ADDRESS IN REPLY.

Waipa Post, Volume XVII, Issue 963, 3 July 1920, Page 6

ADDRESS IN REPLY.

DEBATE OPENED BY AIK. V. F. HOCKLY. (Reprinted from the Dominion). The debate, on the Address-in-Reply was opdned in the House of Representatives on Wednesday by Mr F. F. Hockly (Rotorua), one of the new members of the Reform Party. Mr Hockly, who was received with applause, said that he recognised the importance of the occasion. He was assisting to open the first session of what would prove to be the most important Parliament New Zealand had seen. He congratulated the Government on the matter contained in the Speech. The' Ministers were facing » the difficulties that confronted the Dominion. The one essential to meet these difficulties was a spirit of unity, and he hoped that in this spirit of unity the New Zealand Parliament would not be lacking. He had noted with pleasure the repeated statements of the Leader of the Opposition of his intention to assist the Government in all measures for the development of the country. This country was saddled with a huge debt as the result of. the war. Up till now, because of the high prices ruling for our products, this country was bearing its burden with the utmost ease, but the high prices might not hold, and the lean years would come. Our safety could be achieved only by more production, Two things he thought should be agreed upon—no man should hold land which was unproductive, and everyone who wanted land should have facilities for obtaining it. Country life ought to be made more attractive by improved communications by railways, road, mail and telegraph, with cheap power and other aids from hydro-electric power. Most important of all, land settlement at present was that of re- & turned soldiers, and they must all be glad to know how well the returned soldiers had settled down to civil life. He regretted that the returned soldiers had sought improved land rather than undeveloped land, although he did not blame the soldier for this choice. But if the soldiers would not go to the undeveloped land, then the time must come for the 1 land to be opened for civilian settlement. We were short, too, of labour, and the shortage of useful men and women could be met only by immigration. He would like to see more assistance given to parents of large families, and he thought the Government could adopt a sympatheticpolicy with regard to these people. The Dairy Farmers. With regard to the purchase of our goods by the Imperial Government, he did not think the Imperial Government had treated the New Zealand producers as generously as they . might have done, and especially was this true of the poorest and most hard-worked of producers, the dairy farmer. He thought the New Zealand dairy farmer was just as much entitled to a free market as were the dairy farmers of Britain and Ireland. As a dairy farmer himself, he was grateful to Mr Massey for his efforts on behalf of dairy farmers. If this country was to come through this trial successfully, economy and thrift also was essential. The prevailing orgy of extravagance must cease, and above all, everybody must work. The man who deliberately went slow was no better than a traitor to his country. He discussed with evident knowledge the Native land question, expressing his opinion, with emphasis, that the accumulation of reserves, of land for the benefit of Natives or for other purposes was not for the good of this country, for the reason that these reserves were blocking settlement. Discussing taxation, he said that the original purpose of the graduated land tax was the bursting up of big estates, but with the present high values of land the holders of small areas of from 100 to 200 acres, came under the tax. This had never been intended. Other matters which should have the attention of the Government were that the farmers were the only class who were taxed on their capital, and the only class taxed on their debts.