DISGUISED AND RENAMED.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 143, 23 July 1914, Page 7

DISGUISED AND RENAMED.

BETTERMENT BILL.

RAILWAYS AND LAND VALUES.

THE COUNCIL BILL-

• rrtom o«r own Parliamentary Reporter.} WELLINGTON, July 22. \ Private Members' Day in the Houso \ is never particularly inspiring, And to- \ day has been no exception to the rule. The whole of the afternoon was do- - • voted to a desultory discussion on Min- ,?■ listers' answers to questions. Member ,J. , after member occupied five minutes of % ■ the country's valuable time in placing /-H I in "Hansard" his views on the Government's action in building a railway J station at Puketarawa, or some i, | place, while his own parish was in " ~ I urgent need of a new pump, and could ! H not get it from a flinty-hearted Cabinet. Such speeches might have some- Value, but it is a dreary business to have to listen to them for three hours in the vain hope of picking up a stray item of interest. There was a slight improve- | ment in the evening, when Mr MeCal- - yt jlum's Betterment. Bill came up for its. [ second reading. Some of the speeches, lin the early par\ of the evening were M quite interesting, but the debate dragged * % dreadfully as the hours slipped pa«t, _ and it became apparent that certain ' -.4 "members were talking to block any fbrther business. Most of the speakers took themselves and the. question very A seriously, but a few were inclined to £ treat the whole question with flippanty. - -3 The House had a good laugh when Mr ' MoCallum struggled hard ttf pronounce . a long list of Maori names of places to which lines may be built some day. Many of his efforts were, exceedingly % ludicrous. The Legislative Council was engaged all the afternoon and evening in the . pleasant talk of discussing its own ims *3 minent suicide, as one facetious-member put it last session. The debate was much on the old lines, although-it had " ■■■' the added interest of bringing several / of the new members of the Couneil to \ their feet for the first time. THE BILL. 1 111 moving the second reading of the \ Railway Improved .Lands Bill in. the House this evenings M* R. McCallum • (Wairau) said that " fclie principle of- '4 the pleasure, which was'embodied in his Betterment Bill of last session, had been \ affirmed. It*:,was an attempt to get h back to the position which Ought to, hare * been reached, years ago. The big land- > owner, whose land had improved in"' value through the undertaking of a great public work nearby, should surely pay '•/. something-into the coffers of the State.- -, 't The best examples of what" his Bill was- - : intended to prevent could, be found? i« \'i Canterbury. . Take, for instance, the ■' l Glenmark Estate, ' which had been increased in value three or four times over, portions of it which had been worth some £3 an acre were valued at as much J as £2OO an acre after the railway had been put through at "the expense of the State. Of course this was an extreme ' "-• case, but the average increase in value had been very large. Surely it was only equitable that a 2>ortion; i a I nd a substan- " ?"ii tial portion, of thisincrement should have gone into of the State. «" The same tiling had taken place all through Canterbury!' It was proposed tospend some £22,000,000 on the construe- ' - : ; tion of railways, and many estates would \ benefit to a huge extent by the expenditure of this amount of the people's money. >=

AN ABSURD BILL. Mr G. V. Pea roe (Patea) said the Billhad passed its second reading last year on the voices, but this year he proposed to divide the House, which should not affirm a principle such as was contained in this absurd Bill. The values of the land had increased not by railways but by the refrigerator and the separator-' (Opposition laughter.) He remembered the day when they, had to boil down their sheep, and were it not for the refrigerator they, would soon be at the boiling- s down prices again, arid land, values would . not be half what they are now. THE "GRASPING TORY MIND.*' Mr G. Witty (Ricearton) said the hon, member for Patea : could be relied upon to oppose anything that was in the in- . terests of the country and the betterment of the people generally. His remarks were characteristic'of the greedy, grasping Tory mind. The Rill should have been brought in years ago. Government Members: Hear, heir.' ■ Mr Isitt (Christehuvch North) . taid that the member for Patea had blurted out the Tory principles without the slightest thought. He (Mr Isitt); wanted to appeal to the progressive . members of the House—for instance, to the member; for Egmont.

Mr Wilkinson: What? -Mr Isitt: The hon. member for* Egt. Mont denies, sir, that he is a progressive; (Laughter.) He says there are none on his side of the Well, I always suspected it, but L am sorrv to have it so plainly from him. (Laughter.) He went on. to say that it, was only right that owners of property, who benefited by the opening of a new railway line, should pay the State something in return. "The Prime Minister," said Mr Isitt, "has said lie is 011 the side of the masses, that his heart bleeds foi*"the workers. (Laughter.) Now we want to know from him il ! he is going to affirm this principle. J want to see if there is one member on the other ;-ide who is not so obsessed by .Tory principles as to be afraid to get. up and support it."

Mr W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) said that the actual cost of the dam over v, the Kile was £.5,000,000, and the land increased in value, as a result of the - work, by £34,000,000. That was an illustration to show Trtiat the principle was beliiiul this Bill, dnd to make the owners of property Contribute was only fair. He was a hearty supporter of the Bill, and he ventured to say that if it once became law, even the hon. member for Patea would not vote for its repeal. , Mr P. H. Smith (Waitaki) said that . the last speaker, and the small knot . of hon. members :who sat with him, ' always, talking about class; yl but no section of the HQuse did- -gl to stir up class prejudice than thev

They seemed to have the idea that all the .members on the Government . side were rich men. Mr J. Payne: A horrible *libel. (Loud laughter.) "The members who sit. on this side," Mr Smith said, "are actuated by the highest motives, and are determined to do th. best for the people of the Do»uifi>on as a whole, irrespective of class." (Loud Opposition laughter.) He strenuously oposed the Bill. The principle was wrong. They did not put a betterment tei on city property because of tramvy and harbour improvements. The •Jnover of the Bill had talked a "lot 'of trash" about the lines to be built;, some of them would not be constructed for hundreds of years. HUGE RISE IN VALUES.

Mr G. W. Russell (Avon) said the Bill, although introduced by a private member, had provoked an interesting discussion, and he had no doubt that the J'rime Minister was listening carefully to pick up a little bit of policy out of it.Wliere private fortunes were increased land values it- was

only fair that the State should share, to

sbine .extent, with the owner of the land ■/in his increment.* He had looked "through, the Bill, and if it went to the . Committee stage he would support an amendment so that town values, which - were in an area in which the betterment from a railway applied, should not escape. They had only to think of the growth of such towns on the Main Trunk line as Te Kuiti and Taumarunui, to see* the justice of such a proposal. ~ The capital value of the land in this little country had risen in five years from £236,000,000 to no Idss than r£315,000,000, and the unimproved value had : risen from £149,000,000 to £199,000,000. Now what .benefit was the -State ' getting from this huge grdwtkln value? "While during the' five years 52907 £c> 10,12 the capital value of the Dominion had increased by £79,000,000, yet tfce land tax had only produced an increase of £200,000. He believed in the principle of the Bill, . be applied; not to put in, the wedge, too hard, but to make the

people who .bought land on the .< line understand that they would have to pay something towards the interest tra the cost of the line.SUPPORT FROM A GOVERNMENT MEMBER.

Mr G. J. Anderson (Mataura) said he was in favour of the principle of the Bilk.. Had it been adopted and carried right through the history of the country it would have been of benefit. He thought now that it could only be applied to land adjoining branch .lines, not main lines. Mr W. D. S. Mac Donald (Bay of

Plenty) said he was not in favour of Bill. They had reached a stage in . railway construction in the country when the main lines were national fines,, j and he thought it was wrong to narrow the area to be. affected dpwn to ten miles.. The' large areas of land which

still remained-to be settled were mostly -of the poor class, and the setters would require assistance. , Several other members kept the debate) going until 11.25 p.m., when the adjournment was moved, by the Hon. J. Allen, and the House rose.

POLITICAL NOTES.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

(From oar own Parliamentary Reporter.] . • ' WELLINGTON, July 22. was a lively few minutes in tic* House this afternoon when the Government 's railway construction programme and progress was hotly attackved by th"e Opposition. The subject Arise when the Hon. R. McKenzie (Motueka) took the Government to task for its neglect of the Nelson end of the Midland railway. Mr McKenzie said he had looked, up the .figures showing the number" of men employed on railway works in June, ._1914, as compared with June, Continuing the argument when tttfe tifember for Motuwas cut off by the bell, Sir Joseph Vstfci said that in June of this year there were 2548 fewer men employed on these works than in June of 1911. It Was an astonishing position. , The South Island had been sorely neglected, for in the north there were new railways being opened. It was no wonder that while on his recent travels, he saw more men with swags on their backs than ever before. (Government laughter.) Mr Atmore (Nelson) and Mr MacDonaJd (Bay of Plenty) took up the stoiy, and twitted the Reformers for their alleged '' spoils-to-the-victors" policy. The Minister of Public Works (Hon. ,W. Fraser) defended the Government, and said that the Hon. Mr McKenzie's figures did not include 'men < working on small contracts. He was ■becoming so used to having such charges levelled against Him that he did not think he would take the trouble to refute them if they were again made. TRADE UNION FUNDS. Mi* P. C. Webb (Grey) asked the Minister of Labour whether he will*bring down an amendment to the Arbitration and Trade Union Act to provide that unions shall be permitted to use their accumulated fund 3 as they think fit, whether for political purposes or otherwise, according to the wishes of a union? -- The Right Hon. Mr Massey (Minister of Labour) replied: ''As I have already intimated, I do not-think it would serve the best interests of the workers themselves to amend the law as suggested. There is nothing to prevent any industrial unionists or trade unionists who desire to use their .funds for political or other similar objects from <jf>ing so by registering societies for the purpose under the Incorporated Societies Act." __ Discussing the reply, Mr Webb said that he was "disgusted with it." It meant that if a union wished to dispose of its funds as a majority of its members thought fit, it would have to cancel , its registration under the Arbitration Act. ...

CHBISTCHUECH DOMAIN RATES. Mr Witty (Biccarton) asked the Government whettier they , will appoint a Commission to., reconsider the rating area fixed under the Christchnrch Do main Act, 1913, and to consider the advisability of the application to the area ot a scheme of differential rating? He stated that some of the local bodies wha are compelled to contribute have to maintain their own domains, and should not have to pay the same rate as the Ci 4 ,y of Christchnrch.

The Right Hon. W. F. Massey (Prime Minister) replied that JT w,hat is desired ie the exercise of the powers conferred by section 10 of the Act referred to, the Government will appoint a Commission or-, the request of the local bodies concerned.

LOSS OF CIVIC RIGHTS. Mr 1\ C. Webb (Grey) asked the Minister of Defence whether it is his intention to bring down legislation amending the Defence Act in order to tfitefcore civic rights to those young men who were opposed to conscription aad •V/ho broke the -law by absenting them-

selves from parades, but who have since attended parades; and whether he will consider the deletion of the whole clause relating to the loss of eivic rights from tlie Act?

The Hon. J. Allen (Minister of Defence) replied that it is not proposed to bring down legislation for the special purpose referred to.

POST OFFICE FOR METHVEN

The Minister of Public Works (Hon. W. Fraser) informed Mr W. J. Dickie to-day that plans have been prepared for a post office at Methven, and tenders will br invited shortly.

PENSION MATTERS.

Replying to questions on pensions in the House to-day, the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher said that if they were going to give pensions to all of whom they were asked it would cost them a great deal of money. To give pensions to all blind people over 15 years would cost £9OOO a year. Mr Lee (Oamaru): Well,! do that. Mr Fisher said he intended to bring in certain amendments if he could get the money ftom the Minister of Finance, who wasn't always - easily bled. (Laughter.) He considered that one of the most necessitous kinds of cases was that of miners, who were suffering from miners' phthisis. (Hear, hear). IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT. The Statutes Revision Committee reported to the House on Mr A. H. Hindmarsh 's Imprisonment for Debt Limitation Amendment Bill, for which the member for Wellington South lias , received -considerable praise in many quarters. The main principle oi the Bill has been retained by the Committee and made even more liberal. Power to rehear judgment summons eases, in winch | committal warrant has lK?eu issued, was the chief effect of the measure- as Mr Hindmarsh drafted it, but the Committee has added further power to the magistrate, who has heard any particular case, to vary or cancel any order which has been previously made against the debtor. The question of adjournment fees, which Mr Hindmarsh j sought to abolish for civil cases, was j considered by the Committee, but it was decided to delete this proposal from the Bill.

DEATH DUTIES.

A return presented to Parliament yesterday, on the motion of Mr H. G. Ell, shows -that for the year ending March 31' last the amount received as death duties upon estates of deceased persons was £587,703 12/2.

"GO ON PIFFLING."

Mr F. H. Smith (Waitaki) offered up thanks thie evening that he was not an elector of Wanganui, as he would be unable to bear an evening of such piffle as Mr Veitch had treated House to for half an hour.

Mr G. W. Russell rose to a point of order. He wanted to know if one hon. member could refer to another hon. member's speech as '' piffle.'' Mr Speaker: I don't think the expression is beyond the bounds of Parliamentary language. It is frequently used. At the same time I do not think it is a desirable word. Mr Smith rose and stood silent for a; moment, butNwas encouraged to proceed by Mr J. Payne, who called out, "Go on piffling.-" (Loud and hearty laughter).

FREE BIRTH CERTIFICATES.

Mr A. S. Malcolm (Clutha) is asking the Prime Minister whether he will give certificates of birth on. registration free of charge. The work of preparing a certificate at the time of registration, he contends, is most trifling, and the charge for the certificate being practically a tax on births is a most undesirable one.