EVENING SITTING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6885, 21 June 1890, Page 4

EVENING SITTING.

The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. Mr Ballance resumed the debate on the Address-in-Keply. He thought the House would share in the regret that more light was not thrown on the address by the usual speeches made on such occasions by the mover and seconder, but he regretted that the member for Waipawa was suffering from illness. It appeared to him (Mr Ballance) that there was a good deal in the speech of a suggestive character. He reforred first to the Premier's illnesa, which might probably compel him to relinquish office at 110 distant date. If such should prove to be the case he desired to express tho feeling of regret which was shared by the whole of the Opposition at such a contingency, and he sincerely hoped that, after a snort rest, the Premier would again be able to take his place amongst them, fully restored to health. He deplored the absence of any reference to the great question of labour, which was now agitating tho whole world. During the recess two very important speeches had been made by Ministers, and he could not but come to the conclusion that those speeches had been made with the consent of the Cabinet. Mr Fergus, for instance, had touched on large questions of policy, such as taking over the liabilities of local bodies, and this question must have been fully discussed by the hon gentleman's colleagues before he addressed his constituents. Referring to the' settlement of land, he considered that was one of the greatest questions that could engage their attention. They vere told that tho Colony now possessed a choice of tenure, but the present Minister for Lands had done his utmost to render the village settlement ccheme odious in the eyes of the people, and he had told them that his (Mr Richardson's) whole aim had been to alienate large quantities of land. The hon gentleman condemned himself by such a statement, as, by his own showing, although he had parted with large quantities of land, he waa, year by year, putting a smaller number of settlers on it. He (Mr Ballance) thought the fact of such a large exodus having occurred in our population was due to the people being unable to obtain land for settlement, and the manner in which the land administration was at present conducted was likely to lead to dummyism such as they had never heard of before. He asserted that notwithstanding our large exports, the administration of the land of the Colony had done more to deepen depression than anything else. As to the acquisition of Native lands, he admitted that it was desirable to acquire those lands, but the Government had used the vote of iJ29,000 given ior this purpose for the benefit of speculators, and not for the benefit of the public at large. Referring to Major-General Edwards' report on the defences, he said ho was' not a high Imperial officer giving a professional opinion, but simply & tout for one of tbe Governments of Australia, in proof of which Mr Ballance quoted Sir Henry Parkes' letter to the General suggesting that it would be a good thing for New South Wales if a Chinese fleet could sail about in Sydney Harbour. As to the question of Federation, he asked what the delegates whom they were to be asked to appoint were to do? They were called upon by. the Governor's Speech to commit themselves to Federation, and if they had made up their minds to have nothing to do with Federation at present, they should express themselves to that effect plainly, and have nothing to do with appointing delegates. There were some remarkable appointments made during the recess, which were not referred to in the Speech. He should like to know why an appointment was made to the Supreme Bench without a special Act being passed, and he contended that Judge Edwards could not take his seat on, the Bench until his salary had been fixed, which could not be done until a special Act was passed by Parliament. What status, he should like to know, was possessed by Judge Edwards which entitled him to be raised to the Supreme Court Bench ? Coming to another appointment, that of Colonel Trimble as Judge of the Native Land Court, he found that thai; appointment would have to be legalised by Act, and that his salary had, in consequence, been paid out of unauthorised expenditure. They also had a Marine Engineer and an Engineer-in-Chief appointed. He wanted to know why those two offices could not be filled by one officer, especially in times of retrenchment, of which they had heard so much from tbe preaent Government. Then they were told during the recess that it was very deeirable tbe land belonging to the East Coast Land Settlement Company should be purchased to prevent Natives being robbed, and he hoped the Government would lay the whole of the papers connected with this transaction on the table. He complained that no reference was made in the Speech to the Property tax, and no opporfunif v waa MiAreforfi r/ivfin to the House of

discussing its readjustment. Coming to Mr Fergus' speech at Queenstown, . he asserted that no expression of opinion was more decided in the House than that the general and local finances should be kept separate; but they were now apparently about to institute a complete change in this respect. The conclusion he had come to on reading Mr Fergus' speech was that there was some kind of proposal to mix themselves up with the liabilities of local bodies, and they would like to know whether that was the policy of the Government or not. With respect to the local government on the West Coast, he was not aware that any particular desire had been expressed for that by the people interested. He contended that there was a universal deßire expressed last session for a dissolution, and he t bou g h j the Government now regretted they had not adopted that course. He regretted that they were to waste their time this session doing nothing, and he thought that even now the Government ought to go to the country on their policy, and obtain an expression of opinion on it. The Hon T. W. Hislop thanked Mr Ballance, on behalf of the Government, for the handsome manner in which he referred to the Premier's Btate of health. He said the hon gentleman's speech was a characteristic one, and an effort was made to speak to an audience outside the House. He hoped Mr Ballance would excuse him from referring fully to all his c-iticisms, as other opportunities would be given for doing so. Mr Ballance had no right to assume to himßelf all the ' virtues with respect to the settlement of land; other persons were just as eager as that hon gentleman to do so, and it was no particular credit to Mr Ballance to put i twelve hundred people on the land in one 'year at an expenditure of £65,000. He '■ (Mr Hislop) contended that the settlement I of the land had nothing to do with the I number of people who had left the Colony, but it would be found that the number of i people who had taken up land under the i administration of the present Ministry ! was greater than under that of Mr Ballance. They would be able to prove by figures that the administration of bis hon colleague, the Minioter for Lands, was infinitely more successful than that of the late Minister. Aa to Mr Ballance'a remarks about the purchase of Native land at Eotorua, he wished to say that the ! Government had made a very good bargain i by that transaction, and if rumour was to !be believed Mr Ballance himself had I intended to purchase Rotorua. (Mr i Ballance : " No.") He should pass over j peveral charges made by the hon gentle- : man, but as to the question of the appointment of a Supreme Court Judge, he regretted that Mr Ballance should so far forget his position as to assert that Judge Edwards waa appointed at the dictation of a coterie of lawyers at Wellington. The Government considered the appointment of a Supreme Courb Judge as a very i sacred matter, and not one to be under- • taken lightly. Mr Ballance was also quite wrong in his law, aa a Judge had been appointed to the Appellant Court in England without salary and -without a Bill being passed. Colonel Trimble's i appointment had also given great satis- ! faction. He could assure Mr Ballance j that whatever course had been adopted ' with respect to the East Coast Settlement Company would be laid fully before the House. He contended that sufficient matters were mentioned in the Governor's speech to occupy the House profitably this session, and he denied that they were either trumpery or unimportant as had ! been alleged. Fint>lly, he Baid the hon 1 member had not been able to find any : faulta with the administration of the ; Government;, and he considered that adi ministration compared most favourably • with tbat of their predecessors. Sir G. Grey referred to the weariness ! and dreariness they had listened to that ! night, when Buch great questions required i adjustment. He condemned the proposal ! that a dying Parliament should continue ; for another twelve months to bo in existence, and thought the Governor should be urged to grant a dissolution without further loss of time. Why were not the Government themselves forward in this proposal to go to the country at onco? This was not opposing any Government or party. The dissolution of Parliament 1 wa9 a question superior to party, and he thought the Government would be willing to accede to the request if tho House made it. Referring to tho land question, he ; thought there was little difference between 1 the administrations of the various political parties; but one thing was certain, the people had been pillaged of their lands in a ! wrongful manner. He intended proposing an amendment at the proper time to the third paragraph in the Governor's speech, praying His Excellency to dissolve Parliament without delay, and to cause writs to be issued for the election of a new . Parliament. I Mr Taylor protested against an important debate like the present one being forced through, in the manner proposed by the Government. He spoke at some length on the Speech, and said the Government had indicated no policy in it. j Major Steward moved the adjournment ; of the debate on the ground that many members who had not arrived were anxious , to take t)art in it. { ' The Hon E. Mitchelson said the : Government had intended to finish the I debate that night if possible, and he • failed to sco what good could be attained by an adjournment. Nevertheless he should , not oppose it. j Motion agreed to, and tho debate adjourned till Tuesday next. j The House rose at 10.15 p.m.