PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2256, 16 September 1914, Page 7

PARLIAMENT

-6 LANDS ESTIMATES. SAND DUNES & NOXIOUS WEEDS.' AFTERNOON SITTINGS. The Legislative Council sat at 2.30 p.m. The Statutes Revision Committee reported the following Bills:—lmprisonment for Debt Limitation Amendment Bill (with amendments), Land Agents Amendment Bill (without amendment), Local Elections Bill (without amendment). Further consideration of these measures was sot down for to-day. Tho Council rose at 2.36 p.m. THE HOUSE The Housa met at 7.30 p.m. Six days' leave of absence was granted to Mr. J. Bollard on account of illness. ~ .At 9 o'clock the House went into Committee oil the Estimates. The class of the Department of Lands and Survey, the vote for which totalled £245,376, was taken into consideration. ' Reclaiming Sand Dunes. Mr, G. M. Thomson (Dunedin North) asked if the Government was going to do anything' in the way of getting a forester. The forestry question, he said, was far -too important to be left in the hands of a junior man who had not made forestry a study. He thought that the work should be taken- right out of the hands of tho Lands and Survey Department, and put into the hands of the Department of Agriculture. Mr. R. Scott (Otago Central) said that there was a large area of country on the Galloway Run in Central Otago which might be set apart for tree-plant-ing purposes. The Prime Minister touched on the question of tho reclamation of sand dunes. Ho said'that the matter of dealing with these had passed the experimental stage. A member: Man-am grass and lupin? Mr. Massey: Yes. Mr. Massey went on to say that largo areas of sand-ridden land were being reclaimed, and that there was a proposal in _ the Land Bill to allow settlers on this class of land to purchase holdings at a low rate, providing they reclaimed, jt. It would bo better to givo the holdings for nothing than to let thein lie idle. Mr. G. Witty (Riccartou): Providing they reclaim them. Mr. Massey: Yes, providing they reclaim them. Noxious Weeds. On the subject of the efforts to eradicate noxious weeds being mentioned. Air. Massey said that ho understood that tlie area of these growths was diminishing. An honourable member mentioned Crown lands, and Mr. Massey said that his remedy was to put settlers on the soil. They would do what was possible to get rid of weeds, because it would be a matter of necessity with them. Mr. G. J. Anderson (Mataura) said that it was waste of money to attempt to eradicate noxious weeds (say Californian thistle) from forest hill country. Furthermore, it was unjust' to prosecute farmers for failure to eradicate tho pests. Radical alterations were needed in the Noxious Weeds Act. Many farmers were in favour of abolishing tho measure. Sir Walter Buchanan (Wairarapa) endorsed Mr. Anderson's rrimarks about Californian thistle. On other hand, he thought that the means of preventing the spread /of blackberry, should be vigorously prosecuted. Land For a Show Ground. Mr. W. A. Veiteh (Wanganui) ask-r ed for an explanation as to the vote of £600 for the purchase of a section in the Manawatu Show Ground. Mr. Massey said that the transaction would not cost the State a penny. Thero was a section in the middle of the Manawatu Show Grounds which the A.' and P. Society had offered to purchase at a fair price. Tho owner, however, asked an exorbitant price, so it was proposed that the State should take tho section and hand it over to the A. and P. Society, and that the value of the land should be fixed by a Court of Compensation. . Mr. Veiteh said that he considered the whole procedure improper. What would bo the position if a trades union, or any corporate body, asked for a similar thing to bo done? Ho did not think the transaction had been quite straightforward, and ho proposed to move the reduction of _ the vote, and divide tho House upon it. He added that the section in question belonged to a woman whose husband had first got.it as a military section, and that a road running through the land had been closed, and thus a reduction in its value had been effected. He then moved that the item (£600) should be reduced bv £599. Mr. H. J. H. Okey (Taranaki) said that the Manawatu A. and P. Association had come to the assistance of the Dcfenco Department, and that if the Government could help them to get the land at a fair price they should do so. Mr. Massey said that the law allowed the Crown to take land under the Public Works Act for tho -purposes of an A.'and P. show ground. If the sect-ion was fenced in, the whole showground would be ruined. Sir Walter ,-Buehanan saw no objection to the proposal. Tho vote was passed unaltered. The Department of Agriculture, Industries, and Commerce vote, £216,072, was also passed. The House rose at 0.40 a.m. to sit again at 7.30 p.m. to-day, but before tlie rising the Prime Minister announced that afternoon sittings would be resumed on 'Thursday.