ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16780, 8 July 1922, Page 14

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

debate continued. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 7. Mr Edie resumed the debate on the Address in Reply. He condemned the Government's laxity in administering; the 1 anqt laws and failing to prevent aggregation of estates. Proper settlement of the land in small allotments would do a great deal to avert unemployment. He complained of Govern inent reticence in the matter of tho Economy Committee’s report, which should bo available to members of the H ouse. Ho remarked that the Prime Minister had not fulfilled the pledges made at the 1911 election, when Mr Massey was in oppositon, instancing the elective Legislative Council wbici was not yet an accomplished fact. Although legislation had been passed to make the Upper House elective on a proportional representation basis it seemed to him that the Prime Minister did not intend to put the Act into operation. He considered that soldier settlement was hampered by th • fact that land was bought too dearly and the administration was in the hands, in some cases, of persons unskilled in agricultural and pastoral matters. Concerning reduction ot public service salaries Mr Edie declar ed that a start should have been made at the top. The cut made in the pas of those on the lower rungs of th ladder was out of all proportion to tho levy made on those higher up.

Mr Harris commented on the absence of policy from the Liberal Opposition Party. Next Monday marked the com pletion of ten ■‘ears since the Reform Party’s accession to power, and apparently members opposite had been satisfied with its actions, since they had now no alternatives to suggest. He believed that the private financial com dition of the country were steadily improving, but Government finance was sure to feel the strain for some time He criticised the conduct of the Railway Department in increasing fares and freights to try to stem the tide ot loss. This simply played into the hands of private enterprise. It certainly would not make the railways pay. The same criticism applied to the Post and Telegraph Department. Referring to soldier settlement, Mr Harris said that whatever G-overnment was in power must stand by the soldier, who was put on land bought at a. hign price. The taxpayer would be behind the soldier, but a private person who bought land at the same time had no one to back him and he in many cases was suffering very serious hardship Could not something be done to help in this case? He urged tho time had arrived for revaluation of rural lands. It was unjust to ask the farmer to pay tax on a land value that did not exist. The country could not get back to normal conditions, business could not improve, the cost of living could not come down unless the burden of taxation was reduced. The matter narrowed itself down to this : Me must either decrease out expenditure or in crease our revenue bv taxation. Both these were impossible. The only other thing to do was to increase population by immigration, so as to have people to bear the taxation burden. Mr M’Callum expressed a hope that the financial Bills were not too fa? advanced to prevent consideration < i suggestions from the Opposition. British capital should be encouraged to come to the Dominion by remission • : death duties during a certain number of years. He thought that instea i l of scrapping the battleship Now Zealand the ship should be utilised as a training ship, while the Chatham need not be maintained in these waters during the present time of financial stres'. Mr Maseev interjected that the Chatham would be replaced by a new ship in a year or two. Mr M’Callum criticised the method of railway construction, which shoul i he under control of the Railway Department-, not the Public Moiks Department . He opposed remission of land and income taxes. Mr Hudson stressed the need for greater development of country lands. The. trend of population was to leave the country and crowd into the to"U", and he appealed to the Government to make things more attractive in the country by carrying out necessary work', and conveniences. Contracts for such works, however, should not he on the co-operative basis, but should bo given to settlers, who should be allowed to do the work in their own way and their own time. Small harbours could be made possible by dredging, and won hi bo of great benefit to out- , I- the-way parts of the Dominion, and ho urged the Government to procure a diedge suitable for such work. He w*a> sorry to say tho Government did not seem sympathetic in this direction. Coi ntry schools should be such ns to qualify* country children ror country walks in life. They should be induced by suitable training to take up the occupations of their fathers rather than go into tho cities and become clerks and typists. Some primary scientific training would be helpful towards this Mr Masters said that one of the features of the debate was the criticism of the Government coming from Government supporters. >ne speeches delivered by Mr Harris and Mr Hudson were cases in point. He knew nothing of the policy of the Labour Party, but he was distinctly in favour of a State bank and proportional representation, and he was proud to Tie associated with any party working to these ends. On the other hand he was distinctly against immigration at the present juncture. If on these points the Liberal and the Labour policy agreed. That was a coincidence, but the telegram wliicli had just coine through from Auckland showed clearly that there was not. as Government supporters alleged, a compact between the Liberal and Labour parties. So iar as returned soldiers were concerned, he favoured immediate revaluation of their lands. Tiie State was bound to maxe a loss, owing to the price at which land was bought, and the sooner it cut the loss the better. Railway administration was next attacked, the speaker contending that the relaying of rails was being seriously reduced, thereby endangering public safety, but while the maintenance staff was being curtailed the administration staff was being increased. The marketing of our produce was being sadly neglected, for which the High Commissioner was to blame. He failed to keep us posted in up-to-date market reports, and generally we were uot getting the benefits from bis service w© should be getting. He commended this matter to the attention of the Minister of Agriculture. Mr E Newman (Manawatu) condemned the proposal to revalue soldiers’ lands at the present time, because the value of land had not yet been stabilised since the war. Land [ purchased for soldiers in his district had been purchased at reasonable prices. The Government had taken every precaution to see that this was done nil over the Dominion, and Tf cases of hardship occurred lie could onlv say that every such case he brought under the notice of the Minister was treated most sympathetically by the Governmeat. He defended the High Cummi

sinner from the attacks made upon him. Too much was expected of him The injustice of tne complaint about cabling information as to prices of produce wes particularly apparent to anyone who knew how- meat prices, for instance. were manipulated by those engaged in the London trade. The arguments brought Tfown bv the Opposition had not been such as to convince him that he ought to vote for Air Wilford’s amendment. On the other hand they had been such to lead him to believe he would lie doing hie; duty much better by voting for the Govern inent - The debate was adjourned on the motion of Mr Bollard and the House rose at 9.3-3 p m.