LEGISLATURE IN SESSION

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12181, 4 July 1925, Page 7

LEGISLATURE IN SESSION

ANOTHER NIGHT ON ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE

COUNTRY MEMBER ON DETERIORATION OF LANDS

LABOUR CRITICISES AND GETS CRITICISED

Resuming the Address-in-Reply debate 1 in the House last evening Mr J. C. | Rolleston (Waitomo) dealt with rieI terioration in land?. Owing to climatic conditions, he %aid, much land m I the district round his electorate showed a tendency to revert to second growth. From his personal knowledge of the country he could say that the committee which had reported to the Government had spared no pains. UnI fortunately, however, their labours i might have resulted in the land being | condemned as a whole when only. portion of it was affected. There was a great deal of bush country which had given satisfaction, and there was land where the Waikato farmers had coine j down, and had employed their mej thods of farming with good results. There was some land which it was useI less to spend money on, and which it would be much better to allow to revert to second growth, or to use for forestry purposes. The present state of affairs was largely due to economic conditions. During the slump the farmers had sold their stock, and once it had been taken off the land there '■>ad been little check upon the growth. The committee had recommended a revaluation of Crown lands, and a remission of rent over a certain period of years provided that the equivalent of that rent was expended on the farm. But unfortunately there were difficulties. Few of the farmers had the / money for extra fencing or manuring. Also the land was mortgaged up to its true value, and in some cases above its true value. He thought that steps should be taken to see whether these could not be brought down.

Mr R. Masters (Stratford - ): Suppose the mortgage can’t be reduced. Mr Rolleston: Then I’m afraid nothing can he done. _ He thought that there was an additional complication in the fact that the State did not always hold the first mortgage. If the farmers were pressed, and walked out. heaven help the land. Manuring might help, and if a sum of £3 per acre were employed much would be done. If any scheme of financial assistance were evolved it should also assist freehold lands. Reading troubles, too. had added to the cost of running the farms. I He did not think that the recommendation of a subsidy of £2 to £1 was an unreasonable one in the circumstances, and he hoped that it would be put into effect. In some instances men had gone on to the land on the distinct understanding that they were to get a road, and the State had not carried out its part of the bargain. He looked forward to the legislation promised in the Governor * speech, and hoped that the men who had been battling so Tong would be rewarded. It would be nothing short of a calamity- if the land was allowed to go out. COUNTIES AND MOTOR TRAFFIC The assistance which the county councils were receiving from the Highways Board was in no wav sufficient to compensate them for the largely increased motor traffic. In one case in Waitomo a road had been knocked to-pieces by traffic from outside.' The farmers had raised a loan to lay down the road, and now were Tated in individual cases high as 5d in the pound. The Highways Board contributed one-third of the cost, hut this was in no way satisfactory. The cost of a macadam road for the 31 miles involved was £26,000. and for a bituminous road £45,000. Present loans totalled £l6000, and of the rating area one-sixth was native land on which it was a difficult matter to collect rates. To bring up the road to the standard which the Highways Board would require the settlers would' have to double their indebtedness, while in the case of a bituminous road it would he increased threefold. He considered that ata arrangement should be possible between the Highways Board and the settlers by which the farmers would pay for any fair, wear and tear, and the board bore any expenditure above a certain level. He considered the experimental work in agriculture to have been very good, but advocated the subsidising of practical farmers to carry out experiments under the eye of an expert. Then they could he sure that the work would be done under the conditions actually ruling on the farm. Herd testing should he pushed on, and he saw no reason why farmers should not get together for the purpose of sending their cows to tho testing. IN THE DOCK Mr W. E. Parry (Auckland Central) declared that the Government was in the dock. They had paid to the wealthy landowners—not to the returned soldiers—£2,soo,ooo, for which they had not got a petinv piece in return. Mr McLeod: BOsh! _ Mr Parg-yT challenge anyone to deny it. and i,t<s no iiso talking about Russia ini. reply. Mr Isitt: Why , write to Russia?

,Mr Parry: I heard a voice in the wilderness. has been in the wilderness a long time. Mr Monteith : Never mind. He will be in the Upper House soon. Mr Parry said that with all the boast of Imperial preference money was being lent to foreign countries, when portions of the Empire were finding difficulty in getting their requirements filled, and the reason was that higher rates of interest could be obtained in the foreign countries. Responsibility for tho failure of the Arbitration Court rested on the Goverhn^pnt. MR. WRIGHT ON LABOUR . Mr R. A. Wright (Wellington Suburbs) said Mr Parry seemed, to attack the Prime Minister for gqjng into tho Fianklin electorate, and . later said they welcomed the Prime Minister. Mr Parry: Hear, hear. Mr Wright reminded Mr Parry that the Leader.of the Labour Party went into the fight at- Franklin. Mr Parry (again) : Hoar, hear. Mr Wright declared that in England it was a "common t hing for party leaders to tako part in such election contesta Speaking of Mr Parry’s reference to London’s recent lending transactions, Mr Wright said that it was a “terribe] thing” that London should lend its money in the hast market. Still, the workers sold' their labour to the highest bidder. Good luck to the workers who did so, but there could 1 not be a different rule for each side. The Government had done nothing to injure tho Arbitration Court, and Mr Parry’s criticisms were beside the murk, and would act as a boomerang. Labour said the rate of interest had increased during Reform's term of office. He did not say the Government was responsible, hut the innuendo was there. They knew why interest had increased. and fhe Government was in no way the cause. made for good Mr Wright resented the. implication that the Reform Government worked for the benefit of the wealthier classes alone. As for the reduction of taxation, it was admitted by political economists that taxation reduction, made for the good,of the community. Mr A. L. Monteith: Yes, but who gets it? ' Touching on the housing question, Mr Wright hoped that the Government would mot take any more money from individuals to lend it to the local bodies. If they did, these people would have to wait much longer. They would be glad to know what brand of Socialism the Labour Party stood for., he said, as then- they would know where they were. . Voices: Russian I V' .. Could the Labour Party, keep do‘wn the Communistic element in their midst? He did not think so. In Australia the experience had been the other way, and Mr Holman and Mr Hughes had been driven Out by the members of their party. Labour out otoce and Labour in office were two different things, as the experience of the MacDonald Government showed. Before they occupied the Treasury benches they had announced their intention of solving the problems of unemployment and housing. But they had not, done so. .Mr Monteith: Because the Tories stopped them. Mr Wright: They did not. And the liberals gave them every assistance. From what he had seen of the country ! reverting to fern and second growth, said Mr K. S. Williaihs (Bay °* k® could say that no blame could be attached to the pioneers on the land. It was simply a mistake as c th< L q,iality of the «>st of subdivision and roading must be taken into consideration when closer settlement was being thought of. It must not be forgotten that local rates were rising year by year. They would soon have to consider the matter of ?J T CS| “ their docks were to increase as if they wanted good lambs good mothers were needed.

The large flocks of deer were a menace to the country. They were doing much damage, and he thought that they should be declared open game.* They would not be exterminated in the present generation. Both at Waikaremoana and Rotorua they were attacking the bush, m the latter case destroying trees which had been planted “L , la ?° ur to replnro the bush which had been there originally. Also they were liable to foot-and-mouth disease. What was the use of spending money on. hydro-electric works and on countrv which had gone back when they had a menace like this in their very midst?

With the conclusion of Mr WilTuesday*^ blouse rose until