MR. ATMORE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1375, 28 February 1912, Page 6

MR. ATMORE.

THE SPHINX SPEAKS. BUT DOES NOT SOLVE THE RIDDLE. Mr. ATMORE (Nclsm), who styles himself an Independent Liberal, rose to speak as Mr.. Speaker was about to put the question at eight o'clock. His seat is on one of the front centre benches, and caused some amusement at the outset by asking if lie could turn his back on Mr. Speaker and face hon. mombers so that ho could seo who he was talking to. Several Government members offered their seats, and Mr. Atmore walked up the middlo aisle to the back benches and commenced his speech. He explained that he was absolutely unpledged to either party, and went on to condemn in unmeasured terms tho system of spoils to tho victors that had grown up in Now Zealand, and to indict the Government for certain errors of administration. At to their legislation, ho approved of it, except one or two Acts. As an instance, he cited the payment of ,£IOOO paid to tho Chief Justice for work outside bis Department. The Chief Justice was the most highly-paid official in the country, and there was no justification for such a payment to him. ' He did not know he cruld sit and occupy tho position he did sentencing 6omo poor wretch to prison for having tafcea £30 or .£4O. He cnarac-' terised such payment as an infraction of tho moral code. Many a man. under the press of necessity had taken a few pounds, and been sent to gaol for it, but their offence was as nothing to that committed by the Chief Justice in taking that JE4OOO. If he had any right to take it, then the Government had no right to give it to Mm. The Government gavo this largo 6um, yet they gave an increase of only 2Jd. a day to tho railway men. Yet the people who had their nose to the grindstone—the men and women who had no joy in life at allwere the true heroes of life. No truly radical Government would have given the Chief Justice that £4000. And that was not all the transaction, for in addition they had given £1750 to Mr. Justice Button, of Auckland.

Compulsory TraininoIn regard to compulsory training, the Government had his hearty sympathy, and he supported that principle, and ho disagreed with the member for Christchurch North (Mr. Isitt) and the member for Otaki (Mr. Robertson). It was their duty to prepare against a Japanese invasion. Tho Pacific to-day was simply a Japanese pond, and tho only way to stop the Japanese coming down was" by compulsory military training. Ho spoke in favour of the freehold. Ho would like to seo that overy man in this country had a little freehold. (Hear, hear.) Many of those who wore fulminating against tho freehold in tho country wore trying to get a little bit of freehold for themselves in the country. By this means of giving a freehold to overyono they would bo making a most effective stand against the progress of aggressivo Socialism.

"Serve Them All Alike." Speaking nf Nafivo lands, Mr. Atmoro said (hut this question introduced n disnuieting feature in tho Opposition policy. There arc about ,03,000,(1(10 worth of land comprised in estates of a capital value- of •£23.000 and over, and the owners of that land were largely tho party behind Mr. Masscy. Tho value of tho Nafivo lands was not moro than one-fifth.or one-sixth of those estates, and he desired to address to tho Opposition a direct question. Was that party as a whole, prepared to take up Hie Government policy, or something similar, and simultaneously with tho acquisition of tlioso Native lands not required for Iho Maoris, apply such a breakintr-up process,,to the bis estates? •Mr. Massey: Treat them both alike. (Ministerial laiighter.l Mr. Atmore: Aro Ihey prepared to do thn same, for llinir own party as for the Natives? TTo continued that tho bulk of tho land fit for milling up was not in, the hands of the Maoris, but in tho hands' of New Zealandcrs who largely professed allegiance to Sir Joseph Ward. In his opinion neither party was t.articularly satisfactory, and ho looked forward (o thp titn? when a new party would bo evolved I from the present chaos. It was a most damnable indictment of the party t-Tstom 1 if th« best braina Is Parliament oould not

drop tlitir miserable party feelings and solve tho problems which really counted. Tho real question was how could a man living in a rational manner derive most happiness.

Still an Independent. Mr. Atmoro said that he declared himself an Independent Liberal candidate, and he was an Independent Lilieral member. Jls had given no pledge lo either party and because ho had declared that ho would not stand for party ho received tho biggest majority ever recorded in Nelson. Jle strongly condemned the Judicature Amendment Act, 11)10, which ho said was passed for the benefit of one man, and was a gross injustice. In regard to the Dreadnought, nobody should begrudge a larger contribution to tho Navy, but tho Primo Minister had no right to take tho initiative as he did in the eyes of tho world without consulting Parliament. When he had done so, no member of any party could do other than vote to ratify tno gift. There was too much Cabinet control and 100 littlo Parliamentary control. (Opposition hear, hears.) Ho did not think much Radical legislation would come from the present Opposition. (Ministerial hear, hears.) He was not ono of those who said harsh things about the squatters. They had done good work in their , time, but the present was a time for closer cultivation, and arrangements that wore onco good would have to bo swept outside. Taxation should be based on equality of sacrifice, and the wealthy men of this commuuity were not bearing their fair share of taxation. The Ministry that would command confidence could not be drawn altogether from one side of tho House or the other. He did not suggest that thcro should be a coalition, but the best brains should bo in a position to tackle tho questions that wanted tackling in tho interests of the Dominion, and everything that stood in the way of that consummation must be put aside, among tho things that did not count.

The Labour Question. The labour question was bound up with tho cost of living, and it coidd not be solved by the inflammatory talk of agitators. Their occupation would bo gone if Parliament earnestly went down to tho roots of tho question. He approved of the National Provident Fund, and the Workers' Dwelling scheme. Whatever party was in power, they would have to tollow on those lines. Tho Governor's Speech may havo been brought down the day after the fair, but it wa9 a truly Radical programme. (Hear, hear, from Ministerialists.) It could not be carried out in a fortnight, as the member for Wellington South had said, and some of its proposals would impose such burdens on the fit for the benefit of tho unfit that the fit also would break down. Why was there such an alarming increase in suicides and lunacy? We needed a Government that would remove the causes, and then there would be a happy NewZealand. Mr. Isitt: Shut up the drink bars. Mr. Atmore: Soino men have a speck before their eyes and cannot see anything else. Mr. Isitt: Whisky men see two. Mr. Atmore went on to arguo that drink was not so much a cause of misery as an effect. Ho deplored the evils of excess in drink, but deprecated extreme views. "Tired of tho Party Wrangle." He • had listened to the debate with great interest, and had heard both sides of the question. He was sorry it had been treated entirely as a party question, and realities had been obscured by party feeling. Whether the future would bring forth a reconstruction or a younger New Zealand party, time alone would show, but the peoplo were getting tired of the party wrangle, and ho looked on the debate as largely an indictment of tho party system rather than an attempt to find out whether the country last December had intended to serve a writ of ejectment on tho Ministry. Ho was against tho second ballot, which, in his own case, had meant extra public expenditure merely to empuasisO the fact that he had a majority. We had no money to waste for that sort of thing, when wo had so many unroadoi back-block districts and unbridgod rivers. There was no unearned increment in tho remote backblocks—(An Opposition member: Hear, hear!)—and if the far-back settler wero paid overtime at tho same rate as the wharf labourer, he would be a rich man.

Freehold and Leasehold. He again insisted that to draw distinctions between rent and tax, between freehold and leasehold, was merely to promote a delusion. The answer to people vho said, "Where will you find laud, when it is all sold." was, "Whcro will you fino land when it is all leased?" A proper land tax and income tax would'automatically prevent reaggregation. New Zealand in the futuro would le the home of the limited freehold. Mr. Atmore depre-' cated narrow class representation of the working man or of anybody else. A 6tiff graduated income tax must bo imposed. Until mombers dropped their wretched party wrangling and got down to the things that really mattered—to the essentials—this could not bo called "God's Own Country." There was hardly a paper in New Zealand but had been holding this Houso up to ridicule because it met to decide a definite question and then apparently straightway forgot all about it. Mr. Atmore once again demanded a plain statement from the Opposition as to howit would deal witli large estates. There was a feeling throughout the Dominion, ho said, that the Opposition, or a majority of them, wero the lineal descendants of tho old Squatter party. (Opposition "Noes.") If the Reform party won this division, the first thing it would have to do would be to bring down a truly comprehensive radical programme. "If you don't," said Mr. Atmore, "you will bo very quickly put out, because the people are going to march on, and, if you get in the way, you are going to get hurt." (Applause from all sides of the House.)