PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12215, 3 August 1910, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

TAMMANYISM." 'tfrom Our Parliamentary Reporter.)WELLINGTON, this day. "Tummanyism, that is to brand the men who run this country as corrupt men," remarked Mr Forbes when taking exception to aspersiCna? cast upon the present administration ''by y£he leader of the Opposition. The member 'for Huriinui ' went on to express his , regret that such a term should have been introduced into the House m reference to the" personal cliaracter of the Ministry* -and the officials of the Departments who enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people of the Dominion. He deprecated the attempt to unsettle the minds of the public regarding Parliament and Parliamentary officers. Tho leader of the Opposition said lie was prepared, to repeat *$*hnt he had said last year on any platform m New Zealand. His references, however, were not to the Ministry personally, but to the system. ■ . \ AN OPPOSITIONISTS ATTACK. "I wish we could get the Native Minister to come out of his shell," urged Mr J. B. Hine (Stratford). "I wish ho tvould give us a load. This is the second session, and there are ipany new members, and we have not hoard the Native Minister make a speech or propound a policy." i ■ The Hon. A. T. Ngata : You liad the Native ?Land Act of last year. Mr Hine : Yes, but how many of us understand that Act? I kno-»y that if we wish to acquire aiw Native hind titles are so mixed up that individuals find themselves greatly out of pocket. We have ?Maori land lordism m Taranaki, where the Public Trustee is paying £22,---500 out yearly to the Maoris. . I would like the Native Minister to bring down a policy. I believe hfe is coming to see. that he. has to move, a? little faster than m the past.' He. has K§en sliding backways the last, five yedr% As long as we have the present Na tive Minister ; the Natives- will never pay' rates and CHILDREN OF TARANAKI. ill* Witty : The children of Taranaki ii re tho champion over-worked children m New Zealand. A TaraAaki member : . They arc the most progressive m New * Zealand. Mr' Witty : Yes, they ai*c champion teat-pullers." • The member for Slratford took up the cudgels on behalf of Taranaki to repudiate the allegations of child slavery. He infovmectothe House that, he had personally gone through the life. . "In -the early days,"? he said, ?*'l ( used to get up i-nd milk 15 cows m the morning, go to school, and milk 15 co>V(s^ again afc night, md I don't think I look very bad on it." (Chorus of hear, hears). "Taranaki has produced one of the greatest men tliat have adorned this House, Sir Harry Atkinson; whilst Professor Rutherford is also a. Taranaki boy." / jMAHIA PETITION. Martha. Greening, a half-caste Native,, sf Mahia Peninsula, has petitioned, through the Hon. A. T. Ngata, for an investigation of her claims respecting Moutere No. 2 block. INCREASED HOTEL FEES. A Licensing Bill is upon the Government "stocks." The above intimation will be received with interest. The Government's intentions, it is understood, nre simply to readjust certain boundaries and other formal alterations, such as the raising of licensing fees m certain districts. Controversial issues will probably bo left out, btit the same may be nndeavored to be introduced by private members. WAIPIRO NATIVES' ALLEGATION. A small but valuable piece of land m Waipiro township, fronting the main street, .whereon are situated the postoffice, two stores, a blacksmith's shop, woolshed, and several other buildings, is the subject of a petition that has been presented to Parliament by H. Matehe and several other Waipiro Natives, through the Hon. A. T. Ngata, and m M'hich a serious allegation is made. Petitioners assert that block 2b, Waioiro, was awarded by. the Native ?Land Court m 1894 to five persons, and that a certain piece of land was mistakenly included m the boundaries of the blocl*. This mistake was not discovered within the period during which it would have been competent to lodge an appeal. Petitioners assert that Europeans were the authors of the error, there object being to, obtain the inclusiort of the olaces upon which their houses stand. The matter was inquired into before Judge Jones, arid the owners of the block agreed to return the land and its rent money to the actual owners, <and that a document was drawn up at that time to confirm their assent, this document being now m the possession of Judge Jones. The Natives opplv for a rehearing of the matter to enable the

boundaries to be corrected. The matter will be inquired into by the Native Affairs Committee. TAKIRAU COUNTY BILL. Whilst the Takirau County Bill now before the ? Local Bills Committee has been adjourned at the instance of Mr Mac Donald for a week,, to enable witnesses to arrive irom Gisborne to appear before the Committee, the member for the Bay of Plenty is of opinion that the Bill will be droppea. CIVIL SERVANTS AS SETTLERS. The fate of retrenched civil servants M-ho were advised to go on the land last year was referred to. by Mr J. B. Hine last night. He had, he said, been much interested m le-lrning that on the land set aside for them on the Main Trunk line only four retrenched civil servants were endeavoring to win a home. No one could be surprised at that. The Civil Service was no training ground for farm* life. Th<. Hon. D. Buddo : They Mere only given preference. Mr Hine : Yes, and what faced them ? It Mas land settlement or the workhouse. RACEHORSE-- OWN ERS' PLAIN T. "You get a racehorse or two, and you will very soon find -whether it is an easy thing to Avin races M'hen you want to, and whether horses are run true or not,'' said Mr Buick, m reply to an interjector. "When our jockeys are not interfered with, and qur trainers are not interfered M-ith, and our horses are not interfered with,, you will get a straight go every time. We have had it before,, and we will get it again. The tote is an honest machine to all M-ho feel inclined to have a modest plunge." Needless to say, Mr Buick M-as attacking the bookie and defending the tote. FACTS ABOUT MRS BLANK. "While he spates , fi*/ct he conveys an untruth," was" the way m M r hich Mr Laurenson summed up the allegations of Mr Herdman that, the industrial life of the country M-as being sapped from it. "The hon. gentleman knows quite well hoM- easy it is to-.dp this, and I will 'give you an instance that came under my notice recently. % A certain lady (a wellknown lady temperance advocate) was one evening present at a meeting m the Foresters' hall, at, Lyttelton. The night M-as warm, and she fainted. She was carried into the hotel next door. . Now T I will tell you how such a half-truth can be stated. One lady says to another. 'Do you know Mrs Blank?. She is a well-known temperance advocate, is she not? Last night her old man, at, IC o'clock, had to . go and take her out of the Cambridge hotel.' (I/a-ughtcr.) That statement M-ould be perfectly true, but how far it is from the truth is evident to everyone.".DEATH DUTIES. Mr Geo. Laurenson had some very convincing figures to quote m the House of Representatives last night, relative to the value of the Death Duties Act. The member for Lyttelton said members on the Opposition bench had endeavored to show that this piece of legislation had been harmful m its effects. He had obtained returns dealing with the .last two years. During . that period 17,C00 people had died m New Zealand. Five thousand of these were under two years of age. That left 11,000 to deal with. Four thousand left some property, M-hile 7000 died worth nothing at all. Of the 4000 referred to, 1720 Mere Morth £178 each on the average,. M-hich meruit that they died m comparative poverty. Of the whole 17,000 people who died m the period named, 120 possessed half the en tir c Mealth. The Death Duties Act ol last. year was far-reaching m its effects, granting exemptions up to £50C0, and it was- only when, a person died worth £20,000 that there Mas «n increase to a marked extent m death duties. The Act. m his opinion, m^is one of the best piece* of legislation ever put on the statute book. RIGHT TO EXIST. "There are those Mho -think Natives should not- exist," ventured Mr Geo. Witty. "They think they should not be m New Zealand at all. They. should be swept off the face of the earthy In the early days the missionaries came here to?, Christianise the Natives with the Bible m the right hand and grabbing their land With the left. That is. what the Opposition would do to-day with the Native land. The Natives have a right here, and M-hat we should do is to tieat them as M-e treat ourselves. They should be placed on European representation, and then you could expect them to pay rates and taxes. If il had my May I would individualise their titles. The Natives are also blamed for noxious weeds, but .who ..brought the Meeds here?" . PARTY FUNDS. , A. frank confession made by an Oppositionist last M-eek, that the* Opposition had been "despised aud rejected by the land -ownera of the Dominion, Mas taken up- by .Mr Forbes yesterday afternoon. "I will guarantee that nine-tenths ol their party funds comes from the big land owners, n he declared. The Opposi tion, ho added, could not oppose the land for settlement policy openly, .but they wero endeavoring to kill it with tot* j much praise. ! V A SIMPLE' SYLLABUS. The member ; for Wallace (Mr J. C. Thomson) had something, to say iri tht House of Representatives concerning the need for a more simple syllabus. He urged that what the children of New Zealand required was a sound training m reading, writing, .and arithmetic, as well as a' few practical subjects that had a bearing on. the land: It was the duty ■af the Minister m charge of the Depart ment to conserve the interests of primary education? particularly m the country districts, where there was a feeling that the children M*ere not faring as M-ell "m the matter- Of educational facilities hs •those m- the towns. KING COUNTRY LICENSING LAWS. If, as seems . likely, the Government brings down 'ft. Incensing Act Amendment "Bill this .session, the member for Taumarunui (Mr W. Jennings) will seek to have the claims of the King Country considered m regard to licensing legislation. At .present the Pohe Potae is entirely a prohibited territory, but M'ith the advance of civilisation" into these regions, a cry has gone up for the removal of the embargo. Mr Jennings lias long . championed the right of the Europeans m the King Country to themselves declare whether they shall have license or no license. * He points out tliat when restrictive legislation m regard to these regions m\is placed on the statute book there was scarcely a white man m it. Now there are more pakebas than Natives. Towns have sprung up all along the Main Trunk line, and are growing into small cities. Tlie Natives, on the. other hand, have mostly foregathered m such places as Huntly, Ngarunwahin, and 'Waihora, M-hich are beyond the limits of the prohibited area. Under the altered circumstances, Mr Jennings contends that there is absolutely no justification for M-ithholding from the electors m the King Country the same rights and privileges that are offered to tlje rest of the people of the Dominion. The member for Taumarunui accordinuly intends to voice the claims of the King Country for inclusion m the local option poll at next, election. JOTTINGS. "Tlio land policy of to-day is actually William Rolleston's, the 33 years' renewable lease. "—Member for Ricearton. "If you have land to lease m Auckland advertise it 'in Christchurch, and guarantee you will have every acre of if taken up."— Mr Forbes. '•We have the 'Socialist m this House who would like to see this country legis-; kited to heaven . m a week," remarked, Mr Forbes (Hurumii), "and we have also the hide-bound Tories, who are against, any progressive step that is proposed." "If you call it freehold with a man Who has an enormous blister, then heaven help the freeholder. The mortgage he pays is often far worse than rent."— Mr Witty'•An elective executive, a referendum and initiative, closer settlement, a definite and distinct advance m practical education, a national annuity scheme •worthy of the name, an increase of the graduated land tax, and moro direct and less direct taxation." — A progressive platform for' the future laid down by the member ,'for /--Lyttelton.