PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 245, 14 November 1903, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, FRIDAY, Nov. 13. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. The Mining Act Amendment Bin was read a second time and referred to the Goidfields Committee. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the second reading of the Referendum Bill. The Hon. J. M. TWOMEY characterised the Bill as absurd, slipshod, and non-senscical. The debate continued till dinnerhour. EVENING SITTING. The Council resumed at 8 p.m. and after further debate the Bill was thrown out on a division by 26 to 2, the Attorney-General and the Hon Beeuan only voting for it. The Council rose at 0.20 until Monday afternoon. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13. The House met at 2.30. By 44 votes to 25 It was decided to further adjourn the debate on the motion for the introduction of the .Wine Adulteration Bill (No 2). The Lands Committee reported that the Lands Act Amendment Bill be allowed to proceed with amendments. The Labour Bills Committee, to which was referred the amendment made by the Council in the In•biatrial Conciliation and Arbitration Bill recommended the House to disagree with the new clause extending the area of an award to an adjoining industrial district in order that it should be made perfectly clear how the extension of the a.ward could be effected. On Mr SEDDON'S motion the House decided to disagree with' the Amendment. A Governor's message was received containing an amendment in the Shipping and Seamen's Bill, limiting the' operation of the Act to the powers conferred on the General Assembly by the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act. Consideration of the amendment was deferred to enable the Minister to ascertain Its real effect. The report of the conference on the legislative Council's amendments in the Water Power Bill was adopted. In reply to Mr Massey, Mr HALL-JONES said he would endeavour, if possible, to bring down the PubHe Works Statement on Monday evening, At 4.35 p.m. Sir J. WARD moved the 'Frisco and Vancouver mail service resolutions (as telegraphed on Tuesday afternoon last). In doing so Sir Joseph pointed out that very great regularity of running had been observed by the 'Frisco steamers of late. In no instance had the late arrival of the mails at Home prevented the people there from answering their correspondence by the next outgoing 'Frisco mail. He quoted a quantity of statistical matter relating to the service, and went on to say that since 1888 there had Seen an increase of about 250 per cent. ™ mail matter carried by the Frisco rout e. At that Ump ony was paying a maiJ subsidy to a direct hue of steamers which did not now exist. No timetable service ol such a class as the 'Frisco service couM be obtained by paying ordinary postal union rates. To those .who urged that the colony should join m the Federal service he would SS«S' tth * t **«* would coet us a year ' in «*lition to winch we would be paying a suh.iriy tL« De ° f steam ers manned l,y S^,"^ 11 Was ~ur fc " u *den duty to try and arrange f,r a Vancouver service, and some correspond- «« had taken place In regardTo the establishment of a separate J, - Wee between Canada and New C ££? m WB f tbat something would result from these negations, as the result of the Vancouver proposals now put forward i« tfcj Government. He farther pointed s out that New Zealand touM ~« tban a fortnightly serv>e ea that the 'Frisco service was a link with the Mother Country „ IH ,- enabed us to get our malta out j n the fastest possible way. The cnponente of the service complaint that importation* of cheap Am"t can goods by the 'Frisco stealers * detrim «tal effect on certain of our industries, but in retnese , he Pd-trf'out that t these steamers were not running their places would be taken ™af afatou1 IS h Z hi t t WOUM Carr * ™*° ?LJ? W ' the rates charged by the steamers The proper remedy for Uu state of affairs was to readjust the tariff, and not to do away with the service, which was saidtoT responsihte for the cheap imptta! taons. He was entirely opposed to +k! A S^T / f n navigation laws, as they affected New Zealand, but we were at present passing our own navigation laws, and we should adjust our maritime laws to secure reciprocal treatment, and not cut ourselves off from a large and populous country like America, and £v awav Tw * "El? wWch was the ftwtest that could be obtained between New %£ ZLT w^ 1 *™ 1 - In Sir Joseph Ward read a resolution SHE? A by t tbe , New ****** b ™™ ol the Australasian Federated Seamen s Ijnion in favour of the 'Frisco Berv.ce, on the ground, among othZ% «*' *;«» Ployed white men and pard first-class wages, and he urged tbat this was the best service which we could possibly get, and very much cheaper than the Federal service, which was the only altenm-

Mr MILLER said he intended to Oppose the 'Frisco proposals at every possible stage, ami he moved as an amendment that it be an instruction to the committee that no subsidy be granted to any American company for the calTiagv of He said Aew Zealand was taking a leading part in building up a united Empire and yet we were proposing IILTt the greate6t rival of the whole country to build its trade still more firmly with the British dependencies. If we had a Federal service ,t would be fortnig-htlv, and not three-weekly, and would be carried under the British flag all the way. As to Lascars, they were our fellow-subjects, and paid a laree share in the taxation of the Empire. He asserted that the Government had never attempted to find any other mail service, am) never wrote to the Union Company about the Vancouver service r till June last when the Union Company was \ pledged to renew the contract with Queensland. He quoted figures in connection- with the service, and showed that it had not, as had been contended, built up our trade with America, for in 1892 our exports to America totalled £520,117, and in 1902 fhey had fallen to £489,964 T^o-, 1 ,^ 2 th<! im P»rts were only £381,627, and in IDO2 thev had increased to £1,146,575, and yet we proposed to grant a subsidy to enable those people to still further compete with us. The boats would iiave- to come here whether we subsidised them or not, and he urged it would pay them to come here on poundage rate. In his opinion the Americans were not friendlv to Britain. The proposal was now to enter into- a contract ror three years which would debar us from joining in the new Federal service if we so desired. Sir J. WARD : We can come in at »ny time we like. Mr MILLAR : We ought to be a °J* to Bo in with a free hand.

EVENING SITTING. The House resumed at 7.30. Mr MILLAR, in concluding his speech, said he understood ■ that some members did not intend to record their votes on this question. He held it was the duty of ©very member of the House to exercise his vote on a national question like this, and show which side they were on. •He hoped a majority of the House would show that the unity of the Empire was the first consideration.

Sir W. RUSSELL did not consider it becoming' a colony like New Zealand to refuse the removal of the contract, because the company interested might still Continue to come to the colony w'ithout any mail contract. As business men they should ask themselves whether the colony got an advantage from the 'Frisco service, and whether; if It Was discontinued, it could be replaced by a better service. He defied anyone to show that the existing service would be improved upon. He contended it was anti-Imperialistic and anti-Brit-ish to prefer the Brindisi service to the 'Frisco service, as by the Federal service the mails bad to pass through European countries. Figures showed that our trade with Canada was insignificant, and that there was not anything to "Regained from a trade point of view by the Vancouver service. When a genuine policy of Imperial unity had been enunciated it would be time enough to discard the 'Frisco service, and he would be the first to urge this colony to adhere to that policy in its entirety.

Mr DUTHIE said the demands of trade were such that the colony must have regular mail communication with the Mother Country at a shorter interval than three weeks. Apart from that, he considered it was an outrage to carry mails between a British colony and Great Britain by way of a country that had, by its navigation laws, dealt a severe blow at British shipping trade i n its waters. He expressed himself strongly in favour of the colony joining in a weekly Federal service, occupying 36 days each way. The strong point in favour of this service was that it would give the w-hole of the colony a < regular and convenient opportunity of replying to correspondence which they did not obtain under the 'Frisco service. Our annual contribution to the Federal service on a population basis would be £15,000, and unless the Union Co. charged an enormous price the cost to the colony should not be much more than the 'Frisco service.

Mr MASSEY twitted Mr Duthie with having spoken strongly in favour of the 'Frisco service only two years ago. As to the navigation laws of the United States, he (Mr Massey) said this parliament had this session a much more drastic and objectionable measure and why, he asked, should we findfault with a country for doing what we ourselves were doing. Nothing would be more unbusinesslike than to do away with the best mail service New Zealand had ever known because of the American navigation laws. If the opponents of the' Frisco service could show him a good service by another route he would accept it but they were not able to M, S °irn r MaSS6y wont on t0 twit Mr Millar with having turned a complete somersault. When the Undesirable Immigrants Bill was before the House some time ago Mr Millar was loudest in his demand for imposing a poll tax on all Asiatics but that afternoon they found the member for Dunpdjn strongly supporting the Federal service, 'which' largely employed Lascars on its steamers. The net cost to the colony of the 'Frisco service was only £14,680 a year, and he considered the cplony had very good value for every penny of that money Mr Massey a i so spoke of th<j . ■ fl . iendl feeling displayed towards Great Britain by the United States during the Boer war, and hoped the House would not do anything that would the P0OI " e ° f the

Mr T E. TAYLOR advocated the rederal and Vancouver services as against the San Francisco route .Mr SEDDON spoke strongly ' i n lavour of the retention of the service. He contended that the passenger traffic by tho 'Frisco boats was increasing yearly and we should use every means in our power to foster that traffic.

Other speakers were Mr A. L D Fraser against, Mr Witheford for Mr McLachlan, who would not vote! and Mr J. Allen, who was speaking when the telegraph office closed.