GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14683, 17 November 1909, Page 5

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16. The House met at 2.30 p.m. DEPARTMENTAL FRICTION

Mr MASSE V referred to the recent slatemerit Unit there was friction between the heads of an important department of State. He understood that the information published was correct, and he asked whether the. report of the two judges who had inquired into the matter had been furnished to the Government, and whether it would be laid before Parliament In reply, the PRIME MINISTER said the report had nut, yet been received, but as soon as it was an explanation would be given to the Houcsc.

HOSPITALS AND CHARITABLE

INSTITUTIONS "BILL

The House v.-enL into Committee on the Hospital:, Jiill.

M rhux 77 Mr ALLEN objected lo sub-clause 5, which provides for an Order-in-Ut'.neil made under Uic section bchi" niial and conclusive. a

The MINISTER wit-iiJrew it. statin" that he proposed to substitute' another later on.

THE riXANCWL DEBATE On Lie motion that Uie House so into of Mr .Statement, said tl io circumstance*, under which this, who introduced wwa unvsH One important fact i„ lh.it Slaipnwnfc'wiii the inewMed debt, which amounted lo lour millions and a-hulf. Th c , n . o < euL ■JKBiuon and oittluok wore far fvom sat!:, aclory. He could etc „„ i n?ljn .. ii( , n ~„, '"a par..- oI (ho o<,vorm.Hmt to taner o*'.'' in ri'Sanltotooßii,.;. K VC rv Fiuan.-.-ai n,i,i;" !; "" ri 10 - vf ' J a "'■'""■•"■e «P of the >u»lle It WW lho bushel «■ *ue v.o-,cjT.,7,ei-,t to decide on the w- u .u-r .Mwuni ~o bo borrowed, and then to di«ml J lo deal with the details of the 1».11.',.d h.alemont, but rather to refer IT Vr mc " S u,l,lert .vin g the Slate- ;":; • x ™ 3 , ,K ', l w««fi«i with the •"«'.■'« ill which lho business of { ;,; *«mioii hail been conducted. .After fie weeks' wore they had only fi wee: »°foro Christmas to deal with a vv* amount of business; consennentlv-it would oo necessary f OT mmbn ; , 0 ™J after the holidays. The Financial Stat' men t WM a comprehensive comprint soivice, local government, and finance ouk Me jdHify o. for ,-oforn, H hoped something would be done (o in,pove the present state of affairs i„ rP . jard to Crown and Native lands He compared the Financial Statement to a company prowectns. The Pndcet pro4\oc„(cd by ho Opposition. Heferrinojhemcreased taxation, Mr Mnssoy said ho admission by the Treasurer that this as necwary was calculated to dama e Jeci-edit.of the country. Hardly a clas in the community had been allowed to Mcapo tho attention of the Treasurer in his taxauon .proposals. Ho considered tho eslimate of the amounts to be produced by lie various items was much lower than they were likely to prove. The amount accruing trom the primago 'duties was MOOO as Mated by the Treasurer. New Zealand' was taxed at n hkher amount nor head than the Commonwealth Statei, and ho could not see any necessity for i, ihe Customs taxation would tall on the shoulders of the consumers, and the same remark applied to the bunking taxation, in face of all this taxation wo were told that the country had ne"er been more prosperous. The present unsatisfactory stale of affairs was due to the Government's failure to introduce proper land legisla,.on. Referring to the Dreadnought, Mr Massey said the amount estimated to accrue from the death duties was £150,000, just equal to the liabilities in connection with the gift of a warehio to the Imperial Government. Huge areas of land were lying idle. The arrivals m tho Dominion were equalled by the departures, and other unsatisfactory conditions obtained. These would novcr be' removed until a proper statesmanlike policy was put into operation. Ho objected t'o the proposed death duties in so fur as they applied to widows' estates, which under the proposed legislation would pay death duties twice. The Government asked for borrowing powers to tho extent of nearly eight millions—an enormous amount for °a small country like this, He congratulated the Government on its conversion to the freehold principle. Ho recalled the declarations of Mr Fowids and Mr Miliar in favour of the freehold, and said he was glad at their conversion. There was jov in the freehold camp over every leasehold emner who repented, lie did not despair of eomo of the rank and life in the Liberal party redng the errors of their ways, but h'3 would have had far more, respect for them had they stuck to their oninions— that is, if they had anv. He twitted the Liberal parly with its willingness lo vote freehold or leasehold to order He ««<-. gested that the i-Mlm bo given the freehold at the original valuation on lh--> oecup:ition-with-right-af-purcliaseba«k. He criticised tho Government's proposals in rewrd to the granting of'the freehold, which were bas?d on the idea (hat the value of the land increased in proportion to the population, which he controverted, the value was dependent upon the LVritish market, and if we lost that values would p down. The jy.-lcin of endowment lands had been a ghastly failure, 50 much eo that Ministers had bejii afiaid to put information in regard to renewable leases on the table of the House. Mr eaul he did not object to proper endowmeiits, but ilu»e in exigence retarded settlement. He advocated the selling of endowment lands and inveMinsr. the pro' ceed« in town and suburban land* f> piding the alleged renggregalion of land he denied this, and gave instances of men who had been induced to go on the hnd under conditions which rendered it, impos. silik) for them lo succeed, and he Jaid the Government, tad been resimdhle for criminal w as te and iisgliVence in cciirceta with land'settlement. Ho hep'd that the Government would repeal the objoclionabh provisions in the Gamin* Ae! io Hon. .Mr FOWL.DS, replvinglo the t.it.wan by Ml Mnwey on the borrowing policy oi the G'ovemnienl. said the Howe iiatl control over this. The monev l, r i' gone to assist i u the development of the eoamiT. After the Government .o expfud huge sums of money for public works lho Opposition had objected to he puolle debt, and after accusing the Government of rfoaji,,, jts po , k ,- (ho jpposition tinned round and coiid'epiiir-d ; that policy when tho (icvernmest i>laccd It mi the Statute Hook. It «-a.-- ab""-d to say that no i. : .;.ful woik had been done thai .-css:oii. Tlic Hospital Bill w.t= as muorlsnt a ,nep,-„re aK ar.y to be introOUCfd t!l.l< scwioil. The Covf.rH.ni.nt bad «>«»* «!l thai wan lo acceieratc the „i bi>,i,.,,.,. AH ti.o public rervjees required cnhiiW. oxv.eiidiinre v.it'n Hie ifrowiii ,„" popnlatinn and the .levoloo-

meat of the country. In reply to Mr Mawey's statement that the taxation was higher per head in New Zealand than in Australia, Mr Fowkfe "aid this was due to the fact that the Dominion earned on many more public services tliiui the. Commonwealth States. The increased taxation was largly duo to the increased incomes accruing from the growing prosperity, for which the Government deserved thanks and not condemnation. Ho defended tho death duties, which he thought did not go far enough., and wore much more moderate than those of other countries. Referring to the land policy of the Government" he defended the changes proposed. Ho congratulated Mr Massey on his improved attitude, as shown by his suggestion that endowment lands be'sold and the money invested in town haul's. Would Mr Masse'v deny that the expenditure on reads' anil bridges hud increased the value of the lands? If not, it was time to stop spending money on these public works. Mr ALLEN' denied that the Opposition 1 was opposed to endowment lands on principle, but s*id it. opposed the kind of lauds nl a-: ; to- for tin- purpose. The endowment fviicme should have been curried out long ago, when proper lands were available, and the old-n.;e pension funds and education would have derived some benefit therefrom. The borrowing policy of the Oovernmcnt was a . sora'inblo to which the Opposition objected on principle. He taunted i"io= (joveriiment supporters with slavishly following Ministers and taking their words tor gospel. The MiulsLiy was gradually t.ikiug away a-ll pii.'dianv«!ary control' from members of the i-kn;;e. Parliament had no sav in prc-ciit.'.r.lj; a Dreadnought, nor in' (he Midland railway contract. Ho did r.r.l know why the. House should be pcsU-rd with bilk in the Financial S'tatemnil. The Stn'taneirt should be a Financial' Statement solely. The predominant note iu tho Budget was taxation, and thai, was due to extravagance. There was too much cry about bills and too little care and thought for tho finance of the country. Without considering the Dreadnought expenditure, they were asked in provide taxation for more than half a million. He referred to wav:i of expenditmv on the Public Works Department, which could have- been sa.wd by leaving maUers to the local bodies. He went on to criticise the. unnecessary expradilure on ilia ILuilli. Tourist, and other departments. Touching on the railways. Mr Allen said the cc-f of court-ruc-tion ll.ld gon.> up- £'25:1 per mile, which wan much higher than (bat of other States. Tho expenditure on railways could be much reduced without less-nkig the c!ii-i-iiu;-y. In other way.s ther: had been exl:'av;'.;;ai;: ,', noWbly in • coiiKijtion with I'av'iainciit liuilubgs and tiie loiu;'OTCry residence for :h'j Governor, whie'.i bad rim int.) iH'irly . f J,'COGO. Jv-t counting the sum jiiiiii lo Hi? nv:ti-,'.;:10r [or addition:) to the o!J railiameiit Ririldings. The tendency of the Rtidg-et was to encourage expenditure and burrowing. In connection with rctr.eiv.-hrrrait, it was the lower-paid servants who-e salaries were being reduced, not the lii.diiy-pa.id ollickk Altogether, -10 men were being dismissed—a plain indication that the civil service had been overstaffed. The Prime Minister had misted the Jbu>:-a in regard to tho superannuation schemes.

The Hon. Mr MILLAR charged Mr Allen with inconsistency in condemning retrenchment aiul extravagance in ono breath. Tho neossiity for retrenchment was due lo tho fact that a large number of works hnd becm complete!, and a. number of meat were no longer required. It was not true that members lost control of PuvLiament. Regaidiiig the coat of railways, it should to kept in mind that this country was a most difficult one for railway construction. If our railways were lob-3 run as they were run in New South Wales it would mean a reduction in the \vagw_ of railway servants. He quoted statistics from an American official publication to show that the railway returns fluctuate! in accordance with tho seasonfi, and that, during the reosnt depression the returns had fhown a falling off. When ho had an opportunity ho (Mr Millar) would visit Now South WW.cs awl investigate the system which the Opposition, was constantly urging tlio' Government to adopt, l>tit ho thought the result of his inquiry would not bear out Mr Aden's statements.

Mr TAYLOR (Christchurch) commended some of tho taxation and other proposals in tho Financial Statement, but sa-id that one clause was the most retrograde step over taken by the Liberal patty cilice its inception in 1890. He referred to lho Government's surrender of the State's interest in the renewable lease. Where was the consistency of the Government'; The clause to which he particularly referred related to renewable leases of Crown land, ajid gave a leesee the right io a pevpetuaf lease, subject to recurring valuations overy 66 years.- This was unjust to the State in that it did not retain the whole, increase in the unimproved valiMj of these' leases. Tho design was to 'give 959 years' lessees the shadow of the freehold, while rendering it impofsibh for them ever to get it. The clauec was a tricky one. The clauses in the' Budget dealing with land tenure ' wcro utterly disgraceful. The radical sentiment of tho House on the land question had been betrayed. The country had never had a land policy before it. Want of frankness and confidence had caused tho deterioration of the Liberal party on the land question, until now tho Government could not hold office without satisfying the freehold element in its own ranks—a deplorable state of affairs. He was perfectly certam that if the Government threw the remaining Crown lands open on the leasehold tenure there would 'bo thousands cf men ready to go upon then. He strongly denounced gambling in Crown lands, which ought to have been stopped years ago. The only way to get a clear expression of opinion from the country on the land question wits by menus of a Mfcrondwn. He believed' the majority would be in favour of preserving the national estate, ft Was no test to ray that there was a majority of freeholders in the Howe. The Liberal Government had been actually creating a parly in the House that demanded the freehold. The Government's land proposals were a dis' honourable surrender. He moved that ihe House iiflirm the unsatisfactory nature of the land clauses of Ihe Uiutat and that the people are entitled lo have an opportunity by means of a referendum io say whether anv more Crown land-i Khmild be sold, or whether flic remmnl of lands be preserved and their, annual I'eveililo be available in future to reduce the burden of taxation. Mr Tavlor wtiit on to deal with the taxation proposals, drastically condemning the priniago duly, which would ultimately C e,t Hie consumer* £?fJO.GGO a year ' -Mr JI-LAREX creonded' the .amendment, and speke at- length in .support of 'I. He said that if (he peuplo of the LV minion realifcd Unit the lime was comin;; when no man woiiW be able to <-o on \h land unless lie had the money to limit oufrieht, more attention would he paid to the laud question. The amendment was a fair, democratic, and just proposal. Mcrsrs Ho/an, Poole, Hogc, and Ell .'•uppnte' the amendment.

Mr TAYLOR, asked leave to amend his motion to read as follows:-" That this Houw protests against the proposal to Mirrcndcr the people's right.* to anv increasa it: future renewals MWin* 'a revahMiion of existing renewal IcWs, Mich proposals depriving the people of tlie'ir hviiil vested intfrests in nich leases; and Un-; House i- of opinion that (ho people are entitled to the opportunity, by means '.-< a referendum vole, to nv, free from tne confusion inevitable iii connection with a parliamentary election contest. wht-Jier any more Crown land should be : ; i)!(l. or whether the remnant of the V,nmillion's Jgnds shall \«. pre.'wved and tho annual revenue and rental.*, from such

lands be available to reduce the burden of annual taxation."

Mr LAURENSON moved Ik adjourn. m<snt of tho debate, and the House rost) at l.bO a.m.