PARLIAMENTARY.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXIX, Issue 12111, 4 July 1903, Page 4

PARLIAMENTARY.

[;';?«/Pr«fle Association, r: : - [[ ; ' WELLINGTON, July 3. V .LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Council'met at 2.30 p.m; DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS-TN- . . REPLY. ."■'-.;,.. Mr: Rigg resumed the debate k>n the v Address-inrßeply. 'He contended that the present position of the Bank of ? New Zealand was owing to the extraordinary prosperity of the colony, which relieved us of the result of the bank's own incapacity. The Premier had submitted three ways of dealing with the bank in- the future, but there was a fourth way, which was to leave the institution alone. Freed from the responsibility of this, we might establish a State Bank. He traversed the ' remarks made by previous speakers regarding preferential trade, holding that it was •undesirable to impose additional duties on goods which could be obtained only from foreign countries, as that would be a direct tax upon the coloTjy. The benefits of preferential trade would be to British capitalists at the expense of everyone else. A good deal had been said about building up the Empire, but entering: into bonds would result in friction. The Empire ■ could best be built.-up by reliance upon the ties of blood and kindred. Mr Beehan thought that the'establish- '*.. ■lent of a State Baxk should be, seriously .'considered. He would like ,to see the Government take over, the estates from the Assets Realisation Board, and open them -up for settlement. He. did not favour : the granting of the freehold. The sooner we taught the people how to go on to the land and make the best use of it the better. He favoured roading lands before' settlement, and granting city men the opportunity to get land without residence. With regard to the electoral laws, he thought that it would be advantageous to issue the electoral rights together with a photograph of the voter in order to prevent mistakes. The licensing laws should be amended to allay the friction now disturbing the colony. Mr G. McLean, thought that the Assets Board should have realised the estates long ago. He complained of the difficulty which men of small means had in getting upon the land under the present laws. He advocated pushing on the North Island Trunk Line instead of spending money upon sectional lines all over the colony, lihis would enable a million and a half ■ acres of native' lands to be opened for settlement, to the great advantage of the whole colony. With regard to land tax values, he combatted the mover's assertion that • the lands were under-valued. He v knew a great many instances in which land was over-valued. The Land Tax Department knew how to look after its business. Mr A. Lee Smith moved the adjournment of the debate -until Tuesday, which was agreed to. i The Council rose at 4.45 p.m.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at- 2.30 p.m. IMMIGRANTS. ; : iMr Hogg gave notice to ask whether it was proposed to introduce a Bill to prevent .New Zealand being flooded with undesirable -immigrants from Australia. FIRST READINGS. ; . •/The. Weights and Measures Act Amendment and Consolidation Bill, and the Road and Town Districts Rating Bill were introduced by Governor's Message and read a first time. . The Counties Act Amendment Bill was also introduced by Governor's Message and ■vread a first, time. •,In reply to Mr Hemes, the Premier said "that the Bill was for the purpose of giving local bodies larger rating powers. ~: Mr Massey. asked whether the Government could include a provision in this Bill to give a graduated system of subsidies in regard to local bodies rates. The Premier promised to look into the' ' matter. The following Bills were Tead a first -.time i l —The Palmerston North High School Bill, the Juries Act Amendment Bill, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the Absolute Majority Bill, the Law Practitioners Acts Amendment Bill. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. Leave, of absense was granted to Mr ! Heke.for a fortnight on urgent business. • .1 THE SESSIONAL COMMITTEES. '; The remainder of the afternoon was oc-,-cupied in. the setting up of the Sessional f Committees. The House rose at 5.30 p.m. The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

Mr Bedford continued the debate on the Address-in-Keply. He said- that he would •deal principally with the question of constitutional reform, but before taking up that subject he referred to the Premier's remarks on the preferential trade scheme, saying that he regarded the Premier's pro-' posaL a& a most selfish one, as it meant that all the sacrifice was'to be on the part of the Mother Country. Mr Bedford also made brief reference to the land ■question. He believed that the Crown lands of this colony were an asset that would become more valuable as time went on. He yielded to none in his admiration of the Premier for his courageous attempt to deal with the land question. In this ' respect he considered that the Premier had been a real gbdsend : to New Zealand. Mr Bedford went, on to say that the Governor's Speech was noticeable for two omissions of an important character. It contained Hi) mention of Cabinet reconstruction, or of any amending licensing legislation. He believedf that from end to end of the colony the people were dissatisfied with the constitution of the Ministry. It could, not be denied that the Ministry could b» strengthened, but the Premier had become intoxicated with power, and he seemed to resist any attempt to curb that power in any direction whatever. Some of the leoent appointments to the Legislative Council were a distinct insult to the colony.' He regarded the Upper House as at present -constituted as a menace to the colony, because it was representative not of the people but of the Premier. The only inference that could be drawn from the silence of the Speech on the licensing question was that the Premier did not intend to introduce legislation to remove the anomalies .that existed in Bruce and Newtown Licensing Districts. The Premier was playing the opportunist, and waiting to see whether temperance or liquor was stronger in the House. . In conclusion, Mr Bedford complained strongly of the • continuance in omce of the Registrar of Electors at Invercargill after having been convicted of neglect of duty.. Mr Taylor said that there would be many a real grievance redressed if members were not afraid of coining into conflict with the executive power. There was a feeling not only in the country but in the House that if members dared to do their duty in this respect they might find their constituents suffering in ■ regard to some reform they had a right to demand. As to the personal power of the Premier, he believed that it was going to cost the colony its radical land policy. The member for Kangitikei, for instance, had stated ; in a recent speech that he believed a man ought to be allowed to take up as much ' land, as he had money to pay for, so that "■'■, they.'-found members of the Liberal Party who were pledged to the hilt to injure the ' land policy. The party was threatened, because the question put to Government candidates was no longer " What policy do you support?" but "What man do you support?'' Mr Taylor dealt exhaustively with the condition of the lunatic asylums of the. coloay, maintaining that the treatment of patients in these institutions was on wrong lines. The asylums were greatly "; overcrowded, and were merely houses of detention. 'We'put the patients there and forgot all about them. There was no right treatment of incipient insanity and -'" no attempt at classification. The time had -coma for scientifically devising a humane system of treatment of our insane. Mr Taylor quoted from the reports of medical superintendents of the asylums, and contended that year after year the most persistent complaints on,tin score of overcrowding, want of conveniences, etc., had been ignored. Touching on questions of Constitutional reform, he complained that all Parliamentary power was now vested in the Executive, and that the Upper House did not possess the confidence of the country. The only remedy for the state of iffairs that now existed was the elective 1 v jixecutive, and it must come. With regkrd to the preferential trade scheme, he boded the Government' would give the Hwnsfe- an opportunity of thoroughly thresh-. fair mi the whole subject. Them n - W - Hall-Jones said that if Mr Tavlor i»iv T "<«"> "*o« Premier he would ■ot W&> the .tatonente'concerning Sim which hi had nsade on *• s?^ 80 * tfLet £^3?A vie. The Minister hoped nninn various parts of the 'gkt that would be bought aW %?*£. W** *«*•.. ■JM&g with ' u ]waiK "*

I lums, he .said that he knew the asylums were overcrowded; they had been over--1 crowded for years. Me was with: Mr Taylor in believing that there•: were : not sufficient beneficial results from these inj stitutions. 'lt was intended to abolish the term "Lunatic Asylums/' and he was confident that a large number of those who went into those institutions were curable. The patients at the Receiving Home at Seacliff were treated under most favourable conditions, and given all the comfortb of a home," while their symptoms were watched' ' carefully by medical officers. However,' apart altogether from the investigations of Mr Taylor he had been: discussing with the medical officers the question of taking v the sufferers from incipient insanity into some isolated home where their malady could';' be properly dealt with at the outset, and' he hoped that something would be done in that direction. He admitted that :the asylums had been overcrowded', but since the present Government were in office there had been material improvements in this respect, and he promised that there would be further improvement. He added that he did not believe in crowding 100 patients into one room, and in this respect 'the system was wrong. Patients ought to be classified in small buildings, so that their cases could be watched. Dealing with the freehold question and the remark of the member for Rangitikei, Mr Hall-Jones said that it was not to be expected that every member of the Liberal Party would have the same ideas. He differed entirely from Mr Remington (Rangitikei) in regard to the" freehold tenure, but. the member for Rangitikei was an ardent supporter of .the Government, and his view concerning the freehold tenure was his individual opinion. He (Mr HalL Jones) felt cohfidfient that the House would not agree to the suggestion that we should part "with the freehold...; If we were going to dispose of the freehold" the land ought to be thrown open for fair competition, the outgoing tenant to receive fair value for his improvements, but :he was entirely opposed to the sale of the freehold. -The Government, he declared, did-not propose to alter the tenure': •• He then defended the co-operative system, and had made up-figures which- showed that the cost of railway construction, last yearwas less than hi 1901,; when carried out by contract labour. He said the workvon' the North Island main trunk line was going on very well, and it was . probable that when this Parliament closed the line would be very nearly through to Auckland. [Referring to- the speech of Mr Duthie,' the Minister said that he had seen from the; faces of the members of the ; Opposition while that speech was being delivered; that they were ashamed of it,, and he hoped that the criticisms to which the speech had, been subjected inside and ; outside the House would induce MrDuthie to moderate his language. . ~ . Mr Kaihau said that the Governor 'on leaving' New Zealand would, carry away with him the good wishes of the Maori race. Regarding the Government having called Mr Mahuta to the Legislative Council and having appointed him a member of the Executive, he could not see . why anyone should object, because Mr Mahnta was a man of great "mana," and generally acknowledged by the Maori race. Mr Mahuta's elevation could only have one effect, and that was a direct benefit to the whole colony through the opening up of lands under his control.

The debate was adjourned, on the motion of the Hon. Mr Mills. The House rose at 11.15 p.m.