PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 302, 15 September 1920, Page 8

PARLIAMENT AT WORK

LEASEHOLD VERSUS FREEHOLD

RAISING NEW GOVERNMENT L 0A N

TE AROHA LEASES AND NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION DISCUSSED

THE POLL TAX ON CHINESE

The Legislative Council dealt with unimportant matters during a brief sitting yesterday. The House of spent the greater part of the afternoon .on the Te Archa Crown Leases Bill, which was again "talked out" by supporters of leasehold tenure on the Opposition and Labour benches. This Hill proposes that tenants of the mining leaseholds on which, the town of Te Aroha stands fjhnll have the right to convcrt to the freehold. Leaseholders in the House state that a general attack on the- principle of State leasehold is involved, and they talked a good deal yesterday about tho national endowments. Mr. llasscy refused to state that the Government did not intend to concede the freehold of national endowment lands. '. The Prime Minister moved the second reading of the Immigration Eostric-, tiori Bill in the evfflfrig. He explained the provisions of the Bill at length, and indicated that the policy of tho Government was to maintain a white and loyal New Zealand. Much of the discussion that followed related to the advisability

or otherwiso of attempting to check .Asiatic immigration by diplomatic action

lather than by arbitrary exclusion. Sorno members suggested that the poll-tax ' I on Chinese should be withdrawn, on tiio'ground that it was ineffective as n means j of exclusion, and merely offended the better class of' Chinese people It was ■' stated that the Chinese Government was willing to make a treaty arrangement J with New Zealand regarding immigration. The Bill was read a second time.

r TE AROHA LEASES AGAIN

! BILL TALKED OUT A SECOND TIME , ; , •. NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS Supporters of the' leasehold in the j House of Representatives, had the, floor < Again yesterday afternoon in opposition 1 to the Te Aroha Crown Leases- Bill, which proposes to grant the freeholds>of j. ■ sections now held on lease in the town ; of Tq AToha. The Lands Committee recommended on August 25. that this Bill v should be allowed'to proceed, and the ' motion wn9 "talked out by leasehold I members on the Opposition and Labour .benches. The report came forward again • yesterday, and was "talked out" a second I time after two hours' determined talking ■' b.v the supporters of the leasehold prin1, ciple. . Tl;e Bill, therefore, remains in ; a suspended state. \ ■ ! ' Mr. : H. Atmore (Nelson)*; who resumed ; the debate, said he saw strong indications ' ' that the Government intended to reopen the question of the tenure of national : endowments. ■ Jlr. Jlassey: These lands are not na, r -tional endowments. „ . * Mr. Atmore: "No. But the Bill is • feeling the way." The holders of the ! actions in Te Aroha township had secure • tenmea at peppercorn rentals, added Mr.. Atmor*. They were seeking tlie free* hold in, OTder that they might sell tho land and make large profits. Members of: the Town Board had admitted that this was the case.' The whole question : - of the public estate was involved in tho proposal. ' Mr..T.'W. Rhodes (Thames) said that Te Ajoha had been laid out 41) years ago as a mining township, and it had be-come-a tourist Tesort; and the centre of a fanning district. The continued' existence of the mining tenure was an anomaly. Tho State got no benefit 'financial or otherwise, and the town, suffered because people hesitated to rait expensive buiidinjj on the leaseholds, whioh were liable to forfeiture under the Mining Act. The rentals were paid to the local' body, and the Government was • Retting nothinj. - If the freehold was 'granted the local body would be able to collect' its revenue through the rates, and the Government probably would be paid .£25,000 for the town sections. Te Aroha would become an object lesson of the., advantages of the freehold when the . Bill had been carried. 11

Mr. L. M. Isitt (Christcnrch North), once a stalwart leaseholder, told the House he did not agree that the freehold tenure was the bes l ; tenure for the individual or the nation, but_ he had been forced to realise, as a practical man, that the selfishness of human nature made the leasehold tenure impossible. The supporters of the leasehold were fighting on almost hopeless battle. He waited to say to the Government, however, that if it tiToposed presently to ,part%ith the national endowments, the remnants of the Liberal Party in the House would make a very vigorous fight,. , . lii the course of further debate. Mr. Holland (Buller) mentioned that in May last Sir William Herries had written to the Te Aroha Borough Council stating that a Bill was being prepared, and suggesting that representations to memberß of the House, ft public meeting,, and a deputation to Ministers should be arranged after the meeting of Parliament. Sir William Herries: Good advice. Mr. Holland: That is how public opinion is made. Jlr. Brown (Napier): You do it on the soap-box all the year round. Mr. Holland: And 6ome other people 'do it on beor barrels. A member: Do you object? • Mr. Holland: We do object when tlis beer barrel objects to the soap-box. The debate proceeded for soma time, speakers labouring rather heavily. Mr. Parry (Auckland Central) moved that the report should be referred back to the committee, and this motion was still under discussion when the 5.30 p.m. adjournment ended the debato for the day. Some remarks drawn from the Primo Minister lato in the debate were of interest. Mr. Sullivan (Avon) said that members who were supporting tho Bill would also support the sale of the national endowments. Mr. Massey: There is 110 such proposal before the House. Mr. Sullivan: I am very glad to hear ■that there is iio proposal to dispose of endowment land. Mr. Massey: I did not say that. Mr. Sullivan: I misunderstood the Prime Minister. I should liko to hear exactly what ho did mean. Mr. Massey: You wait and see. Mr. Sullivan: I was hoping the Prime Minister would givo tho House and'the country an assurance now that there was 110 intention to dispose of national endowments. Mi-. Massey said that ho would mako tlo rash promises.

NO DIFFICULTY ANTICIPATED. The opinion that the Government should make haste to place its new loan tipon the market in order that the terms on which the money was to he raised should' not be adversely affectcd by the borrowing activities of local bodies was expressed by the Hon. J. A. Hanan in the House yesterday afternoon. Mr. Hanan asked the Prime Minister whether the Government had yet come to a decision in respect to the amount of loan moneys to be raised, in respect to the terms of the loan, and in'respect to the date at which the loan would be placed on the market. He said that a number of local bodies had already been authorised to raise loans, and that others were obtaining authority to raise large amojints. He thought it possible that a considerable sum of monev might bo withdrawn from the Post Offioe Savings Bank for investment in these loans, and that other sources upon which, the Government depended would be similarly effected. Moreover, there were indications that tho, rates of interest were going up. Would the Government, in view of these circumstances, make an endeavour to "get in first" P Mr. Massey replied that the Govornment did not anticipate it would have any difficulty in raising at a. reasonable rate of interest the money it Tetmired. He had been informed that the City of Wellington had recently raised quite a. large sum at the rate of 5} per cent. If a local bodv could raise money at that rate of interest; the Government would have 110 difficulty in rai.r'ng a loan at tha same rate, or possibly even at a slightly lower rate. The Bill dealing with the' proposals of the Government was in his possession at the present time, and he' would almost rei'tamlv submit it to tho House next week. DISTRIBUTION ~OF~WAR TROPHIES CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEES.' A question regarding the distribution of war trophies was asked in the House i by Mr. J. R, Hamilton (Awarua), who wished to know whether upon the committees to which, the work of ■ allocaj tion had been handed over etery electorate would have representation. Ho told the Minister of Defence, in effect, that the people in his electorate did not know what arrangements were being made to give them representation. The Minister (Sir Heaton Rhodes) replied that the committees comprised tho mayors of cities, the chairmen of county councils and road boards, a representative of tho U.S.A.. and the military officer in charge- of the district or subdistrict. ■ So far as any proposal to include member? of Parliament in the personnel of the committees was concerned, he. thought that members would be glad to be relieved of the responsibility of taking part in the deliberations of bodies which had to weigh the claims of one part of the district against the claims of another. • "INDENTURED - [.ABOUR" A QUESTION ABOUT THE' TUNNEL CONTRACT. "Has the attention of the Minister of Labour been drawn to a contract entered into betweon tho Wellington City Council and one Robert Semple under what is apparently n system of indentured labour?" (islced Mr. J). Jones (Kaiapoi) in the House of Representatives. The question, which referred to the proposal for the cutting of the Orongoronga tunnel by a co-operative party of miners led by Jlr. Semple made the House smile. "What did-you say?" asked Mr. Massey. Mr. .Tones: I was referring to the system of indentured labour that one Robert Seinplo i 3 proposing to introduce into New Zealand. The men he employs are to be prohibited from striking. If they strike they lose all their benefits under the contract. Members: Shame! Shame! (Laughter.) Mr. Jones: If they leave their work on account of sickness without a doctor's certificate they lose any share of profits. [ would like to ask the Minister of Labour if this is in order in this free and enlightened country. (Laughter.) Sir William Hcrries: That is a matter between the Wellington City Council and the contractors. If tliero is any breach of the Labour laws I shall be very happy to look into the question, and I am glad the honourable member has drawn my attention to it. I will ask the Labour Department to see that no infringement of the Labour laws Is perpetrated by the City Council or the contractors. Mr. Parry (Auckland Central): Is he objecting to the workers getting all they produce for once?

PRESSURE AND PRICE

BEET SUGAR

EXPERIMENTS IN OTAGO PROPOSED. A suggestion that the high price of sugar and tho shortage of supply provided an opportunity for the development of the sugar-beet industry in New Zealand was made in the House by Dr. A. If. Nowman (Wellington East). Tho Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Ncsworthy) said that his Department had been making inquiries on the subject. Members would realiso that the scarcity and hi?h cost of labour made tho local production of sugar a difficult proposition. . , ~ , ]>r NewmanSugar is si> <lenr now that tho effort had better bo made now than at any other time. ' Mr. J. Horn OVakaiipu) asked if sugnrbect could not be grown on the irrigated lands of Central Otago Ho suggested that the Minister should procure a supply of seed. Local fanners would be willing to grow some of tl'.e beet, which could then 'bo tested as to quantity and quality of production. • Mr. Nosworthy replied that he would be pleased to look into the matter and to arrange, if possible, for an experiment on tho lines indicated by Mr. Horn, He ' would consult tl\p officers of his Department. BILLS IN UPPER HOUSE The Post and Telegraph Amendment Bill was yesterday received by the islative Council from the Lower House. 'L'lio measuro was read a first tlino. The Coroners Amendment Bill, providing that the fees to be paid to person* attending inquests may be fixed by regulation, was read a second time. Tho Lyttelton Harbour Board Loan Bill was put through tho linal stages apd passed without amendment.

A QUESTION ABOTJT ' GAS. _ Tho trouble nrisinpr from reduced gas pressures prompted a question which was asked in the House yesterday afternoon bv Mr. W. E. Parry .(Auckland Central). Tho question, which was addressed to the Hon. E. P. Lee in liis capacity as President of tho Board of Trade, was whether tho Government intended to introduce legislation this session for tho protection of- the consumer. Mr, Parry explained that discontent had arisen from tho circumstance that while the pressure had been reduced the gas bills remained as before. ' Mr. Lee said that tho composition of gas was not a question for tho Board of Trade. He would place the request before Government for a decision whether there was to be legislation or not. Mr. Parry later asked whether, as tho president ptated that the matter or cts pre-oure was not for tho Board ofTriuk ; to deal with, would the Prrnio Minister j Biw'W House .any idea if. legislation - woiild'bo■ introduced this session'for llie ' protection; of tho consumer in '-nics j when the pressure was reduced. = , ■ Mr. Massey said that Cabinet had not ] completed the list of legislation this session, and this was afl far as he coula go at present. ;