PARLIAMENT.

Opunake Times, Volume III, Issue 115, 9 August 1895, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES. Wellington, Tuesday. A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. Mr Seddon rose and said, an honorable Judge, one of New Zealand’s greatest men, li id passed away. In the death of Judge Richmond, the colony had lost a faithful public servant, one who was respected and honored by all. Mr Seddon referred in terms of great praise to the abilities aud attainments of the dead Judge, and his sterling qualities, both as a Judge and a private citizen. It had been stated the Government had desired his retirement from the Bench, but he (Mr Seddon) gave this report an unqualified and emphatic denial. The Government deeply deplored his loss, and recognised that his place would be very hard indeed to fill. He moved that the House adjourn till 7.30 p.m. as a token of sympathy and respect. Captain Russell, in seconding the motion, said New Zealand mourned the loss of a great mau, and it was befitting that the Council of State should adjourn in his memory. In every phase of his career Judge Richmond had been a great model to the whole colony, and, perhaps, more particularly at that stage of the colony’s his tory when a model was most required. He left a blank that ivas impossible to fill.

Mr Bell, as one who had practised before Judge Richmond for a long number of years, added his testimony to the upright and honorable character he had preserved throughout his life as a citizen, a statesman and a judge. Mr Saunders also spoke, and referred to the way in which Judge Richmond had been libelled for his administration of native affairs, when he held the portfolio of Native Minister. The motion was agreed to, and the House rose at 2.55 p.m. DEBATE ON THE BUDGET. On resuming at 7.30, the Hon Mr Ward moved that the House go into Committee of Supply, and said he would explain, as far as the time at his disposal would permit, the various matters referred to in the 'Financial Statement- It was some years since the Customs Tariff was altered, and he thought both sides of the House should assist the Government in devising a proper tariff, which might last for some years longer. He regretted very much that confidential information had leaked out —he knew not how —before the tariff proposals were brought down, and on the strength of this information speculative clearances from the Customs, representing £14,510 in duty, were made on the day prior to the delivery of the Budget. The clearances made were mostly on articles on which an increase of duty was proposed, thus showing that the premature information had been acted on by importers. This was altogether unfair. It had been said that a reduction of duty on tea, kerosene, fencing wire and rice would benefit only importers and dealers, and not consumers, and it might be found judicious to take the duty off one of these articles altogether, so that the consumer might benefit by it. The tariff treaty with Canada was subject to the ratification of Parliament, and if the House deemed it desirable to eliminate any item not thought requisite, that item could be struck out. The House should approve of the reciprocal tariff with Canada in a broad spirit. Already some firms in the colony were holding back items, such as wool and tallow, which the Government proposed to put on the free list for Canada. The House should realise what the outside markets for our produce meant, and should be prepared to give and take in such an important matter. Dealing with financial matters, Mr Ward denied emphatically that the Sinking Fund had been seized or annexed as claimed by Sir Robert Stout. He (Mr Ward) had acted strictly in accordance with the law, and he showed how Sir Robert Stout’s statement must fall to the ground. Moreover, in 1886, Sir R. Stout had acted exactly in the same way as the present Government had done with respect to the Sinking Fund. He referred at some length to the change made last year in the system of our interest account, which had resulted in a saving of £103,085, as compared with the previous year. If the old system had been continued there would have been £125,769 more payable for our interest than was the case at present. It was his desire to give hon members the fullest possible information regarding the proposals of the Government. - Sir Robert Stout, in a personal explanation, said his reference to Sinking Funds applied solely to the Local Bodies’ Loan. Mr Mitchelson deprecated the tactics again adopted by Mr Ward of making two speeches on the financial debate, and he hoped this precedent would not be allowed in future. The Treasurer’s speech showed that he had completely altered his tariff proposals, and he had, in fact, delivered a fresh Financial Statement. It was not lair to ask the Opposition to debate an entirely new Budget. He saw nothing whatever in the Statement to give rise to so much congratulation, and its only redeeming point was the absence of the wild cat schemes appearing in the previous year’s Budget. Referring to the surplus for the year of £IBO,OOO, he said it was £IO,OOO less than last year, and yet the Treasurer told them the colony was.in a prosperous condition. lie (Mr Mitchelson) thought they had'reached the bed-rock of both the Consolidated Fund and the Public Works Fund. To his mind Mr Ward should not have taken so much credit to himself at saving a large amount of interest, when that saving was made at the expense of those who were compelled to pay the laud tax four months before it was duo. The Treasurer had

followed the pernicious practice of bringing forward and including in the surplus the money that had been paid iuto the Public Works Fund. He would like to know the intentions of the Government in regard to carrying out Public Works in future. No less than £1,270,000 of the loan money had been uuder the control of the Government since 1891, and of this amount there was only practically £52,000 available for new votes for Public Works. Referring to the Consols Act of last session, he said the people preferred to keep their money in their old stockings rather than invest it in Government Consols. He contended that the increase in the public debt for the last three years was £2,291,109, instead of £1,500,000 as claimed by the Treasurer. On account of this large increase in our public debt no actual saving was being made in the interest. The figures showed that we had actually paid in interest last year £68,000 more than in 1891. The tdtal amount borrowed by this professedly non-borrowing Government since 1891 was £3,330,892. It was surely time the Government dropped this title they had assumed. The unemployed relief funds and establishment of soup kitchens showed that the colony was not in a very prosperous condition.