PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 145903, 9 August 1917, Page 4

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. PEB PRESS ASSOCIATION. 'WELLINGTON, August 8. When Hie Legislative Council resumed this afternoon, the Hon. U. Samuel carried out the duties of act-ing-leader, Sir Francis 801 l being absent. In moving the resolution regarding the dcatli ol the leader’s son, similar to that carried in the House of Representatives, Mr. Samuel said Captain Beil was beginning to make his mark in the House as well as in the law courts, but was one- of the lirst to uicogiiisc it was the duty of every Briton to imperil his life and future prospects in the defence of the Empire. Dentil must come to all of us. and how could it come more gracefully than when it met one in the performance of such a high duty? The motion was seconded by the ITou. R. Moore and carried. An amendment of the War .Purposes Loan Bill, as received from the House, was agreed to, after Sir W. Hali-lones and the Hon. J. Barr had protested against councillors not being ailended I an opportunity for giving duo consideration to the amendment. The Council adjourned at 3.10 p in. until next Wednesday as a mark of respect to the late Captain Bell. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THE LOAN BILL. The House, met at 2.30. An amendment to the War Purposes Loan Bill was introduced liy Governor s message. Sir Joseph ard said the amendment was a formal one ior the purpose of enabling the post office to receive larger sums for a longer peiiod from small investors in the war loan. He proposed to extend the term of investment from five years to such longer period as the Minister of Finance determines. probably for ten years, the amount to bo either £SOO or £IOOO. in all probability the latter. He asked that the amendment be dealt with as a. matter of urgency, to enable the Legislative Council to pass it to-day. The amendment was agreed to. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. Replying to Mr. Buddo, Mr. -Massey said the Cabinet was aware there was a danger of the southern flour mills having to close down owing to competition between imported wheat and imported flour. Cabinet would deal with the question during the next few days. 4 Mr. Veitch gave notice of his inten- ! tion to introduce the Wanganui HarI hour Board Vesting Bill. _ i Replying to Dr. Thacker. Sir J. Allen 1 said it' was by Imperial direction that ■ notices of overseas mails were not pub- ■ Bshed. , I Replying to Air. Jennings, Sir Joseph Ward said ho was having a special rci port mado in connection with silks and other goods affected by the, proposed alterations in Customs duties, and if any fresh resolution of the House was required in this connection, it would date as from yesterday. VOTES OF SYMPATHY. The Premier moved the customary resolution of sympathy with Sir I rands and Lady HoII in connection with tho death of their son, Captain Harold Bell, formerly member for Wellington Suburbs, who was killed at the front. In doing so, Mr. Massey paid a tribute to the deceased officer’s __ recognised ability as a member oUthe New Zealand Bar and of tho House.. He went to Samoa with the Expeditionary Force, and then proceeded to England, where ho joined King Edward’s Horse, with which ho took part in several actions and distinguished himself, being mentioned in dispatches during tho past few months. He felt sure the sympathy 'of all members would go out to Sir Francis and Lady Bell in their loss, but they had the satisfaction of knowing that the patriotism of such young men as their son would live for ever, and the memory of their deeds would never bo forgotten. While sympathising with the parents, however, he was confident they would rather know their son’s bones lie in foreign soil, as they do at this hour, than feel ho. had failed in his duty.

Sir Joseph Ward said that in this case, as in all cases, sympathy would go out to the bereaved parents. The late • Captain Bell possessed an uncommon share of natural ability, and his fine education made him a prominent figure on the floor of the House. His speeches had always been worthy of the closest attention. He had the advantages of an analytical mind and logical reasoning powers, consequently his utterances in Parliament never failed to reach a high standard. The heart strings of many parents were being wrung at tho present juncture, and though they knew that the death of their sons was a noble ene, it was none the less poignant to those to whom they belong. Ho often tried to realise what an amount of sorrow was being covered up by the people of New Zealand, and it must he so in the case of the parents of Captain Bell, to whom ho desired to extend sincere sympathy. Sir James Allen, Mr. Wilford, Mr. Wright, Dr. Newman, Dr. Pomaro. and Mr. Isitt also spoke, and the resolution was carried in silence before moving the adjournment of the House till 7.30 as a mark of respect to Captain Bell. The Premier mentioned that news had also come through that Sergeant Ernest Rhodes, son of the member for Thames, had also been killed at the front, and ho desired to extend to the bereaved parents his deepest sympathy in their loss. After Sir Joseph Ward had spoken in like sympathetic terms, tho Mouse roso at 3.30. EVENING SESSION. The House resumed at 7.30. The debate on the Budget was continued by Mr. Anstey, who agreed entirely with the proposed increase of oldage pensions, but thought the suggested amount insufficient, aggregating not more than 2s a day to each pensioner, which, in view of the cost of living, was not adequate to meet war conditions. The proposal to enhance soldiers’ pensions met with the approval. Ho condemned tho combination of the land tax and tho graduated land tax, and regretted to .see the attempt to raise so large a part of revenue from income tax. He favoured a.n attempt being made to recover pure war profits by means of a price tax, for in this way jvool alone .would produce £850,000 per

annum, while from all courses at least two millions would be raised cheaper and with less injustice than by most forms of taxation. The tax on tea ho strongly condemned, it being excessively heavy as compared with the now impost put on beer and spirits, while other luxuries might bo made to contribute much more substantially to the revenue. Motor ears were not a. luxury, but lie favoured a tax on tyres to be handed to the local bodies to repair roads. The proposal to set aside two millions to employ returned soldiers on public works would prove advantageous both to the men and to the country, but he saw groat difficulty in getting land on which to settle soldiers unless some drastic system of graduated land tax was formulated to burst up the big estates and force sufficient land upon the market.

Dir. Buddo said the Budget’s methods of levying taxation were not more inequitable than almost every tax is in its incidence. He believed it would stop tho aggregation of land, which had been going on to a greater extent than was generally supposed. Taxation on bachelors (not spinsters) and motor cars was advocated, the latter being at first applied for war purposes, and later on handed to the local bodies to supplement their revenue. Organisation and more land were needed to complete tho scheme for settling soldiers, whom ho urged should bo allowed to occupy lands rent free for a stated period, after which a valuation could be mado and the land leased on current prices. If there was a loss the country should make it up. This he thought preferable to giving soldiers remissions of rent as an act of grace. Ho criticised the non-nmning of race trains, which simply meant that motor cars were lot loose on country roads, greatly hampering the local bodies owing to the damage done. Mr... Hunter urged that consideration should bo shown to those who largely subscribed to patriotic funds when the compulsory payments to tho war loan wore being enforced, for-tho reason that at the time of tho flotation of the loan they had given largely and freely to local funds, and wore not in a position to take up war bonds. The amusement tax should bo doubled and some additional taxation should ho put on motor cars. While the practice, of paying Government servants war bonuses was to be commended, he found grave fault with the inadequate taxation placed on beer, compared with the amount extracted from the. people by way of income tax. Referring to the brewers, he said that when they went down on their knees at night they had every reason to say: “Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Massey. Allen. Ward and Co.” The House rose at 11.10 p.m.