PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 167, 18 July 1903, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

PER PBESS ASSOCIATION. ' lt ] LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, ( Friday, Jaw 17. , gThe Council me; at 2.30 p.m., and adjourned for the presentation of the Addrfss-in Reply to the Governor, Upon irsuuiing tho following Bil's (introduced by tha Attorney-Genernl) were reed a second time:—Firss Ofl tenders Probation Amendm3ut (giving I more precise definition of tei m " offender"), Irgitimisation Act Amendment ('egitimatising children born before marriage or subsequent to mari:>go in the case of marriage with a localised wifa's sister or huebind's H'ethot),. and Intestate Estates Biil (granting widow of man dying intestate ■tiid leaving no issue absolute right to fcuo whole es'ate if not exceeding £500.) The Council rose. SOUSE OF REI'HESENI'ATiVES. Fmday, July 17. The House met at 2.30 p.m. The Publio Petitions Committee reported that they bad no recommendation to make in regard to the petition of thirteen Danedin hotelkeepsrs, who complained of suffering peouniary less and deprivation of their means of living through the severe administration of the licensing Ac:-. ASYLUMS FOR IMBECILES. Mr Bud'to brought down a report of the Public Petitions Committee on the petition of Jtssie Mackenzie and 21 others of Auckland, who prayed tbat separate provision ba nude for the shelter and management of imbecile persons who are already inmates of various as)lum3. The report was as follows :—" That in the opinion of the Oomtriitttie tha time has arrived when provision should ba made for separate institutions for the weak minded, oi imbecile and idiotic persons, who at piesent, through tha want of more iuitabla accommodation, are sent to lunatic asylums where thay are unavoidably associated with patientß who are under treatment for insanity, and where, also, no attempt is made towards classification or improvement by , means of training and eduoation ; and , further tint from the evidence before ' them, tho committee are of opinion 1 tbat there is urgent necessity for im mediate ac'ion bsing taken by the Government in the matter.

Messrs Fowld", Taylor snd Ell urged upon tha Gove:nment the necessity tf viking action in thn matter, Mr Seddon said ha knew nothing {hatdeserved more serious consider i' ioo U an the subject of lunatic asylum rafcrm, It should be approached apart fiom all questions of pirly. He pointed out that the number of inmates of lunatic asylums had increased From 1797 in 1890, to 2848 in 1902, while the gross expenditure in upkeep hvl risen from £45,075 in 1890, to £85,238 in 1902 Since 1898 £90,000 had bean expjnded on building and equipment, and still there wereoimplaints of overcrowding. Thisqueption of increased the number of lutiatics in the colony must be faced boldly, and his view was tbat there were a considerable number of people in our asylums who had no j right to be there, and who in other ] countries would not be confined in asylums. The proportion of lunatics per 1000 of population had rieea from 2'B in 1890 to 3-6 in 1902, The only concision he could arrive at was that tLe people were too easily committed to asy'uais. Tb.9 Government, sometime ago, had had proof that some of the inooa'es were unlawfully detained, bat the trouble was that whan they were r- leased tbe'loc.il authorities would not assist thtm, If the relatives of thsse people were unable to assist them the local authorities should do so. The Government had discussed the question of setting up a commission on the question, but the difficulty was as to i's eorap'gi ion, As an iustanca of an improper us a , ex-Commissioner Tunbridge reported a case in *hich some boys had been commit'ed to an asylum to avoid the disgrace of sending them to p ison on a charge of arson. Ths Government had spent on asylums £107,975 tut of th 6 {public works and consolidated funds, and had increased the oubio air spice per patient by 61 feet, but more mus f be done. There had also ben a great increise io the psrsoa&l comforts afforded to inmates, tha cost of maintenance per head having gone up from £lss3d in 1890 to£2 2nn 1902. To cirry out a proper system of classification, includiog cottage hours for th" aged, and eeparate institution? for children, would cost £IOO,OOO for buildings alone. It would, however, be advisab'e to await the aocurate figures of a Royal Commission or other body showing the number of people at present in asylums who had no right to be there. In the interests of afflicted humanity it should not bs a question of £s. d., but the House and country should do their duty, Mr Duthie hoped the question would be dealt with this session. After further discussion tho recommendation of the committee was referred to .the Government for consideration.

ADDRESS-IN-REPLT, Mr Oriham resumed the debate. Repaying to Mr Harding's sugges'ion that a young and vi«or.im mm was wanted as Minister of Laods, he sud another qualification necessary was exparienca. Mr Dune in was an admirable I udministratw, and had in Mr Hurst- ! house, chief of the Roads Depart men 1 , 'a vigorous lieutenant. He urged retrenchment in expenditure In case there should be a slump in ou>' fr.)z9ti meat or agricultural industries. He supported the 'Frisco service, and i thought licensing legislation should be introduced immediately, Mr Symessaid if Hon. Mahuta's oill I to the Legislative Council resulted in the > opting up of land in the King Country it would be a splendid thing for j Sew Zealand, and it would do more for '. Auck'aod in a year than the com- ( pletion of the North Island Main Trunk t Lino would do in ten years. * 1 The Hous3 rose at 5 30. ]

Evsnikg Sitting. The House resumed at 7.30, Mr Symes (continuing) supported the present system of land tenure. It would be criminal, be considered, to interfere with the present holders of

lease in perpetuity. The back blocks I Isflttler was deserving of a good deal ! more consideration than he received at present-, and he hoped the Government would assist those settlers in every possible way. He did not approva of the State fire insurance schema in ifs pres nt form. Mr Houston was in favour of the freehold, and said a graat majority of settlers in big district; held tbe mm

?iew. The present system of land ballot was one of the greatest curses in the colony, and should not be permitted to continue. Mr Seddon said the debate had been of material value to himself and his m i nistry. The policy of the speech had not been assailed, and as to administration he had never known less -dveraa criticism in any previous debate. The speech did refer to the liquor question in the paragraph stating st-iting that in recent elections stvsral defects had been found in our alectoral system, but it seemed there was no particular desire in the House to deal with this liquor question. Three weeks had passed and Mr Jas. Allen had not brought in a Bill to deal witb the position of tbings in Bruce and ask the House to deal with it as a nutter of urgency. Mr Jas. Allen said he had a Bill for that purpose on the Order Paper. Mr Seddon said it had been stated that his conduct had lowered the credit of the colony, but when he returned from Home the colony, as a whole, said he had worthily represented it. It was also said tbat he bad corrupted the party, but the party he led was incapable of corruption, Be said it was he who had brought Commissioner Tunbridge, and the person who said that his departure was due to interference was tne very person who tried to make the Commissioner's position untenable, and.Oammitsioner Tunbridge had said he was never interfered with by the Government. (Mr Taylor: He never said it), As to Ministers travelling, he pointed out that when they went away by train they had their secretaries with them and required privacy in order to carry on their work. The colony would not lose anything through the banking legislation of 1896. As to the statement that there had been no remission of taxation, he gave details showing that over a million pounds had been remitted, besides half a million on railways. (Sir William Russell: The taxation is now higher than ever). Thore was no increase on what was required for the masses, but on luxuries. Whatever harm had been done to the colony was effected by the Opposition, and even when tbey left New Zealand they decried the credit of the colony. In 1890 the interest charges were £1,752000, and in 1901 it was only £1,722,000. The Government had applied to public works from surpluses over £3,000,000, the interest on which would have been £IOO,OOO, and that £IOO,OOO must be regatded as a remission of taxation. A.s to the s ile of debentures, he said in the colony tbey had sold £767,000, in Australia £263,000, and in London £56,000. Our 4 per cents, ate to-day bringing 108. The money was perfectly safe, and he urged the Opposition to be patriotic and not for party pui poses try to weaken the colony's credit. As to railway administration, the statement that railways made over 3 per cent, was challenged. They ought to ba careful how they made such a statement, as it was read outside the colony and caused mistrust. As to the charges to revenue and capital, thosa charges were n-jw made as they had been for yaars (Sir W. Russell r I proved tbey were nob ), and there were no charges made against capital which ought to have been mafde against revenue. The Opposition would charge everything against revenue and make no remissions, and it was they who posed as the farmers' friends 1 Vary little first-class land remained. The young men who were charged by the Opposition with being tied to their mother's apron strings would remember the phrase at the next election. He urged that if there was a large estate adjoining a straggling settler's home, it was reasonable that sons of the settlers should not be sent up to the North Island to look for knd, and consequently the North Island men should not hive to go down south for land. The cry for freehold cime from mombsrs representing large estates. It meant a new aggregation of large estates. They had borrowed money to purchase or road land, and they proposed to sell the land and use the money as ordinary revenue, instead of borrowing (No) that would be a fraud on the colony, and if suoh land was sold the money must be put into a speaial fund to pay off the debentures of the land purchase, He charged those who were agitating for freehold with inciting crown tenants against the Government. On a ltrge question of this kind, they had no right to do anything without consulting the people. At present the rentals amounted to £308,183 a year, and if • those rentals were taken away, they would have to increase the taxation by that amount. By the leasehold the poor had been brought from penury to affluenoe, and he did not believe they would ohange the system which had brought j them so much good, If an attempt was to be made to do away with the optional system it behoved everyone to stand steadfast and prevent this grava injustice to the people of the colony. Regarding the appointment of tha Won. Mahuta to the Executive, he produced documents from the Land Office showing that the { Hon, Mahuta po ssssed 21,000 acres, although it had been stated that he did j not own any land. The Waikato] tribes, which were also said to ba land-1 less, had half a million but even so he objected to natives who had bad! their lands confiscated being taunted j with their landless condition. Their. land was taken from tho Waikatos and ' an attempt should be made to settle; things as they are being settled. The ! objection to the Government land! policy cama from the pakeha Maori! and land agents, and ha added that the! irae had come when native land must

Sir W. Russell, in the course of a personal explanation, said that when the Government came into* office taxation per head was £3 10s, and now it is £3 19s par head. Mr Henies believed the country demanded an eleative Upper House, and he was quite prepared to support an elective exeoutive, oleotive Upper House, and referendum. On the subject of licensing ho considered the Premier was deliberately shirking his duty to the country, because he was afraid of an adverse vota one way or j another. He did not object to the Hon.' Mahuta being oilled to the Legislative j Council, but was strongly opposed to his appointment to the Executive, and he asked the Government whether Hon, Mahuta was a member of the Executive with or without salary, Mr Seddon replied that no promise had been made to p»y Hon. Mahuta any more than his salary as a Legislative Councillor, and no further payment would bo made until Parliament

had been consulted. j Mr Hemes said he would give every] leaseholder a chance to get the free-, hold. (Ltffi Sitting.)