HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6888, 25 June 1890, Page 4

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

AFTERNOON SITTING. The Houae met at 2.30. NEW HEMBEE. Mr Arthur, thememberfortheEastCoast, tcok the oath and his Beat. QUESTIONS. Dr Fitchett asked Government what steps have been taken towards the formation of a police superannuation fund. The Hon W. E. Russell said tbe matter had not been lost sight of, and he hoped some scheme would shortly be initiated in this direction. Mr Jotce asked the Premier what proposals have recently been made by the Government of South Australia for a reciprocal tariff treaty with this Colony, and will the Premies introduce a Policy Bill to give effect to such. The Hon E. Mitchelson said no proposals had yet been made, but if such were made they would receive due consideration. Mr Joyce asked Government if they will briefly indicate their action since last session to obtain reciprocity- with. Canada and also New South Wales. The Hon E. Mitchelson said no action had yet been taken, but no doubt the matter would be considered at the convention to be held next year. Mr Izakd asked the Premier if ib is the intention of the Government during the present session to make provision for the better payment of jurors in civil and criminal matters. The Hon W. K. Russell said a BUI would be introduced providing for the payment of common jurors, and also dealing with a radius within which juries may be selected. - Mr Jotck asked Government if they will indicate the Canadian proposals for the Pacific mail service with a terminal port in this Colony, and what proportion of tho total o£ .£150,000, voted by tho Dominion for ocean mail services, will be set apart for the New Zealand service. The Hon E. Mitchelson said that no proposals had yet been made to the New Zealand Government. ; nsw bills. The following Bilk were introduced : —

A Bill to provide for the early closing of ( shops and limiting employees' hours or , labour ; a Bill to amend the Employment of Females and Others Act Amendment; a Bill for the representation of seamen ; a Bill to amend the Elver Boards Act ; a Native Land Administration Bill ; a Bill to amend the Representation Act, 1887, | Amendment Act, 1889 ; a Bible in Schools ! Bill ; Auckland Hospital Reserves Bill ; ! Counties Act Amendment Bill ; Volunteer , Drillsheds and Land Trustees Validation | Bill. ADDRESS-IN-BEPLY. Mr W. D. Stewart reßumed tbe debate on the Address-in-Reply. Ha considered the Governor's Speech contained nothing j but words, words, words. They had ' now on the benches Ministers pr - --1 phesying peace when there was no peace ; and the chorus of congratulation in the Speech sounded as a mockery in the ears of' the people. As to the surplus of £115,000, which they were told now existed, how was it, if such Biirplusreally did exist, they had no proposal in the Speech for lightening the burdens of tho people? Eei'erring to the settlement of the land, of which the present Government boasted, heoouldonly say that the satisfaction as to the progress of settlement was not shared by the people of his district. There was no disguising the fact that ltu-ge numbers of people were leaving the Colony because they could not; obtain land for settlement, and it mattered not how large our exports were, that would not remedy the present state oE things. The real remedy would be to remove the difficulties which were now preventing the people from settling on the lands. He was disappointed at seeing no reference in the Governor's Speech to any attempt to remove the disabilities under which people desirous of obtaining lansf laboured. He strongly condemned the administration of the Eailway Commissioners, and he prophesied that there would be before long a cry from one end of the Colony to the other for a change in the management of our railways. Eeferring to Sir H. Atkinson's illness, he would regret if the hon gentleman should be compelled to relinquish office, and he asked what they were going to do when the pilot left the ship. Were they going to allow " Ministers to remain in office° without their head ? Certainly not. Mr Bbyce felt that the present debate might be characterised as useless. Sir George Grey had probably some excuEe for speaking on the Address and moving hia amendment, gas that hon gentleman had last session succeeded in establishing the one-man-one-vote principle. If they were going to have a financial debate in a few days, he (Mr Bryce) thought that the present debate was to a large extent wasted; but if, as he had heard stated, this debate was to supersede any financial discussion, it was worse than useless, as the finances of the country could not possibly be discusßed without first hearing the Colonial Treasurer's statement. They were now in a critical Btate of the Colony's history, and it was surely the duty of Government to disclose the "full financial position^ which could not possibly be stated in the Governor's Speech. He thought, indeed, that if Government did not intend taking that course, the Opposition would be assisted by members on the other side of the House in insisting that they should do so. Before sitting down, he suggested to the Minister for Public Works that the Public Works Statement should be brought down at the same time as the Budget. 4\ Mr Smith contended that it waa the distinct duty of the Government to appeal to the country before calling Parliament together. The policy of the Minister for Lands was simply a cash policy, which was a valuable one for revenue purposes, but was not one calculated to promote true settlement. He condemned the practice of putting up for sale unsurveyed lands, especially in bush districts. The absentee question was one of great urgency, but no proposals were made in the Speech for dealing with it. He condemned the appointments made by Government during the recess. "Mr Hutchison regretted that the Premier was obliged, through ill-health, to be absent from the House, but surely some other member of the Government should be in a position to throw some light on the financial position. Mr Mackenzie (Waihemo) regretted very much that Sir H. Atkinson's health was the cause of his being absent from the Government benches, and although he had never been a supporter of the Premier's he said this with all sincerity. Eeferring to the Government policy, he contended that it wao the duty of Government to have dissolved Parliament before meeting: the House. Eeferring to land administration, he ventured to Bay there were very few settlers in the country who were satisfied with the rate of progress made under the administration of the Minister for Lands. It had fallen to his lot on more than one occasion to correct the fallacy of the Minister for Lauds' figures, and of the Crown Lands report ; but, after all his warnings, he found that the figures presented by the Minister were still very inaccurate. The hon gentleman had stated that there were 20d8 selectors of land during the year, but a large number of those were men who owned large tracts of land, and v/ho had been in possession of land for the last twenty years. Others had exchanged deferredpayment sections for small grazing runs, and all those appeared in the transactions for the year as having taken up land as selectors. Tho debate was interrupted by the 5.30 p.m< adjournment. EVENING SITTING. Tho House resumed at 7.30 p.m. Mr M'Kenzie continued his remarks on theAddress-in-Keply,andcritimsedtheland administration at great length. He strongly condemned the policy of the Bailway Commissioners, and said the country would insist on those gentlemen being removed from office in consequence of their mis Management. "The retrenchment of Government, notwithstanding all their prof eaEion3,|had been a great sham, and they were quite prepared for further borrowing if their party would allow them. Mr -Fish spoke with some reluctance in this debate, as he regarded it as a great waste of time.,lt appeared to him, speaking quite impartially, that under the present circumstances Government should ask for supplies and dissolve without delay. The House, however, should first have a financial policy and a public works policy before it. He should feel very reluctant to vote in such a manner as would involve an extra session, and unless he thought the country desired it he should not give his vote to bring about such a contingency. Mr Fisher considered 'that if a second session were held Government themselves would be responsible for it. He held it was impossible for any progress to be made in this Colony unless some legislative remedy wera providedfor it, and the only remedy waa a dissolution of Parliaj ment. One hon gentleman during this debate had effectively proved that there was great mismanagement in one depart- ! ment, but ho was prepared to show that ! in another Department, that of Customs, . therw waa also gross mismanagement. i He proceeded to quote a case in which i several large firms had received consideraj tion from the Customs Department, while ; some small firms had been cast in penalties j for breaches of the law. The country j could not be saved by reducing the wage 3 j of the railway men, while they allowed i large companies to go free from taxation. | They were told that the Native Lands ■ Department and the Public Works Depart- : ment were to be abolished, but the latter | Department had actually imported lately ; two highly salaried officers, whom he ; thought should never have been appointed. ! As, to the alleged surplus, why should ■ there, not be a remission of taxation if any Burplus existed ? He denied that there had I been any necessity for increased school buildings, as stated in the Governor's ( Speech, and alleged that that paragraph j . was inserted in the Speech in order that ; fault might be found with our present ; educational system on tho ground of its ; being too coßtly in character. Eeferring to the Hon T. Fergus' speech, in which he advocated the purchase of estates on the I East Coast for the benefit of the Colony, | he (Mr Fisher) thought it wa3 time the ' connection between the Colony and the

Bank of New Zealand should be broken. The scheme proposed by Mr Fergus of taking over the liabilities of local bodies was onn that no Government dare take up, and Government soon found that out by the condemnation the scheme received from one end of the Colony to the other. The Hon T. Fergus alluded to the fact that certain hon gentlemen were delaying the Financial Statement, which would have been brought down that night bub for the length of the present debate. He challenged the leader of the Opposition to table a want-of-confidence motion in the Government. At the same time he complimented Mr Ballance on the conciliatory tone of his speech, but he regretted to say that the member for Wellington Bast did not adopt the same tone. As to his (Mr Fergus') speech at Queonstown, about which so much had been heard, all he had stated with reference to the liabilities of local bodies was, not that Government should take them over, but that when those loans feil in' local bodies should be assisted to go to the cheapest market. He had had no differences v/hatever with his colleagues over that s»eech, a3 stated by Mr Fisher. The fact of that hon gentleman having been compelled to leave the Government was sufficient reason for his opposition to everything proposed by the present Ministry. Mr Seddon referred at some length to the Queenstown speech, and considered that Mr Fergus' explanation was not at all satisfactory. After expressing strong condemnation of the policy of the Government generally, he said he agreed with what Mr M'Kenzie had stated with respect to the land administration of the Colony. He challenged the Government to go to the country on their land policy as compared with that of the late Ministry, and he was convinced they would be beaten by a large majority. Mr Kerb hoped that before the debate closed the Government would contradict some of the serious charges made against them of taking people's money and depriving them of their land. The Hon E. Mitchelson, referring to the purchase of the East Coast lands by the Government, said he was induced to visit Gisborne in consequence of certain representations made to him by the Natives themselves. He feared, however, that no matter how the Natives might have been deceived the Government could not do anything. As far as he was concerned, he acted in the interest, not of any Financial Company, but of the Natives, and at their request. He did not intend, at this stage, to refer to the general questions touched on during the debate, as there would be other opportunities of doing so. Mr Gbimmond complained of the barrenness of the Governor's Speech. His ! opinion was that a dissolution should take place immediately. Dr Fitchett considered the explanation of the Native Minister as to the purchase of the East Coast lands was very unsatisfactory. The inference conveyed by it was that if the land were to be purchased it waß not for the benefit of the Colony, but of the mortgagees. He' thought the chargeß made against the Government were amply substantiated. Mr Taiptja was very weary of this discussion, as two dayß had been spent in useless debate. The Natives in his district were all perfectly satisfied with tho administration of the Native Minister, especially with respect to the purchase of Native land. Mr Fraseb defended the Eotorua purchase. Mr Tannes reminded the House that lie was short enough in his remarks in moving the Address, and had evidently pleased nobody ; but now, in closing the debate, he intended to speak pretty fully; although the Governor's Speech was not one on which a lengthy speech could be made. In referring to taxation he favoured a graduated Land tax, not as a bursting-up policy, but to relieve the Customs. After referring to the Government policy, and the necessity for further retrenchment, he asked who wanted a dissolution at present. Certainly not the people of the country ; it was only politicians. The present Ministry was, he considered, as fair a specimen as any that could be got in the House. His opinion was that the general election should not be held till after the census was taken, as it was unfair that the election Bhould be held on the basis of five years ago, and he intended moving in that direction before the session closed. The Address-in-Reply was then put, and agreed to on the voices. On the address being read, Sir Geoege Geey moved • his amendment, praying the Governor to grant a dissolution, and spoke at length in support of it. Mr Moss supported the amendment, which was lost on a division by 29 to 19. The following is the division list :—? Ayes. Messrs Ballance Messrs Joyce Feldwicb Lance Fisher M'Kenzie, J. Fitchett Moss Fitzherbert Reeves, E. H. Fraser Seddon. Goldie Smith Grey Steward,W.J. Grinimond Walker Hutchison Noes, 30. Messrs Allen Messrs M'Gregor Anderson Mitchelson Arthur Moat Beethain Monk Bruco Newman Buchanan O'Conor Cowan Ormond Dodson Peacock Fergus Bichardsori,G Fish Eussell Fulton Seymour Hall Stewart, W. Hamlin Taipua Harkness Tanner Hislop Thomson, E. Hobbs Thompson, T. Lowry Valentine M'Arthur Verrall Mackenzie, T. Witby Marchant Paies : fob against. Messrs Hogkinson Messrs Cadman Mackenzie, S. Barron Wilson Eeeves W. P. Mentoath Kelly Bryce Turnbull Atkinson K«rr Izard Richardson, E. Koss Loughrey Rhodes Taiwhanga The House rose at 1.30 a.m.