N.Z. PARLIAMENT

Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 18

N.Z. PARLIAMENT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17. In tho Legislative Council the agraemenft, arrived at over the «lterat : on 9in the Mining Aot Amandmeui; Bill was ratified. The Wages Attachment Abolition Bill was passed, and t&e Corrupt Piaotiocs Prevention Bill and tha Municipal Corporations Aot Amendment BiU» which deals with roads in the suburban borough*, were read a second time, the latter being referred to the Waste Lands Committees mining bizu The conference on the Mining Act Amend* ment Bill brought up * report which recommended that clause 11 bo Btruck out. Tha Clause referred to related to the provisions of the Joint Stock Companies Aob being embodied! in the Mining Companies BUL — The report was adopted. In the House of Representatives to - day th« Rating Act Amendment Bill was introduced by message and read a Brat time. The amendments made by the Council in the Wages Attarhmeut Abolition Bill, the Mining Acrj Amendment Bill, and Servants' Registry Office Bill wero agrtoi to. The Premier notified that he was waiting for a return from ths Chief Justice to decide whether it was necessary to fiil up the vacancy on t':o Supreme Courb bench caused by tbe death of-Juttice Richmond. The amended tariff resolutions then came on for confederation. The duty "on fruit from tha South Sea Inlands was btruck out. The proposal to levy a duty of 5i per lb on tea until December 31 and thereafter 4d per lb wa« agreed to, but the House restored the 6d per ga'lon duty on linseed oil instead of 1« as prapos dby the Treasuror. The proposal to place a Hx-d duty p^r pair on boots and shoes as well as au ad valorem duty was struck out and a duty of 25 per oent. ad valorem was inserted instead. DATINQ BILL. A Raliuft Aot Amendment Bill was brought down by Governor's message and read a first time. WAOFS ATTACHMENT. The Wages AUtohmet.t Abolition Bill was received from ths Legislative Council with amendment*, the chief one of nhich is that a workman's w>g s are protected from attachment up to £2 per week. The Hon. Me REtiVH3 moved that the amfluduieM*B made by tho C-'iinci) be agreed to. Mr T. MACKENZIE cnw.lcx'd tlvs nmendmen's were of such a radical tiature that they should bo postponed till next day, and he moved accordingly. He objected altogether to wngcs up to £2 p-r wo.'k being exjmpt from attachment, and said ZOj was a more reasonable amount. Mr lleove«'B motion was oarried by 30 to 24, and the Council's amendments in the bill wero agreed to. THE TARIFF. As I iudicittd would be tho cane, tho Government have given way a? rrgudi the ditty upon Island fruit, which they have now formally abandoued. Resolutions were placed bfefore th» House this afternoon by the Treasurer placing orangci, guivas, paysion fruffc. bananas, pineapple", and cooomiu's among tho list of, exemptions. Tho Pr. ruier sUted th\t ib was neceerary that the rosoiu'iV.na should be agreed to at once, as a steamer with a cargo of fruit bad arrived at Auckland, and other cargoes wcr<2 coming. Aa tho parlies concerned had intimated tbat they could not; see their way to pay the duty, there was evtr/ probability tint tho fruift would spoil. Captain Russell thoaght it would bo wiser frj procosd forthwith with the confederation of the T«riff Bill as a whole. The whole commerce of tha country w&s being disturbed by these continual alterations. This was practically the fifth tariff, and the eooner tho whole qu stion was finally nettled the b.tbtr. Thn rendii'g of the now resolutions was grusrtd with j'eiM aud Hugh'er, especially wheu lh<s Trta^uror iroceeied to refwr to the »lt;ratk.iu regarding linseed oil, tea, and boots. Mr Mit'-he'son suggested that until tha bill wai formally discussed tho resolutions should have been confined to fruib. The unprecedented bluid ring and injurious delay of the G*wermnout hs regards the tariff was referred to by the lender of tha Opposition and Mr Du f nio. The mosb severo criticism of tho Govenm.eu 1 "- camo frun Mr G W. Rutssoll, ono of their own supporters. Ho was perfectly ash*med of tho Government. — (The Premier : "The Go7<rumeut heartily reciprocate this feeling.") Mr Kuifiell contended that the wh !e country was being dragged through the d'rt by the inrapacity of tha Goviri'tnent. Tt^ere had never bean such b'.undrriuj; incapacity since the fouudtiUou of tho colony. Tho Premier, the other lliniatero, and tlo3o of ths party who followed them were now turning tail upon their vote on Friday Eight. Tho whole strength of the Government w&s directed against the motion to strike out the Island fruit duties simply becauHo it was moved by Sir Robert Scout. The Premier on tint occasion said this was n c&tuary in order to rave tbe country from a slap iv thu foco, and now tho Government weve giving those who Buppo»ted thorn ou Friday a "kick behind." They were being dragged through tho dirt. As the d«cu«Birn went on the proceedings bccauio so warm that one member declared with some f-how of truth that there was neither law nor orrl:r in the II uss. Mr Button called upon mtuiV rs to pass the resolutions, which were only temporary, and cast the responsibility upon the Government. Thaso aentimeit3 wore heartily supported by Vfr Crowthet and Mr T. Thooip-son. Mr E kruahnw, however, w»ut«d to move an amendment so as to bring all fruit tvithiu the list of exemptions', bat the Chuirman of Committees (Mr W. Hutch'son) declared such aa amendment out of order, and a motion to obtain tho ruling of the Speaker on the point was negatived. A r ter the hal?-past 7 adjournment Mr Guinness replaced Mr W. Hutchison in the chair, and the Houre ab once commenced to wrangle over points of order which had cropped up during the aftarncoa. Tho Chairman at length, however, was able to put the resolution removing the duties upon Island fruit, which wu» carried on the voices. As the discussion proceeded vigorously in spite of the appeal of Mr Duthie that tbe resolution should be agreed to formally, the Premier declared that no Government had been treated r. s the Government was being treated. This drew the retort from Mr Green that no previous Government had treated the House as the pres'ut Ministers were doing. No other Government had brought down five different tariffs m as ma r iy week«. At last Kr Harnshuw's amendment was brougat to the vote, aud !o»t by 42 to 13. The Tiejsurer then proposed to fix the duty on linseed oil at Is per gallon, instead of 6d as at present, which Mr Earnshaw declared to ba about tho worst thing that could be done. Me Eftrnshaw persisted in moving hfc amendment tbat the prcsant duty of 6d be adhered to, and had the pleasure of having his opinion confirmed by the House by 33 to 23. The Treasurer explained that it would now bo necessary Cor him to make 6ome readjustment to make 09

for the loss of revenue caused by this vote of the House. This declara v ion may be taken as foreshadowing a sixth tariff. The House then taokled the tea duties. The t-ktvermueut proposed tbat the duty should be 5d nutil the end of the year, and thereafter 4d. Ssveral numbers fought for 3d a pound, but toe Premier warned the House tbat this would interfere with the finance to such an extent that the Government oould not agree to it. " Hear, hear" was heard in several quarters when the member for Ciutha declared that the taiiff should not have been touohed except for the removal of a few glaring anomalies. As regards this resolution the Government received the aupporfc of the House by 37 to 20. However, the Government received a second rebuff over boots and shoes. Mr T. Mackenzie Baid be did not deaire before the Tariff Bill came formally before tbe House to take each item of this resolution separately, but would move that the words, " Men's boots and shoo«, invoiced at under 11s the pair, sizej 6 to 11, l[ percent, ad valorem, fix^d d'»ty 2s tho pair," be struck out, and thah the word* " 25 per cent, ad valorem" be inserted in theic place. Tais y&s carried by 31 to 21. In each of the other items 7i per cent, ad valorem and the used dnty were f truck out, and replaced by a duty of 25 per c=>nt, ad valorem. The Premier and the Treasurer then rose end declared, amid some laughter, that they wore quite eati'ficd with the result; only a slight re»rrarigtmenfc would be necessary. Captain Russell Mucerely hoped that this would be tho last tariff the Treasurer would tuuoh. — (Mr J. W. KeOy : " And so say all of us.") C»pt»in Russell continued that the present waa an Instance in' which the Treasurer knew nothing about this tariff, and his colleagues a little less. The Treasurer, in reply, irouictlly informed the House that the member for Oiutba bad done the Government excellent service, es his amend menta would provide more revenue than the original resolution of the Government. The Premier promised that the bill should be brought down at half-past 2 to-morrow afternoon, and disposed of at one bitting. The excitement, the continuous interjections, the angry denunciations and bitter reef iminations which characterised the diiciusiou this afternoon is an unmistakable indication that the Treasurer has a very uncomfortable time ahead of him in connection with his tariff proposals to-morrow. It is very doub'ful if the Premier will be able to k<-ep his team iv hand, especially as the whips are to be l<id aside, and the probabilities are tbat more than one bolt will be witnessed ; end one member, who has &o far consistently supported the Government upon their tariff proposals, has admitted to me that the Government are getting into a terrible fog, and that the difficulties of the situatien are hourly increasing. THE EsTIMATI'S. The House went into Committee of Supply for the consideration of the E^'itnates. Colonial Srcrebary's depart mout, £70,110 — Vote £400, ea'ary of Mini«ter representing Maori race — Dr Newman asked how £145,000 of the sinking fund debentures was made up. — The Hon. Mr Wahd said this was not a matter appearing in the Estimates, and it was quite unprecedented to ask such a question, which he jrould refuse to reply to. — Dr Newman contended that ho waa within his right in put iog a question, &■> the first vo'e ou thi* Estimates gave members a wide latitude. lie objected to being treated by the Treasurer with Ruch rudeness. — The Hon. Mr Ward denied he had any intention of being rude, and paid Dr Newman was constantly in the h«bit of asking improper questions. — Mr T. Maceknzib referred at some length to the injustice done to his district by sending railway sleepers there from the Wesi Coatt, which he contended were of a most inferior quality, and refu-ing to take local sleepers. -The Han. Mr SF-onoN denied the assertion. He said that in the Ciutha district there was not sufficient suitable timber available at a reasonable price, and Mr Mackenzie's statements were entirely unwarranted. — Dr Newman appealed to Mr Ward to fo low the example sat by everyone of hi* predecessors on the Treasury bencheß aud tell the House wh*t he was going to do with this £145,000 which he had previously referred to. No other Treasurer had ever refused to give information to tbe Houee on a question of this kind. — Messrs Fraser, Allen, Ball, and other membrra urged that the Treasurer should reply to tbw question. — The Hon. Mr Wat<o />»id that tboj h»d already had one fiuauoial debate which lasted for a considerable time, and this question of £145,000 had come up time *and again. Tbe faot was the Opposition were ao oppesed to the Government finance that no explanation would satisfy them, and no possible proposal tbat the Government could make would me^t with thiir approval. The Opposition aßSPrttd tha 1 ' tho Government would be wrecked on theic nuance. — (Cnptain Russell: "So you will.") As to this £145,000, if the Government h*d acted improperly over that matter the Auditor-general would have no scruple in telling them they wore acting ,illfg*Hy. This was also not the time for asking a question of this kind. It was not an item of the Estimates, bu 1 ; was included in the permiuenb charges — After a lm^thy dieouwion Mr G. J. Smith, at l.b a.m , moved to report progress.— Loit by 31 to 18.— Captain Rdsskll objected that the item £400, salary of a member of the Executive Council representing the Maori rac?, wa« contrary to the spirit of the law, and contended that Me Csrroll occupied an anomalous position. He mov< d tha^ the ittru b • struck out. —Mr Honk Here thought Mr Carroll's position should bo done awt.y with. The itsm was re-aiwd bj 36 to 6.— Mr Earnshaw thought before the House proceded to deal with the various items an understanding should be arrived at as to whether any increases should be allowed this year. — Colonial i^ecre'ary's office £1720, and Ministers' secretaries £775, pa^ed without alteration. — On the vote of £4041 for messengers and office-keepers, Mr Duthie protested agaiuet the appointment of Captain Hanneh to th<! position of chief messenger, and thought the office should have been filled by the promotion of one of the lower officers.— The Premier and other members defended the appointment, and the whole vote was agreed to as priuted.— On the vote £2420 Electoral department, Messrs R. Thompson and Meredith expressed the opinion that on tbe score of economy liceaping elections should be conducted by local bodies instead of the " General Government. — The Hon. Mr Ward said the suggestion would be considered. — Progress was reported.