PARLIAMENTARY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2173, 31 August 1907, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY.

Press Association. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. " MAORI LANDS. ■<&. The Maori Lands Settlement Billwas put tlirough its final stages. PURE FOOD. ri - Tho Pure Food Bill as amend" 'fg V, •the Selection Committee IB' erod in Committee of tho Wht following amendment as hue the Selection to: —ln the sale of anj^l or contrary to it was made a proved that luveoading, steps to assort-'* article fence against tanco tion made under i. • Progress was then repo,.. tho Council rose at 4.55 p.m.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2.30 i>.m. MISCELLANEOUS. The Otaki and Porirua Empowering Bill second reading was postponed till Wednesday. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Bill and the Factories Act Amendment Bill were read a second time pro forma, and referred to the Labor Bills Committee. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. Mr. Parata was granted 10 days’ leave of absence on account of Tlliealth. THE TARIFF. The House went into committee on the Tariff Bill.

The Premier moved that the proceedings be reported in Hansard m a similar manner to that in which the proceedings of the Committee of Ways and Means is re|)orted. (Usually the Committee’s proceedings are not so reported.) The motion was agreed to.

Mr. Field moved an amendment to exclude -grapes from the duty of Id per lb. He contended that grapes could not be grown in New Zealand for table purposes to compare with Australian grapes. Most of the grapes were grown in Auckland, but the southern portions of the colony never saw grapes fit for the table which were grown in' Auckland, and it was unreasonable to inflict on poor people an extra charge. Mr. Millar opposed the amendment. Mr. Poole contended that if grapes were allowed in free it would ruiu many small growers in Auckland. Mr. Lang expressed dissatisfaction that the duty wa6 not higher. Mr. Barber supported tile duty, which would afford protection from tho introduction of phylloxera. Mr. Rutherford in supporting the amendment said that whilst at Rotor'll a he purchased Auckland grapes, which tasted like Rotorua bath water. Tho amendment was lost by 51 to 14.

Mr. Millar, in reply to Mr. Guinness, said that portion of the £200,000 remitted on sugar that would benefit the manufacturers of beer would be £3OOO. Mr. Poole moved an amendment providing that sugar required for the manufacture of beer should still pay duty.

Mr. Wilford, whilst in sympathy with Mr. Poole, said it would be Impossible to say which portion of sugar of that imported would be used for the manufacture of beer. He added that if £3OOO was all that would be derived from this source, the cost of collecting the duty would swallow up the whole amount. Mr. Guinness said breweries had to supply the Customs with monthly returns, which could be utilised for the purpose of collecting the duty. " Mr. Millar supported the amendment, as it would be practically impossible to collect the duty. Mr. Fisher said that though he was for the No-License platform as much as any other member of the House, he would support "the Government. Mr. Poole contended that to meet the object of the amendment it would be better to increase the excise duty ou beer. The amendment was lost bv 38 to 24. Mr. Graham asked the Minister if he could give ail 1 assurance that the reduction on sugar would benefit the He contended that jams should be Jd per lb cheaper, but if the jam manufacturers were in the same position as .the brewers, and failed to pass the concession on to..the consumer, then the duty should be retained, as the money would be better in the hands of the Government.

Mr. Mackenzie urged that the Commerce Department should keep in eye on the price of raw material coming into the colony and the price the manufactured article was retailed to the consumer.

Mr. Millar, in reply to Mr. Hogg, said the reduction on sugar would-not affect the sugar-refining in Auckland' ill any way. -The point to be remembered was that if the Colonial Sugar Company found it would be cheaper to refine sugar in Fiji it would remove its refinery there, whether the duty was retained or not. Mr. Wood asked if the Government would take steps to ensure that pur-, chasers of tobacco get 16oz to the lb. At present they got so many sticks, and thereby lost about 2oz.

Mr. Millar said perhaps it could be provided for in a Bill to be introduced. Mr. T. Mackenzie moved an amend ment to place tea, however packed, on the free list. The Minister said that a deal of tea-packing was now carried on in the colony, and the provision- that tea in less quantities than 51b be taxed 2d per lb was to protect the industry. Mr. T. Mackenzie said teas packed in Ceylon and India were pure teas, but largo quantities of decoctions were mixed up with locally-packed teas and sold at enormous profits to consumers. In fact, wholesale houses who were not philanthropists allowed retailers 50 per cent. He asserted that the average price paid for tea was Bd. This was retailed to consumers hero at an average jirice of Is 6d. The amendment was negatived bv 42 to 26. *

Mr. Davey moved that the duty on acetic acid he reduced from lid to id pel" lb, as local manufacturers were being protected to the extent of 100 per cent. Ho added that pure acet'c acid was not being made in the colonv. as the local product contained sulphuric acid.

Mr. Millar said that whilst sympathising with Mr. Davey’s amendment he must oppose it, as one firm in the colony manufactured an article which did not contain the least trace of sulphuric acid.

Mr. Barber, in supporting the amendment, said that 100 per cent, .protection was too high; especially as acetic acid was used in many industries. He added that little labor was <enployed in the manufacture of acetic acid, yet they were penalising many industries by the tax.

Discussion was proceeding when the House adjourned at 5.30 p.m. Tho House resumed at 7.30 p.m. Mr. Davey’s amendment. Was negatived by 31 to 25. In reply to Mr. Hardy, Mr/Millar said the duty on laces had been reduced as they were largelv used for children’s pinafores, etc. Mr. Aitken said tho present duty on cotton laces, which were largely used for pinafores, was 20 per cent, and silk laces, which wore used by the wealthy classes, wore receiving the benefit. Ho urged that cotton laces should remain at 20 per cent and any lace containing sil’k should pay a higher tax.

The class was passed unaltered. At silks, satins, velvets and phishv--not otherwise enumerated, composed of silk mixed with any other material in tho piece, 25 per cent ad valorem up to, and including, December 31st, 1907, thereafter 20 per cent, Mr. Guinness moved to strike out all the words after ad valorem. . 42 t<Tl8 men<inientl was ' n «6ative<l by

Mr. Okey moved an amendment to reduce hosiery not otherwise enumerated from 25 to 20 per cent. Mr. Millar, in opposing the amendment, said numerous articles came in under the name hosiery, including knitted garments which were in every sense wearing apparel and which were scheduled at 40 per cent. He added that hosiery was manufactured in the

colony and last year the valuo of tlio ndustry was £68,000. . ' Mr. Allen contended that the industry had prospered -under a 1(1 per cent and snould remain at* that. The hmomlmont was negatived by -4/* Hardy moved an amendment «s&ako the duty on men’s boots 25 per cent. Ho exhibited a number of boits. The first exhibit ho described a colonialhnado blucher, and it 'sistod of bull’s wool, cardboard ' The material lie described 'i.sgrace to the colony. The xhibit was what he called a '--•Sunday boot, and was English leather. It 05d. This boot, tied hero at 6s 6d i>or pair, at- was made .is a shoddy ho sold undor ...it the Minister ... ..nv proposals through, but it He did so then the country would want to know tlio roason why. Mr. Hannn referred to tlio prosperous condition of the hoot trade in Victoria under Protection whilst the New South Wales boot trado undor Freetrado was in a languishing state. Ho claimed that under Protection the boot trado of the colony would prosper and shoddy bo kept out. He would support tho Government’s proposal. ■Mr. Tanner referred to the decline in the numbers of workmen employed in the boot trado, and stated that owing to loss of timo of men in this ndustry tho averago earnings of the workers were shockingly low. In 1905 one factory worked 26 full weeks, and in 1906 tlio same factory-worked only. 15 full weeks. He urged that some thought should bo given to the men concerned in this industry, as it should be the aim of New Zealand to bo a self-contained country. Tho proposals of the Government were marked by extreme moder ation, and lie should support them. Mr. Hardy asserted that a syndicate had been formed in New Zealand to corner tho boot trade. We should have Rockefellers- in the colony, and lie was not prepared to give them his assistance. He was, like Mr. Tanner, in favor of unionism and helping the worker, but his protection was going into the pockets of the syndicate. He urged that women’s hoots and slippers should be allowed in under a 25 per cent. duty. ■Mr. Millar said that it was surprising what had been done since tinpassing of the resolutions. Importers previously would not look at a colo-nial-made boot, yet since tho resolutions had been passed orders had been given for three times the usual quantity of colonial boots. He contended that until shoddy boots were import-

ed into the country hoots made in the colony were of good leather, and it was only through imported shoddy that the local manufacturers had had to adopt the same practices. Mr. Poole said that whilst believing in . granting protection to tho young industries of a young country, he was not going to support any syndicate. He would vote for the amendment. Mr. Massey said the duty-was going to penalise buslimen, miners, and gum-diggers, who wore the cheaper boots. .Mr. Ell contended that the boots worn by the laboring classes of this colony were made here. •Mr. Laurenson contended that no country in the world liad evor built up an industry without protection. Even in England the districts of Liverpool and Manchester were protected from the industries of Ireland by a high tariff wall, and it -was only when England had firmly established her industries that she tore her tariff walls down. .Mr. Herries objected to a duty being levied on each pair of- boots instead of on value. He could not understand a democratic Government taxing cheap hoots at a proportionately higher rate than higher-priced boots. • . Tlio amendment was negatived by 45 b.v 22.