PARLIAMNETARY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5698, 17 October 1896, Page 4

PARLIAMNETARY.

[Per Press Association.! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Saturday, Oct. 17. the banking bill. After the Telegraph Office closed this morning, The Hon R. J. Seddon urged that th© House should see what could be done by a third conference, and if a compromise could not then be arrived at, the responsibility would be cast upon the Legislative Council. Mr Seddon's motion for a third conference was carried on the voices. On resuming at 3 aaa., * » The Hon R. J. Seddon reported ihat the third conference had been abortive, and that it was impossible to come to any arrangement. He said that the House managers had offered thesame compromise as at the first conference, viz., that tha House would take the second part of the liquidation clause, if the Council would concede the first part. This, however, could not be arranged, and the Council managers refused point blank to meet; them. He could only express his regret; at this. The Bill must now stand over till next session. Meantime, as far as the Government were concerned, a grave responsibility rested on it, but he would not feel himself justified in making any radical changes. At the same time, as far as the law was concerned, the Government would see that it was faithfully carried out. APPROPRIATION BILL. On the motion for the third reading of the Appropriation Bill, Captain Russell said there was no necessity for the introduction of the Banking Bill. It was designed only for the purpose of displacing the President, and for why ? Because the Government did not like him, and because it viewed him with suspicion. Everything that had been done had been to tho injury of the bank and the coxmiay* During the last three years, what had they seen ? Lobbying on the part-of the Directors of the Colonial Bank to influence members as to how they should vote. Under the circumstances the House had done quite right in dropping the BilL There was the gravest suspicion thxoogbout the country that things in connection with this banking legislation were not what they should be. What* he asked, had been the work of the session ? The principal measures foreshadowed in the Governor's Speech, had not been persevered with, and Bills urgently required by the country had been passed over. ' No effort, for instance, had been made to pass the Local Government Bill, and no genuine attempt had been made to pass a ■ satisfactory Alcoholic Liquors Bill. The measure passed satisfied neither party. A Constitution-Amendment Bill had been 'foreshadowed, but he could say that without the Upper House our legislative efforts would be no more than a. farce. On the subject of defence he said our defences were in a most disgraceful and discreditable condition, and he knew full well that English officers had the greatest contempt for our defences, while foreign nations must also be acquainted with our military weakness and inefficiency. The situation was a most serious one. The whole system of dealing with the Natives was a wrong one, and the endeavour of the Government seemed to be to reduce the Maoris to a state of second childhood. A proper and honest system of Government was needed in place of the playing for popularity now practised. Notwithstanding its professions of economy and non-borrowing, the expenditure by the present Government was heavier than that of its predecessors, and borrowing was practised. The money proposed to be ©3cpen<3e<l dixringj £ke earning year was intended to bribe the electors, but he did not believe that the Government would achieve the result deaired. , Sir R. Stout said he desired to place on record some facts regarding our finance. The votes for the present year amounted to .£432,179, and he looked upon this as alarming. Taxation was still increasing, and he believed the colony's position would be a dangerous one if the present state of thiugs was allowed to continue. If New Zealand was to maintain its position and compete with the nations of the^ world, all its natural advantages must decrease with the increase of taxation which must follow its heavy expenditure. He regretted to see the feeling of insecurity caused by the attack on land titles, such as that proposed in the Horowhenna Bill, and he deplored the refusal of the Government to supply members with information they asked for on public matters. He did not deny that this Parliament, like all Parliaments, had passed some useful measures. The Hon R. J. Seddon pointed out that the increased population of the colony necessitated increased expenditure, and extraordinary circumstances this year contribiited to the increased outlay. Ho believed that his estimates of the revenue for the current year would be fully realised, and that there would be a gross surplus of .£167 397. There were evidences of marked, increases in all the Government Departments, and it was satisfactory to find this state of affairs existing after-fche period of depression they had passed through in the last three or four years. He denied that the Government had departed from its policy. Taxation had been put on the shoulders of those best able to bear it, and the settlement of th« country had progressed apace. Parliament was the highest court in the land, and what had been done in connection with land titles in the Horowhenua Bill was in the interests of justice. There was greater security of land titles in this country now than had ever been the case previously. He disagreed witli the view held fey Captain Russell regarding the defences of the colony, and stated that when he took office the defence was a.farce, but since then it had been put on a different footing. There would, he thought, be a revulsion of feeling against the large sums of money spent on the advice of Government military experts, expenditure which in a year or two afterwards was found to be useless. The money could be much more profitably spent on roads and bridges. He charged the. Opposition with being in league with the Legislative Council in killing the Banking Bill, and said that the Council, by its action that night, had sounded its own death knell. The action of the OjJposition in securing the abandonment of tho Banking Bill would recoil on themselves. As to the policy Bills of the Government, out oi' sixteen outlined in the Governor's Speech, twelve of them had passed through thaßouse, but the Government could .not^bo^r^appflaihjegif^-jtibja^^

jedaon of these measures in the Upper House. Parliament had' passed throughone of the most memorable sessions in the history of the-colony. The Bill thea.pasaed itsJmal stages. At 5.10 ajn. the House adiourned till lL3oajn. .