PARLIAMENT.

Taihape Daily Times, 4 September 1919, Page 4

PARLIAMENT.

I LAND FOR SOLDIERS. v I THE GOVER-NMEN'I."S SC-Hl.u‘l\;lh}. I ..__. IBILL INTRODUCED IN-ro I’.-\81.1.\-MENT_ I 12% MILLIONS A Slilil) FOl-I- ------' ‘ WEI;I'.ING-'l.'o.\T. S-~pa_ ii‘. I The Discharged SOl(ll(‘l‘>." .\_'e:als..:~..-~25 I Loan Bill was im‘ro«,lu::c<l by (f£overu:n message. I Sir James Allen explained that the ‘Bill provided for a sum of £12,500,000‘ with pr-ovision for subsequent loans, Iwhlch brought the total up to £16,500,.000.- Which it was proposed should be Illsod for the purpose of settling‘ I soldlers. He further explained the funds I which had been drawn oz: to carry on [fins worit “P *0 fhb present, and said Ithalt where Igxecessary these nlonoys would be refunded out of the .Imm_ I 31.1‘ Joseph \Vard supported the Bill be-031180 he Said that whatever money Iwas I'9qllil'9d to Put 501‘.li0rs on the Iland -should be provided by the coun'try. The amount required was larger Ithan most. people Supposed would be necessary, but it was the swiftness of the effort being made to. settle soldiers that accounted for the largcness of the amount. The l.W'llOlC of the money might not be required at once, but the Minister was justified in asking for the larnount stated in the Bill, because the finance of the soldier settlement policy Imust be assured. ‘ Sir John Findlay urge(_l that land I for soldier settlenients should be taken compulsorily under the same sy.<tcm as Ifor a. civilian settlement, otherwise the experience of the Lands for Settlement. Act would be repeated, when large land-owners entered into :1 conspiracy to inflate values. I Mr Massey favoured taking land’ un- [ der the Public Works Act as the most. I-equitable to the owner, and the State so -far 'had been ‘able to inquire into I purch-ase of land for soldiers. He was convinced that many satisfactory purIchases had been »m?*?tic,p and that .the proportion _-of ‘the .failllTos-mnorxgst soldier settlers -would be small indeed. Hon. Russell complained- that the Government had ‘not exercised the right to lease land to soldiers. Too much stress had been laid on the freel__l.old tenure, overlooking the fact that the leasehold system had been of great Ivalue to the people of this country. Proceeding, he criticised the purchase lof land for soldiers. mentioning an estate in the Manawatu distirct of =3.-72 ‘acres, which wus'purchascd at over I£lo,ooo rpnore than it stood at in the l Gr'ovcrnmcnt’s books, pl:-Itflng‘ an n.~w.t':lir Iburden on the soldier. The fact was Ithat the Land Plirchase Department Iliad been carried ofi its "feet the high price rulling for butter—l’at. and Iland had been purchased ‘-».vithout' paying the slightest regard to figures in Ipossession of the Go‘:ermnent Value.- ‘ tion Department. He intended to move for a return on this subject \\'llich he believed. would support his contention that too high prices had been paid for soldier settlement land. I Ml"Peal'ce favoured the system of land settlement outlined by the ‘Re-tul'no.-3 Soldiers’. Association, because it Securcrl the settlement of unoccupied. ICrown 1-ands, ra.'t-her than the system under which the farmer was bought outand the soldier put in his place. That system did not increase production, as the man who was bought. out only had to look for another farm, and pa_.~rhups displacing ‘someone else. I-lon Guthrie denied the G-e\'ern'~.:ont Iwas purchasing land at too high Ia price, but if they were they were Idoing so under the veiy best. advice obtainable. The Manawatu property Imentioned by Mr Russell was one of the ilic§sb_ -successful! .‘;iettl9nlont.= vet I opened up. There was only one man on Ilthlat serttlament who had not paid every penny of rent or interest. His Department was taking care that soldier settlers was given every help, and he was now confident this great experiment would be an unqualified success. Oeer 4000 men had been assisted to go on the land up -to the present. But for the shortage of finances they could have had over 5000 settlers. After the sup‘p'er adjournment, Messrs Buddo, Ell, Reid, 3/Vitty, E. Newman, CcCallum, Anderson, Hon. MacDonald, Lee, Luke, Rhodes, Huilt«7r, XV. H. Field, and Ngata. contributed to. the debate, their criticism being generally favourable to the Bill. WELLINGTON, This Day. After the Telegraph Officc closed the debate on the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Loans Bill was continuec‘. by Mr Anstey, who complained of’ the unseemly haste with which such an important nieasure was being‘ rushed" through. He severely criticised the manner of land purchases and the general administration of the law,-. so far as soldiers were concerned. and ‘ strongly opposed raising a;rlon:';2--ffce of income tax. 3‘ '; < M~r'Holla.lld followed with a protest against the insane practice ofholding late sittiiigs, with a result that the House was half eniptfy, members being neither physically or mexltally fit to‘ transact the business before the. House. Criticising the method of rais-

ing loans provided in the Bill, he (on- ‘ nded it was entirely in the interests ‘a‘.feW financiers, and if at eonmrittee froi Porirua was placed in charge of our finances they could not ac: more fOOIiSIIIY. He advocated the establishment of a State Bank to case the finances of the country. Mr P. Fraser followed on the lines of Mr Holland’s speech, and at 3.230, Sir J. Allen .replied_ He denied the Government was short of money. There was plenty of money, but they were short of authority to spend the money. The urgency‘ of the Bill was that every source-from which money could be obtained for soldiers’ settlements Was exhausted, and there were applications amounting to £900,000 waiting to be satisfied. Therefore the Bill must be passed at once. He was not bound by the provision that the loan be raised free of income tax, as that was provisional and optional. He was calling for a report on the loans already raised free of income tax, but his impression was that no great number of taxpayers profited by that system, and he asked the House to leave the matter in the hands of the Government by accepting the Bill as it stood.

A The Bill was read a second time on the voices. In the committee stage, Mr McCombs moved an amendment to clause 5 which, if carried, would prevent the loan being raised free of incume tax.

Mr Massey appealed to the committee to reject the amendment, as the money market was in an unsatisfactory condition, and the Government must have means of raising money on the best terms possible. If it was not advisable to raise the money free of taxation it would not be’so raised, but money must be found_ A

At 5.15 a.m. a division was taken, when the amendment was lost by 2] to 17. The Bill was reported wifhout amendment, and the Bill read a third time and passed. ‘ The House rose at 5.22 till 7.30 this eveni.ng.. ’ ~ '

ThererWas"a. good‘ deal of comment in tllerlobbies on. Tuesday night on the fact that the members of the Labour Party didnot challenge a; division on theiiuotion for the ratification of the Peace-Treaty, and did not even venture a single “No” wHen the question was put by‘~the Speaker. Mr J. P. ‘Luke gave notice in the House‘ of Representatives on Tuesday of his intention tovask the Prime Minister if the Government will introduce‘* legislation to amend the: Municipal‘ Corporations Act so as ‘to enable boroughs to consolidate and levy as one rate their ‘general and Speciall rates. 1

Mr T. M. Wilford gave notice in the House of "Representatives on Tuesday afternoon to ask the Minister in Charge of Pensions if he will introduce legislation to -make the old-age pension 20/ a week, with 20 years’ residence in the Dominion the. limit as to eligibility for‘the pension, and with reciprocal provisions in regard to Australia, in order that residence in either country will count towards eligibility for the pension. and so on. E A question to the Prime Minister, given notice of in the House of Representativesen Tuesday by Mr E. Newman (Rangitikei), was Whether Mr Massey would give an indication‘ as to the amount of this country ’s share of profit made by the Inlp'ei'i‘al Government on the sale of wool otherwise than for military purposes, for the clips of 117-18, and 1918-19. Many persons, he said,’ had promised their profits from this source to the fund for British sailors and their dependents, and they Wished to know what the amount of the ‘donations wa slikely to be. The approach of the end of the term of the High Coecissioner is arousing no little interest in political circles. There is much speculation as to who the next High Commissioner will be, if

there is to be a next at the present time; also -as to whether the Government will appoint a. Resident Minister in London, and if so. whom‘! “As the term of oifiee of the High Conimis. sioner expires on October 23rd, will the Prime Minister inform the House what is the intention of the Grovemmcnt, with regard to this office; does the Government intend to appoint a Minister to represent the Dominion in London; and is it the intention of the Government to oifer the High Commissioner, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, :1 reappointment for the full term allowed by law, namely, three years?” This is a question to the Prime Minister given notice of in the House _vo.sterday by the Hon. "G. W_ Russell.

Introducing his Definition of Time Bill in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Mr T. K. ..~:dcy (Dunedin Sonfh) asked hon. members to excuse him» dcparfling from ‘h.‘~is |usua’.l pus‘tom and speaking to the Bill -on the mofion for leave to introduce it. ‘He nnl_\l;'?,!]i,§7i,:§o,f)s it might be his last session in Parliament". Mlemborsi from all parts o_f_thé House: “We hope not. ” ' In f~hn'House of Rep]-esentativcs on Tuesday Mr W. T. Jenningc; (Taumnl'nnui) asked that his na-mo. inr:.hlr‘!r-fl by the M'inistor in {he Prinfing Commiitee, which he gave notice to scf up, should be left off the coinnniftoe. The

con:-mil"u-e, he explained, had no powers, and it was absolutely useless putting men with a practical "knowledge of pi-int.illg or with literary knowledge on the committee when so many returns were printed that were extravagantly wasteful and of no use to the country. (Hear, 'lical'.) He asked that his name be taken ofl’. the committee. Mr P. Fraser (Wellington Central) gave notice in the House of Representatives on Tuesday -to ask the Prime Ministed if it as true that Delaney, who had been sentenced to a long term of iniprisonmcnt. and to a. flogging for the Petone outrage, had collapsed physically, after eight. lashes out of the ten had been given; also whether he would introduce legislation to make flogging illegal; :and if ‘he had ever known any crime put down by flogging and similar physical force methods.