THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11197, 20 August 1898, Page 6

THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

(Per United Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, August 19.

In the House of Representatives to-day a question of alleged breach of privilege having been disposed of and the Saleyards Act Amendment Bill having been read a first time, the debate on the Financial Statement was resumed by Mr E. G. ALLEN, who said the'leader of the Opposition had been unable to discover in the Financial Statement anything on which to base a damaging want-of-confidence motion. ; With respect to the amendment he. had moved, he would do Captain Russell the compliment, of thinking that he had not .been the author of it. He congratulated the Colonial Treasurer on the clear and concise statement j of the finances of the colony placed before the House. There had been no juggling with figures nor mystification, as was often the case •with respect to Budgets. It. was difficult for. a young country to progress without relying ; on the foreign money-leaders, and he believed ; there was a feeling in the colony in favour of borrowing large sumß of money for the prosecution of public works and railway construction. . " '"■■ ■ ■"■£.'.;. Mr BOLLARD accused the Government of, having trampled on the liberties of the people",' and said, their professed regard for-the will of the people was simply moonshine. There had never been a time in the history of! the colony when there was so little to show for tihe expenditure of millions as at present. He jjsserted that the Government would not reMiain six months in office were-it not for their System of political bribery. The Minister for Kailways was,; he said, an honest man and u& honest politician, which was saying a good deal of those sitting on the Ministerial benches, and- if the management of the railways was left in his hands it would be much better. But it was apparent to every unprejudiced mind that he was dominated by. the Premier ' He did not oelieve the Premier had any intention to remit duties on English manufactured goods, because the labdur unions in the colony would jump on him if he did. ■. The Hon. Mr LARNACH said," as far as he was able to judge, there had been a.bona. fide surplus on the 31st March last. He did not think there was much in" the contention that the surplus had been manufactured by the Treasurer over-estimating the expenditure and under-estimating the revenue, .as doing so would not affect the receipts. Be approved of this being done to-a certain extent, as it was an error on the right and pru- ! dent side. It was'not quite fair to apply' all excess of revenue in the "direction of public , works, as it meant they would be taxing j themselves day, by .day and year by. year; for i the benefit of posterity The railway returns showed that-the management of the lines, was I excellent, and a very considerable improve- j merit on the previous years. Taking the in- | creased^traffic on railways into, consideration, I he considered the colony shoxild be making i mdre progress in railway construction, and; j the Government should, ask for sufficient money for this purpose to keep pace -with land settlement and the increase of population. At present justice was not being done to-either. If he read the Financial State- j meat aright, it proposed to" increase the. di- j rect taxation, but he considered, in view of j these recurring surpluses, our Estimates should be made more in accord with our requirements, and we should live more within our means. Referring to the accusations of the Opposition against the Government, he said he had never heard them formulate, one definite charge of bribery, corruption, or maladministration Mr LARNACH continued his speech on the Financial Statement on the House resuming at 7.30,/ and in his concluding remarks said that if the colony was as prosperous as the Budget showed, and he believed it was. there was no excuse for the colony, soing on with railway construction in the piecemeal fashion of recent years, when only a paltry 302 miles had been built during the past decade. Railway construction would not pay, if the Government had to pay 6 per cent, on borrowed money, but would decidedly pay when money could be obtained at 3 per cent. Mr FIELD did not profess to be a friend of the Manawatu Company, but he considered that the Government should have taken over the line long ago, and should take it over, at the earliest opportunity. Referring to- tho land policy of the Government, he objected to the present classification of lands, and contended .that the area of freehold land whiehcould be acquired should be restricted in the sameI'way as the area of leashold is limited; The price of Crown lands should be on the basis of their producing capacity, and without regard to their actual position. He was satisfied that a reliable valuation of the colony's lands had been urgently needed, but he was not sure that the object had been attained by the recent Government valuation; and, speaking of his own district, he thought there should have been more objections to the valuations. No one had ever heard oi professional money-lenders voluntarily reducing the rate of interest, and the Advances to Settlers Act would have the effect of preventing the rates being raised. . ■ • -• * Mr GILFEDDER said that from one end of the colony to the other it was recognised that the efforts of the present Administration were in the direction of ameliorating the condition of the people. If the.policy of the Opposition consisted of retrenchment alone it was well the people of the colony should know it, as it was the same policy which had brought about the defeat of the Atkinson Administration. Though the public debt had increased under th«. present Administration, the money had been largely invested in reproductive channels, which created a valuable asset against the increased indebtedness. Referring to the comparison between the land transactions of past .Governments as compared with the present Government, he pointed out that the Government had not the same area and quality of land to deal with as their predecessors. He warmly advocated the institution of a periodical revaluation in connection with Crown leases. Mr FRASER pointed out that whilst Ministerialists, instead of discussing finance, spoke j on every other conceivable subject, the Oppo- j sitioii were not so trustful. He proceeded to j dissect the surplus* and showed that after deducting certain sums, which he contended ought not to have been included, there remained a net surplus of £426,000. Respecting the sale of Bushy Park, he said that to a bushel of truth there had been waggon loads of lies, and falsehoods had been much more palatable and acceptable, and.were believed. The time had not arrived to cease borrowing, but the iwesent system of borrowing fti dribbles led to waste.- Throughout his district there was intense indignation with respect to the excessive and extortionate Government valuations. In view of the fact that the valuations had been increased by 16 millions it was absurd to say. as was stated itfthe Budget, that there would be no increase i fro'ni the land and income tax. _ | Mr O'REGAN, while approving of the in- | crease in.the wages of casual hands on the railways, considered a great mistake had bee.i made in the railway classification in fixing the wages of these employees at 6s 6d per day, which might be a good wage in Auckland or Canterbury, but was not adequate on the West Coast, where there was much broken weather and consequent broken work. Referring to the falling oft in the revenue from the land tax. he said this was accounted for to some extent by the purchase by the Government of large estates, but he considered the £500 exemption was largely responsible for thi3 falling off. He would not be surprised to find that owing to the exemption the colony was getting only half the revenue it ought to' be receiving. Referring to lands settlement,' he pointed out. the danger that holders under the lease in perpetuity would in time become land monopolists, and when their voting had increased they would demand the conversion of their .leaseholds into freeholds. The indirect taxation, he asserted, was excos give, and the people of the colony were called on :to pay top much ■ through the customs. The time had arrived ' when some attempt should.be made to relieve the people of the burdens they had to bear.

Mr HOLLAND said that the Financ:al Statement had given general satisfaction irom cfne end of the colony to the other. He complained of the slow progress made with the construction of the North Island main trunk railway ' and .■aid that at the. present rate of progress it would take 33 years to complete'it. He advanced arguments in favour of the more vigorous prosecution of the work. Under the cooperative system railway formation and road works could be done cheaper than by contract, and the system also gare employment to men who would otherwise be unemployed. In view of the small imports from foreign countries ho did not see that any advantage would bo gained by the proposed preferential duties on English manufactured goods, and lie pointed out that the United States might retaliate by placing a. high import duty on kauri Kum, which would mean the ruination of the Auckland pfumdisgers. On the motion of Mr M'LEAN, the debate ■was adjourned, and the House rose at 12.35,