HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1862, 8 June 1888, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

THURSDAY, JtTK^ 7. The House met at 2 30 p.m. MIDLAND BAILWAT. Mr AlIeD, on behalf of Mr Macarthur, aeked the Government (1) whether they will invite the Honse to take into consideration the proposed now concessions to the Midi any Railway Company ; (2) if not, whether they will give facilities to private members to bring a motion on the suVj :ct before the flouse. The Premier said government did pot propose to ask the "House, to take any notice of the concessions. They wore not new concessions, as suggested by the wording of the question. They did not propose to give private members any special facilities to bring on a motion. Opportunity had already been given on , going into Committee of Supply, and nobody had cbosen to avail himself of it. CUSTOMS DUTIES TARIFff SILL Mr Goldle resumed the debate on the Customs Tariff Bill; The country could etand'a groat deal more letrenohment. The pension list might be out down, and I he was pledged to a land and income tax. Heohonld vote for the tariff, as be thought the country required Protection to keep population within its shores. 'Mr Tanner a*ld he was one of those disappointed by the tariff.- They ought to ctat about for some cheaper method of governing the country. At least half a million could ba saved which would obviate the necessity for raising so much revenue by the tariff. The solution lay m a new and extended form of looul government;. Capital m every form should be made to contribute to the cost of governing. The tariff was too heayy on the necessaries of life, and too Jlght on the. luxuries. Mr Allen gave Government credit for their efforts at reduolng expenditure, but they had not gonp bo far a? ttjey promised. It wai possible to make further reduction?. So wa§ nqt satisfied tjiafc tbg jfinauolal Statement revealed the condition of the colony. There appeared to be something held baok, and he was afraid {chat before long they would have the Treasurer demanding * sugar duty, He maintained that further retrenchment should be carried out at ail haairda at ouce. It would have to faced sooner of later. He !•<•{ ! -t-i to a meeting held m Dunedln to ■■■■■« v .' tha exodus of the people from U)'- v yniry, to whloh meeting he and other members bad been lovlted. J&e

Fish had packed the meeting, and they •would listen to none but Prorec u oni6tsi Me Fish denied that be bad packed he meeting. What party did Mr Allen belong to ? He might be a Freetrader I now, bat as Boon as the the tariff was disposed of, he would be a supporter cf the Government again. The hon gentleman direct, d hla remarks chiefly .against Freetrad© viewß, and the actions of Mr Alien and Mr Scnbie Mackenzie, reviewing their proceedings m the political cumpilon at some length. Mr Fl h said he had once reen a Freetrader, bat had seen the filly of trying to apply the theories of other days and places where the oiroamstat cjb rendered them totally inapplicable. He thought the tariff susceptible of some alteration, and traoted the Prem'er would see his way to Improve It. He approved the tintnoial policy of .Government generally, but considered that local subsidies ehould be abolished. He characterised the propety tax an obn>iina3 and iniquitous, and would like to ccc it replaced by a progressive land aud income tax. He c tngratulateil Government oh the stand made against paying Interest oat of loan, it the Freetraders carried oat their theories to a logical conclusion they would that up every faotory m the oolony. Mr Scoble Mackenzie Baid they had had duties amounting to 16$ per cent for years, and what a state this measure of Protection had brought the oountry to ; yet the Protectionists wanted them raised. This was all he Intended to say on the broad question at issue, bat he' obj sated to Mr H-h's pprsmal remarks upon himself, and ret irted In very significant term*. The fao" wan that the great prosperity of V.ofcoria was the reason for the demand fo<- fioti ctlon, but no one could say that Pr ttctim was the . rca? vi of that proßperlt*'. Although, it had been said th t the Freetrade cause wai hopeless, he t ought they would yet be able to make their i flaenoe felt on the tariff. Mr Fisher said that Mr Mackenzie waa one of thnoe accurately described M '• wohblerr," Nobody had been yet able to Bad not what he really was, bat now ha had at last declared be wu going Into Opposition. Mr Fisher traversed Mr MenteathY references to himself, and said he would give the^We'lington eleotora a ehanoe to judge between them, and if he lived he would pursue Mr Menteath till it was settled. His bahavloa? wa« most nagenerous considering the gratuitous help he (Mr Fisher) had given him to secure bin election. He defended the education system from the attacks upon It, and showed that Government had much reduoed the cost already. It was possible to do still more, but they considered it wise to defer further alteration .for-a while. Speaking of fiuaoca generally he contrasted the promised reductions by the StoutYogel Government with the aotual redactions by the present Government of £233,000. I£ railways had not fallen off iso extraordinarily and Interest had not to he provided on new loan v there would have been no deficit this year.' Government had done all-in their power to meet the exigencies of the oase, and It was most unreasonable to grumble at them for not having done more. * ; Mr Walker said that the Minister of Education had not been so clear a* they had a right to expect. He had quoted theopinione of various authorities about the injurious tendency of early training, but had not enunciated a distinct opin on of his own. He dil not believe these authorities . At any rate no harm was done to infants m New Zeal <nd echoola. Parliament had determined last, session that the school age should not be interfered with, and , were not likely to alter their decision Alluding to Mr M'Kenzie's speech he thought on refection that he would see that bis remarks had gone beyond fair debate } and hoped he tvonld withdraw them. Ho had also charged the Opposition with insico^rity quite groundlessly. Speaking on the general question Le held: that Protection wou'd be a good thing for the agricultural community, as it would give them -marke^n üßniar thelr~"6!o'orß. His aide desired every assistance In their power to oirry the tariff and budget prppoiaJa generally. But he reminded the Govern* meat that had the Opposition taken a different attitude they ooald have shattered all their proposals by bringing forward the .speeches of the Treasurer and his colleagues during .the last three yoars. It, must be iememberei, too, that the late Government had begun the work of retrenchment, and would have carried it out qulta as thoroughly as the present Ministry. He disapproved of the Treasurer laying bands on the land transfer assurance fund. Mr Scoble Mackenzie s&ld that aftee consideration he thought he had gone too far m his remarks regarding Mr Fith, and withdrew anything that went beyond the bound of Parliamentary deoorum, or any alloslon of a not distinctly political nature •-.-..•••• Mr Duaoan moved' the adjournment^ and the House rose at midnight.