HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Southland Times, Issue 3519, 1 October 1879, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

The Honse met at 2.30. Mr Sauaders gave notice that he would move the appointment of a" select committee to enquire into the use niade of the Government steamship and the telegraph system for the purpose of influencing the late elections. Mr McLean gave notice of motion that he would move that a return of all contracts for Government advertising, printing, &c, be laid on the table. •■• * - ' Replying to Mr Tole, Mr Sheehan said the Government would put on the estimates a sufficient sum to equalise the salaries : of- -the" gaol's officials of the colony, but that power - would be reserved to allocate salaries in' accordance with the services rendered. ■*--'•■:■ In reply to Mr Stevens, Mr Macandrew said architects in the' -public service were not allowed to compete for- private practice. '■■■■■ ]■ In reply to Mr Swanson, Mr Macandrew isaid. provision had been already made for; the workmen employed on Goyernnient contracts being paid at least every fortnight. Air Fulton asked .what .steps the Go- : vernment proposed, to take towards the establishment of a Deaf and.D umb Institution for the colony, aud whether- the services of- v a competent instructors have been secured by the Agent-Genoral. "-'- ■ :; - r -- '■■'. .'■ ;;;■ ■■v:- 1 - The Premier replied that the : Government ;■■ didiutend to establish such &n-institution, and" ; that instructors would arrive in December next." :* m.'.;.^. i-/:):. .•.-■■ -T ,-..>::& ,-:^:vi The following bills were, introduced, land; read a llrst time:— Osmaru Watervyorks loan Bill (Shrimski); Billtq amend ""The Slaughterhouse Act, 1 877," (Tole); 'to provide for the Formation of Special Settlements; to amend the Land Act, 1878 (Thomson); to.amend the Resident Magistiates" Act, 1867; "to amend the District Com t Act, 1858 (Pitt). MrAndiews moved that a lespectful addicss be piesented to the Governor in reply to the address presented, to the House. He said that it must be satisfactory to all parties' to read the assurances of the soundness of the finances of -the colony, &c.,- referred to in - His Excellency's address. The- -speaker touched upon ail the leading topics of the address, and warmly supported the policy of Mihisteis. ' " - -' - f < Mr Hhst seconded the motion and made an- -i eloquent speech in Sitvov of the Government 1 policy. He spoke until the closing hour, and j then Mr Hall moved the adjournment of the 1 debate till the evening. - 'J-"\ The House lenuned at 7.30. r. -i ■ The Hon. 2lr Hall- on rising to move the 1 amendment eongiatulalcd *tbc mover and ] seconder of the address. The former was ] essentially a working man, ouc with whom < | he uad been associate.! in 'the Provincial, i j Council of Canterbuiy, and he hoped other £ speakers in 'this debate would follow ,th& 1 1 jrioderato 'tone tbey had taken. He denied, c however, that the Government i supporters; t pas they had sef forth, xepresontad a --.t ilargei' uuniber of the inhabitants 'of the, >*i colony than did the Opposition. ~He f quoted a number of instances to n piove .this. '.I The facts were that a few' disbricLs'in the it North Island pronounced in favor jof the c Govcrnraenc, .while .those. south* "had done c quite. 1 the opposite/ TUe last' Hous? of Bq- t

presentatives had declared by a large majority that the Government had £O.t££he confidence of the House, and they^as's^C^. cessors of that House, were bound?- at the , earliest date, now that they ha.l returned! : from the- country, to test tne question in|ttie \ House. His first charge agains 1 the Gov.erjt ■ meni was that they ha I totally fnile^^gi carrying out their promises. They prdJps&V to reduce the cost of the civil service materially. Sir George Grey said be could ...do.iLby;^ 100,000, whereas it had been in-'-cre^il^lhe- first- ye^ ; *^g(]^O^ariid-;'tlYe next: : year 15.000. Then, again, their own personal proceedings had conducted in a" inp^st, extravagant style.- ; Miffister4 ihadilbroight? down a proposal to reduce their own salaries; the mover and seconder of:the Opposition -'bein^^.punisted..J)y/■.b J ein*;'^m^e■;_J.P,'s._ < an.d; the proposition was not again brought down.. Then, again, the, extravagance invconnpqtion with the Government steamers v- a^spmetlung ..notorious.! -Native aff airs ;had li^e|rise s b'eea -. most«;extravagantf ; a'nd^'jiet the 'position :pjE{; jnative affairs was not good as^ir, had bsen.;: two years ago. v , , The presenfenafcive-himister promised great things whea-fi'e got into office. He admitted that they >vefe riot what could * hia ve^een-wishediwh en he} took) office,-. -)y\it; fjStillhe^m'aintained 5 that Kadv Sir- I)i}MoLean= been spared, things would have bcenr-in. a very;, .'different state. Gre&lp 1 respects were held, . out by the , G : o vernment, . by the /intervention 1 , of the great chief- ■fiewi.V They-had notheaM ;auy thing- -as to the result of. the intervention, ' .': /and he could only- .cpnclude* that it had' come to nought.; The' state bf ; matters on the coast was ■ next referred to. y ; it had been, alleged that the Government was, not toblame : for the unsatisfactory state of affairs, but this he Would say that there was a state of discontent and feeling of lawlessness;' . \ybich was not the case when the ministry took office; The mistake had been the attempt to. ad--: minister Native affairs on; a different principle from'that of Europeans. .Regarding the question/of fihauce, the. state of finance, v^as what every one wantedUto know,. Itwas well^ -known that a great deficiency existecl;<he did : ! not blame the Government for. that deficiency; what he blamed them tor was that they had-.: fornied far too high aui estimate of 'certain branches of "revenue. 'In asking- them:) to ■ authorise, heavy loans it was absolutely necessary ; that a fnllaud detailed ,'.statemeut. of the financial- affairs of -the colony -should be furnished; What was. the iCase-when they were asked to authorise the last, heavy loan? Referring '- •to Hansard,' the speaker, read a paragraph,: stating, that no notice had been, taken of it for certain reasons.' lii reality j; -Mr Hall ■ continued, there was 'no financial * statement .to make at all, and that was a state of affairs that would' be bound to operate against the colony in the estimation of thehome money market. He next alluded to the charge that the' Government had tampered with thenewspaper press. They had taken away their advertisements, f rpm ■..-, an . old < established paper in Wellington, ICity, a.nd 'given them to one established not . more . than, . eighteen months, and of wMch members "of the Government were shareholders- A, similar course hacl been 'pursued in Cti rotchurch. It was, a , mpst unfair course of procedure, and ywas calculated to defeat the very object of advertising altogether. . Similar press tactics had been adopted all over the colony. He next alluded to the special wire. In consequence of that. ariang)ement one .paper in Ohri'sfchurch got' the telegraphing service for £300, while another paper had to joay as ; much as £1200. The speaker then referred to unfair dealings in the civil service. He reiterated charges brought against the Government oh this score by ' Sir/ W. Fox. Reference was -next made_ to the appoint-, ment of. Mr Luckie. Civil servants were not, as a rule, well paid., and/when acompkratively? easy, well-paid . situation was vacant, it was the duty of the Governni^nt to advance some of their old .servants,; arid not go outside the service and apppitit' a person on ; the plea solely of the support hei ihad rendered. ' :: l?he ' judicial ' , system was next attacked. He referred., to the 'delay of Government to appointa Resident Magistrate for Eyttelfcon,' to the /great inconvenience and loss' bf : the district-; ■ the neglect of Government to supply gaol accommodation at Addington, Cainterbufyvalthougb that accommodation might have been -provided without the slightest trb'tible on their part, and the scandalous conduct of the Government; ,in neglecting- toi. pro vjdejpjQper acepmmpda-j tion for lunatics. Recent reports, qn the? subject w.efe^readj aandjgpm^e^ted t on\ and condemned, iln all the cases the charges were not against Government officials, but in reality they were blunders committed by Ministers individually. Tuo Pi-em ierlwas in | a great measure primarily responsible for.? this state of things; n'e'took-'s6le : control of matters to the exclusion of his colleagues. He cited instances such as that which compelled the late: GoloniaL Treasurer;, to resign.: It "was simply personal Versus^constitutional Government.' '■ The ,- manner in which the Government attempted ;. ; to .influence the late elections was next mentioned, If ever there was a time when the elections should have been left? to the unprejudiced, judgment of the electors it was at last election. B«t jW,ha,t..did they find ? Two Government steamers were run, and special 1 trains set in- motion for the purpose of conveying- -Ministers to various parts of the colony to influence iheir elections. If the Opposition had had the same opportunities for promoting ..their • paused the. Go y - . vefnment wovild be rioW I 'standin'g afe private member?, instead.of qccupying,the i &linis,tefiaP benbhes:'" 'Then, 2 it waif well' known 5 that f he " telegraphic system had Been largely employed in these elections, pub they) <£dv:npt know to .■whafc extent. ;■ A .question; pn "jbtis -point the other day elicited thel reply that; a tele- ' 'gram of this kind had not been paid for, but that it would be paid for. -Then,, again, the time of commencing certain jjubHcj works was, by some curious coincidence, just the time when; these elections took place. The commencing of certain public works at Ross, on the West Coast, was; cited as a case in point. ;The busting speech of the member, for the district was produced, and read, showing that -a .,, whole ; column., was; ; takenup with promises. . .respecting' these works, :and not more c;j than, four, lines' were deroted to communicate.. his political opinions. With all'this influ'etic^brought to bear on constituencies ; Chance was left for an Opposition candidate..;, The visit of the Premier to Christchurch was next referred to, and not haying any other thing , to gi re electors of; that , city he gave si ;cle>ck. On a subsequent) visit* of the Premier, an application was made to' Him to ' know' " when local subsidies would be paid.,- The reply was next day; and thesa were paid accprdingly^ A neighboring district,' in, wnicb: He' (Hsill), was, interested, made a' : similaiv^ppiic4|ion, : ' .but, up; to : tfie.. present, time its subsidieshad never been received..-. Now, ,if ..'the ;GPyern- -. meiit took upon themselves to iise'Government steamers for their pwn private purpose, they might just as welljise other Gbverninent property for the same purposes. f Tears ago it . Aad been laid \lo\vn (hat A an" : abuse 6i tHis ;kind in the-Im'pferial- Parliament' was' a very, serious thing indeed, anjLhe hoped the House ;would be prepared ,tq "affirm' that doctrine. The speaker then proceeded l^ 'review the various, ai'ticles' of .fchei-Goyernihent/Apblicy. He agreed with triennial Pailiameuts, because it appeared to be/thewjshpf tire polony, but; his own idea was thatr'a four yeai-S'^Parliu-^ ment would, in ; thefirst instance, have bsen' much better.' 'A' redistribution a ''of- seats ho also agreed with. The laws they had got should be energetically" Administered, which was nqtvthe case, He"tEerefore moved the. atriendmne|it>' ; :^ v','. '/*]* ': ■•' M --';'*[V' "'■'' ' nS ; '*!' : Sir^xleorge* Grey said^he' expected qu(te •' & difM^it"^peeeK:; :-to ,-matte^/referwiU < ~ to ' Were^^ trining^and altogpther rinwbrin'y !t of ; ; the .gi;aat s thing;the ■ ; O.pl^itiyn;.;^ciaJDaie'd;..fpr the : cblohy ivt viewof^cfiau^^ i. J "'6f 'Govern- : ment. The question-simply was whether the Lold state of things AvouTclTlJe' svyepfc away,and ;a ievf . pe'^: ;ffi^|nsfitufed;^;:lia^ '-. been; charged'with : mal^administratibn.^ of the ?ajffa{rs of the colony. ""It'was the ;Oppb,sition '- thSt had' beiti^gnil ty ttf inaladni! iiis ..aictjuirM J *for .^li^tnkelfes J iff thS^^cduntryj-^ they had-'griUirbned'-fdr their owrr' pnrpoaes.- ' He*. t m?xt alluded to~ the ' Charge., about the Hineraoa'/anirin' doing "so" he would remindthem that this, was a, peculiar country, cut up into a cluster of islands; and the services of a_ steainerj ■undejc.suc'hroi rcumsfciuces, \wa? ..abspr" , Intely essential... They, did not -order the : steamer; they found the steamer I '^here when they got into offiqe, aud"He.inaintained Jie was .entitled to uiak'c use of her, in order ttfat he i*migH& 'maTce- himself->'acquainted A with[!'th.e. ; affairs of the colony. If he had done right !he "was entitled- to- the -thanks of the -colony, £ancUif *ne h'ad'done wrong th r e colony \ybul<l"» condemn him, but- he declared no snch cohdi demnation -would "follow: '^ltlwdtbden said that-wEieii^h^yi^ffieiutdiofflcQttatiyorafEdUs

were Jin a f trahqtii^s|ate,:Jßnt3tie 'tfenicd that .statement. 1 Native matters were then in a wpirse i condition than 1-hey were at present. Et^eniednthat the advertise Bents given to thehe.vTspaj>ers coul<T prw-ibly have influenced t^&:Dress.'^nd he \vjo:iY!ered at anyone who cpulil staa.l uj> nn I irake such, a sta'cment. D§|w;ts^^uii\vifieJ; -.unjust, '••; ati-li? mitrue, and , ti§|§i ! cha|M' * thrtt;^g^|;^ritten. statemon t haW^en^iiiafle iegardicg*th'e iinancial conditioit^fethe co'ony was equally untenable. They were on the- eve of a dissolution, and trader -the cirourastanfres-he^mfide^snch;;;-n:.-statement as he thought light. He would the civil service; to^ be appealed to as to or no 6 the Government :had acted unfairly towards it. He _ rested satisfied K jhat ,^the. isei^ce^i^eJ|^yfpsl.d>acg!^44!?^Sfc all unfair dealing." The "charge of neglecting to make provision for lunatics was next referred to.. He had. great ..sympathy with these- unfortunates, >but he =' reminded them that |n;o visions of this kind were tnade by provinces^ and when prbVinciiaViiflsSttitibns were ruthlessly abolished no adequate pro--: vision was ': made. v It had been-saiiflfiat nisi previous 'education unfitted him for the posit! of Premier, and in arguing the point, he reefer red to : in justice; to the colony'in the matter I of the Canterbury runs. Kef errin jar to the v Electoral Bill of last , session. . lie : contended that the ■..' double 'yo fc''vrsis independent of that , bill (altogether. What they proposed doing wfe to get the;,bill .passed an el sent to the Legislative pouicilj 'and then the Government i would Tpbm- j municate with the ;natives, with the view- of taking away one of the rotes. That was pie- ; cisely what the Legislative Council would not allow them" to do. He considered: he acted right in the course lie took with' the bill. He understood from what t>ad 'beea * ! -said that his going about from place to place, prevented the electors uhderstandins: the questions- at issue. But his going about enabled them to understand that issue;- and what the Opposition wanted was to prevent •- vhim going about, and .by that means keep the colony in ignorance o£thea-eal state of affaire../! . New Zealand once had one of : the freest; con- " - stitutions in the worlds a constitution however,; that a was destroyed by the Opposition and a their friends^ t And -they ,we.re ; never able to ■ establish anything worthy of its place.- They • diminished the resources of ;the ; country and burdened it with an enprmbris debt; In tbat're■spect they have been the enemies of their country. The members on the other side of the ' House all claimed to be Liberals, but what did they find? TheleaderoftheOppositionhimself had denied that the franchise was. a natural right- to all men. The speaker then detailed -. the many evils resulting to other countries from axestriction of the franchise, andto that . fact was to be attributed the numerous evils under which the mother country groaned. Members on the other side of the House would be only too willing to see . many of these abuses repeated in thisTcolony. It wasa mere mockery, for : them to claim; for themselvesthe name of Libeials. He defended the ,, Go vernment against the chargie of ■ :tuif alrness^ in the adjustment iii'theincidents of taxation. He referred to past adminißtration, s tlie;.ont♦come ofwhich was the^abuse pf the lendlaTvff by which the lands of Canterbury had^ .beea.-. gridiroTiedi and they wei-e "rapidly cbniingVo^ a state of things similar, to what existed in Scotland, Ireland, 'and England, where a few persons held, tracts of country, being a large proportion of the whole acreage of these* 1 kingdoms. The result of such a state of matters was not only, the of the masses, but the "hardening of the hearts of the landlords to the distress of the: population. The real question was . system should be prppog^ted.in 'this'couhtry, . or a new state of things" brought Vabbut. ttf was riot a question, as. had been alleged, , of . personal government which was at' issue;' the ' real question was the bnelie Had 5 indicated y above, and that was what he and those on; his side of the Hpiise aimed at establishing in New. Zealand, and what they would continue to aim at so long as they lived. They cared nothing for. the ; false. accusatipnV r; made ! against them; they were determined to stand - true to their positionj : tbey sought fpr.spmething great and something noble; something more j abiding than the good opinion of J,ihose who; sought to defraud New Zealand of its birthr 'g Ut - S: -Ai'i '-..-• ■ "'■,''■ Mr Saunders said^that*:two remarkable" speeches had been deli vered t that nisfhfc; j-TBe oiie was what he would describe as "a terreV--tria , and >; tbe pth,erj'as;asQelestial. speech. TheT one speaker dealt' with "fhe" business of 'this House, and thp#}ther-jhad- taken /them to Babylon and other but-of-the way places. He described the address in reply as a thoroughly contemptible document, and he- then pro— i ceeded to combat the assertions made by the ' Premier to the effect that the was illiberal in its policy. " ,-, r „ ..-. [Message interrupted by 2 a.m;] ' ! | : >|| - : " " rr~~± ± r^— O ''■