THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 251, 16 July 1908, Page 9

THE HOUSE.

WELLINGTOifJ HARBOUR BOARD BILL. ; 1 The House 'met' ait 2.30 p.m v ■ Tho 'chairman''of' tho' Joint. Committee on . Standing..Orders,.moved:—."That,tho, Stand.ing; Orders, bo suspended in order to allow tho Wellington-Harbour Board Reclamation and Empowering Bill to. bo, read a second time, aiid that after, speond reading tho Bill bo divided so 'that-clauscs'l, 2, 3, 4. 5/6, 7, {),■ and 12 bo a private Bill, and clauses 1, 2, 3. 5,;9,-;1'0; 11, 12, 13, :14, 15, and 16. bo a' I'poal Bill, and that tlio schedule.be divided accordingly." .'" ." Tho motion, was carried,; and,.the Bill .was read 'a"second time,..without debate. . , ;"Mr. .WILFORD gayo notice' to introduce'a No;, 2 'Pill,'.containing' the clauses..sepai'iited from the principal Bill.' ' , ' .'"The/dobato will take place; on the' third reading. .' . >' , . . r- WOOL UP. ' Tlie PRIME MINISTER read a cable which' ho had -received ; .that*-morning'.;from Homo, regarding a riso' in'the price of wool. The cable was to a loading firm of Wellington merchants, .who had immediately forwarded it tri'him'. The cable announced tbafwool had gone up from Jd.; to jd. per lb. iii prico. He; added that he was not one of=those who - had 'believed that; the prico- would' Remain low for a long time. (Hear, hear.) It was to receive tlie'intelligence, and he. moved..that it- lie upon the table, and bo. printed. . .'" •' ' : I' Mr. RUTHERFORD (whose, remarks wero almost inaudible by the- Press) ■' was understood' to say .that- Id.. a>lb;- riso -would. mean • £665,000 to tlio: pooplo of tho' Dominion. Many., small growers' would' be:-benefited ; by. the rise. . Tho Premier was right in saying wool could not long remain down. The number of sheep was decreasing,;.and 'tho' pdpu--lation- of the 'world was increasing.' Unsatisfactory prices could not baveya, long run. " THE FINANCIAL DEBATE. : Thb debate on tho. Financial Statoment: -was resumed at 7.30 p.m; : : - ; , ; Mr. :C. M. GRAY, ,(Christehurch Nortli) recalled,tho' steps taken for tlie development of the country during' the premiership of; ■ Sir Julius Vogel/'and quoted records to show ■ that .great aud rapid sinco been' made, but' pointed out that : all the timo • thero had -been' no .labk.'of prophets' of : disaster. Referring to the' foreshadowed; enabling legislation in connection with the .utilisation of. watep;'power, he urged that-, it ■was . high -time-.tho''Government' took 'this matter up seriously.' was opposed to"tho. Government handing' over it? rights, to ipri-' yato individuals''and companies, but lie .would , not '.objcct : t'o local'authorities' 1 being,.'enabled to use' these water. po\v'cfs.'.,Ho suggested '.that tho Government-"should make a bejgini liing by olectrifyihg the Chfistchurch-Lyttel-ton railway; " Defenco Mattors. ; Mr. A. ,Siit3l-iSCOliM>(Cliitha) said -the" Goyei-nment ' not-; He acting 'a, mpinont ;«oo: soon-jus rempving.jtho roproaoh that -tho -Dominion was "contributing sb.,pitiful : a, sum ; as £-10,000 to ;tho;- .upkeep" of tho Imperial : Navy. • He, believed ( Now-,Zealand-, was' : not' . •getting' valuefor- i'ts rcxpendituro i: on l the Volunteer - forces-. ' ■ The-i highly-paid , officers. should direct the '-Easter, manoeuvres, instead' of merely'criticising the work : done ,by ; lessr.' competent.men.-. Tho nien-would then re'eoivo much moro valuablo training. ' Ho approved; of tho special land; settlement schomo of tho Budget; and urged the desirability'of selling lands for Settlement lands for cash, a'practice 'which would,' ho thought, place the Government in a more secure position in timesof depression. . He. approved of tho expenditure of tho additional quarter of a million a year on -roads in; the back-blocks, a step which would benefit the towns as much as ..tho country. In. rogard to railway'rates ananomaly was. created'by carrying goods at a loss on certain routes,-so os to compete with' soa carriage. : The users of. inland linos'suf-': fered in comparison, especially in cases-where ' towns on such railways had as trado rivals others which enjoyed tho benefits of low railway .rates duo. to-the causo already mentioned. • ; - - <' v ' ' Extravagance with' Parsirnony. - He considered ■ that the Government ■ was extravagant in-spending probably £10,000 in entertaining 'the" American Fleet. At any rate, the visitors should hot be taken to Rotorua, lost they should go back to America and tell their friends'Vt. to go to-New Zealand ror any sake, - as -the' whole country was certain to blow up. Other instances of-'ex-travaganco. Were'.'the' presentation' of the Ex-hibition-organ to ; Christchureh, giving' Do.minion medals to school children, and the expenditure :on Dominion Day • celebrations Alongside of theso extravagances, the Go-, vernment- had; been too sparing, "of the national purso in meeting tho needs of country sottlersi' as instanced by tho treatment accorded'tothoso in his own district who had suffered through drought and fires, and who wore granted grass seed on less favourable terms than those who had sustained similar losses in the North Island. ' Yet the case of tho settlors' of. his district had boon put, beforo Parliament, and the other cases hadnot;' ~ .i,';r■'. ... . , , ~:' ■ Hon. T. Y. Duncan: It was the recomm'en-. dation' of the, Lands Committed. .. Perhaps you didn't'jpersist:in. following tho matter, up. "iTho Minister for Lands (Hon. 1 R. M'Nab): Exactly what lie didn't do. , .. Mr. Malcolm: I'm suro I persevered until I made myself a sourco of annoyance; Mr. Duncan: I rather doubt it. (Laughter.) "Proceeding, Mr. Malcolm said that at.present seemed to be taxed up to the liilt; an'd no margin was left for reduction of>tbe 'taxes fn tinio of "depression. Ho was'of opinion tliat tho advantages of pre-audit were greater than those of postaudit. While regretting the docr'caso in tlio feared' that' it could not bo remedied by legislation.' A"Cand!d!'Fr!end 'of tho Government. .Mr., G., : ,WITTY (Riccarton) defended tho Government from, tho charges of extravagance uttered by, Mr. Malcolm, and in answer' to provipus 'speeches' by tho Leader of the Oppositipn declared.that a.very largo proportion of tho money by the Government was . exponded in; reproductive ways. The cadc'ts should be treated better; in ■ regard to weapons and capitation, • aud every boy, and every girl, for that matter, attending- , tho public schools should bo put ■through the best system ,of drill. We should ihen have a standing army without tho burden of' paying for it. Thero had been too much delay in tho granting of advancos to workers, and ho could give many instances of inconvenience to tho applicants. Mr/ Gray: The''office is overworked. : Mr; Witty wont on to say that tho Land for' Settlements system should'be so administered as to assist thoso who needed help, rather than thoso who .were already well off. The. 'Government"' should-'acquire estates beforo running the railways to them, so as not to havo to pay for tho increment created, thereby. The now employees' proferouco clr.uses, as instanced &L Otekaike, worked out unfairly. Tho old ago _ pensions system needed ajiiendmbnt to obviato undue harsh-' ness' towards pensioners who had committed minor offences. Undue delays occurred in'tho jjaymciit'of workers' 'compensation. He; was grateful to the Gorornment for what,it'had recently doiio for the railway employee's..:- He approved of the increase of tho naval subsidy, and thought that Now Zealand'should have moro training ships and "should encourage I lads to enter upon a naval career.

; Mr. MANDER (Marsdon) pleaded for more attention to the roading and other needs of tlio " neglected North. ,Ho proceeded to complain of oxcessivo valuation of rural lands, and to insist upon the advantages of freehold tenure, especially in tho North. He also pointed to injustices and hardships endured: by old-ago'pensioners. Mr. 0. H. IZARD (Wellington North) suggested that not only Ministers but members of tho House should visit as much of the Dominion as possible. Tho advantage from the Premier's tours was apparent in tho Budget. 'Ho assorted, in reply to Mr. Mas'sey's statements, that l no more than £28,000 was borrowed by tho Government in New Zealand. Regarding the land tenure question, ho asserted that it was not on account of tho land legislation of tho Government that land in the North could not ho sold, but becauso of the bad roads; and tho Premier was going to pursue a vigorous policy in regard to these roads. Ho favoured an increase in the naval subsidy. Ho approved tho proposal to give temporary employees on the railway of fivo years' standing a permanent-status. Mr. Izard said ho had other matters to touch upon, but would do so on the various Bills ,to como beforo .tho House. '.Mr. D. REID, Jun. (Taiori) moved tho adjournment of tlio debate until 2.30 p.m. today. This was carried, and tho House rose at 11.40 p.m.