PARLIAMENT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 45, 17 October 1912, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER IG, 1912. VARIOUS BILLS. (Per Press Association .) Wellington, October 16. In the Council this afternoon the Divorce and Matrimonial. Causes Amendment Bill, Valuation of Land Amendment Bill, Auckland University College Bill, and Public Trust Office Amendment Bill passed. ! ' ■ 1 The Public Service Bill was reported with .amendments., - The Hauraki Plains Bill passed, and the Council rose. i.LU Ui J house or representatives. • j .■Mii'i.M ' 1i i 1 i i' ■ J ’ i The |HouSo‘ met at; 2.30 p.m. ■' l - ’ / j ' l '' l '/HE' WAiHl' STRIKE.' f I '' ' Mr Witty asked the Government: (1) Whether they do not consider the sentences passed on the Waihi strikers out of all comparison to the breach of the law committed; (2) whether they will consider the advisableness of having the sentences mitigated' arid also limend the law so .that in future jthe ■punishment infiiqtcd, should,', 09: raorg 4i| accordance with the alleged offence. The; Prime Minister Replied that no sehtertefe was. passed in' the cases referred to.: An'application for sureties of the peace is made by complaint, not by information, and an order tc find sureties is not a conviction or a sentence. No fine or penalty is inflicted, but section 18 of the Justices of the Peace Act empowers ,a Magistrate who makes such an order to issue his warrant for the detention or custody of a defendant who refused to find sureties. The law cannot ho

amended as proposed. Whenever sureties of the peace are required, the order must name .the period during which the defendant is required tn keep the peace, and that period must necessarily be determined by the discretion of the magistrate who makes the order. It is obvious it can never be a merely nominal period. These men are detained in custody only so long as they refused to find sureties. Their detention is due solely to their own decision, and their release can he obtained by themselves at any moment. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. Replying to other questions, the Minister said that the Military Pensions would he available to all who are able to produce New Zealand war medals. Parliament will be given an opportunity prior to the next general election of reconsidering and amending the Electoral Act. The Government will next session introduce legislation regulating the use on public highways not only of motor cars, but of all vehicles propelled by motive power; meanwhile a revision of the regulations under the existing Act is being considered. It is not considered advisable that the scope of the

State-Guaranteed Advances Act should he widened in the direction of advancing money to workers for the purpose of paying off existing mortgages; the granting or declining of advances

to any individual or in any particular locality or district is a matter entirely for the Advances Board, and one with which the Minister cannot interfere. KAIAPOI RESERVE BILL. The Kaiapoi Reserve Bill (Mr. Hordes) was read a second time pro forma. LOCAL AUTHORITIES’ SUPERANNUATION. The amendment to the Local Authorities’ Superannuation Amendment Bill were agreed to. The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. DEFENCE BILL. On the motion for the third reading of the Defence Bill, Mr Russell and Mr Hunan and Mr Myers urged the Minister for Defence to keep down expense. Mr Myers said that the cost should be kept down to Lord Kitchener’s estimate of £400,000 a year. Sir Joseph Ward thought that tin. Bill tended to make the system stronger and better. Mr Allen, in reply, said that there was no reason why, when the scheme was in working order, it should cost more than £400,000 a year. During the first years there was necessarily a heavy extra expenditure for equipment. One battery of guns had cost £86,000. He did not believe in having money at the cost of efficiency. The Bill was read third time and passed.

THE LAND BILL.

EXPLAINED BY THE PRIME MINISTER.

In the House to-night, Mr Massey, in moving the second reading of the Laud Amendment Bill, stated that members on his side of the House had no objection to a man having the leasehold if he desired it. It was impossible to include the whole of the party’s policy in the present Bill, and be brought down next session. The people had come to the conclusion that the holders of leases in perpetuity should be enabled to acquire the freehold. The State was losing money every day on L.1.P., for if they only received 3i per cent, for money invested in that way and had to pay over 4 per cent, for it, 1 it; stood to reason that they were losing money. They would still borrow money, but not to the same extent as heretofore. He was asking for a great .deal of power in connection with the subdivd sion of lands, hut not more than-was necessary, j A land-owner wishing to dispose of his .estate could hand! it-over to the Government, and it)would ho cut .up, i roadgdi lafad idisposed .of, the .cofjt fjq.be a first dharge ■ on tjhq prpceeds.jt,, The most import-l iant clpusp pi,-pyi,c}ed|(|or native 1 owners having similar rights. It might take years to bring it into operation, hut he believed that they had in embryo a solution of the native land question. The Bill would give the small man every opportunity] of-going,-on the‘land i and ,aJs,o 1 of, dwingj/fg (hackiitof jl.ancj, mfiny, of ; oujiiypiung mdn wluUhad' ■left hpcapsp .jbhpy-jjpoigld notl'geti kind.' The admipistration.l.cif the landHaWL in, thp.-ijapt-lpwl -h.ehn fan fromdsltVisfactory.. He had- received hundreds‘of letters asking 'for remission of ‘rent: and he believed that if these men vie re given a square deal they would give a good account of themselves. What was proposed in the Bill on the subject of email grazing runs would pro bably not give universal satisfaction, but it was an honest attempt at reform. Grazing run leases would be under the L.I.P. tenure with a 21 years’ term. Another proposal was for town planning. Any person cutting up land for subdivision must pro duce the plans for the approval of ijhc Governor-in-Comjcil. Payment to land hoard members was increased from 10s to 15s a day. Provision was made for the postponement of payment of rent by Grown tenants in case of a settler meeting with a natural disaster or showing other sufficient cause. The Bill proposed to place the man who took up land under L.I.P. in the same position as the O.R.P. tenants, providing the former paid the same money as .the latter. A man desiring to purchase land could do so ither for cash at three months, or on deferred payment. It was provided that the Minister had -power to reduce the capital value of a section in order to induce a settler to take up a section. With regard to renewable leases of land for settlement, it was proposed to give the fee simple on the present value less the present value of the lessees’ intciest in the uncxpired term of the lease, and his interest in the value of the improvements effected by him. In regard to gum lands, he proposed to give single men 25 acres free of rent for five years, after which they would he required tn pay interest on the nominal value. A married man could have more land. • Mr MacDonald congratulated the Prime Minister on introducing his Bill,

but was somewhat disappointed at the measure. The Bill would do some good, but for a broad national scheme it would be a disappointment to those who were starving to get on the land. He was going to move in the direction of putting all tenants on settlement land on the same basis regarding the freehold tenure. Mr Hiue expressed pleasure that the Government was reintroducing the old deferred payment system, which was tho best ever introduced, Mr Sidcy contended that if the State parted with the freehold of all Crown lands there would be none left for renewable leases for the man of small means. The trend of the Bill was to favour the individual against the State. The conditions governing tho schema of leases was “Hoads 1 win, tails you lose,” for the tenant against the State. After midnight Mr Escott said that ho would support the insertion of a compulsory purchasing clause in all leases of land held for tho purpose of extracting rent. The debate was adjourned, and the House rose at 12.2 d.