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Star (Christchurch), Issue 9916, 3 August 1910, Page 1

"What is Labour?" asked the teacher, Said the school girl, smart and bright: " It is Labour to be coughing, As some people do all night!" " What is Capital?" ho asked her., After a brief interval; "Woods' Groat Peppermint Cure!" she answered. " Moth or snys Hint's C?j,uit;-'! !" 17

that a member who helped to put the Land for Settlements Act on the Statute Book had acted as a commission agent to sell lands to the Government under the Act.

Sir Joseph "Ward asked Mr Hine to nam© the member, but the refused. He, however, said that if a commission were appointed to investigate the charge ho would give evidence on oath. Continuing, he said that the money voted for roads had not been expended on them, but spent en public buildings inatoad. Ho criticised the financial operations of the Government, and suggested that provision should ho set aside for every child born in the dominion. If £1 were set apart, there would be a pension of £3O or £4O available at sixty-five. Mr. Laurenson expressed the Opinion that no one in the House knew what Mr Hine had been talking about. Indeed, he had been taking up the time of the House referring to matters he knew nothing of. He (Mr La u reuse:)) had been referred to by Mr Pearce as a Socialist. What was Mr Pearce P An individualist? The fact was to get a pure individualist they would have to go back to the age of troglodytes. New Zealand was more steeped in Socialism than any other country in. the world. Nearly every service in tin? State was run on Socialist principles. Gross misrepresentations had been made about. Socialism to backblocks audiences, but the time was about to come when these would be fully answered. Mr Pearce had said he began life as a leasehold farmer, but he would* deny to those who came after him a similar opportunity. References had been made to the remarksof the chairman of the .Hank of New Zealand as to the financial state of the domin-. ion, made at the same time as he announced a profit of 12-J per cent and forecasted a profit of 15 per cent for the following year. This gentleman's statement needed no refutation, but mero relation of the facts. Turning to Mr Hordman's speech, Mr Laurenson said that a juan> with £IOOO a year would be taxed to the extent of £1? 10s a year in New Zealand, while in Britain he would have to pay £-11. Referring to Mr Hino's charge against a member of the House; Mr Laurenson said it threw a stigma upon every member of tho Assembly, and until the matter was' tlirashed out it was a disgrace to tho man who made it. He called upon Mr Hine to name tho member referred to. ' Referring to the Death Duties Act, ho said that this was a good attempt to deal with a dif- j ficult problem which was confronting every nation, that of distributing wealth. In regard to the land question, ho denied" that tho freehold was j being demanded "by Crown tenant's. Mr I Laurenson concluded by referring to, the signs of national decay shown by the decreasing birth-rate, Avliich called for the immediate attention by Parlia- j merit. Another ominous feature of the ! national life was the tendency of popu- j lation to crowd, into the cities. One of the'reasons for this was tho excessive { price of land. j

} Mr Fisher explained his attitude in Voting for .Mr Massey's amendment, which was to the effect that he was .in favour of all the clauses except one. The House should have had an opportunity to vote on each clause. He had never, voted for alionation of Crown lands. The Government was shuffling on the land question. He ridiculed the statement in the Budget that the cost of living had been reduced duriDg 1909. .„.Sir Joseph .Ward replied -to several statements - ; nT»rde" by Mr Fisher in regard to taxation and the increased salaries of some officers in the Civil Service which were inaccurate.

The debate was adjourned. The House rose at 11.50 p.m