PARLIAMENT IN SESSION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1874, 7 October 1913, Page 4

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION.

■ —- i LOCAL BILLS, LIVELY TIE ON HARBOUR MATTERS. ! PLURAL VOTING. f DISPUTE OVER WANGANUI BOUNDARIES.

people would vote down any party which dared io tinker with the franchise t'hey , loved so dear. . Mr. J. H.. Bradney (Auckland West) opposed plural voting. Sir J. Ward said that tho Mokau Bill had come down with plural voting in it, and had come from a committee with plural voting in it. It was necessary that it should contain plural voting. He had voted for the llokau Bill and in his timo had voted for a number of other Bills \Mtli plural voting in them. In this case not a soul from the district had asked for an alteration in the Bill Mr. Mao Donald pointed out , that there wero a number of local Bills on tho Order Paper, and said that while he did not object to members discussing Ins Bill ho did not wish to block the other measures. When the discussion had been carried on briskly for an hour Mr. Laurenson suggested amidst a chorus of "Hear, hears!" that a voto should bo taken on the clause. Sinking Funds, , The clauses preceding the oontentious one were then rapidly dealt with. ~ Mr. Wilkinson moved that the sinking fund provided should be 1 per cent., instead of £1, as proposed in the Bill. Mr. Mac Donald objected to the amendment. Aa additional half , per cent, would probably mean that the • loan would cost more than 6 per cent., and this would mean levying a rate. The amendment was lost on the voices. ( Plural Voting Rojeoted. Mr. Mac Donald moved that the plural ■ voting provision inserted 'by tho Local Bills Coinmitteo in clause 12 be deleted and that tho clause be restored to the , form in which it was introduced, cach ratepayer being granted ono vote and no more. Tho House wont to a division on tho Bill at 9 p.m., and tho amendment was carried by 27 votes to 18. Following is the division list:— Ayes (27): Anderson, Bradney, Clark, Colvin,,Craigio, Ell, Fisher, Glover, Hine, Hindmarsh, Mac Donald, M'Callum, Myers, Millar, M'Kenzie, Pomare, R. ; H. Rhodes, Robertson, Sidey,' Statham, Sykes, R. W. Smith, J. C. Thomson, Ward, Wobb, Wilkinson, Veitcli. Noes: Bell, Buick, R. Bollard, Dickson. Fraser, Horries, Guthrie, Herdman, Nosworthy, E. Newman, Pearce, Okey, Scott, G. M. Thomson, Mander, Escott, F. H. Smith. Somo minor amendments were made in other clauses at the instance of tho member in charge of the Bill, and the last olauso was passed at 9.10 p.m. ,

•The House of Representatives met at 7.30 p.m., and went into Committee upon a number of local 'Bills ton minutes later/. (The first measure dealt with was the Gisborne Harbour Board Enabling Bill, in charge of Mr. W. D. S. Mac Donald (Bay of Plenty). Mr. H. G. Ell (Ohristchurch South) supported the Bill, but objected to an alteration mado by the Local Bills Committee ill clause 12. _ Tbo committee had struck out a provision that each ratepayer should exercise one vote in loan polls, and substituted a plural voting, clause,, granting two votes to ratepayers owing property valued at more than £1000,' atiu three votes to ratepayers with property valued at more than £2000. Plural .Voting Defended. ■Mr; G. V. Pearco (Paten), Chairman of the Local Bills Committee, defended tlie plural voting provision. He said that there wore liarhour Bills before the House proposing to borrow, in the aggregate, half a million Bterling. It was only right, ho contended, that the- people who were responsible for the interest and sinking fund oil a loan should have more voice" in regard to raising it than irresponsible peoplo. No parallel was to bo drawn between . plural voting upon a borrowing proposal and similar voting in the election of Parliamentary or local body represon-. tatives. Somo check should be imposed upon tho enormous borrowing of harbour boards. In the history of the Dominion some harbour boards had repudiated their responsibilities and others had expended money upon works which had since been found' useless. A notable example in the latr ter category was that of Napior although in that case there was no tali of repudiation. Tho Leaders on both sides of the House, Mr. Pearce remarked, had voted for the plural voting provision. Both Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward had voted for the New Plymouth Harbour Board Bill and for the..Mokau Harbour Board Bill of last year. ■ '■-.. Mr. A. E. Glover (Auckland Central) protested against the plural voting clause. Mr. .C. A. Wilkinson (Egmont) said that he was opposed to the plural voting proposal.' He thought, however, thatl'tho sinking fund should be increased from one-half per cent., as provided in the Bill, to one per cont. This had boon done in the case of other harbour districts and also to the Gisborne harbour district in the past. Also ho thought that the town of Gisborne should pay a higher rate than the surrounding country. Mr. Mao Donald said that the provision in regard to the rate was necessary in order to secure the loan, but there was no intention to strike a rate at all. The Bill, as introduced, had been agreed to by .the representatives of the districts interested and there was no necessity for any amendment. The Clause Attacked. I',Sir.Joseph Ward (Awarua) said that ho doubt the people of the'Gisbomo district would feel grateful to those members who had nothing to do with the Bill, but who had made an alteration which had not been asked for—even by tho largo land-holders. The alteration that had been made by the Local Bills Committee was entirely in tho interests of the large land-holders. If the amendment' were agreed to it would mean that. 351 men-on the land would be given a , voting power equal to that possessed by a thousand other men on the land. Tho amendment had not been asked for by tho member in charge of the Bill or by those who had promoted it. -The plain fact was that the provision for plural voting had been inserted in order that it could be put into other Bills. Mr. ' Pearco referred to what Sir Josoph Ward had done in regard to the New, Plymouth and Mokau Bills. Sir Joseph Ward said that' in the case of |ho New Plymouth Bill it was necessary in consequence of the division of a district to make provision for an extension of borrowing powers, and it was impossible to secure this amendment without plural voting. Ho had given his support to tho provision on this account. He did not know tho circumstances connected with tho Mokau Bill, but ho was perfectly certain that they wore not similar to those of tho present Bill. In this case the alteration had been made without the peoplo of tho Gisborne district having the slightest chance of considering it. Sir J. Ward's Consistency. The Hon. A. L. Hordman said that when the Mokau Harbour Bill was before th'o House last year the member for Christchurch East moved an amendment, in Committee, to strike out tho plural voting clause. Sir Joseph Ward on that occasion voted againßt the peoplo having one Vote. Could tho right lion, gentleman, reconcile his position then with his position that , night ? Could ho show that he was consistent P .Sir J. Waid: Certainly, I can. Mr. Herdman: There is a clear plain caso; the facts are perfectly clear. Ho contended that it was tho duty of the Local Bills Committee to alter any provision in a Bill that it considered contrary to the public interest. Mr. G. V. Pearco (Patoa) said that he did not think it right to insert a clauso, of this kind in one Bill, and not in another. In reference to Sjr Josoph Ward's attitude, ho contended that it was highly inconsistent to voto for plural voting two years running, i and against it in the year following. Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hurunui) opposed tho plural voting clause, and said that it was a case of "greasing the fat sow." Men of large property in tho Gisborne district woro quito content to bo put on an equal footing with their fellows. , Mr. W. Nosworthy. (Ashburton) supported the clause. "Impertinence." Mr. R. M'Callum (Wairau) accused tho Local Bills Committee of impertinence, but, on being challenged, with-, drew tho term, and substituted "temcrH. J. H. Okey (Taranaki) said that lie was in favour of plural voting in connection with loans. Ho thought that property which had to pay the rates should have a proportionate share in deciding whether the loan should bo Ttiisod Mr. A. Harris (Waitemata) expressed a similar view. , Mr. P. C. Webb (Grey) said tlhat the