SPEECH BY MR. HINE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1526, 23 August 1912, Page 6

SPEECH BY MR. HINE.

WHAT A PACE THEY SET! j MACKENZIE GOVERNMENT'S ' DOINGS. • Mr. J. B. HINL (Strattord) said that no greater compliment could be paid to the .• Minister for Finance than/ the reception t given to the present Budget in the coun- fi try. Even the Opposition newspapers had 1 refrained from criticising; it. With Dr t Newman, he felt that no Government had any right to tax people to obtain ' more money than was required from the peoplo I by way of taxation. It was unnecessary 'a to take enough to pile up « huge surplus ' annually. lie hoped that for Ihe future I no such thing would occur. In regard to f expenditure, what a pace the -Mackenzie Government had set! They had in tho three months they were in power, increased the liabilities of the country, under the heading of public works, by some half a million. >lr. Myers: That is utterly incorrect. Mr. Hiun fnid that, en March 31, shortu after the ilackeiuio Government tools a

nffico, the liabilities on tlie Public Work Fund was .£1,135,812, ami nil June .10 i was .01,649,319. The Hon. I!. M'Kenzio said that moneys were accounted for on Jlarch 31, atul not on June 30. The balnnce was manufactured. Sir. Hine: If tlicy are not accounted tor it makes your case all the worse. Continuing, he said that in the three months the Mackenzie Government had been in power they had spent XBGO.OOO in public works alone. He did not approve of tho sending Home of money to be invested in Egyptian bonds or Irish stocks, or .some oilier gilt-edged securities. It should be invested in New Zealand. All the Government needed these securities ''or was to raise sliort-dated accommodation loans, which could be raised easily by tho issue of Treasury bills. A great outcry had bceu raised by tho Opposition against tho Government for their failure to deal with the Customs tariff this session. But what had tho expensive Cost of Living Commission been set up for if it was not to consider the tariff and its relation to the cost of living? In view of this, how could the Government proceed with tariff revision before the report of the commission came to hand? He believed that Customs taxation in New Zealand was on a wrong basis altogether. It was regrettable in the extreme that foodstuffs and clothing were taxed. Mr. Myers: Are you a Freetrader? Mr. Hine: I boliovo in the total abolition of Customs. The Hon. K, M'Kenzie: Are you ft single-taxer? Mr. Ilino: lam .not. I think all income and accumulated wealth should be taxed. He went oil to discuss the Government bind taxation proposals, and ho reminded the House that the man on tho land paid other taxes besides those which ho paid on his land. He approved of tho graduated land tax generally. Mr. Isitt: None of you had pluck to go far enough. Mr. Hine: None of you had pluck to go at all. Mr. Isitt: You turned us out. Mr. Hi-no: I should think we did turn you out. Wo loft you in office three months too long as it was. Ho justified the graduatpd land tax as being quite largo enough in the meantime. Mr. Isitt: The country wants a break-iiig-iip tax. Mr. Hine: A few people do. A few people want to get their hands in other peoples pockets. They don't want to bear their own share of the burden. Concluding, Mr. Hino 9aid that if this Government did not earrv out a radical and progressive policy- it would not long continue to receive his support. He was confident, however, that the Government would carry out such a policy. After the supper i\djour>iment, when Mr. Hme resumed, there wcro only three Opposition members in their pluces, and the bell had to be rung to!summon members. ' Mr. Hine commended the Government for huving brought forward a proposal to give the freehold to all Crown tenants— whether on\lease-in-perpetuity or en renewable lease lands. The statement that the Government proposed to sell the endowment lands was altogether ifntnic*. He w'as pleased, also, to note that the revenue derived from the salo of these lands was not to be included in the revenue of the country, but was to be used for the purchase of more cf what the leaseholders were always calling "the National Estate." SPEECH BY MR. T, W. RHODES. PLEDGES AND INTERJECTIONS. Mr. T. W. RHODES (Thames) caught Mr._ Speaker's eye next, but tho Hon. It. M'Kenzio had also risen to .-peak. Mr. lthodes said that he had been accused of pledge-breaking, but in-supporting Mr. Massey, subject to the conditions ho- had laid down, he felt that he was aiding the principles he had enunciated on tho phittorm. He was pledged to support tho Ward Government, and he had done so. He was not pledged to support the Mackenzie Government, and ho had not done so. It was to his own constituents that he was responsible, and'he had no fears of not being able to satisfy them when' he rendered an account of his stewardship. On tho contrary, lie believed that he stood better with them than he did on election-day. Ho objected to tho member for Avon "poking his nose" into his (Mr. Hhodes's) private affairs. It was true that he hail dono so by interjection only, but four separate interjections had been reported in newspnpers from one cud of tho country .to tho other. Ho could, however, find no reference to them in Hansard. He did not know who was responsible for this. It was surely no business the member for Avon whether ho (Mr. Khodes) sold his paper or gave it away, and ho challenged the right of any member to interfere in his affairs. Generally, lio jommended the Budget proposals, especially those relating to tho freehold. After tho member for Thames had concluded, Mr. Speaker said ho wished to make an intimation to (he Houso concerning interjections not being recorded in Hansard. He had been informed by tho sliief reporter of Hansard that it \vab llio rule that interjections mado by a member were not recorded ill Hansard unless the member speaking took notice of tho interjections in his speech. 53ridently the interjections Mr. Khodes had noted had not been replied to by him. Mr. C{. R. SYKES (Masterton) moved the adjournment of the debate, and the House rose at 11.30 p.m.