PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 24 July 1907, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

TUESDAY, JULY 23. I (By Telegraph.—Per Pres.* Association.) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2.30. Mr ARNOLD moved the second reading of the Dunedin Suburban lias Company Empowering Bill, which seeks for the company powers to supply gas in Caversham W'anl oi' Dunedin and some surrounding boroughs. After a short discussion, the second reading was agreed to, and the Bill referred to the Local Bills Committee.

The Costley 'training Institution Act Amendment Bill (Hon Fowlds) was read a first time.

When tlu- report of the Rotorua Town Bill came up For consideration, Mr Herries expressed the hope Clint the Tourist Department, in taking over the township. \voii:d lie placed in the same position as all other Borough Councils in tlie colony. Tlie residents of Rotorua were not opposed to the proposal, but were quite ready to try the experiment. Mr HICRUIKS compiained that great delay had occurred in laying down the wiiter supply ami drainage systems, and at the present time it number of houses could not get tin electric light supply, lie contended tlr.it tlu iJ e matters would have been hotter managed bv private enterprise if tho Covemnient had never had anything to do with Rotorua.

Mr XOATA asked for an assurance from the Premier that the present Village Council of Ohinemutu should be consulted from time, to time in regard to sanitation, liquor and other matters. The PREMIER, in replying, said the Government was always ready to assist the nativi-s, and there was no objection to the Tourist Department working with the native authorities in the direction suggested. »

The amendments made in committer were agreed to, and the Bill read a thin time and passed. THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

011 resuming at 7.30 the galleries were crowded for the opening of the Financial Debate. Mr MASSEY led oil He said the Financial Statement contained references to many subjects, which might have been more appropriately dealt with in the Speech from the Throne. He asked members to think of the proposals, which had been put iorwnrd front his side of

the House, for Hie lust half-dozen years. Take the auditing of the juiblic accounts, for instance. In spile of the opinions expressed by the I'remier Unit the it'nnind for tlie reform would not prove workable, lie hud executed a right-about face. 1 same with sinking fund, and sinking funds were now an accomplished fact. Til some instances, similarly, the Opposition's demands for national annuities had fruitilicd, and, although the scheme had not been passed, there was a possibility that it would find its way .to the Statute Book In the near future, j Last year £25,000 was voted from the consolidated FiinJ for making the roads of the colony, a measure he had frequently advocated. Referring to the land question, what a change, he said, had come over the scene since Mr MeNab introduced his measure some twelve month sago. Tiie gentlemen who occupied the Ministerial benches now admitted that he, in advocating the freehold, had been right, and they wrong. He claimed that small as the Opposition was in numbers, it had been an influence for good in that House. A Goi eminent, like an individual, should be judged by what il had done. It was proposed in the Bill of last year to strike the man on the land in the most vital spot. Referring to endowments, he said they were not wanted for the purpose for which they were to be set apart, and of little use to the people of the colony for educational purposes, or for the paying of old age pensions. Before going t'uither, we we should be guided by past experiences , in regard to endowments, and enquiry should be made into the subject of endowments. eitlier by Royal Commission or by a Committee of the House. In connection with the land question, the Government required watching closely, because of the socialistic and single tax in flueni-e which was extended to keep a man and his dependents from becoming independent. He wanted to give the setlier iih Ihe land the advantages he ought i<» li.tve, and, above all. lie wa-uted to get the colony rid of the bargain made in connection with the leasc-in-perpetuity years tigo. His opinion of the Minister for Lands, when, he made h;i speech las' year, that the Government would naP the Hag to the mast, and go down fight ing, went up fifty per cent., but he now suggested to tlie Minister the motto fo/ the Government, should be "ready to run." and for .1 crest they should utilise a weathercock. There was only - one wav of giving the holder of lease-in-perpetii-itv his right, and had advocated it many times, and that was to give the leaseholder the right to purchase at the original value. He contended that the policy of the Government had been to set the town against, the country in ord-.T to lienefit the towns. Under'the Workers' Homes Act of last year, the people had the right to acquire the. freehold at 'the original value, and yet this was denied the settlers on the land. He added that the. provision made under the Advance to Workers' Act to workers in the, city was denied to the country workers. Ife argneif that the Land Tax paid by the man in the country was altogether out of proportion to the Income Taj., and the man in the country, claiming iiis land from the bush and swamp, was carrying the heavy end of the log to the benefit of the owner of business premises in the cities. Personally, he was willing to grant the same concessions to the. man in the city as to the man in tiie country. Referring to the AttorneyGeneral's speech at l'almerston South, which he described as a reply to Mr sey, he contended that Dr. Findlay's speech was a defence of socialism, anil it would be impossible to deny that the policy of Government was socialism. Speaking on the La rill, he advised members to look closely into it, anil would find anomalies which made the fare a benefit, of the wealthy mail, and made it | harder for the working man. He characterised the motor ear as a rich man's toy. vet it was now admitted free, whilst bicycles, which «ere largely used by workers, were taxed 20 per cent. lie quoted a number of statistics dealing with tlie duties levied on boots and shoes, generally used hy working people, ah.l which had had tlie duly increased, whereas the duty on boots used by the wealthier classes had been reduced. Dairy machinery was mostly made in Sweden and America, and in creating a preferential tariff on dairy machinery they weio practically taxing tiie dairy industry, which was one of the most important in the colony, ten per cent. He deprecated the expenditure lavished on the ornamentation of public buildings. In conclusion lie, argued that [lie two most important matters for the benefit of this colony were fixity of tenure for the man on the land, and closer communication with tlie

Did Country. The Government had attacked the first and neglected the second. The lion. Mr Mc\'AP> accused the Leader of the Opposition of having misrepresented in a speech at Auckland the matter of payment to the Deputy Chairnen of Committees, lie i : !.' it under-

stood that Ilie (lovernmcni was (laying €350, whereas only an extra €s(l was paid. Ho also accused .Mr Massey of having at Stratford made misrepresentation regarding the Otago University Endowments. Last year's Bill contemplated granting the freehold to all leases-in-pei'petuH.v. and the only difference in this year's Hill was, in place of putting the while or the people of the colony in the position of competing for tile land, it was limited now to tlic occupier of tla'

land, and that was the somersault the Opposition accused the Government of. He felt ill-it. if the original clause had been carried, the effect would have been

that 110 one would compete with the oc"tipier at auction, and the result would have been the leaseholder would have obtained the freehold of his land at very little more than what was known as the original vabie. The Minister went on to »rt ««t the proposals of the araduated ■land tax as set out in the Bill and the effect it would have, and also to show how it differed from last year's Bill. He believed the effects would be to provide vast areas for (lie landless people of the colony. Referring to T.nnd for Settlement lands, whilst a (rood deal could lie said in favor of the (10 veers' lease, ho thought there was no reason why the shinier lease should not be brought, about. The Government proposed to dispose of these lands under a 33 years' renewable nn(! he would lie pleased In receive any suggestions that would make this tenure more attractive. Referring lo endowments, he said the proposals wore not <iuite so comprehensive as before they came back from en tee. The endowment proposals orinin allv covered arena of something like lfi.snn.onn acres, ranch of which was in the North Island, The alterations that

had been made meant, the 10.800,000 i iicrerf had been reduced to nine million j acres, and distributed over various porI tions of the colony where tlievo were Crown lands. These lands would be di»iostul of under the provisions of the uaiul Act under which they had been clis ,osed of previously unless, in the opinion !>f the Land Board, they were suitable for closer settlement, when they would ne disposed of under the optional system, lie maintained that so long as the colony had to borrow money to purchase I ■stales, they should only dispose of land j iinder ieasc-in-pcrpcluity. lie consider- j ;>(1 the Loader of the Opposition had not , lealt with the Ministry fairly in stating j they were not doing as much for the country settler as for the dweller in rlie town. Personally, he lwd a great deal of sympathy with the country settler. Kef erring to the charge, of socialism which Mr Itassey had levelled at the Government, he pointed out that the farmer, who Mr Massey complained had been so much neglected had undoubtedly been assisted by that same socialism. Mr Massey had claimed the proposals of the Government as his own, and he hoped that the Leader of the Opposition would follow the Ministry into the lobby and assist in placing the proposals on the Statute Book.

Mr Mnisey. in explanation, denied having misrepresented ihe ease ot the Deputv Chairmen's salaries. Mr ,'IAMES ALLEX accused the Minister of Lands of changing front since last year.. Referring to superannuation funds, he argued that they were not sound, and should be made so. CI t .OOO per year was required to make the teachers' superannuation fund sound. In regard to railway superannuation, he asserted that nothing was known about it, but if it was right to place the Civil Service superannuation fund on a sound basis, it was right to place the police, teachers' and railway servants superannuation fund on a sound basis. In investigating railway expenditure, what had astonished him most was the enormous increase in the charges for fuel and water. He considered that the. cost of fuel was heavier than it ought to be, and we should derive more from the rail l ways than we were doing. Dealing with the tariff, he urged that it was altogether wrong to tax electrical machinery, which, so far as he knew, could not be made in the colony. The impost of a shilling a pound on raw cotton would also seriously interfere with trade. Cotton was used in connection with wool in making a cheap material that would compete with shoddy. He agreed with the Premier in the matter of the naval subsidy, but urged that steps should be taken in the direction of providing for the defence of our harbors.

Mr WILFORD said the speech of the last member was a speech acquiescing in the land proposals of the Government, but regretting that they lmd been altered. He admitted that the Government's liiiicl proposals had been modified, but as a freeholder lie considered they did not go far enough. Though a freeholder lie did not regard the freehold as the only advantage to the colony and settler. Tie regarded the leasehold as a stepping-stone to the freehold. There were 128,000 persons (individuals and companies), who held in New Zealand £l(i! ,777,788 worth of land. He disagreed with the Government in starting the graduated land tax at £40,000. It should have been started at £20,000, and if the Government amended the proposal it would be supported by many members of that side of the House. He congratulated the Minister on the absentee proposals, and on making the endowment area nine million acres. The House adjourned at 11.55 p.m.