The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVENT MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 22, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1840, 22 August 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLI SH E D EVENT MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 22, 1906.

The Speech from the Throne delivered at the opening of Parliament yesterday j was not a voluble document considering [ the number of subjects it touched ; upon. Guo would have wished, how- ; over, that brevity in the treatment of some of them had not taken tho place of a want of ambiguity, and that some | cloarer indication had boon given of the nature of the proposed “ important | amendments” in tho land laws, and tho nature of the Local Government simplifications that wo arc told aro to take place. A great deal of tho npeoch is more padding ; there is suliioient in it to occupy tho minds of legislators jor a day or two, and to afford pabulum for a week’s debate on the Address-in-Itoply. The programme foreshadowed therein is not an aggres-. fiivo one, and there is room for debato on what it does not as woll as on what it does contain. For instanco, there were expectations that reform or ■ abolition of the Upper Chamber would < have found a placo therein, and tho ; fact that there aro at present an un 1

I j usually largo number of vacancies in I that Chamber that might lung ago I have been filled, but are not, gave 3 strong support to that conjecture. Yet 3 perhaps there is wisdom in not j attempting too much, and thereby | allowing members to devote more time j to tho measures that do find a place on

tho Order Paper. On the whole it is j a carefully-prepared speech, and one j well calculated to disarm criticism, for while we might cavil about what it does not and ought to contain, there is 1 ittlo that it does contain that can give rise to opposition because of the paucity of its information. For example, of the few important items that aro in it few will bo found to say that they should not ho there, such as Land Law Amendment, Local Government Reform, Native Land Law Re-

form, and tho promise that when considering tho appointment of General Babingtoirs success r “ tho whole question of colonial defence will be reviewed”; but when tho details of tho proposed legislation upon those subjects aro known a great deal might bo said for or against, Tho sp'ech merely indicates that these subjects will be dealt with, and it is necessary that they should be dealt with, so the first step at anyrato meets with general approval ; but if it is hereafter proposed to deal with them iu any other thru the proper way that approval will not be so pronounced or | unanimous. We do not'heoitato to

congnituli'.tn fhn I'lvinu-r on having mod-) iij> lii-i niiinl to elh'ufc improvement in tin' aytttom of audit of (k>vommciit, accounts, and if that means, an wo asxmno ii, ilon-', tli ■ repeal of the pernicious J'lililin Knvnninm Act which enabled Iho tndilon Government to lotij;o the Audit Office, Hir.l. G Ward lesorves to ho pa*toil on tlio back foi hia decision. Ch< orful approbatioi must also ho accorded to him for tin detenuinutioii expressed in tho speed: to extend roads and telephones to “ out [lost settlements,” and to ensure a stublo tinanco for purposes of Old Ago Pensions, Education, and 1 loss pitals and Charitable Aid by the sotting apart of endowments. I’ut why ho should fall short of carrying that, system to a nioro legitimate conclusion, and extending it to tho construction of roads and hi id gey cannot ho explained, except on the assumption that his Local Government achemo will include some similar adequate provision. Tho proposal to rovoit to tho old motliod of a separate Native Department does not present any groat attractiveness ; but any improvement in tho prosont motliod of dealing with Native lands will bo welcomed, and as tlio administration rather tliau tho law was responsible for the unsatisfactory progress that lias boon made in that direction, there is yot no cause to dance for joy at tho announcement. The Customs tariff is not to bo touched this se-ssion, and the oxcuso given for that neglect is not. an adeijuato one ; but by way of solatium wo nvo to have what is called tho annuity system introducod for discussion. Theoretically it is a comforting one io reflect on ; but tho objections to it aro t-0 serious that wo waut to boo tlio details of tho scheme bofore according it any measure of approval. Of course no policy spocch is complete without somo reference to farming, and “My advisers,’' wo aro told, are still cognisant of tho fact that “ among the main industries of New Zealand are tho pastoral and agricultural,” and so they “ doom it advmblo to encourago tho application of scientific mothods to productive processes.” Now, as it lias so ofton been recoguisod with plausible frankness that farming and agriculture are so important, ono naturally wonders why somo practical effort is not made to afford these industries tho fullest benefit ol tho expenditure alroady sanctioned year by year for that- purpose, and why tho “ scientific mothods ” already urged upon the Government for adoption to the benefit of those of farming and agriculture aro not adopted. Why are the many recommendations based upon ‘‘scientific mothods ” by scientific men absolutely ignored, such as tho matter of bone manure sterilising, aud other equally important ones to wit '! And why are experiments and work scientifically done for the benefit of tlie farmer actually discouraged by the bonds of the Department 'i Recollection of these things discounts tho value of fresh announcements in this direction, oven though they aro honored by tho privilege of falling from tho vieregal tongue mid the pomp and ceremony of a State function. It is quite evident that tho Cabinet is not agreed upon tho question of land tenure or is afraid to tackle it, and a little more frankness and fulness of detail in regard to every question upon which it is intended to introduce legislation would have been welcomed by the House and tho country, and would have conduced to the better digestion of tho details when those measures came up for final decision.