PARLIAMENTARY NEWS

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 22, 26 July 1893, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY NEWS

House of Reprksentatives. Further leave of absence for a week was granted to Sir George Grey on account of illness, and to Mr Mitchelson for a week owing to urgent private business. Replying to questions it was stated that there was very little likelihood that Government, in making advances to settlers on the security of their permanent improvement?, would place leaseholders upon the same footing as freeholders ; that it was impossible to deal with the codlin moth pest by legislation this session as the views of the settlers were so diverse on it ; that Government conld not allow farmers the privilege of obtaining fencing wire free of customs duty. Mr Pratt resumed the debate on the financial statement. He objected to the proposal to abolish the Native Department and spoke in favor of Mr Carroll being ap. pointed Native Minister. The Premier, in his opening remarks, referred to the fact that he had been twitted for want of courage in failing to reply to the speech made by Sir John Hall relatiye to the debate, but he reminded the House that a good general would choose his own time and ground, and he had selected the present opportunity. He had no desire to be personal in what he was about to say, and he hoped when he sat down there would be no heartburnings. As to the financial policy of Government, that had scarcely been touched by the Opposition speakers, and this placed him in a difficult position. Indeed, he would assert that if two-thirds of the Opposition speeches were analysed they would be found to be rather in favor of the financial statement than otherwise. Had he spoken after Sir John Hall, he would have been accused of a desire to bring the debate to a close, and he had also heard that Mr Bolleston would not address the House until the Premier had done so. Sir John Hall's speech, during the earlier part of toe debate, was a credit to him, nnd he warmly complimented him on it, saying he regretted the colony was about to lose the services of the hon. member for Ellesmere. The records of the year 1879 could not be passed over, and since that date there had been borrowing and reckless expenditure, and the lands of the people had been parted with on a reckless scale. He maintained he was correct in saying the liabilities quoted by- Major Atkinson in 1879 were fictitious ones, and he could prore on the authority of Mr Oliver, a former Minister of Public Works, that in 1879 there was i' 1.239,000 of liabilities as against the purchase of Native Lands. Further, he was prepared to prove, by returns, that Major Atkinson had overstated those liabilities in various ways, and he gave several in stances in support of his statement. When Sir John Hall asked him to revere Maior Atkinson's memory, he should also allow him to cherish memories of old fneods like McAndrew, Sheehan, Ballance, and Sir Qep. Grey. The reason why Ue bad told ibs people of Auckland about these overrated liabilities wn» because it had been so frequently asserted that the fiaaoee of the Grey Government had nearly wrecked the colony. He also justified the assertion he made in Auckland that the Atkinson Government had indulged in borrowing and squandering. He defended the Government from the repeated charge of living on tbe released sinking fund, and said the total amount they had obtained from that source for three years was a paltry £45,000, whilst on the 31st March there was no less than £177,000 to the credit of the Public Works Fund. Kef erring to the Graduated Land Tax, he com batted the assertions that it would cause alarm or injure the colony in any way. The tax was intended to prevent the aggregation of large estates. Deferring to Sir Robert Stout's speech on the statement, he said that the hon. gentleman was in accord with the Government policy on all points, except the graduated tax and exemptions of improvements, but he was not opposed to the principal of exempting improvements, only he feared that the finance might suffer through it. The Premier spoke for three hours. He strongly justified the Government proposals in regard to railway control, and spoke warmly in defence of the co-op-erative principle of labor. Government bad now placed their proposals fairly be* fore the country, and would stand or fall by them. The Hod Mr Rolleston, who followed, said the Premier's speech was full of wind and sound, but there was very little in it, either in facts or figures. He contended there had been ample debate on the Budget, and that the debate had shown not only that the finance of the Government was not strong, but that it was perilously weak. After defending the administration of the Atkinson Go* vernmeut of 1879, Mr Rolleston said the surplus was accidental and not to be relied on. In conclusion he said if he never came back to the House he should never cease in his eflorts to explain to the people the fallacies that were being practised on them. The debate was adjourned and the House rose at 1.20 a.m.