PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 206, 5 September 1901, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

j PUB I'RKBS ASSOCIATION. . « LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. WKDN ESDAY, 4tH SBPTEMBItK. The Council met at 2.30. A letter wis received from Mr. John McKenzfr, son of the late Sir John iMcKenzie, thanking the Council for its condolences. Hon. W. C. Walker moved the adjournment of the Council, as a mark of respect to the memory of the late Hon. Jas. Kerr, This was seconded . and carried. HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. Wednesday, 4th Skptehbdi. The House met at 2.30. In reply to Captain Russell, Mr. Seddon said he was sorry to say Colonel Henry had not seen his way clear to accept the position of Commandant of the fore; s in New Zealand. He had been advised that the War Office was endeavouring to elect another suitable officer to fill the position. Mr. Pirani thereupon gave notice to ask whether will give the House an opportunity of deciding whether a colonial offioer should be appointed to fill the position of Commandant instead of an Imperial officer. The annual railway statement, annual report of Inspectors of schools, and the lands report were laid on the—table by Ministers. Mr. Hornsby moved that the Limitation of profits and Prevention of Rings and Combines Bill, and Control , of Female Employment Bill standing io his name be struck off the order paper. This was agreed to on the VOWS. In reply to Mr. R. McKeorie, Mr. Seddon said he would give private members an opportunity within a month of bringing in their bills, maxes. The financial debate was resumed by St Joseph Ward, who twitted Mr. Ma«sey with desiring to pow M an economist, while at the same the* ho was anxious to get all be OMld for roads, bridges, and railways. That hon. member knew very well that the North Island Trunk Railway had been constructed by co-operative labour, the abolition of which meant the stoppage of these works, and Mr. MaoteyV seat in the House would not be safe if ha advocated such a thing. It was only another instance of inconsistency of those member* who complained of increasing expenditure, tud yet urged a more vigorous policy of public works. Some members had complained that the cost of the old age pensions had far exceeded the estimate of the estimate of the Colonial Treasurer, but they overlooked the fact that when the original estimate was given it did not include the cost of pensions to Maoris; besides which the lessening of restrictions had greatly increa el the cost. With'regard to abolition of the Mortgage Tar, he asked whether hon. members wure prepared to agree to an increase of the graduated Land Tax on properties above £15,000 if the Mortage Ta were abolished. If so, the Government might be prepared to meek them. Members who were complaining of increase in salaries had supported the establishment of the new departments' which were responsible for the increased votes. Thtto departments were conferring f>*at gooJ on the colony, end some, of them wen paying handsotqaw. An increase of £1,220,000 haWfteen pointed to in the consolidated revenue, but the fact had bien overlooked that in the same period that revenue bad increased by £1,660,000, which showed the solid progress of the colony. The Government h;d also b*en charged with having increased the salaries of the higb'y-paid officers, but outside of .the two c'asiified services the increases to hw»ds of departments amounted t> only £250. Of the 880 iooreases granted 802 were made to officers drawing under £3OO per annum, and he oontendei that unless they wanted to knock the spirit out of their civil servants they must give thee»increases to men in lower grades. The salaries paid to the principal offioers in the New-Zealand Railway Department did not compare at all favourably with those io other colonies, and in some eases our officer* bad refuted higner salarie'. He emphatically denied that all of the New Zetland lotos were not quoted on the LondonStockExcbange, and declared there was dot a single loan of th>B colony thai? was apt so quoted. Valuable State departments like the Advances toßettlers and Lands for Settlement could not be allowed to languish for want of funds and the country would not allow them to atop their operations. He deprecated the introduction of provincial feeling, and denied that the North Is'and had not * received fair treatment at the hands of the Government, Mr. Meredith had suggested that the cost of railway roll<ng stock should be paid out of railway • evenue, but no better means than that could ba adopted to ruin the railways. had been very large increases la rolling 8->r.ck since 1895, and if the Government had not gone out of the colony for it they could not have got it, New Zealand was doing much heavier traffic per locomotive than iu some of the o.thvr oulouies. He defended the «ppomtm«nt of Mr. Ljuisscn to the thi.'promise of hisappoin ment had been made before Mr s3ddon became Premier. So long a« a oAin'ty was borrowing, finaccial jau'horities ag'exd it waa wrong to deite finking funds. As to Mr MilUi'a charge that the sale of £500,000 pr.ferenco shares of the Biuk of Now Ze-Knd would result in the colony losing £17,000 a year, be pointed out there would be no loss, as I the half million would be invested, and would produce interest.. The difficulty before the country was activity of money brought about by the war. The Government could now, if Ahey obose, get money on the Lon ioniaarket, but they wmid not bo row thSeuntil the rale of interest had gque dßn j but the. talk aboqt the oolony bjaWj Q difficul•i'B was absolutely to facts Customs revenue was behind what it was a|Ks time ltstlf year. Postal revenue, heavy concessions, was only £8336 to the bad, and trie railway revenua was already £65,802 in excels of revenue for the o rresponding five months of last yetr. Dd that look like going to the r ad? Of the loans borrowed during <ho last 10 years over eight millions ••era dirtily interest bearing. He w >s oppossri to lavish borrowing, but <non y wou'd have t > ba bo rowed for development purposes, and many English railway companies with a shorter mileage of line* had far more infested . in tueir lines than our whole public , Jebt. For the first time in the history 4 [of the oolony there was in oar banking jflj

dinary trade of the colony. Romis-j fiion? on ruilwiy rp.tes aprdiad eq-ially to t'ie Nor,:, ;<u<j 30U ; ii Island, rsud ! remission* t.> fmiiers tot ilbJ £74,000.' As to the position of the coloov there had b3en a phenomenal increase in every direction daring the past ten < years, and if they wanted this pros- " perity to continue, thsy did not want < their public man -ind nowspapsrs to try 1 and create an impession abroad, and i at home, that the bottom had dropped < out of the position of afl'tir*. < Mr J. Hutcheson stated that the! Premier on the second reading of the Old Age Pension Bill, in 1897, assured Mr Hone Heke that Maoris were in <■ eluded in the Act, and in 1898 the Premier, replying to Mr Hemes, said Maoris were conditionally included.! He condemned the policy of carrying! on public works on borrowed money. - He described the budget as the most undignified document which even' tbe Premier had produced. He, also condemned the extravagance ofi administration, and said he had come' to the conclusion that it was leakage : through departmental expenditure that 1 was the chief cause of the financial ( weakness of the colony. - ' Mr. McLachlan quoted prices realised at Adding'on yards to combat Oaptaiu ' Russell's assertion that sheep farmers ' had never been worce off. He con- ] gratu'ated Sir Joseph Ward on tbe r«-' due ions made in railway freight* ' which were in the best interests of ' farmers. ' Mr. Saddon explained his statement ' that ha. had rot anticipate! at first the pensions would be paid to Maoris and ' pointed out that in order to include ' Maoris w : thin scope of the Act it wss found necessary to insert an explicit l provision stating that the Act app'ied 1 to native?. That showed conclusively c that Maoris were not included in the } Bill as first drafted, and at that time ' therefore he did not reckon npon pay-, I ment of peosions to Maoris. j' The House rose at 5.30 p.m. '

Evxmio SiTrora. The House resumed at 7.30. Mr. McLacblan, continuing, adversely criticised the farmers union. He •aid that Canterbury bad coal deposits equal to Kaitangata, and that the Government only required to take over a small line owned by the Aahburton rounty Council to develop this coal field. Mr. Wilford dealt at some length with figures quoted by Mr. Graham, claiming th*t they were absolutely fallacious a«d incorrect. He complained that the purchase cf land for settlement in Wellington had been left shamefully out in the cold. He advised the tapping of out districts by light lines, and he believed out districts should have power, apart from that already possessed, to build light lines if they wanted them. He described the Premier's action in replying at a hole and co*ner meeting ob Monday evening to criticisms on his finance as a gross contempt of constitutions! rrocedure and of this House. The Workers Compensation Act of last Besfion was working out in all sorts of unforseen directions and becoming a blow at the independent worker and

a direct help to the hated middleman. . He considered that the Imprisonment for Debt Abolition Bill, which was bacoming known as the fraudulent debtors protection bill, should be reconsidered. He also considered that it was necessary to amend the machinery of the Old Age Pensions Act in order to find out whether any of the increase in cost of pensions was due to fraud' Mr. Barclay pictured the stagnation that would follow on a total cessation of borrowing. He gave an all-round support to the Government. He pointed out that a large birth rate was always coincident with a poor nation and with depression among the working population, while shorter hours and materially improved conditions of employment were associated with a decreased birth rate.

Mr. Lethbr'dge said farmers were being worried by continual valuations, and the way in which valuations were made was one of the reasons why the Farmers Union had taken such deep root.

On the motion of Mr. O'Meara, the debate was adjourned, and the House lose at midnight. .