some day have to fight for their liberties, and tho day might not he so very far off. He quite approved the Hon. S. T. George’s railway construction policy, and thought it must commend itself to every business man. It would bo far better if the making of all lines could bo pushed on without further delay, though he did not think it possible that the Government could borrow the necessary .£20,000,000 for the purpose. The debate was adjourned upon the motion of the Hon. R. A. Loughnan and tho Council rose at 1 o’clock. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE. The House of Representatives met at 2.30 p.m. yesterday, and continued to debate tho Address-in-Reply. Mr W. D. S. Macdonald (Bay of Plenty) congratulated Mr. Speaker and Sir James Carroll on their knighthood, and although tho honour conferred upon tho Acting-Prime Minister had been spoken of slightingly by those who had described him as “ the King’s colonialmado gentleman,” Sir James had always been a true-born gentleman to everybody with whom he had come in contact. MiMacdonald challenged Mr Massey’s charge of stagnation in land settlement. To say that settlement in Crown land was languishing was to fly in the face of statistics. ; GIVING AWAY MILLIONS. Dealing with Mr Massey’s claim that lease-in-perpetuity lands should be given to the settlers at the original valuation, Mr Macdonald said that all tho perpetual leases granted in tho last nineteen years, after adding an additional 1 per cent, to the rental, could bo purchased under Mr Massey’s proposal for .XT,711,170, whereas tho unimproved value of the same lands to-day was XG,473,030. In other words, Mr Massey would make a present of .£4,761,000 to the settlers at tho expense of the State, and tho money available to purchase other endowments would bo very small, and it would bo difficult to seo where the, policy would be in the interests of the country. Ho praised tho native land administration, and the satisfactory progress mado in railway construction. Ho urged the necessity of some improved method of dealing with poor pumice land in East Taupo and Rotorua, and advocated tho establishment of stores for co-operative workers to obviate tho high cost of cartage.

Mr F'. Lawry (Parnell) said that rather than a hereditary aristocracy New Zealand needed an aristocracy of intellect which would found its principles on methods that would benefit tho people. Mr Lawry went on to criticise the Opposition policy. Solomon had anticipated the advent of the Opposition party when ho said that there was nothing ..new under the sun. It had a most remarkable policy. What was new in it was not true, and what was true in it was not new. The Governor’s speech should bo hailed with satisfaction, as it indicated no desire to pile up legislation. A system of local government with broad administrative power was needed, nevertheless. and land taxes should be pooled and disbursed among the local bodies, not on a population basis, but on the basis of the requirements of each district.

Mr C. H. Poole (Auckland West), after congratulating the Speaker and ActingPrime Minister on their knighthood, expressed satisfaction with the trend of Imperial affairs, especially at the Imperial Conference. Its deliberations would be of the utmost value to the Empire, and the action of the Homo statesmen in taking the overseas delegates into their confidence had done much to preserve the solidarity of the Empire. The prosperity of the Bominion was marked, and produce was bringing high prices in the Home markets. but the excessively high local prices of produce demanded attention, and some

more satisfactory method of exchange between producer and consumer would have to be propounded, so that the retail price in New Zealand would not be Higher than in London. While such a state of affairs existed there was justification tor the advocacy of State competition, and the elimination of the middleman. RAILWAY FINANCE. Tho increased cost of railway maintenance was caused largely by increased pay to the, operatives, and rightly so, yet the Minister had a hard row to hoe, inasmuch as petitions were still being received for increased pay. It was a difficult problem. The Hon. J. A. Millar: There is one solution—increased rates and passenger faros.

Mr Poole: And I am in favour ot a due increase if it is to benefit Hie workers. lam not in favour of a skinflint policy. A member: You are one in ten. Ho could congratulate Sir Speaker ami (the Aidting Prime Minister on their knighthood, but his appreciation reached the breaking point when it became necessary for any man, in a democratic country. to accept a hereditary title. He knew ho was treading on delicate ground, but he was expressing his opinion from conviction and not from any feeling ot bitterness or envy. The Prime Minister had some of the most magnificent qualities that any man could possess—lie was hard working, courteous, and anxious to serve the country and do his duty—but iu accepting a baronetcy he had been guilty of a tremendous blunder, and had injured the spirit of democracy now being fostered in tho country. Some of tho proposals for legislation in the Governor’s speech were very good. He particularly commended tho Town Planning Bill', and in this connection spoke of ms agitation among tho' people tor the settlement of all issues by tho bare majority. If that were secured ho had no doubt they would have such reforms that not only would they have homeplanning, but also town-planning brought about in its entirety. IMPERIAL FEDERATION.

Mr A. S. Malcolm (Giulia) said that there was no question to be faced of more importance' than the question of Imperial federation. The time for drift had gone by. The position now taken by Germany in the world's affairs had made her a real menace, to the continued security of tlio Empire. This was shown clearly recently in Morocco. Germany was determined that she would not allow Great Britain to stand in her way, and the outlook for Britain was not too salts factory. There was the necessity of the Empire making preparations to defend itself. A strong indication of the need for Imperial unity was the demand that the race in these waters should be kept pure. If we insisted upon race purity we must be in a position to back up the demand and wo could only do that if we had behind us the whole power of the British Empire. This clearly necessitated a much closer form of unity than at present prevailed. He absolutely differed from those who said that in advocating Imperial unity they were going too fast. An advisory council such as had been suggested would 1)6 useless, as it would not offer the required organisation. There must be one body having -sole control of the defence of the whole Empire, and it might well take (Hie form of an Imperial Parliament composed of representatives of every part of the Empire. He could not agree with those who claimed that the Imperial Conference had been a satisfactory one, for there had been exhibited far 100 great a devotion to the unit and far too ‘slight a devotion to the Empire. There was a danger of this tendency becoming more pronounced in the future, and oi the rights of the unit looming so large that tho ’Empire would, indeed, become a thing of tho past. There was danger to the Empire not only from outside forces but from the powers of disruption from within. For this reason ho congratulated the House .upon tho fact that its representative at the Imperial Conference was the first to advocate federation within the Empire. (Hear, hear.) OBJECTIONS AND INDIGNATION.

"What I object to iu conuectifJi with these Imperial sontiniente,” said’Mr J. P. Luke, (Wellington .Suburbs) “is that the House was denied an opportunity of discussing the question the Prime Minister went away." He said that the House had heard tho usual tirado against Germany, but he doubted whether its knowledge of Imperial matters had in any way been increased. His opinion was that Germany did not want to get hold of cither New Zealand or Australia, but Was looking to South America as a field for possible expansion. Very little indeed, if anything, had been gained hy New Zealand over the Imperial Conference, though he believed the position, would have been different had the Prime Minister consulted tire House as to tho suggestions he proposed to lay boforo tho conference. This was what Sir Joseph Ward ought to have done instead of exhibiting this contemptible desire to shine alone—he could call' it notiiing else. The Prime Minister wanted to go to London as an individualist and did not try to get tho weight of the House behind him. “X forgave liim the Dreadnought. ’’ declared 51k- Luke, "but by Jingo I will not readily forgive him any more. We condoned his action over tho Dreadnought, but wo cannot do it when ho takes his policy to London and treats us as if,wo were a lot of children who do not know our own business." Mr Luko added that lie felt very indignant indeed about tho manner in which tho House had been treated over the matter. He condemned the action of tho Farmers’ Union in demanding the abolition of import duties upon machinery, and urged, that more consideration should bo given to tho secondary industries. He congratulated the Speaker and Acting Prime Minister upon the honours recently conferred upon them. SOME WOEDS ON TITLES.

"It’s about time mow that we considered our own country for a little while,” said Mr E. H. Taylor (Thames), Who mentioned that he Ihed been much disappointed, for, after hoping to hear something about New Zealand lie had had to listen to two of tho most extraordinary, paradoxical, and fantastic speodhes he had over hoard in the Houss. He had come to tho conclusion that neither of .these two speakers really understood Imperial affairs,, (Laughter.) Then some sneering references had been made- to titles, and some legislation had been hinted at, so that ho thought that some of the .members of the House had forgotten that they belonged to a kingdom and were living under a monarchy. What right had they to question the titles of men whom tho King delighted to honour? If they were not satisfied with the honour of the Empire they should go to Timbuoboo and get the honours there. (Hear, hear.) It was quite true that people here wore democratic and did not 'think very ranch of titles, but from a British and Liberal standpoint one of the greatest successes in doiracoracy • had been obtained by tbe distribution of the Corona-tion-honours. Was it not a magnificent thing from the Liberal paint of view for the dukes, lords, and barons to be told that I a New Zealand post office boy was now as much an aristocrat as they? Prom the other side of the world this was indeed a triumph for democracy. (Hoar, hear.) Ho generally upheld Hie policy of tho Liberal Administration, and declared that ft was politically dishonest for anyone to say tbat advanced Liberal legislation was bringing the country to the verge of bankruptcy. A general betterment of the condition -of the population was noticeable. Tiie debate was adjourned upon the motion of Mr Sfallworthy (Waipara). It will be resumed to-day. BILLS INTEODXJCED.

The following Bills were introduced by Governor’s Message and road the first time: —Anckland University College Site Bill, Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Bill. Sale of Poisons Bill, Plumbers' Iteiristration. Bill. The Bouse rose at 10.35 p.m.