PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 6 July 1907, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

4 I'IUDA.Y, JULY 5. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. (liy Telegraph—Press Association.) The Council mot at 2.30. The lion. Mr SCOTANI) resumed discussion on tile Address-in-Reply, ai'd first ol» all paid a high tribute to tin* hue Colonel Pitt. IWerring to the recent appointment* to Ihe Council, he said he could speak freely, as lie had no sword of D.nuocles hanging over His liead, and lie expressed ti»e opinion that the only way to secure perfect independence in the Council was to have lite membership. Ihf hoped the time would eome when Ihe seven years appointments woulj give place to life membership. lie condemned the childish ambition to change the designation of col- j ony. and hoped the idea would fall to the gioun.L The people of New Zealand were governed as well as desurved to be, but he had Utile hope of anything great where prftftessioiul politicians governed. ,So long as this occurred, it was no use looking for reform. lion. Mr M'cCAKULK confined himself to the land (juestion. lie expressed approval of" tlv freehold tenure. .lie believed in deferred ptymcnt wiih occupancy. and wiu of opinion that limi- ' tation of holdings should bdlon an aeiv- ' age basis The Act had done more for

the colony than the Land for Settlements Act, but ilie lease-inperpetuity was a great mistake. If endowments were to be mails', he would give the poor man an opportunity of getting 011 such land, anil settlers should lie paid for improvement on leaving. Ho advocated better reading of the backblocks, and settlers should be guaranteed that a certain sum would be spent oil roads. The Hon. 51 r CALL AN said the wannest thanks were due to Sir Joseph Ward for the way he had represented the colony at the Imperial Conference. He approved of educating the youths of the colony in the use of the ritic;, and thought it would be beneficial if youths between IS anil 25 years were obliged to undergo a system of compulsory military training. Irrigation ,e------quired the attention of the Government. Ho approved the proposed alteration of designation of the colonv. The Hon. T. KELLY said he had no objection to the alteration of the designation of the colony, though he did not know if it would carry with it a reorganisation of salaries 011 the Canadian basis. He advocated the removal of the duty 011 sugar, which was largely consumed 'by the workers. On the motion of Hon. Mr Ansta,', tile debate was adjourned. Tin- Hon. Mr Fcldwick moved a resolution extending the sympathy of the Council to tiic Hon. Air Hall-Jones in his illness, anil expressing the hope that he would return to the colony thoroughly restored. i' The Attorney - General, the Hons. Luke, Thompson, Anstay , Loughnan and W. E. Smith spoke briefly and eulogistically of the services of Mr Hall-Jones, and in terms of regret at his illness. The motion was carried and the Council rose at 4.20. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2-30. FIRST HEADINGS. The following Bills were read a-first time:—Coal Mines Act Amendment (.McGowan), Police Offences Act Amendment (McGowan), Tolnuiga Suppression (Carroll). 1! EAR RAN GEM ENT OF PORTFOLIOS The PKEMIER announced that in consequence of the Hon. Mr HaU-,Ton:s' absence, the following would take charge of his portfolios:—Hon. Mr McGowan, Public Works and Tourist Department; Sir J. G. Ward, Railways; lion. Mr McNab, Defence; Hon Mr Millar, the Printing Office. The SPEAKER announced rthe receipt, of a bust of Admiral Nelson, presented to the New Zealand Parliament by the British and Foreign Sailors Society. AD L) 1! E3o-I N-REPL Y. .Mr GIIEKNSLADE expressed liims.-'t as satislied witli the progress made on the North island Main Trunk railway. Referring to the raihvayincn's grievances. there was 110 denying that great dissatisfaction in the scrviee, which should be remedied. A great deal of trouble arose in various districts through lack of rolling stock and motive power, resulting in considerable inconvenience and expense to fanners, ill' HOGG expressed surprise that more members of the Opposition had not spoken during the debate. lie had hoped to have the pleasure of replying to some vigorous attack on the' Ministry but apparently the Opposition was contented with the promises of the Ministry. He contrasted the present stite ol a Hairs with what existed not many years ago, when the present Chief Justice sat 011 the Opposition benches »iid referred to the Government supporters as "dumb dogs." Touching 011 lands for closer settlement, he complained that the Masterton electorate had been neglected by Hie Government, anil considered it was high time the searchlighit was thrown 011 the manner in which Native Lands were acquired by certain Europeans. The practice hail been to lease lands for a term of years, and then advantage was taken ot the necessitous position of native holders to get restrictions removed, and thus secure the freehold, lie knew instances where a sawniillei' leased native lauds for 21 years- The timber was worked out in a few years, and the sawmiller became pure and simply the landowner. He urged I hat a measure should l>e passed forbidding private dealings in native lands. \Vhilst Mr Hogg was protesting ! against t he undue aggregation of Na- | ti\e Lands in his electorate, he was in- 1 leiTupted by a stranger in the gallery interjecting '• You're quite wrong Hogg/' j The Speaker ordered tile offenders re- ] moval, but he did not leave until for- 1 ciblv removed. j Air SI'ALLWORTIIY strongly sup- I ported the change from colony to Do- 1 minion, and eulogised the Arbitration 1 Act. Referring to the 'Frisco mail so- ' vice, lie contended tile country generally t was keenly feeling and lamenting the 0

loss of till! service. Alluding to ihe Farmers' Union, lic» maintained that it did not represent the fanners of New Zealand, but only the great landowners Tlie fanners projier realised that their best friends did not sit on the Opposition benches. -Mr .SI'.DDO.V eulogized the Premier I'or Ilis service rendered at (he Imperial Conference. He urged upon the (iovernnient io give favorable consideration lo tlie tenders received for the construction of the Arthur's Vass tmniei on vhe .Midland railway. '•The House resumed at 7.30. 'ihe l'liMllKi; moved that this House conveys to the lion. \V. Hall.Jones, Minister for Itail ■ ■■■>, its expression of sympathy nt • ;< indisposition and hopes lie may r i .'iii to the colony restored to perfect health.'' J'lie motion was agreed to. 51 r T. Y. kIDDON, resuming his ,-4|».vdi. referred to Dr. Bell, and ctiloihe -rood work done hv hint on tin' West (.'oast. Mr LAN(< stated the ({overnim'iit li:ul been criticised far more severely by their own Hiipporters than was ever done by the Opposition, and consequently he did not see any reason why i lie debate should be prolonged. Jleto the wages paid to. railway herwniK he averted (hat the State's

own employees should be paid at least tile same rate us a private employee, l if not a little more, lie contended nl*o i Mint the state's sovviuits should be subjected to the same laws as private employees. Inferring to the Land Hill, he maintained that (lie Government had abandoned it as a whole, and were seeking to pass it by driblets. He argued that tenants under the L.LI 1 , .should be allowed to transfer their holdings 1o 0.11.1'.. and added that the sniy reason for I his extraordinary land proposal made by the Government was because not one .Minister had ever been a practical farmer, and if it came to a >lraight-out division they would lind tih' eoimtry members in one lobby and I lie city and suburban members in '.he other. (Cries: No., no.) It was a fact that whenever any measure ail'ediiw the country came before the House, it was always the city members, like the member for Newtown, who knew most nbmit it. (Laughter). Begirding the Native land question, lie stated that had Ihe natives been granted a little more i,

freedom in the 'disposal of their lands, large tracts of country would now L'e settled. Mr RUTHERFORD did not approvo . of changing from Colony to Dominion, it reminded him of a small man wearing a very large hat. lie did not think there was a pressing need for a last mail service, as all that was required) for commercial purposes was a regular service via .Sydney and Suez. He was strongly opposed t 0 allowing Chinese to enter the colony, and if treaties permitted, lie .should like Chinese to he i given three years in which to wind np their businesses and clear out of New Zealand. He could not support the suggestion that more Ministers should I'O appointed, lie thought too much running about the country was expected f of Ministers, /or I lie purposes of opening bridges, halls, etc., and this mo 10- I polised much ol - their time. t The lion. .las. CAUJiOLI.,, replying' to ( Mr Hogg, argued that-the Native lands ] district of llasterton was more closely settled than any other portion of iiie 1 colony. All through the history oftlv; ' colony, the natives had been most mag- s naniinous in trying to meet the interests of the colony and the desire of 1 European settlers. Contrasting Maoris 1 and Europeans, he said the more the latter acquired wealth, the more selfish they became. Not so the Maori, who, when he amassed wealth, realised the responsibilities of his positiu... At -Muster ton 2'UIS acres of laud were still

held by the Natives, whilst 3000 were leased tn rairopeans. They had sold 1525 acres to Europeans, and 57,078 to the Crown for settlement. Who wo.ild say these natives retarded settlement, and who was going to deny the right of the natives to he settled on our land. Von could not expect the Maoris to assimilate the benefits of European civilisation in a decade, but whenweigliod in the scale, of lium.in attribute they would compare with any other race tn earth. The Maoris had been generous in the past, and no Government ever had any diliicultv in getting from th.'iu birge areas of land for settlement. Tile Maori was realising to-day that lie was unable to part with much land, otherwise iie would leave a very poor legacy indeed to ilis successors, lie anticipated that the result of the Native Land Commission would be to put i|i ilie Statute Book legislation beneficial 1o both races. Jlr MacTHERSON hoped the Government would take Hie matter of the irrigation of Central Otago in hand. 11l comparing rates of pay for railway anil postal servants, lie considered it an injustice that the postal officials with 10 years' service should receive £IOO a. year, whilst railway servants only received .€l4O a year, and in many cases had to do the work of I>oth tlic postoflice and railway departments. Kurtlier, whereas an officer of the Railway Department making a slight mistake ran the risk of dismissal, ou a postal, official making a mistake a small only was inllicted. Mr 11 lill) considered that in appointments to the Upper llouao tlie city element predominated to the detriment of the requirements of the country. He advocated reduction of the tax on ihc necessaries of life in order to allow workers to live as cheaply as possible. Mr REMINGTON advised members to read Mr Rolleston's speech on the Land Bill of 1882. The House rose at 114.5 p.m.