PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 155, 4 July 1903, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

FSB PRESS ASSOCIATION. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. FkidaY, JULY 3. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. Hon. J. Rigg resumed the debiteon the Aiidr'ess in Reply. He advocated leaving the B nk of New Z-wland al<m> and establishing a State Bink. He was aver-e to impving additional duties on goods which could only be obtained from foriign countries. Be cicsidered the benefi s of preferential trado would be 'o the British capitalistil, at the i xp nse to every one else. Hon. W. be hu> thought the estab lishment of a State Bink thould b? sarbus'y considered He would like to see the Government tak-i over the esta'es from the Assets Realisation Biard and open tha'm up for feit.lement;. tte did not Favour the granting i f the freebo'd, aB the somrr we taugh people how to go on tbe land and mak» the beat use of it the better. Hej faViUctd reading Jand-i before settle \ ijifent', and granting city men an oppor-' tuaUy to gf;t land without residence, He thought it w.nM prevtnt mistakeif tbe electoral rights were issued with a photograph of the voter in ttu corner. The licensing laws should b amended to allay the friction now disturbing tte colony. Hon, G. McL an advocited rushing on tha North Is'atid trunk line ins'eaa of spending money on sectional lines , over the c )lony. Ta-'s w; nld enable a j million and a half acres of nitive lands t) be opened for settlement, He knew of a g-eat m\ny instances where lan.l | was overvalued, tbe Land Tax De partm?nt knowing bow to lo k afser its business. , | Hod. A. I ee-Smith moved the adjournment d the until Tuesday, which was agre d t-<, and the Council rose at 4 45 p m. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. IfeiDA.Y, JOLY 3rd. The Hous) met at 2.30 p.m. | Mr Hogg gave notice to ask whether , the Government proposed to in'roduw [a Bill to prevent New Zealand being fliod'd with undesirible imraigiants from Australia. i'f'Q Weights and Measures Amendment and 0 ■nsolidation Bi'l, and R:ad and Town Districts Rating Bill were introduced by Governor's message, and read a first tim 9. couNriES Bill, Tbe Counties Act Amendment Bill was also introduced by Governor's message, and read a fi r st 'irae. In reply to Mr Herrics, MrSeddon sa'd tha Bill was for the purpose of g'ving lojal to lies larger rating p iwt-rs. Mr Ma ; sey asked whether the Government could includia piovisinn io this Bi 1 to give a graduated sys'em of subsidies in regard to local bodies rates. Mr Seddon promiVd to look into the matter. FIRST REIDISGS, Tbe followivig Bills wi re read a fi s' time i —Paloierstin Norih High Fchool Jmiis Ao 1 : Amendment (McNab), Electoral Ac' Amendment (VicNab), Absolute Majority (Me Nab), Lav Practitioners Acts Amendment (Baume). L=ave of absence was granted to Mr Hske for a fortnight on u-gent burtnees. The remainder of the afternoon was occupied in setting up Sessional Committees. The House rose at 5.30 p.m. Evr.Ni a Sitting. Ike Hous'j resumed at 7.30. ADDRESS IN REPLY. Mr Bedfi rd said he r- garded Mr Seddon's prcp sal in relation to thi preferential trade scheme as a selfish o <3, as it meant that all tbe sicrifice was to be on the part cf the Mother Country. He yielded to nnae in his admiration of the Premier for his CDUrageous attempt to deal with the laud question, and in th's respect he rons : dered Mr SeJdun hal been a real God-sand to New Zealand. The Governor's speech contained no mention of Cabinet reconstiuc ion or amending licensing legislation. He believed that: from end to end (f the colony the people were dissatisfied with the oonBtitu ion of the Ministry, which could be strengthened, but the Premier had become intoxicated with power and he seemed to resist any attempt to ourb that power in any direction whateve-. Some of the recent appointments to tbe Legislative Council were a distinct insult to tbe colony. He regarded tbe Upper House as at present cons'.i uted as a menance to the colony, because it J was representative, not of the people, j but of the Premier. The only inference that could be drawn from tbe silecoof the speech on tbe licencing question was that the Premier did not intend to introduce legislation to retnovj tbe acomalies that existed in Bruce and Newtown licensing districts. The Premier. was playirg the and waiting to see whether temperance or liquor was the s f rorger it, the Hou e. He complained s'rongly of the continuance in i.ffice of the Registrar of Jbjlec'.ors at lovirca'gill, after hwing bern convicted of neglect of duty. Mr Taylor said there WjS a fee'irg, not only ia the country, but in the House, that if members dared to do their duty ia redressing giievances they might find their c nstituents suffering io regard to some reform they had a j' right to demand. As to the personal |power cf the Premier, he believed that ' io was going to cost the colony ita /radical land policy. The Member for ■ | Rangii ikei had stated recently | he believed a man ought to be ■ allowed to take up as much land as j ho had money to p.y for, so that | they found members of the Liberal ; 'party who wera pledged ! o tha hilt to ; ir.jure the land po!icy. The party Wis threatened fcecauso tbe question put to ' ! Government candidates was no Jongor j what policy do you support, but wbat man do you support, He maintained that tbe treatment of patients in lunatic asylums was on tho wrong lines. The asylums were greatly overcrowded and wera merely houses of detention. There was no right treatment of in eipient insanity and to attempt u<ij classification. The time bad como for scientifically devising a humane systam of treatment of our insane. He quoted fiom reports to show that year after year mos" persistent compLiitits on the of overcrowding and want of c mveniences, etc., had bt en ignored. 110 complained that all parliamentary power was now ves'.ed in th 3 executive, and thai; tbe Upper House did not possess the confidence of the country, j the only remudy bsinsr fw f-l-jclivo' executive. He hopei the iiuusj would | be given au opportunity of thoroughly

t tiresfaing out thia whole subject of the jptefetectial trade scheme, Hid. Hall-Jones said if Mr Taylor had known the Premier he tfcould not hive made the sta'etuent.e coicemirg [kim which he hid made, On the subject of preferential trade the Minister | hopsd that before long thsre would be a bloser Union Uatwe- n he vaii.u? part? of the, Empire, ai d ha though': that would bj brought ebiut by a prefer?ntiil tirifF. He said he knew that th<Lunatic Asylum? were ove* crowded ana hid been 60 for year?, and he was with Mr Taylor in believing that there were not sufficient berefic : el results from these ins'itutims. It was intended to abolish the term " Lunatic Asylums," and he was confident that a 1 irg-s number of those whi went into tbose institutions were curable; Patients at Seacliff were treited under favourable conditions and g'van all comforts of home, whila heir symptoms were watohed Cardfully by the medicil cfflcersi Apart fiom the invfS'igatio s of Mr T»ylO-, ha had , been di cds>iog with the medical officers the question of taking sufl~r< ; rs fiom incipient insaniry into some isolated heme where heir mi'ady could be properly dealt with a', the cuts«t, and he hoped th.it aime h'ng would be done in (hat Jirec'ion. Since the present Government was in office there bad been a mateiitl improvement as to overcrowding, and he promised there would : be a further improvement. Patients ought to be classified in tmall buildings, 1 so that their cases could bo watched. He differed entirely frum Mr Iteming- | f cn (Rangitiku) in regard to the freehold tenure, that member's view on this question beirg his individual opioioD. He felt confident the House would not agree to the su .gestiou that we should part with the freehold. If we were going to di-pose of the freej hold, the land ought to be thrown open 1 for fair competition, th 9 outgoing tenant to receive fair value for his improvements, but he was entirely op poEed to the sa'e of the freehold. The Government did not propose to alter che tei ure. He defended the 00-opera tivo sys'eo, and stated that figures honed 'hat the cost of railway con- ■ struction lasi year was less than in ■ 1891, when cani d out by cmtract ; hbour. He said the work on the North i Ishnd Main TrUok lin9 was going on very well, and it was probable that ■ when this Parliament closed the line 1 Would be very neatly throUgh to Auck- > land; Regarding the spieoh of Mr i Diist ie, the Minister said he had seen from the faces of members of the Opposition, hle that speech was being delivered, that they were ashamed of it, and ha hopel that the ciiticisms to 1 wh ch the speech hid been subjected, inside and outside the House, wculd induce Mr l)u hie to moderate his language. Mr Kaihau said the Governor, on leaving Nnv Z-aland, would carry away witb him the gjod wishes of the Maori rac-3. Regarding the Government havmg cal'ed Mabuta to the Logis'ative Council and to the Eiecu tiv , he could not see why aty one should obj ct, beciuse Mxhu a was a man of great ■' mana " " mana " generally acknowledged by the Maori raot).. Mihuta's elevationould only have one effect, and that was a direct benefit to tbe whale colony through the openitg up of lands under his control.

The djbate was adjourned on the motion of Mr Mills, The House rose at 13,15,