PARLIAMENTARY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6259, 4 July 1890, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY.

(By Telegraph.)

WELLINGTON. 'July 3. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Tire Council met at 2 30 p.m. CALL OP THE COUNCIL. On the motion of Mr McLean, it wss decidcd that the Council be called oyer on the 10th July. IN COHil (TTEE. The Arbitration Bill, and the Oaths Bil l , were considered in Committee. Progress was reported, and leave given to sit agein on Tuesday. BLCOND HEADINGS. The Childrens Protection Bill, Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Bill, and Educational Reserves Leasing Bill, were read a second lime. DEBATE ADJOURNED. The debate ou the second reading of the Industrial Schools Amendment Bill was adjourned till next day. The Council rose at 4.43 p.m.

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2 30 p.m. THE FINANCIAL DEBATE. Mr Rhodes resumed the debate on the motion that the House go into Committee of Supply. He said that he had given his vote hist evening lo the Government, not because he had been an ardent supporter of the Government, but because he preferred to see (hem in office to any Government that could be formed by the Opposition. Referring to the land question be said that he bad always opposed the acquisition of private lands by 1 the Government, and had held that it would I be 100 groat a strain on the revenue to buy ;! up land in any considerable quantity. But if i he should be re-elected to the House he j should be favourable to this being done to i a moderate extent. There bad been such a j chorus of complaints from the South Island > about the management of the Railway ComI missioners that be felt sure a block vote , would be given at the elections in favour of

sue railways ueiug ugnu i-uueu over oy toe Government. Mr Blake, speaking in opposition to the f Government policy, said that if the Govorn- , ment wanted to impose taxation they should ’ begin at the top of the tree. The people who should be compelled to pay taxes were '■ those who owned large properties and paid i very little on them He quoted the statistics [ of several counties in the colony to show that (taxation pressed very unfairly in some places, as much as 80 per cent, in particular districts, whilst others escaped altogether. He thought that while such a state of things prevailed there was something wrong. The sooner they got through the,necessary business and got the elections over with an early meeting next year the better. Mr Allen asked how much sincerity was there in regard to retrenchment- in members of the Opposition ? The late Government asserted that the expenditure could be reduced by only £103,000, whereas the present dnwnrnmftnt hod npf.liftllv rnrlnPAfl ifc fr» fVin

extent of nearly £300,003. He was as strongly opposed to tbe property tax as Mr Ballance himself, and he should bo the first to vote for a land and income tax if he saw the j opportunity for doing it. But that opportunity had not yet arisen, With respect to the remarks of the member for St. Albans, us to the exodus of people from the colony, it seemed to him that the exodus was a natural consequence of their own incapacity. To his mind the reason why people left the. colony was because the expenditurc of loan money had come to an end, and not because of the incidence of taxation. As to the surplus, everything had been plainly set set out in the Financial Statement, so that no , one could be misled about it. One point which had not been touched upon before was that there wore two months’ primage duty yet lo be collected, which had to be put to tbe reduction of the deficit of two years’ ago. He felt sure that the amendment proposed by Mr Ballance was utterly impracticable. . Mr Walker maintained that all the arguments advanced by members on the Minis-J

lenai eme or rue uouso worn. m uis uirecuon of condemning the Financial Statement, and none more eo than the arguments of Mr Allen. Now that Mr Brjoe was again in the House the Ministerial party, which were almost in the same moribund condition ns Parliament itself, evidently were looking forward to the probability of his talcing the leadership at no distant date. As to the statement that the leader of the Opposition had not shown whore further retrenchment could be effected, he asked whether that wrs the duty of any private member or of any body except a Minister. Ihe Financial Statement was not an honest one, and according to Mr Bryce’s opinion last night, it meant nothing but borrowing. He hoped that it fhfl Inah timathev would-be comnellad to

listen to a written Statement. If the Premier was not able to be in his place, he should be relieved of the position. The debate was interrupted by the 5.30 p in. adjournment. The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. ! Mr T. Walker continued his remarks. He said that Ministers had now been three years in office, and he ventured to assert that there was never more dissatisfaction at the administration of the land laws than at the present time. Mr Merchant considered that nothing would strengthen the Government more than the weak incoherent speech just made by the member for Ashburton. That hon, gentleman had taunted the Government party with being

without a leader, but he wished to say that they bad stuck loyally to their leader for three years, while they had witnessed the spectacle of an Opposition who were without a loader for two years end were altogether powerless for good. With respect to what had been said of the Ward-Hislop affair by the member for Ashburton, be (Mr Marchant) considered that Mr Hislop bad done all that an honourable man could do in that matter. Nothing had struck him more forcibly than the tone of hopefulness that pervaded the Financial Statement. He charged'Mr Balance with great inconsistency in his publio utterances, and with being able to make different speeches to suit different occasions, quoting from Hansard in proof of his assertion. He made reference to the expression of confidence that was shown in the Government yesterday by the House, and he thought that they would also secure a majority in the country—that the country would declare that

the result of the practical retrenchment which they had effectedwas highly creditable, and that they bad shown a practical grasp of the land question Mr Ward strongly condemned the advance that bad been made to the Now Plymouth Harbour Board. His opinion was that even supposing a Committee of’the House had sanctioned this advance it was wrong to delegate such a transaction to any Committee. The Financial Statement was no doubt an able one, but ho regretted that the rule of the House did not prevent a Budget being written, as nobody could tell from whom it emanated. He opposed the continuance of the primage duty, and said that if it was taken off it would bo a great relief to the manufacturers of the country. As to the Bail way Commissioners he expressed the opinion that the general manager was simply a buffer between the Government and the Department, and bad to raise a certain amount of revenue at the dictation of the Treasurer. Coming to land administration he quoted from the speech of the member for St. Albans as to the existence of dummyism to a large extent in Canterbury, and expressed (he opinion that if the Minister for Lands was ap honourable man, as he knew him to bo, he would not rest till he had sheeted home the j charges of dummyism mentioned by the member for St. Albans. One statement in the Budget pleased him, namely, that the San Francisco eprrice would cease. A strong

reason why there should be a dissolution was that it was generally eupposed that the Government intended calling a number of gentlemen to the Legislative Council, and he thought that was undesirable until some change was made in the manner of making those appointments. Mr McKenzie (Clulha) contended that the present Government had raised the credit of the colony in the London market after the mismanagement of the previous Ministry bad destroyed it. If he were asked who was depreciating the credit of the, colony he should say it was Mr Walker and other Opposition members who were constantly acting in that manner. As to the land administration he said that in no country in the world could the people take up land on more favourable terms than in this colony. Ho admitted that it was a grave reflection on the Government that land in the South Island could not be obtained more freely. Speaking on the estimates, be said that the House should set its face against any increase of salaries, and as the Government bad gone through the disagreeable part of reducing salaries,why should there be an increase now? He supported the Government because he did not see any justification for a second session, and because the Opposition bad not definitely any policy of retrenchment. Mr Terrall moved the adjournment of the debate. The House rose at 11.20 p.m. 1