A POOR COMPLIMENT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 125, 2 July 1914, Page 7

A POOR COMPLIMENT.

• OPPOSITION DISAPPOINTED. . " THE MINISTRY SILENT. |j THE NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE. | ~ - -.-.a [From our own Parliamentary Reporter.]' "WELLINGTON, July 1. When the House of Representatives ; met this afternoon everyone expected " x j; that there would be a great clash of wit and wisdom between the two predomin- ; "ant parties.' • But, alas! the mountain of expectation brought forth a very small mouse -*! of realisation. Mr T. M. Wilford, the impetuous member for Hutt, had pro- 't, posed the adjournment on the previous , .. V. evening, and when the Speaker took the Chair to-day he called upon Mr Wilford jto resume the debate, and the latte* \ waded right into the middle of things.*" ■His speech was characterised by a great deal of dramatic fire. It has been.Jßaid - of Mr Wilford, as it has been said of „ another well-known- criminal lawyer, whose domicile is in Dunedin, that if he '4 had ehosen the stage as a profession he would have achieved fame. The state- "• „ ' ment is true. Mr Wilford appeals.to the ' f gallery all the time. He fired several , v effective shots, but the- occupants, of. the Treasury benches did not seem "to stiff er , r -| any very serious injury, and when he sat down the members of the Cabinet ' j were not unduly, perturbed. - \ It was rather unkind on-the part of the Government to put up Mr Harris ' ■ to reply to Mr Wilford. The Opposition . fully expected that one of the members J.: of the Cabinet would reply to Mr Wil- - - - « ford, and when a purely private member arose there was an obvious show of dis- ~ appointment. A large -proportion of • C menabers on the Opposition side left the \ House, and the Government, meiiabers ,\sZ laughed heartily. They seemed to think" that their leaders had paid a poor eompliment to the strength of the Liberal " , *. criticism of their policy. It was perhaps rather hard on Mr Harris, but there are scapegoats in politics as* there are in - every other profession. Mr Myers, who followed, expressed ■ the indignation of the Liberal Party;-. > with regard to their treatment. He asserted boldly that a speech suchras Mr \ Wilford had delivered was well | of Ministerial notice. j such protests, the Government refused to " take the actions of the Opposition sen--ously, and throughout the afternoon and evening not a single member of the Cabinet took the floor. 1. It is difficult to say how long the de- - bate on the no-confidence motion will ud continue, but one thing is clear—it will . not bie prolonged through any action of * - t the Government. ■ s It is rumoured that the Opposition are' relying upon the no-confidence amendment -as an excuse to. prolong the debate upon the Address-in-Reply to an inordinate length. Every of the House has the right to speak for an hour—; on the amendment, and it is expected that most of the Liberals will take , ad- ■ vantage of the opportunity to use an hour of the country's time. The ques- : tion will then go to a division, and. there is not the ■. slightest question as tb what the result will be. The Government will i win the day by a substantial majority. Then the original motion "That a re- ■ spectful address be presented to his Ex- • cellency, etc.," will come up for discussion, and members can begin all over again. Should the Opposition desire to do so, they can block the business of the House for weieks. Is that their object? No one knows 1 at present, and no one will tell.

NO-CONFIDENCE. PROGRESS OF THE DEBATE. c NAVY AND FINANCE. When the House of - Representatives met this afternoon the debate on Sir' _ - Joseph Ward's no-confidence amendment to the Address-in-Reply was con- - tinued V Mr T. M.*Wilford (Hutt). He said that the Governor's Speech was pre-eminently a legal document. it had been drawn up—-and well drawn up—by a lawyer, and all that was needed was the addition to it of the words '' without prejudice.'' (Laughter.) The Speech- was a party document, whieli was of course quite legitimate, as, the fight in the House was essentially a party fight. There was no one who heard more gladly, than himself of the increasing prosperity of ■ the Dominion, and the present state of affairs was a mat- - ter of hearty congratulation to the whole country. At the same time lie did not'think New Zealand had reached the apex of its prosperity. The opening of the Panama. Canal would mean a huge increase in the trade of the Dominion, and a great new market for " our meat was opening up in, Japan. The next few years would see a tremendous increase in our trade. (Hear, heai'.) 'Mr Wilford went on to say that in his reply to Sir Joseph Ward- last night the Minister of Finance worked himself into a frenzy, and at times was beside himself with anger. (Hon. Members: "'No! No!") There was no necessity in such a debate as this for speakers to indulge in personalities and recriminations. There was nothing to be gained by attacking ajgran personally. NIYAL DEFENCE. In dealing with the question of naval defence, Mr Wilford said, Mr Alien had been astute. He had violently nied the allegations of Sir Joseph Ward, but he .had never, stated definitely that he was opposed to a local navy. He (Mr Wilford) advised members on the Opposition side of the House to watch carefully the utterances of Ministers on the subject, and they would bear out ! his belief that the Government was m," favour of a local navy. <He did.notexpect the Government to do anything >, in the matter this session, but it at the next election the people sent them back_; they would tack the local navy onto their policy. (Opposition local navv would be very costly -?jl cost could not" be put on the of the country through' It must be borne bv„ttis lancEr The appoifitß&ent "dfa. ad\:i#|*v X vl Mr WilforS eo4#tftte&,*4sa cleft* of the- Governments What"""" was the; advise* tV advise,.uponj and what his '|^a t *y T' - vfc true that, it was fib -fce Sw)fl or. £I,OOO a year! If then the navaV adviser would be receiviag/«lffioA the salary paid ! /, . *

•fco Captain Marshall, of H.M.S. Psyche, who was his' senior in raflk. Who was to pay Captain Hall-Thompson's salary? Was it the Imperial or the Dominion Government? Hoiv Mr Allen: I shall tell you later. Referring to the need for naval defence* Mr Wilford said that New Zealand would stand in real danger when the. Japanese Alliance expired. Right Hon. Mr Massey: Do you believe in the Japanese menace? Mr Wilfordf l do. Once upon a time I didn't, but times have moved. They could never hope to equip a navy which would effectually guard - i our coasts. Every member on his side of the House" stood by the British' Navy as the only possible defence of the Pacific against possible danger from Asia. /Opposition I applause.) STATE ADVANCES. Mr Wilford then dealt with the muclidiscuased question of advances and commitments. He said that the Minister of Finance had the right to make transfers from one branch of the Advances J'undnto another. When the Opposition was in" power the Minister had to'inform the House within ten days of any sucii transfer. When the Act was amended by the present Government the same right was given to the Minister to make such transfers, but the necessity of reporting the transfers to Parliament was cut out. Why was that?. " Hon. Mr Allen: It is quite unimportant. Mr Wilford: Then why cut it out-? Hon; Mr Allen: You can have them if you like. THE PUBLIC SERVICE. Mr Wilford then went on to deal with the question of Civil Service Reform,and made a large number of allegations as to irregularities, 1 which he challenged the Ministry to disprove. For instance, some of the increases authorised last year had not yet been paid. • Hon., Mr Allen: Who said so? Mr Wilford: Mind your own business. Government members: Polite! . Mr Wilford: It's not half so rude as what rthe Minister of Finance said about the Leader of. the Opposition. The Minister is not going to drag out. of me a name which I do not intend to give. He alleged that the Prime Minister did not even know what Departments were under the control of the Commissioners. He instanced the case of a man in his own electorate who applied for a position as gardener at Parliament Buildings, and whose case was referred to the Commissioners. Surely the Commissioners were not to be troubled with appointments §uch as these. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM. Mr Wilford then went on to the ques- 1 fcion of the Upper House. He said tlialt the Hons. J. Allen and W. H. Herries and Messrs Hine, Malcolm, and Nos- s worthy had voted for the abolition of i the Legislative Council. i Nos worthy: As a protest because i fou wouldn't reform it. 1 The Hon. A. L. Herdman, Mr Wilford I •ontended, had once described the ( Council as an " expensive superfluity.*" 1 ETe himself did not see the necessity for j ;he Upper House at all. He was abso- t utely opposed to the bicameral system, t

', If they had no Upper House the House 9 of Representatives would pass fewer ? Bills, but it would consider them more l carefully, and there would be no rushing through of legislation on the . strength of its being "licked into - shape'' in another place. * - LARGE HOLDINGS. Mr Wilford accused the Government _ of working solely in the interests of the large land owners and not of the » mass of the people. For many seats at next election they had nominated large land holders. ]\fcr H. M. Campbell (Hawke's Bay): j- -What about the member for Avon? r Mr Wilford: Mr Russell is always . held up as the large land owner of this t side of the House. Have you ever been over the property? - Mr Russell (heatedly): Will you exchange values with me? Hon. members: Order, order. ; Mr Wilford: If I may interrupt the hon. gentlemen, I shall continue my " speech. (Laughter.) ' Mr Speaker: Hon. members must not 1 interrupt. Mr Wilford: The member for Avon does not come under the description of 1 an owner of £2o,ooo^worth of unim--1 proved land, but the member for Hawke's Bay does. AN EXPLANATION. The Hon. James Allen (Minister of Finance) said that he had bten'misrepresented by the memtfer frr Ilutt, and he wished to set the matter right at the first opportunity. Mr, Wilford had said that he (the Minister) had stated that the maximum for advances to settlers had been raised from £SOO to £IOOO. What he had said was that the maximum had been raised to the limit set by law, which was £2OOO. Mr Wilford: I thank the hon. gentleman and I heartily accept his explanation. I understood him to say £IOOO, bst he speaks very indistinctly when he is angry. AMBITIOUS OF OFFICE. Mr A. Harris (Waitemata) followed. He said that the leader of the Opposition had based his no-confidence amendment on the allegation that the policy and administration of the Government were not in. the best interests of the masses of the people. What had the great Liberal Party done for the masses? The answer to that question was given by the action of the masses at last election, when they turned the Liberal Administration out of office. The only ambition of the Opposition was to get back into power <by any means. The whole question was simply pne of "ins" and "outs," and beyond that the Opposition cared. nothing for the welfare of the people. ONE BIG NAVY. Mr A. M. Myers (Auckland East) said that the prosperity of the Domin|ien was due in a large measure to the advance of science and invention during the last few years. We were particularly indebted to Sir Arthur Haslam, the inventor of the refrigerator. (Hear, hear.) The member for Hutt ! had asked a number of important and < pertinent questions, and it was to have ! been expected that a responsible Minis-' < ter would have been put up by the other :

side to answer them. Were they to take it that the questions could not be answered? If so, it was a serious reflection on the Cabinet. Mr Myers devoted the greater portion of his speech to the question of naval defence. He held* it a duty to ourselves and to the Empire that we should do more for the Navy, lie believed in the establishment of the nucleus of a local navy, for the training of our young men. He boped that the Government would have the courage of its opinions, and stick to the policy it enunciated last year. He would be prepared to take the platform with the Minister of Defence or any other member on either side of the House to ( 'promulgate a progressive naval policy. They must have one great Imperial Navy, under one control ih time of war. THE GIFT DREADNOUGHT.

The Prime Minister had proved himself a great Imperialist, and he (Mr Myers) felt sorry that on one s point he had to disagree with him. He had happened to be at Home when the. Dreadnought gift was made, and the moral effect of the gift was tremendous, and preserved the peace of the world. The Minister of Marine in a recent speech at Winton had said that there was nothing to show that at the time the gift was made there was any impending crisis.

The Prime Minister: A member of the then Ministry said there was not. Mr Myers: I was not aware of that fact-

| The Prime Minister: Mr Hogg, Mr G. W. Forbes (Hurunui): What he said did. not bind his colleagues. Mr Myers: Probably that particular Minister had not studied defence questions. He- ..qi\ote.d-statements by the First Lord of the Admiralty and Earl Grey in support of his contention that there was a'time of" crisis at which the gift of the Dreadnought came most opportunely. * Mr Myers went on to criticise the Minister of Finance, who he condemned for repudiating statements which had appeared- in his own budgets. In 1911 the expenditure had been 90.4 per cent, of the revenue, and last year the expenditure totalled 96.7 per cent, of the revenue. Thus expenditure had increased by 6 per cent, in two years. Mr Myers was interrupted by the dinner adjournment.

. When the House resumed in .the evening Mr Myers was not in his place, and the next speaker was called upon. Mr C. E. Statham (Dunedin Central) rose. He combated the argument of the Opposition that the Government had not been able to bring down an alternative scheme to take the place of the Second Ballot. The Government had honestly tried to find a substitute for the .Second Ballot, but, so far, they had not been successful.

Mr.R. M'Callum (Wairau) said he had to thank the Government for the consideration given to his district during the past two months. This time he had a record for, with the exception of the Attorney-General and *t)r Pomare, every Minister had visited his district. He just wanted to put the Minister for Finance right. He insulted

the intelligence of the people by the way he misrepresented things. One of the inaccuracies he was guilty of was in referring to the loans which had been floated. The Minister carefully hid the fact that two of them were short-dated, and the third was a longdated one. In the matter of close settlement, he had the audacity to declare that the Liberal Government had not spent one penny in subdivision in his (Mr M'Callum's) district. Half a million was spent in that direction. The Minister did not get the rapturous vote of confidence he expected. He was credibly informed that the show of hands was two to one, but in the Wairau, of course, a vote of confidence .was always given as a matter of courtesy. . Mr Allen: Didn't you suggest a noconfidence motion?

Mr M'Callum: No; I said 'Don't put it in that direct political way.' Continuing, Mr M'Callum said that the Minister complained of entering upon a depleted Treasury, when, as a matter of fact, he had £8,000,000 to operate on. A point about the strike he desired to elaborate was that the Opposition had no confidence in the Government because of the way they had handled the strike, and the incompetence of the Minister of Justice. That Minister was a determined opponent of Labour organisations, and the Government had laid themselves out to smash the unions by absolutely depleting their funds. They wanted to enslave the workers. A catch-cry for many years against the Ward Government was that they pandered to Labour. There was no doubt the strike was the height of folly, but that was no reason why Labour should be unjustly fettered. He quoted from a speech by Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Egmont), in which he said that he hoped the Government would not stay in office more than four or five years. '' There is treachery in the Reform camp," said Mr M'Callum, "and I want to warn Mr Massey against it. " (Laughter.) Mr G. Hunter (Waipawa) contended that under the Massey Government, land settlement, especially in Hawke's Bay, was proceeding much more rapidly than under the previous Government. Mr Hunter commended the Government's policy and spoke for only a few minutes. THE GOVERNMENT'S IDEALS. Mr G. Forbes (Hurunui) said that he had been much amused at the endeavours of "Reform's" docile followers to cover up the barrenness of the Governor's Speech. Ministers had not lived up to the ideals which they had professed. Their greatest desire was to get into office. The four who had broken their pledges should go before their constituents. (Cries of "Who are they?") Well, it could not be said that the member • for Bay of Islands hj/d done an honourable thing. _ : Mr Speaker called upon Mr. Forbes to withdraw this remark. . Mr Forbes: "Well I was asked for names.''

Mr Speaker said members must not interrupt. , . .. •'Mr Forbes said let those who had not taken a straight course go before their constituents and'get whitewashed. Parliament had been deprived of the op-

portunity of knowing all about the Public Trustee's Office.

Mr Massey: "You would not like to hear some of it." Mr Forbes: "Is that the usual bluff?" That is one of the worst forms of innuendo. Mr Massey: That is all we get from you. Mr Forbes: Tell me a single instance in which I have said anything containing an innuendo. • Mr Massey: It is all innuendo, you cannot make a definite charge. LAND AGGREGATION. Mr Forbes, continuing his speech, said the Government talked radicalism, but did hot act. Not one single case of land aggregation had been dealt with. The large landholders were behind'the Government, and their hands were tied. Steps should be taken to see where land taxation was being evaded. He could point out instances in his' own district of good dairying land being held in large blocks. That was the sort of land to which the Government should give its attention, and the good land that was fit for close settlement. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONERS. The Civil, Service Commissioners then came in for some caustic criticism, instances being given of reference having to be to Wellington on all sorts of pettifogginjisubiects. "Why, down, south a hand could not be put on to cut crops at a Government farm without authority being obtained from the Civil Service Commissioners.'' Heads of Departments were also hampered in all sorts of absurd ways. THE LABOUR VIEW. Mr W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) followed. 'He said that the Government was so busy giving away the people's | land . that the cost of living question had been ignored. There was a statement in the Governor's Speech •which said that definite proposals would be made on the subject, and he sincerely hoped it would be something tangible. Referring to the suggested combination between Labour and Liberals to fight the Government at the next election, Mr Veitch asked if this was not justified uuder tho existing conditions? "We would be fools," said Mr Veitch, "to allow such political dishonesty as was revealed last session by the repeal of the second ballot." ("Hear, hear.") They would be fools, he said, if they did not combine against giving Reform a two-to-one chance at the next election. Perhaps he would be told that he had changed his coat. Well, he had always supported the Reform legislation when it was any good, but he was a Labour representative, and as such he would not be doing his duty if he did wish for a combination of the two great parties to fight a Government which was fostering class hatred/ All the Government was giving the workers was making it easier to get good discipline over them. He hoped sincerely that, after next election, there would be a Government in power who would give the workers something more than that. The Prime Minister had decidedly insulted the workers of the Dominion by trying to create the impression that all workers

were anarchists, Red Feds, and revolutionaries. He (Mr Yeiteh) thought that the great majority of the workers of the Dominion were decent lawabiding citizens, who were trying to get a living; many of them under very adverse circumstances. The Government was too one-sided. The great weakness of the Government was that it was a landowners' Government. It cried "the farmer" all the time, and frequently it meant the landowner. He wanted to see a Government that was not quite so one-sided in its ideals, and that it would place alongside of the Board of Agriculture a Board of Industrial Investigation. The Standing Orders, as they stood, curtailed the power of a private member too much, and in his opinion party politics here had become personal politics, and the Prime Minister was vesfed with altogether too much authority. The Police Force Appeal Board was worse than useless, and was dangerous, as it was controlled and nominated by the Minister. The right of appeal to a magistrate should be given. The board was too objectionable, and the Foree would be better without it. LABOUR AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT. There was now no chance of the Government getting the sympathy of the working class, though the vast majority of the workers disapproved of the strike. The sins of omission on the part of the Government had been to.o great for them, and the whole of the workers were going to vote solidly against Reform at the next election. Mr J. Young (Waikato) moved the adjournment of the debate, and, at 11.55the House adjourned until tomorrow afternoon. NEW~BILLS. IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION. • The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher's Immigration Restriction Amendment Bill was circulated to-day. The Bill proposes to exclude from the Dominion any person who cannot write out in any European language and sign an application for admission, consisting of at least 50 words, dictated by a Customs officer, either personally or through an interpreter. Under the principal Act (that of 1908) this provision did not apply to persons of British or Irish birth, so that Hindus and other Asiatics born within the bounds pf the Empire were able to claim the right \of entry on account of their British citizenship. To the classes of persons prohibited entry to the country are "and person or class of persons deemed by the Minister on economic grounds, or on account of standard or habits of life., to be unsuited to the requirements of New Zealand,'' and also people who have lived on the proceeds of immorality or who are engaged in the white slave traffic.

If any person is, at any time after landing in New Zealand, found to have been a prohibited immigrant at the time of his landing, he may be removed from New Zealand, and, pending removal, may be detained in custody. -Should

- any person, within two months after t landing in New Zealand, be. found to s be an idiot or insane, or suffering from - any loathsome or dangerous contagious t disease contracted prior to arrival, the r master and owner of the ship in which - he arrived shall be responsible for the t expenses of his removal from the Dot minion, and of his maintenance pending t his removal. The master, owner, or 1 agent of a ship who fails, to make ar- . rangements for the immediate Temoval - of such a person when required to do so i by the Government will be liable to a . fine of £IOO. i The Act shall come into force on 5 April 1, 1915. An information may be . lai<J at any time within five years after f the date of the offence. Provisions are . made for, the punishment of persons who assist in a breach of the law. FIRST READING. , The following Bills were introduced •and read a first time to-day:—Gaming ' Amendment Bill (Mr Hunter); Victoria * 1 College Amendment Bill (Hon. ,T. ! Allen); Licensing Amendment Bill (Bt» Hon. W. F. Massey). LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. ADDRESS-IN-REPLY. (Abridged from Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 1. The Council met at 2.30 p.m." The Hon. W. Earnshaw continued the . debate on the Address-iri-Reply. He congratulated the Government upon the Speech. There were things in it' with which he disagreed, but it was worthy of a Government which had made good its promises. ~ The Hon. H. F. Wigram expressed •approval of the defence scheme, but did not approve of a local navy. He suggested an alteration in the death duties to encourage men to cut up estates amongst a larger' number of relatives. The Hon. J. Duthie endorsed the commendation of the Speech. The people were never in history so happy. The cost of living was regulated by' supply and demand. ' The Hjon. J. Barr briefly replied, and' the Address was agreed to; The Hon* F. H. D. Bell said he proposed to continue business on Thura-" day and possibly on Friday, when they , could decide if a lengthy adjournment . ' was ffecessary. The Council rose at 4.10 p.m. Latest Pariamentary news will be found on page 10. ) \ .