PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 139, 6 July 1901, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

(PKtt PEEBS ASSOCtATIOK.) LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. • Friday, July 5. .Wellington July 5, The Council m fc &<, 2.30 p.m. -' SECOND SXADMiO. The Shops and Office Bill was read \ second tim j , pro ftiina, and referred to the Labour Bills Committee. 'grand hotel fjhe. The Minister for Education sta'ed that it would "Upend largely on the result of the inqucs f re the Q • and Hotel (ire at Auckland whether the fovernmnnt offered a reward and pardon for information leading to the conviction of persons setting fire to the building. The Minister also stated that the Hailway Deputment would seek to perfect a check system ef luggage ov*<r the railway lines and steamship services; but the travelling pub'ic had so far taken very little advantage of the opportunities afforded by the cheek system as it now existed. The Oouucil rose at 3.30 till 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Friday, sth July. The House met at 2.30 p.m. Leave of absence for one week was grauted to Messrs Withefora and Lawry. ADDUES3-IN-REPLY DIBATt. Mr. Ik'clay resumed the debate on the Address in Reply, He referred t) the ttlegram which the Dunedin o<<y metnbes had sent to S'r Joseph Wa d regretting that he should have accepted a tide, aud said he was unab'e to recede from the position he had than ttken up. He objected to the Croatian oftitks as tending to the growth of class distinction iu this country, and it had already been shown, in the o»se of Sir Robert Stout, that the acceptance of titular distinction was not palatable to the Liberate of this ooleay. His attitude in th's matter was on broad grounds of principle, and he mutt say that if any man in New Zealand >ienlv deterred*a title it was bir Joseph Ward. Mr, Barclay went on to refer to the recent utteianos ef Mr.- Seddon at Obristchurch, and entered a srong protest against any attempt to tie the peop'e of this to'ony to the chariot wheels of the Hon. J. Ctwmberlaia and h s party in England. He cepreca el (he tendency in New Zetland to txpress approval if Mr. thamb rlain's p iiicy.in regard to the Transvaal war. Mr. Barclay expressed general approval of the proposils in the Gjvern.r's sp.ech, al h he regretted to no',:o a suggestion in the Premier 1 * speech the previous evening that they s tould go slower in the matter of labour and social hgislation.

Jlr. MiNab dtaented from the h/A ►p jatiei 's remarks about tbe bestowal of honouig, and said if three wen ever tion. geutlrmen who bad earned a reward for their services they were the hoD. gentlemen who had lately ivc.ived tbe honour of knight bo >d. As to Ike 'Frisco mail servioe he did not well tee how we could improve the present condition of affairs. The probabilit'et were that th-- 'Frisco servioe would b) undir the American flag for many yean to come, and the colony should there* fure turn its attention to .he advuablen*ss cf rev.r ing to a l<ne conneofng Now Zeuland and Canada. He u»g<*2 the necessity of the pns rvation of our forests, and suggested replanting and miking frtsb fores's, for the future we of the oolony. He looked upcm the recent step if thft Opposition as the b at thing tbey could nave dene, and In was of opioion that the less powerful the Opposition whs the more oriticbm they would g-.t of Government measures, and the more chance there** Mai of cariying reasonable and necessary amendments iu committee.

Mr. L mensgn expressed regret that I Captain Hubs II had cased tj occupy die put i .lua of Leader uf ifae Opposit on. ' the uc;:o js of the Opposi'ion generally i\eru not tuoh as tbey night expect iroiu * fait iful and whi Its-*! uled Oppasi, luu; but be beli-ved th «e gentle-ui-n did not believe lulf they *atd about tbe Govei nine .t, and tbat (heir statem nts were simply dictated by t:ie exigencies of party p.lit i«g. He went on to stn'ugly urge the uodedrabl ii»ss of (osteiiug a military spirit in this coLnj', which was one of ihe gieit*at cursis that cou'd fall on a ountry. He congratulated Sir Joseph Wa<d up. . n the bonom- be to we J upon him. To his mind one of the most alarming fe .tures in fte v Zealand at th« present tima was th-i fe.rful fa'l in the birth rate, and ha would lite to see legislation introduce i to prevent chemists aud hunkers sailing certain things. If some remedy were nol furu comii g in this m.tee we wouid soon cease tj exit as a nation. Ha aojld like 10 see awry Urge iucreafe in tbe hnd tax, which woul i tend to thj general pr sperity of the o.Tj'iy, and ha would do his brst to obtain tne repeal of the Orjwn Tenants Rebate of Rent Act. It was time for a drutio sys'em e>f law leform in New Ze land. Mr. E. G. Allen deplo-ed the faot chat tktt Opp'sition was no« without a ItaJtr, which was Jikely to 1 ad to confusion. He dit-agned wi h wtat Mr. Bat clay hal sud about ti uhr dn-tir-ctim, aud ougratiUttei Sir Jufeph Waid and H>n. W. U. Walker on their hon mre. Mr. Allen went on to urge the n<*essity for opening I up more niaik.ts for our surplus produce, and siid line* i>f steMmers should be bauds mely subsidised by the .State, if Oy this means of profi able inarkfcts could be secured in Sou h Africa and els m here. He favoured tbe isabli.-huutit of a State coil oiiue. One >md all must ongrdtulate ihe Goverumeut upjn i s intention to btill further and vigorously prosecute its laid* fox 8"<tl. ment policy, aod he [ believed tbut scheme, together wi'bthe Advances to Se'tlts Department, had been a vtry great factor in the pros* peii'.y of tbe colony. Most of <hi proposals ia tbe Govanji's speech had his be irty support. Mr. O'Mo r* stiJ so-ne members hid « rankled abut the Minister for Railways impoi ting roiling sto. k, but those same members lust sssi.n urg«d the necessity uf more rolling stock being provided. When it was prjvjdtd, and it bad to bo impjrttd, because it could cot be made in the colony in the time, ihe grumbled %•; him for coiformiogto their w shes. He b lieve: 90 percent. of the people wtre in accord with the hjiiour toufurred ou Joseph Ward, In lua opiuiou (he Land Act requiicJ s, vorai awendmauta. As to tbe K-.i a c of lint Act it opsss/ed beneliciaily m t!i,i ea-.e of th'Wuwn who had lormeily boeu paying more rent 'than their land w*» worth. He ftp- | proved of the proposal to subskiee liiiDK of ".taauwrc for carrying produce. With regard to the decreasing birth rate, he considered if the Qerernmeat

f deviled com? system br which subsidies, in hud or money would be grai>t'd to j parents of large families, r o mo e wrald he beard of a falling binh We. Mr. Field expressed general approval of the Government policy. He was pleased to see that 'be last census ■bowed an increase of population of the native race, tut it had been stated that the census was not satisfactory, and he feezed the Government vould es toot. as pwß= I le take steps to set at rest »e> doubts that res'ed on the subj>c\ The debate was interiutpted by tbe 5.-30 p.m. adjournment. Evesiko FrrnKo. The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. ADDRIBB-IN-REPLY DEBATE. Mr. Field, continuing, expressed approval of the proposed railway superanriuatioi. scheme, and agreed with tbe subsidising of a line of steamers to carry produce to outside markets. ' It was improper, he con ftidered, *o cill cut for an increase of land tax until the condit'on of tin small) r class of sett'eis had been matriilly improved. Sr Joseph Waidthcught hon. members would sgrre tbat so f»rthis deb .te had been a singular one, in that Captain Bu'sdl was tie only re ember of the late Opposition who had spokon. He deducted from th's tit her that come of the Oppot it-ion did not wish to follow those whose departments they wished to critisise, or e'se that these depart m nitwere so faultless that no crititm was possible. Con'inuing, he rfeired to critkisns made on the Ra'lwsys IV pattme. t, and s id it was dt sirable tbat the mi>r pres ntatiois made shcnld be controvert d, and be urged tbat no other course than that pursued rou'd hare been taken without bringir-g about a disastrous state ef affairs. He qu«ted figures in refutation of charges ttat had been made in respect to the the rolling stock obtained outsit 3 e the colony. It bad been ccmpl»iiud that teiders had rot been called, but be could tell the House that tenders were called for in fcr the waggrns, and in America for the cars. Trose membeis who badttven pr^ts'ingbecause all railway tolling stock had not been manufactured in the color y did net know what was going on in their own country. He qtnted eztecsively from figures to show that the eitraordicary d*m«r.d for rolling (trek lad arisen owing tb the erormeus ircrease in passenger and goods tnaffic. The workshops in the colony we>e working et thtir highest pressure and turned out a large amount of orders; but despite this tbe denanJ. c u'd not be me*-, and. the Government bed to send outside for rollirg stock to meet the growing requires ents of the Department Had the Government n-t shown fo.csijhtin doirg so the Railway D-partment would not have been able to cope with the recent increase in passenger traffic, and * large number of people could nrt have found accommodation on trains. Sir Jos pb. Wsrd proceeded to de»l in detail with several complaints tbat had been mede in the course, ef the debate in regard to cost ard other aspects of lolling sock manufacture, quoting extensively from figures in defence of the D.par'menr. He remarked that the work turned out in tbe New Zealand Bailway workshops was equal to, if co* > better than any imported work tbat had crnae to hßnd. As showing the fnermous deve'opnvrit of the Baiiw.y Department, Sir Jo<;ph Ward ttated that in January, 1895, there were 4,733 m«n employed on the railways, end on 31st March, 1901. t» e j umber was 7,793. Ev n in tbe shrrt time be had charge he had tiken on 1300 men. Who could hive fcre-s-en this remark lie development? Had the Government ssked for a million cf moßey to cope with this develrpment, how would it have beer received by members? He further . pointed rut thst the railway r?veue for th» year 1896 97 was £1,286.000, and for 1900 1 it was £1,727,236. During the same period reductions made in r.tes repress ted a sum of £369,239-, and this aided to the incr sae shown in rivprue would give a total iccrease of £810,317. All this aboard the wiedom of tie concessions made by the Goverrmmt. Tho incre'B3 of passerg rs c-rried during the same period amounted to 1.804,206 persons, ard th're wee nl-o l»rgi increases under several o'her le.ding 3 . In tbe face of thesq figures, who cruld Bay that the Government h?d done wrong in sending out of th« c-lony for rolling tfrck. He might toll the House there vera now two and a-ha'f times more wcrktnen in tbe railway workshops than wete employed when the pros nt Government tcok over the railways. The Government: intended to ask for morey to ensure thit all rolling B*<»k required on our railways should be roadi in the rol ny. With this end in view additions would be m»de to the varions work'hips Bnd other i hops would hn taken to meet requirements. A suggestion had been made by Mr. Co!l : i)S that men ; n the Bailway WorksbopV should he brought under the provisions of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Court, and he (the speaker) could say that if men desired i\ the Governm-rtt would offer no ohj-c'ion. In cooc'usion, Sir Jrceph thanked those g ntUmen who had mai'e kindly referfctice to the honour reren'ly foiferred on him. and he was serry be cou'd not include among them Captain Busstll, who should hive kro»n b-tter than to twit him with having worn a Court dress He might add ha had never been of thrse who had c-ifd out against the acceptance of titular distinction ; and if there were any who thought that acceptance of a ti'le wenld cause him to change his nature or d>po=i'ion, orerable them tc bru j h him aside polit : cally, they were verv much m'staken. MrThomie McKecjie intimated that he would ie'erve his remarks on minj matters c ntain»d in the Addres6-in R«ply till the financial debate took place. Ho cirgrt'ulated the Ministry ou the 6lnnd taken in tho resuVion ol hours of employment of cl ! rk», nrd dealt with the p-cduce trade Rnr poultry gtading, and what he d< as the infamous and unj-sfc cl .tiros tc garding '.he qutlity of meat landed ft' Hornet, ar d irsu anco claims. He sue gested remedies for th-> evils and spokof the necessity f-ira perfect sys'em ci grading as tbe only wiy in wh : eh New Zeaknd mut'on could hold its owr against Argentine meat. Mr. Mwsey 6nid the Opp _ s'tior members v.w poing to exercise th' right of full anil free criticism wher they liked, each in h ; s own w»y. Hi complained that while truri-t--sporting men and otheis bad te ceived railway ore ssions bopc had beon given to farmers crc ee'tlors, wbo"*hou!d be allowed to hir« trucks to rarry their produce to marknt In other respects he did not considoi the railway service satisfactory.- H( . objected to the North Island being represented by only two Ministan

jes agains l ; six for the South I land The 'Fri co mil set vice w s'thb bst jond fastest btt»e n this co'ony and lEuiope, but 'he tfon drawback \va* tha Aneiican n i\jga ion 'aw. He pointed.' u th" int use d s-afisfi'ctior existed in the Ai cHind and Tauumk d s rictSj I ec u-i of t e d l»y iha«. Wat 'akirg p'nce'in ipenitgup <f lands in t 1 e Kng Country. Mr. Gilfeddir advnca'el a colonial scab) of teachtr. sal «i irs and staffing. He u-ged ( periodical ftva'uation tf Crown lands »iid favound a system of pro„>re r siv> bonowing in o dec to cairy <u k . a pro .atesive policy of public works. It I I w u'd be a gord speculation for tin Givernment to have a lice of steamerr "f its own for cariyi'-g produce to outside markets. He thought fhe timi had a>rived when the State shruld become an inturanc compai.y and relieve thw people fr-im »hn ra es the} had to ray at present, and h* urge! > ■fducion in raihv y frigh'B tj the lowest po sib'e point