THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11200, 24 August 1898, Page 3

THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

(Pee. United Pbess Association*.) WELLINGTON, August 23. On the House meeting at 7.30 the financial | debate was resumed. | Mr M'LEAN, referring to the construction 1 ot public works in the past, said that the question of increasing the trade o£ this or that town had entered into the decision to construct such works to the esclusion of other important considerations. Before going into a large borrowing policy for the construction of railways Parliament should be placed in possession of full information as to the nature of the country through which bvicli railways are to be constructed. The land tax had operated injuriously on many strur gling settlers of the colony, and the impo tion of Is income tax did not indicate flourishing state of things financially. ■• did not consider that it. called for much statesmanship to pass the Land for Settlements Act, as any rlsvrty with an overwhelming majority could have passed it. The act had brought about a feeling of insecurity, and had retarded the expenditure of money on the improvements of private estates. He dealt at some length with the necessity which exists for a statesmanlike solution of the Native lands difficulty. AVith respect to the mining industry, he contended the'legislative action of the Government had had the effect of shutting capital out of the colony. The Hon. Mr CADMAN said the people of the colony would be woefully mistaken if they laboured under the impression that members had been discussing tht finances of the colony during the past few days.; Almost every subject but finance had been touched j on. The policy of the Opposition was to let ; well alono; but that policy, if carried into I effect, would mean stagnation. Respecting i the railway policy of the Government,, he • said it must always stand by itself, as it was outside of politics, and was a huge business of itself. Though much had been 'said ! against Government control ot the railways, j but comparatively little had been said with i respect to the concessions which had been j made, and no reference to that socialistic proi posul to carry lime for a distance of 100 miles j free of cost. Referring to Captain Russell's ; amendment, he said the working classes of i the colony knew exactly what it meant, and j if Captain Russeli had been, really anxious jto benefit the unemployed he should have I moved an amendment declaring that an additional £100,000 should be provided to thoroughly'equip the railway workshops, with improved machinery, so that the whole of the rolling stock could be manufactured in the colony. To effect this Captain Kussell might have proposed an increase of the graduated land tax to such an extent as would produce the amount in five years. He i answered in detail various arguments brought : againsi Government as compared with oqmi missioners' control of the railways. Respect- ! ing the locomotive branch, he said it deserved j great credit for the way in which it had durI ing the past-three years kept going on in view of the fact, that during that period only four new locomotives had been obtained where 54- should have been obtained. With respect to the money borrowed for the construction of rolling stock,' he pointed out ■ that as the money was raised at 3 per ceiit.,1 ( and the railways earned 3i per cent., the i colony really got the use of the money for I nothing.

! Mr GEORGE HUTCHISON, after Sealing; I briefly with tho speech of the last spcilkoi', j said it was surprising that the Minister ioc ; Lands had not seen fit to reply to Mr Scobie Mackenzie's criticism of his land administration. That criticism had dealt a blow to the Minister's administration from which it was i not likely to recover-, and would dissipate the I idea that the Minister had been a land re j former. He adversely' criticised the special : settlement association and improved farm settlement systems, and said both were failures. The failure of the improved farm settlement system was positively pitiable, and though £50,000 had been advanced for improvements, it was said that the so-called im- , provemeiits were worthless —was money. i thrown away—and the land was made less tic for settlement than it was in the first instance. The system of land administration inaugurated in 1892 had been the greatest curse to the colony, as was now being realised througho it the country. He insisted at some length on the necessity of the Public Works Estimates being considered concurrently with the general Estimates, as the greater portion, of-the amount being spent on public work? was obj tamed from the consolidated fund.. /He wou d i be one to prevent' the passing of the first item Sof the general Estimates-until the , Public j Works Estimates were brought down. He dealt at some length with Mr Soddon's public 1 life in the Kumara, and also with his connection with, certain Chinese in a mining claim.

The PREMIER) ■in personal explanation, stated ■ that^he had never had any business with Chinese except as mining advocate. The Hon. J. G. WARD combated the statement of the last speaker that the' lands administration' of the Minister for Lands had- been a curse, and pointed out that the holdings: had largely increased since the Hon. Mr-M'Kenzie took office. Referring to Captain Russell's amendment, he pointed out that it had ended in a fizzle. It was-notorious, and the debate had further shown it, that, the Opposition had net a shred of policy,nor had any indication fallsn from the lips of any Opposition member during the present debate. As to the statement that capital was leaving the colony, he stated that thero was an excess1 in the savings and other banks of the colony as compared with 1887 of £&,000,000. Thiß showed that the. earnings of the people had been greater and their opportunities of earning had-been better. But every prophecy made by the Opposition since 1892 had all been dissipated like the baseless fabric of a vision... Speaking of Caotain Russell's statement that the surplus should be made up in similar manner to that of 1881, he pointed out that, properly considered j the surplus of 1881 was reallyl a deficit of £265,358. He read: the division. Union, the measure authorising conversion operations, and said they were not men who. would vote for an immoral act, as the member for Ellesmere had ■ described it. He considered it was unsatisfactory to the taxpayers that the date of the collection of the land tax had to bo fixed yearly instead of being permanently fixed. Respecting certain financial criticisms by Mr Duthie, he showed that they were based on an erroneous knowledge of the manner in which the public accounts are kept. Ho denied that any of the Imperial guaranteed debentures had been sold. The advances to settlers and the two million Bank.of New' Zealand guarantee had been conducive to the progress of the colony. He believed a system could be found whereby the public debt could be' paid off without the institution of a sinking fund. To the statements respecting increased customs taxation, he said that the alteration had increased by 3s per head, and taking the population at 755,000, it meant a total increase of £360,000. but on the calculation of the Opposition,the increase would total £510,000. He concluded by advocating the completion of] unfinished railway lines and the establishment of old age pensions. The Hon. W. J. STEWARD said the Financial Statement in its brevity wao 'an improvement on previous Statements of the present Colonial Treasurer. He contended that the main trunk railways should be completed at the earliest posaible moment. It would be infinitely more statesmanlike if the Government depart from their present weak policy respecting railway, construction and went in for a bold and determined policy of borrowing five millions in five years to construct trunk lines wit* something like business promptitude. He disapproved of the proposed preferential duties in favour of Great Britain, and said the expectation that the consumer would benefit thereby would not be realised. A better method of showing good feeling towards England would be for the colony to undertake the equipment and maintenance of the Calliope Dock. He eulogised the management of the railways under Government control. He considered tho time had arrived when those taking up Crown lands should be given a choice, of tenure. He urged that a Fair Rent Bill should be pushed through the' House. The greater the loss which would result from the operation of such an enactment showed ihat there was a greater necessity for it. "The debate was adjourned on the motion of Mr MILLS. .

A lengthy debate ensued on the adjournment of the House, on account of Mr Pirani persisting in stating a point of order when the Acting-Speaker was putting the question. The Premier moved that the member for Palmerston had been guilty of disorderly conduct in disobeying the Chair, but withdrew the motion on Mr Pirani explaining. The House adjourned at 1.35 a.m;