PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5123, 24 August 1877, Page 4

PAR LIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. ; AUGUST 23. ’ ' The Hon. the’SPEAKEiv took the chair at the' usual hour. ' ■' v : , .iii,';!. k;' J ' ' ■ Several papers were laid on the table by the Horn Dr. Pollen. ! - '' QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE. The Hon, Mri'Robinson and the Hon. Sir F. D. Bell,-by'permission, of the Council, asked questions' without notice of the Hon. Dr.’ Pollen the former as to the case of a certain medical practitioner, the latter as to the petition of G. E. Barton. —To these questions'the Hon. Dr. Pollen replied, giving all the information that lay. in his power. . . MOTIONS., ■ ■ .. The Hon; Mr. MANTELL moved, and it was,,carried, that the motion standing in his name for that day should be postponed till next day. . WELLINGTON MTV RESERVES ACT, 1872, AMEND- ,, . MENT BILL. ■ , The, second reading of this Bill was proposed by the Hon.- Mr. Phabazyn; and, after a few .remarks from the Hons. Dr. Pollen, Mr, Mantell, and Dr..Mcnzies, was;carried. - ~ The Hon. Mr., PHARAZYN then moved, and.it .was carried,-—That the Bill should he referred to a select committee,'with'power to • call.for, papers..aud persons, and to report in one week. , ■ 1 U, v i INVERCARGILL GAS LOAN BILL. The, Hon. Dr. MENZIES mbved-the second reading, of this BilL-q-A long discnssion ensued, during which •; the; Hon. : Colonel Whitmore moved as'an amendment that the Bill be read again ’that day, six months.—Subsequently, after farther discussion, the Hob. Mr. PaterSON .moved :as a-further amendment that the consideration of the, question should be adjourned for a week, to allow the Hon. Dr. Mehzies to'obtain-the opinion of the ratepayers of- Invercargill'onl’the '^matter.----The Hon, Colonel 1 Whitmore then withdrew his amendment' in favor'of'that of ihe Hon. Mr. Paterson;, which * was subsequently carried ; consequently the consideration'of the : second read■ingjwaa'postponed for a week.- •

FOREST TREES, PLANTING 1 ENCOURAGEMENT BILE. ■ The Hon. Dr.’ POLLEN moved,—-That the further consideration of this Bill in committee be discharged from the Order Paper and made an order of the day for next sitting day.— Carried. - /’ -• ' -The’Oouncil'adjourned at 4 p.m. HOUSE OF- REPRESENTATIVES. Thursday, August 23. ■; <--The' Spmkkb-^k--the chair at halfpast two o'clock^ ,• ' yitmoKß.-' l ' A number of petitions-were presented. One laid on the table by-Mr. Stout, was in favor :of the'Education' Bill'now before the House. 1 ' ' motion, 1 Mr.' PYKE; 'gave" notice that he would ask the Government hether it was their; intention to' make provision for the protection and .maintenance of deaf and dumb children? ' 'Mr. TRAVERS, gave notice for the next day,' that he .would move for leave to introduce a Bill to amend the Wellington Loams GonsblidaticSn Bill of 1876,

, :. y QUESTIONS. , , Mr. J. E. BROWN; asked the Premier if he would Jay before., the. House a return showing the amount of land sold and unsold (classified), within each electoral district of the colony ? ■ . ... The Hon. Mr: REID replied that it would be impossible to obtain such a return this session; and it would in any case entail heavy expense. - , ■ Mr. BROWN was understood to say that he would not i under those circumstances press for the return. ■: MR. barton’s petition. In reference, to the above Mr. Sheehan gave notice, that he would to-morrow (this day) move that the House on Wednesday next resolve itself into a committee of the whole to consider the charges contained in the petition of ! Mr. Barton, and decide thereon. He thought it undesirable that ,serious charges should be allowed jo hang for weeks oyer the .heads of the gentlemen.in regard to whom the petition was. lodged, and he therefore gave notice of the ijotion ,he ; had mentioned, and he would to-morrow give his reason for prosecuting the enquiry. . ; ...., ; . . .BILLS INTRODUCED. , . . The-foliowing Bills were introduced and read a first time A Bill to provide for the management of the Auckland College and Grammar Schools ; a Bill to consolidate the various Municipal Loans of, the City of Dunedin ; a Bill for the purpose of securing a certain Reserve in the Town of. Port Chalmers for the Port Chalmers Library ; the Lawrence Municipal Waterworks Bill. ADJOURNED DEBATE . ON THE TAXATION , . , -QUESTION. ’ ; , , The House proceeded to the further consideration of this question, the debate upoa which had been. adjourned from the previous evening: . , - , i ..,TJie amendment ,to .insert the word “income after the ,wprd ‘f property ” in the Premier's motion, was ■ put to the House, and carried on the voices. . Sir. GEORGE GREY then moved that the motion be farther amended by striking out the words “ expenditure on public works,” and substituting “ general burdens of the colony. Mr. STEVENS hoped this would not be .the last opportunity which the House would have of considering the financial proposals of the. Government, because. : they contained matter of sufficient importance to occupy the undivided attention; of, the House for. some considerable ~ time. ~ , He j then pointed out - the various subjects of .interest and importance to; the country, which-,it was necessary carefully,to. weigh,’ and which had at different times during the debate had been either, separately i or collectively referred to. As. regarded the immediate question before the House, he had. not been able to.discover that there was any great difference between the two sides of the House—the Government and the Opposition. The only difference appeared to be the question, of time. There could;be no doubt there was , no possibility of effecting the proposed changes during the present session so as to conserve the interests of the colony. One , subject the Government had omitted to notice was the stamp duties, ■ and he was astonished to , observe that no sound had come from; the: Government benches on thus subject. He was opposed to the imposij

_.tion of an* r._tax;^ ; becauße ■ it - would result in a sort of, inquisitorial .examination-of the affairs of .professional men and the business profits of the .commercial .class of- the.community* He then, referred to the proposals pf the member for the Thames, Sir George Grpy, and with reference to‘.his advocacy of an acreage tax, said the hon. , member for the Thames appeared to have-in his mind of bursting -up large estates; but it was very, questionable* whether the' imposition . of an acreage tax would have that, effect. Ine effect ..would simply, be to, the value, , ! of , the. land, and the, proprietor, although a poorer man, would : pontiuqe to work his land. He pointed-.out*that the reduction-, of, the „ ..Customs . tariff . M \vould have the effect of .the. cre s fc the country, which would. injuriously affect the small, farmers and working men, for the means to opening up the . country would -be wanting. Speaking of. the laud, fund , being made common stock, he said it would damage the settlement of the country. / A pprtlou of the land fund ahordd be left to each district, otherwise it would a considerable extent with the reveoue from.that source.. He pointed out that the. land s Canterburymuch of . it, of indifferent ,quaHty—would not have fetched such high prices but for the fact that purchasers knew, they would haye their money returned to them partly by construction of roads, bridges, &c. The whole question required a.large amount of consideration.’ The Government would have: satisfied his mind ■ better if they had come down and said they were not prepared this session to deal with the question which, had occupied so much time of the House; that they were quite prepared, if the necessities of the country required it, to ; introduce a certain apiount of .direct taxation ; that they woidd not reduce the , Customs* tariff,*,but Would see what could be -done towards relieving the. poorer classes of the. burdens which might press.unduly upon them, in certain directions, and bring down . next session' proposals embodying such ideas. , : , 4 Mr. RE YNOLDS could V hot agree that a; . dreadful calamity would overtake the . country if an income tax were, proposed, but hn looked. upon it "as an inconvenient. Act, and therefore he should consider himself vote for it next session, although he should, .support the resolution before the House., ....... . The Hon. Major ATKINSON said he should; not oppose Sir George Grey’s amendment, because it widened the. question, and was so far an improvement. He waa not going to touch , upon the-question of finance, but would confinehimself to stating the opinionof the Government in reference to the resolution, Hon. gentlemen scarcely seemed .to,,understand the subject thoroughly. . Personally he hadi given it some , consideration during the recess, although-thj. the Government had-had, a great deal to attend to regarding' the constitutional. changes, and had come, to the conclusion that it would be impossible to bring dpwn a fitting measure, and one which would.be; equitable. Therefore. ; he had made a. slight , reference to the sub-. ject in hiff annual statement. ~ ~ / J&IItEfADEE f at considerable length, imprimis stating that the members of both. Government and Opposition had evidently- gone- madron the question, of taxation-. He /.then went, on fco show that < the Government bad occupied' a false position .by not meeting the. question openly,- stating , their coqyictipn of the financial peril.in which: the country,stood, and. asking the.,House to assist in placing - the finance of the colony on ■a safe and sound rbasls. . He concluded: by; r moving an* amendment, that rthe land fund.; should form , part of the ordinary revenue, to be appropriated by the Housp annually, hf-.- : n ; The SPEAKER ruled .that: the amendment could ‘ not be put, being irrelevant to v;the, question. r T --V . ■>; 1 The motion of the Hon.- Major Atkinson, as amended was then put and, carried on -the , Voices. :<‘r”v /

-r Major ATKINSON thenformallymo ved • that the -House go .into, Commit tee. of. Supply.. : Mr. WOOD immeditely.got, up :and moved -the amendment of which he had given. notice, —That the land fund. >i ; the colony ; should, be! ■ made part of . the. ordinary revenue, to he appropriated by-this House yearly. ■ !. The Hon. Major ATKINSON moved .that the debate be adjourned until next day, which • was carried. ~.j; r .'X ! . . LOCAL OPTION’ BILL.. ; . . The adjourned debate on the second, read-, mg, of the l ocal. Option KU}; was, resumed, ■at the! evening sitting.:, Mr.r . Hislopi .j\lr.‘ ‘ Bums, Mr. , Harsthonse,, ; Mrj 7 ,liUmsden, ,Mr< •De Lautour,, Mr., ;j*yke,'! Mr. Gibbs, : .«nd.‘, Mr,-Teschemak6r!' spoke on the question.,,. After, the. adjourn-r ’ meht at 10 o’clock, Mr. Tbavers said it was a'" ■ debateable point whether'it,.was ■: advisable to , go the full length proposed by the hpn, member for Wanganui, in. the Local Option Bill. His {Mr. Travers!) opinion was. that the. Bill before , ; the Houser.attempted; too, much. .He would ', support any Bill that .would give to the people an effective control oyer- the establishment of ; public-houses.,, He: thought that the present, licehsing law .was in urgent need of amendment. He, conceived that.it would: be fair to grant, compensation .to. publicans ,up; to .a .certain point/ He would support the, second; reading •, of theßill. ; ■ . ■ ■■■;■ ; The Hon! Mr. . POX said the'course he pro- , posed to,take-was that, the House should agree to the second reading without his replying, and allow him the right to, reply in cpjnmittee next Wednesday. ; ■ ,‘ ', The Bill then passed its secondreading on the, voices, and, was ordered to be committed on ■ Wednesday next. . . : . , : TIMABU MECHANICS’ I INSTITUTE BILE'. • ‘On the motion :of Mr. Wakefield the . Timaru Mechanics’' Institute : Bill passed ■ its, second reading. ' , r i!.n ; ' .y.-vf : The Port Chalmers Waterworks Bill and the Wellington' College. Act 1872 Amendment Bill were considered in committee, arid reported with amendments. ‘v '' : The House adjourned at 12;45 a.m.