GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2604, 11 August 1882, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

fPBEBB ASSOCIATION TBX.EGHAM. ) LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Thubbday. August 10. The Council met this afternoon and immediately adjourned till Monday. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2 30 p.m. NOTICES. Mr Gkobgb gave notice that he would ask tho Government if it would bring in a Bill making it illegal for any member of this House to accept office cf profit under the Crown until he had first sought re-election. THB SMALL BIBDB NUISANCE BILL, This Bill was reported from tho Legislative Council, with amendments, which, ou the motion of Mr Steward, were agreed to. PBBSONAL. Mr Bathgate made personal explanation relative to certain allegations said to have been made by tho member for Pioton that he (Mr Bathgate) had lived in England at the expanse of tbe colony. Tho fact of tho matte; was that ho got leave of absence on half-pay, the whole of which was absorbed in paying passages to and from England Mr CONOIIiY said that bo never need any euch expression as that imputed to him. THE NO CONFIDENCE MOTION. The debate w es resumed by Mr Levin, who announced hio intention of supporting tho motion for the second reading. . , Mr Tawhai announced his intention of supporting tho amendment of Mr Montgomery. His opinion was that they should not borrow any mote money at present, and thereby increase the burden of taxation. Mr Hobbs looted upon Mr Montgomery’s amendment as a most extraordinary one, It was ostensibly made with the idea of catching the votes of those who were opposed to borrowing, whereas, as shown by Mr Oonolly in his own statement, it was in favor of horrovring. Ho quite believed that the Government had the unbounded confidence of the country. The Native Minister, in particular, was lauded for bis successful operations at Parihaka, Major HabeiS announced that he would vote for the amendment. In common with many other districts, the district he rf p~c sented would get no benefit from the borrowed money, but, on the other hand, they would be saddled with its burdens. Mr Munbo announced that ho would support the motion for the second reading, Ho complained that tho goldfields vote was too small, and to that extent tho financial proposal* of tho Government weie vmsatisfao-

i tory. Against that ho placed the adminis--1 trationjof the Government, which he reviewed ; in the most favorable terms. Mr Jotob characterised the loan proposals i as an act of indecent haste. If the statement mads by the Treasurer that at least 10,000 1 parsons weald be in greatly straightened circumstances if this loan was not negotiated went home, the effect on the credit of the colony would be most disastrous. Breathing space till next year without borrowing wonlc have a most beneficial effect on the credit of the colony. If the question of railway administration was gone into, a bill of indictment would be preferred sufficient to hurl the present Government from office, and that very justly, too. Mr Moss asked Mr Montgomery to state plainly if the amendment was meant that all borrowing should’ cease for a year, at least. If so, he would support it. He bad fabled a motion affirming that principle, and that motion was supported by twenty-four members from both sides of the House. On that occasion Mr Montgomery walked out, and he was anxious to know his real views on the subject now. The expenditure showed an excess over ordinary revenue of at least £270,000. A very large proportion of that was sent away to the foreign market. The aggregate earnings of the whole of the population of Now Zealand did not exceed thirteen millions, In contradiction of the opinions expressed by the Treasurer, he contended that the customs duties were not lighter now than they were ten years ago. The apparent decrease ho attributed to a lack of purchasing power on the part of the population. The debate was interrupted by the 5.30 adjournment. EVENING SITTING. The House resumed at 7,30. The debate was resumed by Mr Moss. Referring to the Grey Government, he said it was the misfortune of the Government to have had an unfavorable time to contend against, while on the other band it had been the luck or good fortune of the present Government to have fallen upon the exceptionally good times. He scouted the idea of calling a sinking fund on investment in their own debentures. Previous to the loans of 1870 that fund was invested in the debentures of other colonies, asd securities, and it was only since that period that the investment had been made in their own debentures. These borrowing schemes had now reached enormous proportions. At first the proposal was to borrow ton or eleven millions, extending over a peried of ten years. The fact was, that during that period they had borrowed the enormous sum of twenty-two millions. Judging from that, these four millions would lead on to farther borrowing, and it was impos siblo to arrange whore eventually it would be carried to. The whole proposal for this loan was based on the argument that it was required to find employment for a certain number of men. It that was the real cause of the borrowing as it waa made to appear, then why not contraot a temporary loan until the persons are drafted off into other branches of labor. Unlike the other colonies, their loan expenditure wes not confined strictly to reproductive works. In Now Zealand they were spent on all manner of things—prizes for Volunteers’ firing, furniture for that House, &o. Mr Eubst said that he pitied the Opposition, and was ashamed of it when he thought of the origin of this amendment. It was the result of a paper signed by forty members of the Opposition asking Mr Montgery to take this step, pledging themselves to support him, It was not a spontaneous support, it was simply the result of that written bond. He appealed to the leader of the Opposition, if he was honest, to tear up that paper, and let members vote according to their conscience. Ho deplored the fact that much of the statesmen element which characterised the earlier days of the New Zealand legislature had disappeared. He contended that the right time and place to discura the policy of borrowing waa in the motion tabled by Mr Moss a few days ago, affirming the principle o! deferring further borrowing till next year. On that occasion the debate actually dropped down to nothing, and some of the members who had now spoken against borrowing actually voted against the motion. He showed the importance of the loan to Auckland as a measure of justice, and concluded by expressing his entire satisfaction with the administration, and expressed his belief that if defeated an appeal to the country would result in a large return being made ; n favor of the Government,

Mi- Fish, alluding to the remarks of the previous speaker about a paper being signed, asked him if that was the only written paper he had ever heard of. He never heard of the written Auckland compact of 1879. Was it not true 'that the present Government had made a compact with the bon, member and others to do certain things in consideration of certain votes. Ho would like to ask Mr Hurst if the promises had been redeemed. Was it not a fact that one of the contracting parties threatened that if the compact was not fulfilled it would be nailed to the Speaker’s chair. The member and hia friends had been stigmatised as “rats.’’ The member for Waitemata said he was a patriot, but he must have some other guarantee for the fact than the hon. member’s word. Again, it was understood that up to the moment of the compact the hon, membere were in close communication with the other side. A great deal had been said abont the form of the motion. To his mind it suggested ambiguity. It meant a vote of want of confidence, and as euch he would accept it, and vote for it accordingly. It was not to be expected for one moment that ell who voted for this motion would so vote for the same reason. At the outset he felt constrained to support the Government. On his arrival hero he found what he bad heard before, that their conduct was weak and vacillating. Day after day they met the House without any definite purpose or business. The first act of the session was the election of committee chairman. Might ho ask Mr Hurst if the nomination was part of the celebrated compact. Would anyone say that in nominating that gentlemen they knew that they were nominating a man who was utterly incompetent, and desired to pay a debt they owed him, and could not get rid of his importunities any other way. Fancy the horrible fate the Government designed for the House for a period of three years in making the House sit under that member’s presidency. Lika a good boy, the member when he eaw he coaid rot go in, assented to elect another. For a long period of the session no policy Bills were produced. For weeks the floor was strewn with private members’ Bills. They were allowed to go as they liked, so as to allow the Government time to deal with the new members. What they wanted was to catch the voting of members of the House, and they wanted to see how far they might go, They found tho Government charging the Opposition with the responsibility for the waste of time. The first Bill brought down was tho Native Reserves Bill, and upon that msasu e hung a tole. The Government whip was actually running about asking members to vote against it. It was well known that a majority of tho Cabinet desired to get the Bill withdrawn, and but for the firmness of tho Native Minister it would have been withdrawn. Then, when it came on for the second reading they found the very men who had been working against the Bill voting for its second reading. Did not that conduct show that the Government was anxious at all hazards to rotoin office. Next the Land Bill was brought down, At least, the late Premier spoke in terms diametrically opposed to the Bill. They were bound to believe that that was an expression of opinion acquiesced by tho rest • £ the Cabinet, and yet in the interval of a fo*r short months they brought in a Bill diametrically opposed to these views. Could they believe that the Government was sincere in its laud policy, es now communicated. Again, they were to have steps taken for a direct steam service, despite the fact that commerce was languishing forjtho want of it they hud done nothing definite on the point. The ease of the Taranaki Iron Sand Bill was contrasted with conduct pursued by the Government in the case of the Plimmer, Reeves and Co.’s Bill, the result being that justice was refused in the first-named case, because the parties were of little social importance as compared with tho others. Tho scheme of national insurance was referred to as one of tho most impracticable that oould be imagined. The scheme indicated nothing short of a softening of the brain. All through the policy of the colonial finance there is a studied effort to relieve the wealthy and place the burden* on the shoulders of the industrial classes. Nothing in the shape of Local Government Bills had yet made their appearance, nor would they bo brought down. At the last moment the Treasurer would bring

{down some sort of a proposal for a farther continuance of the subsidies. Their whole conduct was vacillating and insincere. Their motto waa this—“ These are our Bills, and if you do not like them yon may alter them.” They took great credit to themselves for making the railways pay, but the fact waa they were unfair, as no allowance was made for depreciation of permanent way and rolling stock. With facts like these before them it waa absurd to say the administration of the Government had been good. Referring to the sudden conversion of the member for Buller, he read a telegram he had just received from one of the Buller constituents, who said the member for Buller has got all he wants for Buller as against Greymontb. That was the price of his support, and no doubt it was the price paid for the support in many other quarters. It was irregular in a variety of ways influence of this kind operated—some by very light means, as, for example, an official invitation to dinner. Indeed, it was awful to think that the liberal interests of a colony could be thus lightly sacrificed to rich dinners. Alluding to the unfair manner in which Government carried out contracts with its tradesmen, he instanced the case of contracts entered into with two Dunedin firms—the one rich and wealthy, and the other poor and struggling, A protest against an injustice ws» made, the complaint being one and the same in both cases. In the case of the wealthy firm, the complaint was at once remedied ; and in the case of the other, the remedy was tardy and long delayed. Alluding to the Loan Bills, be aoked what reason there was for the Bills being separated, and why was the North Island Bill placed first. The only answer ho could make was that it was arranged so as to pander to the Auckland men, and thereby sow discord in the ranks of the Opposition, It was a significant fact that the route of the Northern main trunk lino had not been decided upon. That was to put an engine for corruption no Parliament should place in the_ hands of any Government. The explanation given by the Treasurer on this head was nothing short of a miserable subterfuge. As regarded the other Bill, he did not think 1 it was fair to the South Island. They were continually being taunted with the misdeeds of the Grey Government. He objected to that. They were well able to answer for themselves. This was a new Parliament, and they were not answerable for the shortcoming of any previous Government. They were prepared, when the proper time came, to form a Government altogether outside of the Grey Government, and that Government, he could tell them, would command the confidence and respect of the colony. He could inform them that Sir George Grey and Mr Sheehan would not, on any account, again take office, despite what had boea said or insinuated to the contrary. They might jeer at these gentlemen, but he could tell them that the member for Auckland City was a giant intellect compared with anyone be saw on the Ministerial benches. Mr Maoandrew was also opposed to taking office. Whatever was said against him as an administrator, it was notorious that he had begun life thirty-five years ago a poor man, and he was a poor man still, and that was more than many public men could say. After criticising the individual members of the Government, he said that no matter what the result might be, the Opposition had dona its duty, fAt 13.20 Mr Fish concluded his three hours’ speech, j Mr Petbie spoke strongly in favor ol the Bill.

Mr Pikh did not at all agree with Mr Montgomery’s reasons for bringing on the amendment, as to stop borrowing now would be ruinous ; bat he did object to the proposed allocation of the borrowed money. Otago would have to pay one-third of the interest, and nothing less would satisfy him but that Otago should have one-third of the money spent within its borders. Captain MoKekzib did not think the House was likely to appreciate the style of Mr Fish, or that the hon, member would be able there to act with the same assurance that ho did in Dunedin. The hon. member'* speech had convinced him that it was his duty to vote on the other side, and he should, therefore, support the Government. Mr Buthbbpobd disclaimed all party feeling, but he felt bound to vote for the Government on this occasion.

Mr J. Qbben also felt it bi« duty to support the second reading of the Loan Bills. Mr Stevbnb moved the adjournment of tho debate, and Mr Sutton and several other members urged the Government to take the division that night, Messrs DeLautour, Atkinson, and Sheehan supported the adjournment. Mr Montgomery was quite willing to take the division at onoe, if the House wished it.

After further discussion, tho adjournment of the debate was agreed to, and the House rose at 2 60 a.m.