THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 887, 5 August 1910, Page 7

THE HOUSE.

THE BUDGET DEBATE. DR. TE RANGIHIROA AND NATIVE LANDS. . Resuming the debate on the Budget, pr. TE RANGIHIROA (Northern' Maori) stated' that he was strongly -favourable.to the throwing open of sur-. plus Native lands to settlement. There was,' however,, not nearly so much idle Native land as was alleged in'some quarters. In all, tho lands in question did not exceed more than seven ihillions',of acres. As there were .48,000 Natives, and each.was allowed 100 acres, that would account for. five millions of acres. ..He went-.on to admit that settlement in his district had /been slow—very slow—but this .was due' to local conditions. To those who talked about\Maori landlordism', he would like, to point 'out; that whereas the; Europeans would : -require rent equal to at least 5 per cent., the Natives were ns .a: rule : satisfied ; with about 3J per cent. Then.again - the Natives .were lhiieh fairer than the 'Euro-, peans in. the matter, of readjustment of' valuations.,,As , a matter '.of fact..; tho Maori landlord was much superior:.';to' the .'European landlord. '-.Tho fact' was that- some Europeans did notlike Maoris to be landlords because .they' were dark in colour. , :■;"' • •..' '. • ■ ' ','■ . A member: No, it is because the Maori does not "work, ' ;, '--" '■-.'.. Mr. T. E. -Taylor': Andsbnie white-men' don't w-ork'either: ■-;""■-' ; '/. :;. .'-■■ Continuing his remarks, Dr. To Rangihirda' stated that, it was Just as, logical that the "owner of 'a large block -of buildings on. Lanibtori. Quay should.,be. compelled ..to sell to his tenants as "that a large .landowner should be .compelled to subdivide and; -sell, (Radical ,'Hearhears.)':lt was.-his"opinion'that"the salvation of the Maoris rested upon them becoming a race of workers on the: land. '. 'TWO AUCKLAND'MEMBERS. "■... : Mr.;POOLE (Auckland'West) : said "that the clear line- of demarcation■■; in Connect tion with • the ;debate was. a -.'contest" be:, tween those, who were -fighting-" for, the increase pf , wealth: far; their clients, and ' those who' were 'fighting', for; tlio -.necessaries of life for the. people." "Referring, to ocean mail services, ,Mr. ,Poolo!.:read a. magazine cutting' to .sho.w that' New' Zealand meat was now".finding,.its-',;, way on -to...the -American /market.''' If our pastoralists were able to, -command, a market of, eighty or ninety /millions''-in .thpHnited States,'not to'mentionCanada',' it would mean a- great, deal .to. them.' -Referring to'the: proposal, to establish the sngar boet industry, Mr. Pool© apprb'ved - of it, on. the ground, that concessions, had' been made to the sugar-consumers, but j 'owing to the manner, in which the country was 'being "bled, they had not been' appreciated; : '- : ■;■ •"'".■-■■ . •■ ■ • •■:■■ , Mr. A. E. GLOVER (Auckland Central), complained. that people had been, forced, to-go to. the money-lender wheii building Ileuses, owing.; 'to' the Government advanco being insufficient. .He !protested against.-. a special,. tariff, for revenue,-being-'-placed lon- the Cook Islands. Re-; ferring to the: domestic•'servant problem, ,Mr, Glover-said that many servants were treated in a scandalous- manner, sorno by who had' at one time been servants. . themselves: . He quoted: '. in-, .stances of'girls coming to his house and 'asking for-a little, butter and sugar. . If girls-were'; treated as'human beings, he declared, there, would . not : ,be- such an outcry,,' ■.....- '..-•'. • "',..-■; V MR, SEDDON'S;'VIEWS, • "•': •■Mr.. SEDDON (Westland)'' referred at length to the-'Unsatisfaotory nature of the. .water-power regulations; -It would be a;good thing, he said, if'a committee', wero 'set. up to consider the matter. The watcr.pbwer.; regulations . in .force-;-)n.. l ,Cajuida. ;were worthy, of consider'ation by the. New.' Zealand' Government. ■' A'.copy, of ..the license which ■"'belaid on-the. table of the Houser--,-'•-' •-.'Hon. R.;M'Ken?.ie: That lias been done. .'.Mr. Seddon: Well, I must have missed •it.!' ~ :. ? ':yi"' '- ;;.'Continuing, Mr. Seddon said it would be. possible for the Government to gene.rate electricity at Otira and use it- for •railway.and other tract.ion.-r.'.Mr.' Seddon referred to the very hazardous, work, in Which some hundreds' of ■ men "were en T ' gaged at Otira, and.stated was no doctor, nurse, or hospital ih... the district. When'.the tunnel work-was first started he' had taken" this matter- in hand, and tried to get some encouragement' from .the-; Government, hut) they did; not see their way to. grant medical assistance. Sirice;_then.,accidents.--had happened,.'and the men were determined to (get that assistance. , At a, recent meeting the men , decided to contribute so-much out of .their weekly; earnings for.; this purpose,; ami the:residents-promisee} to nelp them to get a niedical niair for the district. "An . application' V had. now - been, -received for ,'the.iposition, but there were'some buiid 7 ings.belonging to!the Public'Works.Department ' which would he ideal! i for. a .cottage hospital. He had - Suggested to the''Minister for Public Works that one of these buildings should be "so 'used, and he;., trusted, that the Government .would: 'in-'.every 'way.'assist. the men's project. 'Mr. Seddon also referred at somo lengt/i : to'- the, successful opening .up'.of ( Crown lands on the W«s):' Cpast,, lind; to,;the necessity of .'acting npon'thorecoinmendations of the Royal' Commission .'in' regard to; the introduction of Oregon timber. ' MR. BOLLARD ON LAND BALLOTS, j rMr.- BOLLARD , (Eden) : ? 7spoko in advocacy of a Vancouver service. The; colony, however, should'not be committed to a Vancouver sen-ice for any length' of .time,"because he,had reason;to know that, .the tnited States would hot allow Canada to, take'/th'e whole of the '.Australasian,] trade;' He was glad that tho,Government 'was;'providing, for 'a ;,proper '-.-defence service, but he .objected, to. the [age limit for .tho retirement'of officers. 'He hoped that the Local : Government Bill -would bo ' passed this 1 session,' but he doubted,, it. There. were .too many "tin-pot" vroad boards in Ne\v Zealand. He objected to. .the proposal;:td throw thefcost'.of educa r . tioh upon local bodies'. Speaking-'on tho] land; question, Mr. Bollard said he was. born a freeholder audwould dio.a free-' 1 holder. -No part of.'the civilised ./world .tofday except New Zealand was.: trying to'settle its lands• by' leasehold; Maily. of those people who .wont to the.ballot for sections only did so .with oi view/ to. 'speculation.'' ', ~, ; ! Mr.-.Jennings: Well,;'then,'the Land Boards are not 6N)ing ; their duty. .'. :Miv Bollard: You know .how"it is doiio in your district,- Of course,- I.don't sug-] gest" that'yuu are connected with-^— Sir Joseph Ward: Whut would you /suggest? , • '.'.-. f '.'•'-. •. ■'•'./ Mr. Bollard: I would suggest' public auction, for the peoplu with the money get the.land ultimately. ".' • , ..'■■■■; :. Centinuing' his' re.marks, Mr.' Bollard sa,id that-he was a thorough believer in the leasehold with the right of jituehase. MR. LAWRY'S OPiNipNo. ; ''■' Mr! LAWRY (Parnell) declared, that' Mr.' Massey's No-confidence; amendment on tho laud question.ivas : ,simply. a trap. The worst thing about; the'leasehold was that the State tied down the tenant with, conditions-that absolutely "prevented him' • from making tho best of;. his holding. (Hear, hears.) - ''-'"' ; ..'-. , ; Mr. Greenslade: Very-vexatious,' sniiiu' ■of them. . ' , •■•■-V'l ■ '•-. -Mr. Lawry: It's not only vexatious, hiit 'it's absolutely tyrannical. '.Continuing,' !Mr. Lawry asked if Mr. Massey would •agree to give private 'lessees, or lessees of the Auckland Education Board,',the right to acquire the freehold at something like the original valuation. , He that the Prime Minister should introduce a graduated stamp duty, of; which" ho (Mr.' Lawry) had been a supporter for ■ twenty years. By this means an enormous revenue could bo obtained without tm. posing any' liabilities, on any. single individual; The Cook Islands ought to have some representation in tho House. MR. ARNOLD'S SPEECH. Mi. ARNOLD (Duncdin Central) ex pressed his satisfaction with.the financinl position and complimented the Minister for Railways on his administration during tho year. If it was true that tho lower-paiil men had been the chief sufi fercrs by retrenchment he hoped that they would be the first benefited. now .that the denression had passed away.

Ho recognised tho difficulty of forming/ sinking lunils while loans were still being raised, but sooner or later, not only must the borrowing policy b'e gradually tupeietl off, but a sinking-fund of sumo kind, with sufficient security must be provided so that the interest on these, great loans which were gradually "piling up would be reduced, if not entirely removed. With regard to the land queslion Mr. Arnold expressed: his', opinion that time was on this side of tin: leaseholders, who, he said, included the great .majority of the breadwinners of thn'JJominion, and almost 100 per cent, of trades unionists. He. admitted that almost every individual desired to have- a freehold of his own, but that proved nothing. Men might desire that which would injure the community as a whole. Mr. Arnold dwelt on tho satisfactory results of tho, Conciliation Councils, which seemed to show a new spirit of conciliation between employers and employed. Had it not been for the decrease of 1258 in the number of young people employed in factories, -thorn would have been u gain of 21G, instead of a falling-olf of 1012, in the amount of factory-employed labour last year. lie thought that ot-.i< explanation of the decrease of yqnthful workers was that parents objected to the conditions and surroundings of factory life as it was- provided for them. Approval was expressed of the proposed Unemployment Bill and . Annuities Bill. Mr. Craigie (Timaru) moved the adjournment of the debate at 11.10 p.m., unit tho House rose.