PARLIAMENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 4 July 1891, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPBESEiITATIYES, The Hdn foie SpeaEer'took the chair at £.30 p.m. THE FINANCIAL ..DEBATE The Minister of Landf , who was received with MinisteraT} cheers, resumed the debate on the Financial Statement. As to acting in a dishonourable manner in dispensing with the services of the chief clerk in the Land Office in Wellington when he was nearly entitled to a pension, he declared that it was generally known the man was not entitled:to iy pensfcju n (Mr Jwher : Why ?) ; Was it not i' fact $.aV>ftei' he had been in the ser^ce Jihe Colony he had become a bankrupt. ■■(Mr Fisher : : Twenty-#ye>ye&ift ago.) The Act said - , that ; a, f ba. nkjwpt/ servant could not be appointedjtpia^nsion unless/ (ha rwas re-aj>ppiihted. There was no evideiice" ) of;h i is ; , pointment ; iif.^he Hqusq / cnos^ to grant the pension he had no ' objection, but why sHquld; he/b e charged with dishonour fpi carrying out the law ? ' The LahU'Gui&B'heimdnbTJh,ing mom- to do with than issue it ; I it was already in print when he got ) in't0 I [6filce ! . f .Jtf'Vould be necessary to print them every week to keep up with the actual state of affairs as to the amounts lima •aVail'tffttei"'' The book was issued by the Department and not. by .himself. Formerly the Stock D£par.t^»tlFfts : foa a $We - fuge for tht broken^ of Ministers, and this was t^j^yon of the complaints mow matted was sure that iftheheadof tf^T^ck Department had been given ia^j he would have shown his ability; to do the work. He warned themib be careful how they received statements made to them by retrenched civil servants. Returns would be laid on I the table showing that horse "lure had been charged, and. office rent charged, and also that money had been spent in an unauthorised manner. Had anyone ever seen an advertisement asking for tenders to put down rabbits ? He defended t"he appointmentof J. M. Connell, saying that he received six certificates of his character—two from member of the House ; and us he had .only been placed in that ppsitipn on probation, he need not be appointed permanently. He had, he said, taken all possible precautions that a Minister of i^ands^cSMd take before appointing the ranger for the Wellington district. Mr Mitchelson said the Minister of Lands had complained of,. being attacked, both himself and family In the Tory press, but, the paper.. which first brought him into notice was the Evening: Post i,qf : .Wellington. Sumy that could not be called a Tory paper, when ;it was supporting the Government. (Oh, oh!) As to the appointment of Mr Connell, he knew him very well, and knew little good of him, and he* read newspaper extractstiearing out that remark. As to the statement before it came into effect he* ilioped'the Government would modify their proposals or see their may not to abolish the. property, tax. They .^vere) going ' to insert in its place a still more unjust tax, and he was s,urje ( ,vjli|3n| ,th;ey saw the effect of the present '"proptfsftls'they would regret their introduction, and the people would ask them to again revert to the property tax. They had had experience in the past of Liberal Governments, and the present Opposition woulcTin this' instance as- they liaflTjA'aiTMly, have to come to their assistance And ext^oaie ihe ; Country outJoflifa/ilifficulty. If the proposals of the Government were carVieft i IKejE /sbuld. not remain on -the Statute J iook anything like three years. . , ■ : Mr Ernshaw followed and; supported the G oyernment proposals. Mr Harkness believed when the proposals of the Government were formulated in Bills they:, would -ibe considerably modified, and notliing like what they were at present. , He . was in favour of a land^atftb mQopie tax, but not exactly inf the form proposed in the Financial; SMen&ent. Mr H. C« ''Mills supported the Government prpp6sals; except in regard to the postal reduction-.: .' ' !' i.vf The House rose at f.80.^- in I

THUESDAY; JU^Y- •«,, r> The Speaker took .the*. chair at 2.80. The continuation of th&'Finanaial debate was not- resifthw till-the Evening Sitting: : . J\ •' ) , 1 Mr Meredith after making a medinm speech concluded >withL seating that if the Government- acted' fcon-v ourably in the interests'of ther : titrijtrr try they would find him one of -their warmest supporters ; but/"on \ the other hand, if he found ' #hy. • dishonesty or scheming he shotld 1 say, "Get you gone and give' 'phiee^ to honester men." l ! ;'-:;.: , Mr R. Thompson did noi J -agree with the " statements of the 1 last speaker in regard to' tßW land

tion, othferwise he generally ngreed wifchhinf, and he intended to assist the Government in putting their Bills into shaped v L '^ NeWman .(Criticised, every act "Ministry . He regretted that Government had not given them Pmore refief . fepm "taxation, arid lie * believed that nexfe^^ year the people who shouting with v glee wou!4 iwondier what they had been shout|flg fbi>. . ; Messrs Buiek for, and Swan ' against the Ministers, also- spoke attiljijtr Tanner moved the adjourn? ■ itjfe^qf the debate, which wa9 \ Mm '^^3e rose at 12.15. ;*■' ?lf