PARLIAMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10526, 6 August 1910, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

(Pee Press Association.) / Wellington, August 5. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Council met at 2.30. Kissing the Book. Dr Findlay moved the second reading of tbo Oathl Bill, the object, of which was to \lo away' with the nr act ice of kissing the book, lneme sure also provided for forms of oath in order to meet an cases. In a brief debate which took place Air Baldey took exception to the 1 traduction into the th The r ßill was second time aud referred to the Statutes Revision Committee.

—Destitute Persons Tlie Attorney-General moved _the second reading of the Destitute Persons Bill, which he was to relieve the necessity women and children The Bill was not the same as last yeai, tor tliere were many important alterations. ' The Attorney - General went into statistics to show the extent of de"ertion of children.. There were 2380 children in industrial schools, 50 per cent of whom were deserted by one parent or the other, and of these the flnritahle aid hoards pay for Ua at a cost of £IO,OOO. The industrial schools cost the State £44,40 i, and of this amount only £5786 was contributed ">y parents. The Bill provided tint where a relative was able to give support he or she would be compelled to live support. Power was given to order payment on account of past maintenance as well as maintenance foi the future. . There was an amended i -I: n .. i' "parent," which included the father and mother of an illegitimate phild. A better provision was made as to the attachment of wages in satisfaction of a maintenance order. F rov V rion was also made for the making of ehiu-rrincr orders for securing payment of moneys due under a. maintenance order and also for the appointment ot the Public Trustee or other person to receive income arising from charged in the case of default of paynient of moneys due under a maintenanee order. It was made an in ~ dictable offence to desert a wife or child bv leaving New Zealand. There was a lso provision for giving effect m New Zealand to affiliation and maintenance orders made in Australia. Dr acknowledged the good work of the Rev. Curzon-Siggers, of Dunedm, in the direction of seeing that proper protection was accorded women, and children, and concluded by saying he hoped the measure would have the carerul consideration of the Council. The debate was adjourned and tfce Council rose.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The HQiise met at 2.30. —Financial Debate. — Mr Craigie resumed the debate. He looked upon the Budget as tlie work oi' a statesman. The proposals for creating stock under which all loans would be consolidated and sinking funds provided were sound finance. If the Government carried this measure out it would make a name for itself. He did not regard huge surpluses as an unmixed blessing. When the Treasurer had a good year taxation ought to be remitted to some extent. Any sound scheme propounded for a cessation of borrowing w-ould have his support. ■ Mr Parata. speaking on the land question. said lie was quite agreeable that the Maoris should pay rates on condition that these should be expended for the benefit of the native owners of lands in roading and improving their lands. The Maoris were as energetic as Europeans, but the means of industry were not open to them. The Government should provide facilities for natives engaging in agricultural -pursuits. The Advances to Settlers Act ought to be made applicable to Maoris, for only by some such means could a stop be made to the cry that the Maoris are lazy and neglected to utilise their lands.

Mr Sidcy hoped the Advances to Settlers Act would be amended so as to permit of loans being made on houses already built. He commended the proposals to conserve the water power, and looked forward to a greatincrease in the use of electrical power. Mr Malcolm regretted that the Dominion was losing the services of Lieut.Colonel Davies, and thought the Government ought to have made some efforts t-o retain his services. The House rose at 5.20. The House resumed at 7.30. Mr Malcolm continued his speech. Dealing with the land question he said the country was sorely in need of capital, vet the Government would not se 1 ! the lands which would provide a- large amount of capital. Another loss sustained by the State under the leasehoi.l system was the lessened production. The city representatives claimed for the town workers the whole product of their labor. He heartily supported that claim, an 1 asked the same for the farmer.

Mr Millar remarked during the debate that members seemed to forget' that after the Land Rill of 1908 had passed' the Government returned to power. The land question had little or no effect on the election. The freehold farmer possessed one advantage—that was the right to mortgage it. Had it not been for the leasehold there would not have been one-lialf of the people settled on the land. There were v et freeholders who wished to deny the right of posterity to get on the land on terms obtainable at present. How could men without money get on land' unless under the freehold system ? Mr Malcolm was quite wrong in supposing that city members opposed the interests of small farmers. Turning to the sinking fund proposals, Mr Millar replied to the Opposition criticisms. Mr Fraser had said if £150,000 was set aside out of the consolidated revenue there would only be £350,000 to transfer to the public works fund, consequently the former sum would have to be borrowed. Tliis was like saying that if £150,000 was used to pay off a loan the Dominion would be a loser to that extent. Mr Herdman had referred' to the capitalist with £IO,OOO who had been driven away by the labor legislation, but lie (Mr Millar) wsa in negotiation with a man who was about to invest £50,000 in the South Island. It bad been said that the railwaymen were dissatisfied. He invited them to go to Australia, to see the conditions there. He denied that there was any bar to promotion into the first division. Referring to the timber industry, he said Oregon timber has to pay freight and a-lialf on the railways as a protection to local timber. Dealing with the railways generally,' Mr Mfilar said he had made inquiry into : the conditions all round' in Australia, and could say the railways of the Dominion were on a sounder basis, and the rank and file of the railway servants were much better off than in Australia. It had been said that the Railway Commissioners were free from political control. He, however, learned from the Commissioners themselves that they were subject to political control. Replying to a question by Mr Massev, Mr Millar said the cost of living would work out much the same in the Dominion and the Commonwealth, except, perhaps, ill rent. Mr Millar asked how had the Commissioners treated the public of Australia? They had made no concessions such as were made by the Dominion in favor of show stock exhibits, racehorses, butter boxes, wool, etc. These concessions amounted to a very large sum annually ; indeed, since the railways had been * taken over froni the Commissioners the total concessions amounted to two millions. Taking the Dominion's services all round, he said any un-. biassed person,' after examining the. Australian services, would admit that the Dominion had very little to learn j from the Commonwealth. I INI r Herries entered into details of the comparative rates for the various classes of i:>roduce in New Zealand and Australia. As regards the fares, no doubt long distance fares were lower in the Dominion, but the suburban were much higher than in Australia. Turning to the land question, Mr Herries denied that the Opposition wished to abolish the leasehold system. What they desired was to make the leasehold a stepping-stone to the freehold. Dealing with the native land question, he regretted that Mr Carroll had not yet spoken. The Government's native policy was a vacillating one. The great bulk'of the land acquired by the Crown remained in the state it was in when .

purchased. Only an eiglitli had been brought under cultivation. The Native Land Commission had resulted' in ,he Act of 1907, which was another >ar to progress. The chief clause in ;liis Act was one providing that all naive lands fit for European settlement ihould be vested ■in Maori Land joards, to he divided into equal parts, me to be sold and the other to he eased. Of the lands so vested a mere ;rifie had been thrown open for setlement. He asked for a return showng the exact amount of land; which had' jeen settled' upon as a result of the recommendations of the Commission. The Vet of 1909 was intended to stop private alienation, but this was going on nore widely than ever. Lands should )e individualised 1 and divided compuliorily, the cost of surveying to he riaoea on the land. Mr Carroll said it was difficult to dis:over what Mr Heroes' policy was. He leclared! that the Opposition was responsible for t-lie "taihoa," policy in •egard to native lands. The whole luestion of native land settlement was lonsidered from the European point of /iew, the sole object being to satisfy the list for land'. Was that a high plane ;o take? Mr Herries knew how diffi3ult it was to individualise native land. :Vftev deducting the areas alienated and those under special legislation, there ivas left an area at the 31st March last 3f 6,037,121 acres', which was classified inder various heads. Over three mil'.ion acres were taxable aiul paying rates. Since 1907 much preliminary ivork had been done in order to give sffect to the recommendations of the Commission. Every available surveyor tvas at work on native lands, in Auckand, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, and Wellington over 106 men being so engaged surveying and laying off roads in an irea comprising 465,749 acres. The :ream of the Maori land had been sesured long ago by the enterprising patella, therefore the work of surveying ivas carried on in the back blocks and mountain tops, and was necessarily slow. Mr Carroll, referring to the rating of native lands, exonerated himself from the charges of refusing to entree judgment against the natives for -ates. After referring to the progress )f land settlement generally he dealt vitli native townships, and traced the progress made at Taumaranui and Te Ivuiti. Finally, he dealt with leases >n the West Coast. Objection had been ;aken by the lessees to the holding of and under the Maori, but the tenure vas very advantageous to both parties. The Maori drew rents on 3.V per cent, ind' tenants had an equal say in fixing ;he rents, yet they were dissatisfied, and lemanded a perpetual lease. He concluded by advocating equal rights for 50th races, and he would do his best ;o that end, but he would never forget lie race he represented. The debate was adjourned. The House rose at 11.40.