HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2264, 19 June 1880, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Tho Chairman of the Native Affairs Commission brought up a petition •Erected to that committee from natives in tho, .North Island, threatening to kill certain other natives unless they obtain redress in connection with certain lands, that being tho custom followed by their forefathers under similar circumstances. Me drew tho attention of the House to the language of the petition, with a view of preventing the presentation of such petitions. Replying to Mr Stewart, Mr Rollcston said ho agreed with the opinion expressed that the Police Court Building at Dunedin, was--nothing- better , than a perfect dungeon. Government had intended to appropriate another building for tho purpose, but an accident by fire prevented them doing so.

Replying to Mr Bain, Mr Rollcston said that quarterly instead of half-yearly sessions of the Supremo Court at Invercargill was a question which partly involved the convenience of the Judges. They would be consulted on the point. NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION. Mr Moss resumed the debate on the no-confidence motion. He said the present condition of the colony was what thej' had first to consider. In the expenditure for the last nine months a deficiency of £861,000 had arisen. The dolicicnc}' of the Grcj’’ Government was £1553,000, making a total of £991,000, in round numbers. To make good that dcficicnc3 r , the Treasurer had recourse to the Public Works Fund. "When the fund failed ho wished to know what was to become of the colony. What would have been the consequences if the public works loan had not been floated ? The country was literally bleeding at their feet. With such a state of matters as that the Government ought to welcome an organised Opposition, and meet them as men honestly desiring to face lire difficulty. That, however, they had not done. They desired to stamp all appearance of opposition out of existence. They sat upon those benches, silent, as if tliev wore quite indifferent to the consequences. They might go on piling up now taxation, but the more they did that the less he believed they would get. Taxation was now being taken from men’s necessities. Their expenditure in excess of revenue, apart from taxation, was £583,000 ; then, even adding the new taxes, a deficiency of £233.000 still remained. To meet this £50,000 was to be taken off the salaries paid to departments. That meant that poor and ill-paid servants would be still further oppressed, but the well-paid heads would escape. The remaining deficiency of £170,000 was to bo manipulated in some, kind of extraordinary way, so as to transform it into a surplus of £-H,HOO. The plan proposed was a mere subterfuge, and bo called upon them to face the position fairly, and admit at once that there was a deficiency. They were told greatsavings were to bo made in expenses, but would 11 ic Government tell them where those saving were to be effected. No real information on the point had as yet been given. Regarding the great native difficulty, lie had no hesitation in saying that the member for Rangitikci (.Sir William Fox) was greatly to blame, and ho was also to bo blamed for the existing financial difficulties. The Giovernincnt had taken £IOO off the allowance of £2OO to the chief Paul, of Auckland, a man who, like his father, had rendered signal services to tiio European population in the early days, and on the other hand a similar sum was proposed to he added to the salary of the Chairman of Committee. Again, it was alleged that there were 600 men employed on the Waimatc Plains for weeks, making a road now found to lead into a swamp, and which was consequently utterly useless.

Mr JJryco denied that the .statement made as to the value of the road in question was correct, and Major Atkinson did the same. Proceed ini’ - , Mr Moss criticised the action of the (iovernment in connection with native affairs on the West Coast, and in connection with native lands generally. It had been assorted that the late Covernment had spent all the loan, hut as a matter of fact (lie present ( iovernment had had :l’d,20i),()()() to deal with. The .North had long known the corruption of the Native .Department, hut when in P-To the Auckland Provincial Council took the matter up, the (iovernment of Sir Donald McLean burked enquiry. It was the Southern members’ faith in Sir Donald McLean which had prevented reform long ago. Colonel Trimble spoke in favor of the (.lovernment. lie believed that twothirds of the agitation throughout the country with respect to the repeal of the property tax was simply a device got up for party purposes. As a matter of fact these agitations were carried on by men who could not in any way be affected. A great deal of absurd talk had been, indulged in about the land tax, and the state of affairs in the Home country was quoted in support of the absurd theories. The cases, however, wore quite different. At homo the lands were held for services, military or otherwise, originally, and when the state of the country no longer required those services it was only fair that the services should be computed into a money consideration. Here the ease was quite different. Lands had been all along treated as a marketable commodity. They were put up to auction and thou full value got for them. In a word, land here was disposed of for its full value, just the same as any other commodity, and it was absurd to say that it should bear a tax, while other property was exempted. Ho contended that the expenditure of per annum on the Armed Constabulary of the North Island was a necessity that could only be got rid of by roadmaking' and settlement. Mr Ralancc agreed with the previous speaker that an armed force must for the present he maintained on the West Coast but lie differed with him in thinking that roads were all that were needed to settle t!ic country. After (hose roads were made and the Constabulary removed, what thonV The difficulty would certainly not cease. There was one remedy that might have been adopted. Tim!; was placing military settlers on the land, who would have held it by military tenure for a time at least. The previous speaker bad drawn a distinction between land here and at Dome. According to bis showing the conditions have altered, and the same thing applies to these colonics and to England. The disposition was to impose a land tax, not in respect of the land having been held originally under military tenure, but in order to discourage the holding of large lauded estates. The very same reason existed in this colony. It was not so much for revenue purposes as for

economic purposes that a tax was required, V It was not denied that the Government had attempted retrenchment. • There never was a Government yet that did not attempt to retrench. Tt had not been alleged tbafc it was unfair to tax-land. No one ever said it was. When that tax was introduced other changes of the incidents of taxation were proposed, and the land tax was. only resorted to to adjust the incidence of taxation. It had been stated that the Government had not repealed the land tax, but on the conti’ary had doubled it. Yes, but they had doubled the tax on improvements and in that respect they had destroyed the virtues of the tax. The late Government had been charged with promoting an indiscriminate immigration, but that was done in obedience to demands from employers of labor in different parts of the colony. The whole disagreement in the finance of tincolony for which tho late Government had been so much blamed, was due to (he falling off in land sales. He reviewed the financial proposals of the Government and quoted figures to shew that the cost of the various departments was increased £21,775 and reduced by £18,375, leaving a balance of £O,IOO on the side of (he former, and that was what was called retrenchment. The result of the local financial proposals would be that the richer local bodies would thrive, and be well supported with money, while the poor bodies would be literally l ' starving for the want of district roads. The proposal to lend these local bodies money was a most extraordinary one —they were to get a loan out of what is admitted to be a deficit fund. Then with respect to the beer tax, he maintained that it had been made double what it ought to have been by its operation. The Opposition had agreed upon one thing, and that was that these financial proposals were not calculated to pro mote tho welfare of tho colony. The exemption of ships from taxation was reprehensible, and the tux on machinery would crush out eolonia’ industry, which was now in a sickly state. The attack made on the salaries of Civil Servants was most unfair. Referring to the loans, lie said that the persons by whom the late lovn wailoatcd cried down their securities in order to make money out of their investments. A loan which was floated at B]u Pad now reached 95, thereby making a very handsome profit to stockholders and capitalists.

Mr Header Wood contended that there had boon no attempt to consider the proposals as a whole. On the contrary, the debate was simply as to whether this (lovernment or tha*t (lovernment was to blame for this and for that, and the principal question at issue was wholly overlooked. Who was responsible for the present position of affairs? It was begun in ]S7O by Sir Julius Vogel, continued by Major Atkinson, and carried on by the member for the Thames. lie would counsel all in the House not to quarrel about the past, but to set honestly about endeavoring - to remedy the present. The question was not as to the best theory of taxation, the true meaning - of the motion was that these gentlemen on the (lovernment Tenches should be put out and their opponents put in. One out of every eight of the population was engaged in the Civil Service ; what diil that suggest? Why it suggested that these men should bo got rid of. That was not what they proposed doing. Thev proposed simply taking a percentage off each salary and retaining the men. It appeared to him that the Treasurer proposed to impose more taxation than there was any necessity for. lie could not help thinking there was some mistake in the Treasurer’s scheme as a repitition ot the reckless style of linance to which they had been so long accustomed, and it was one he would not countenance. "While he disagreed with the ministerial proposals, however, he condemned the extravagance of the late (lovernment, and said he would be no party to placing the Opposition on the Treasury benches.

Mr I’ykc thought Mr Wood’s principles were written in sympathetic ink. It was impossible to know which side he was on. The Covernment proposals involved the annihilation of local selfgovernment, and other most disastrous results tending to increase greatly the existing depression. The property tax was iniquitous. The abolishing of the subsidies was a breach of faith, tor which, the (lovernment alone were responsible. Dr Wallis next addressed the House, criticising the proposals. He announced bis intention of supporting the motion. CIVII, SKI!VICK COMMISSION’. Mr Hall laid the Civil Service report on the table, and moved that it be printed. The House adjourned at 12.A0 p.m.