GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14898, 29 July 1910, Page 5

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. THURSDAY, July 28.' The Hons? met at 2.30 p.m. WHAKATANE DRAINAGE BILL. The Whakfltano County Drainage Bill was brought do\vn by Governor's message. In Committee, replying to Mr Massey, §ir J. G. WARD explained that the bill provided for the acquisition of certain lands with a. view to carrying on the drainage system which had hitherto been in the hands of the local, authority, which now found itself unable to carry out- its financial obligations. Tlie Government intended to acquire the land eo drained for further settlement, and reeoim itself for the cost of the scheme.

The bill was read a first- timo. MAIL SERVICES. The PRIME MINISTER laid on tlie table a copy of the tenders called for by Canada for a postal servioe commencing on the expiry of the existing contract in July, 1911. THE FINANCIAL DEBATE. The debate on the no-confidence motion was resumed by Mi' SCOTT, who said lie spoke as a representative of the man on the land. He freehold % the tenure best suited' to, the British-race. Limitation of area'.ought to be based on the money value of the land. Closer settlement was the all-important question, and! tlio Government had; neglected, it. Men taking up sections should be bound to improve them—the first two years without paying rent until'the property reached a productive stage. He complained of the ba-d methods'• of - railway construction in Central Otago. Mr PEARCE argued that, the freehold tenure -made for the happiness of tlie greatest number, and .the largest amount of closer settlement. He urged that idle hush land, in the North Island should be opened up for settlement. He charged Sir J. G. Ward with making contradictory statements in regard to the-finances, and criticised the proposal to borrow half a million, for the development of the water power of the Dominion. Capital .for this purpose could be found in New, Zealand, and the work ought to be undertaken by private enterprise. '■ He.hod no confidence in tho Government's! Native 1 land policy, tho inactivity of which was shown by the fact that no provision had been made for tho purchase of Native lands. .

Mr WRIGHT said he was between the devil and tho deep blue sea. He desired to place on record his reasons for voting for tho amendment.' He livid pledged himself to vote against the Government on a no-confidence motion, and also to oppose the sale of further Crown lands. Had the Government been-a leasehold one, lie would have 'had no option but to vote against the amendment. He considered there ought to, be a change of Government for the reason .that the present Administration ,and ita predecessors had been too long in power.-_• When a ' Government had no policy it ought to resign office .instead of shifting its ground from point tc point in,order to suit tlie exigencies of tho day.. He condemned. the practice of Ministers travelling about the country at considerable, expense instead of looking after-their proper work.

In the evening, the'debute was resnmetl. by Mr MACDONALD, who defonded the Government's Native- land and public works policies.: He-said that large blocks of Native land were being opened up in various parts of the North Island. Money had been borrowed for the construction oi necessary roads and bridges, ' lie considered that the cooperative system of railway.; oon-struction had worked very 'satisfactorily, and that it - was ap improvement on the, contract ey&tem. .He went On to refer to the development in and around. Tlo'onia, which"was progressing steadily. He was. pleased to see that "provision wis made in . tlie Budget for telephone extension in the outlyingdistricts. " In regard to rating on Native lands', there, had 'feeon considerable , dissatiefaotion at the present state of affairs, .but he believed that legislation amending this would remove a long-standing grievance. ' Native townships were a standing proof of. what had been done .by the' Government in the way of land 'settlement. He hoped that the Local Government Bill would remove tho present anomalies and allow the local bodies , greater freedom* in expending money;in* public works. Referring to Compensation Courts i for the adjustment of the value o.f estates acquired by the Government, Sir Macdonald. said his experience o.f these.showed that the Government's valua : tion had .been a correct one, and that exorbitant' prices had been asked for the : estates. The thing' would happen if the endowment .lands wera sold.and the money used to purchase other lands. On the amendment being, put it was rejected by 41 votes to 31. * '. Sir J. G. WARD explained that Mr. Sidey had left for Dunedin in consequence of a bereavement-, and had arranged- for a pair with Mr Allen, He had informed both Whips of the arrangement.. Mi' Sfdoy's vote, however, had not .been Recorded, which was Very unfair.' . Mr HARDY said he gave Mr. Sidey to understand clearly and distinctly; "that .he was not paired with Mr Allen. : 1 Mr ARNOLD said Re .had been informed by Mr Sidey : .that the latter had arranged a pair with Mv Allen and Had gone away, on that understanding. Mr HARDY said lie told Mr that he would pair him with'Mv Newman. Mr ALLEN explained that Mr Sidey. had approached him with a view to nr•rangijig.a pair, but he had referred him to the Whip. He (Mv Allon) understood that he was paired with Mr Sidey, but subsequently Mr Hardy "told him that Mr Sidey had been informed that he had. not been paired with Mr Allen. Mr HARDY reiterated that he told Ml'. Sidoy that he was not paired, although ho had at first promised .to pair him with Mr Allen on the understanding ■' that Mr Allen was going away. The following is' the division list:— Against the amendment: Messrs Arnold,' Brown, BikWo, Buxton, Carroll, ClaTk, . Colvin, Craigie, Davoy, T. Y, Duncan, Ell, Forbes, Fowlds, Glover, Giuliani, Greenslade, Hall, Hanan, Hogg, Laurcn--son, Lawry, Macdonald, R. M'Kenzio, T. Mackenzie, Millar, Myers, Ngata, Parata, Poland Poole, Te Rangi Hiroa, Roed, Russell, Scddon,, Smith, Stellkortliv, Stewart E. H. Taylor, T. E. Tayjor, Sir J. G. Ward, Witty. ' For -.tbs amendment: Messrs Allon, •Anderson, Bollard, Buchanan, Bu.ick, Dillon, Dive, J. Duncan, Field-, 'Kialier, Eraser, Guthrie, Hardy, Herdman, HorHiras. Jennings, Lan?;, Malcolm, Mander, Massey, Nosworlihy, Okcy, Poaroe Phfllinos, Rhodes, 'Ross, Scott, G. M Thomson, J. C. Thomson, Wright.

•On the motion to go into Committee of Supply being put, Mr G. M. THOMSON, resumed the debate on the Financial Statement... .He cited vthe case of France in support-of the freehold system, which was productive of the best results. Ireland afforded an instance of a leasehold country, which was in an unsettled and unhappy condition. What the Dominion should aim at wa-s the settlement of the country by the greatest possible number of freeholders. -' He'' welcomed the Government's proposals to utilise the water power,-and he. hoped the scheme would be carried out on right lines. Enormous water power was available in the South Island, and would in time make it one of the most importnnt manufacturing centres 1 -in the worlds Central Otago could be rendered a fertile territory by ,means of irrigation. Referring to the proposed councils to suoersede education boards, he doubted whether this would be an iinmovement. There was no doubt room for reform in the nersonnel of the education boards, but he was strongly of opinion that the work of education should not be handed over to a body charged with other duties.'

Turning to defence matters, Mr Thomsort pointed out that Sir J. G. Ward's views ■■ thereon had undergone a remarkable change in two years. The Prime Minister had formerly spoken against compulsory military training. Great care would have to be taken to sec that tho latest defence scheme did not fail in it« object. 110 regretted that the Pure foods Act had been allowed to become a dead letter. Private analysts were working tinder disabilities through the Government analysts' doing, private work. He himself had been obliged to give up his work us an analyst, . MINISTER: FOR AGRICULTURE (the Hon. T. M'Kenzie) said that if Mr Thomson gave him dotn.ils of tha cases referred to lie would obtain particu- i lars. Mr Thomson, continuing, said that h« had written to Sir J. G. Ward on tha subject. Ho went on to refer to tho Fertiliser Act and its'operations, which - he considered The English, Act provided for a full analysis of every. v sample of manure sold. Now Zealand ought to modify its act in the. direction of the English'law so that those buying manure-could have an analysis made,' and if the article was net what it purported' " to be *thoy could obtain a remedy. fttor* r should bo done to (further the work of afforestation, and he suggested tho ap- 1 pointment of a trained forester to control tne work. He also urged tlie development ot our fisheries with a view to obtaining .prosphates for manure to replace the large quantities going out of the country. Mr Thomson gave some particulars of the" work done by the-Fish Hatcheries Board in Dunedtn, which distributed quantities of lobster and crab fry.to various vatts.v of tho Dominion, " Mr REED attacked tho Opposition's claim that lessees occupying settlement] lands should be given the,right to pur- ' shase the freehold at the original value, plus 1 por cent., which was unjust. He : said the amendment moved by Mr Massey - last year contradicted tho one . just rejected. The position - which he (Mr Reed) . took up was that the House shoidd await the promised Land.,' Bill of the Govern- ■ me'nt. That would bo the proper time to move amendments. > Mr MASSEY, in a porsonal explana- '• tion, said fit was always understood that' the Opposition held that tho tenants of ' leases m perpetuity should pay ji'per : cent, over and above the original valua- ' ; tion- in order to bring the rentals uo to ' the 5 per cent, which they' would have paid if the land were token up on tho ; optional system. He had not altered his views on the-matter. ; . ; Mr AIANDER contended that the pro-, gress of tho Dominion was bciro* re< tarded owing, to' the - Government's 0 attitude on, tho .land question. Many of tbe best men were,-lcftvihg the country owing 7 to-.thew dissatisfaction with the land ' law?. 1 The Government had no dofinite land policy, and was .desirous of pleasing both parties: in the House. The" Native lands in the North Island; particularly ■ in; the north of. Auckland, ought to bV opened uo • 1 for: settlement much mora. rapidly. The Natives, ought to boar a Iftrger snare/of tlio rates than at- present. Native lands had been greatly enhanced in value by public worjts, and' ought,' r therefore, to bear a larger proportion of the taxation. He objected to the Maoris being allowed, to becomo landloids-a privilege denied to Europeans,—and suggested • that tlie ' Natives . be allowed to , retain sufficient land for their own use, • and.that the remainder be said, tho phk ceeds to be invested on behalf of "tha ; - Natives, ITe - attacked, the co-oDerative system of railway construction, which wis not satisfactory to the country or to tl>e men employed, and he dotailcd a number ■ of gi'ievanfces brought undor his notice by co-operative 'labourers; .Tho debate was 'adjourned, and House; rose at 11,10 p.m.