PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 9 August 1907, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8. , By Telegraph.—Per Press Asoselation. ■ LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, The Council met at 2.30. The Attorney-Genera] g.ive notice of I his intention to introduce an Act to' amend the Chattels Trausfer Act, 1851); \ an Act to provide for the taking of evidence in relation to matters pending lieforo foreign tribunals; an Act toamond • the Indictable Offences Summary Jurisl diction Act, 1000. ' Fourteen days' leave of absence was, ' granted to the Hon. Mr Reeves on ac ' count of illness. I Leave was given Sir Maurice O'Rorko - to introduce an Act to authorise tho 3 Sonate of New Zealand University to i grant the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Divinity, t The Council rose at 2.35.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2-30. Tho Niitive Affairs Committee report I dealing with the petitioners in tliel Wangaromia (Poverty Bay) lands, who asked that steps be taken to review the decision of the Privy Council which, as agii'inst tho Appeal Court of New Zea-| land, had decided against the owners ofj the block and in favor of the Assots Board, came before the House. The Committee's recommendation was against taking such an extreme step, even though, as was shown in the course of the debate, the Privy Co-m----oil's interpretation of our Native Land legislation was foreign to that of our own courts. The report .was ordered to lie on the table.

, The Auckland Hospital Acts Amend- i mont Bill, Nelson Institute Bill, Borough of New Plymouth Electric Loan and Waterworks Loan Validation Act Bill, and Waipukurau County Bill were put through all committee stages. Mr Wilford moved the second reading of the Petone Water Supply Conservation Bill, which seeks to provide a) catchment area for Petone. The Bill was set down for further consideration on Thursday next. The House , went into Committee i n the Costlcy Training Institution 'Act Amendment. The Bill passed all Committee stages. The Tohunga Suppression Bill wis put through all its committee stages, and the House adjourned at 5,30.

EVENING SITTING. Tho House resumed at 7.30. The Premier laid on the table the Report of Mr Reakes, assistant-Chief Veterinarian, on the Christchurcli abattoirs. RESERVE FUND SECURITIES. The Premier moved the second rcad-

.::g of the .Reserve fund Securities JJill, «_cli seeks to place £800,001) in Louto meet any crisis likely to arise in colonial financial ail'airs, and takes the place of the imperial guaranteed debentures which matured recently. The Premier stated it was essential there should : be such a fund, in order to eiuvble the raising o£ money to noct urgent requirements- This would not add to the indebtedness of the colony, IjuL would merely take the place of debentures that had matured. Permission was provided to enable agents to be authorised by the High Commissioner to use the securities without applying to New Zealand in the first instance, so that they could deal with any cmer-

gency. Mr Jlassey said the course proposed might be the best that could be adopted, but it was a new departure. Referring to the Imperial guaranteed debentures, he said the history of those guaranteed debentures, if it could be compiled, would form very interesting reading for the public. He agreed that we had not the right to ask for any further backing from the Imperial Government. We should go on our own responsibility. We were undoubtedly increasing the debt of the colony, as in the payment of interest a loss would accrue. He agreed witli the principle of the Bill, and would go further- He was prepared to husband the resources of the colony for lean yearp. He urged tli»t| all transactions in connection with the] Reserve Fund should be open to inspection by the public. A Bill such as ibis was practically an experiment. He emphasised the necessity for a strong Tublic Accounts Committee, to whom the measure could be submitted.

Mr ITerries said it must be counted as a loan to tlie colony, consequently tlie colony's indebtedness would be increased. The Premier in reply, said it was entirely erroneous to say that the measure increased the indebtedness of Ihe colony. Accumulated sinking funds had met the mimvements ot loans araounti in,!.' to .€BOO,OOO, and to say that, the purchase of 800,000 assets Increased the indebtedness was entirely incorrect. If they did not substitute "this course for the £BOO,OOO just "matured, they would have weakened New Zealand in the view of the finaneiil world, whereas the proposal would strengthen our position, and hold a better position than it had ever held before. Referring to the item of interest mentioned by Mr Massey, he stated that the colony would Bftve £29,000 annually by the adoption of the proposal before the House. The second reading was agreed to on the voices. MAORI LAND SETTLEMENT ACT. The Hon. Mr Carroll moved the second reading of the Maori Land Settle-

ment Act Amendment Bill, which provides that, in addition to sums authorised by Beetion 23 of the principal Act, the Colonial Treasurer may, in a manner provided by that section, raise a further sum of £50,000. Tlie moneys so raiiscd may 1)0 expended in the purchase of land in accordance with the provisions or tlie principal Act It also] I provides that the Governor may time to time acquire under the provisions of the principal Act any undivided interest owned by a Maori in any hind owned by Maoris, mid may pay for the same notwithstanding that other divided interests in the same land have not acquired or pnid for- The Minister c-ui lie had consulted the Maori memin the House, and they laid no objection trTtTic Bill. At present the fjovornment was negotiating for the purchase of 205,010 acres in Auckland, 7053 acres in Hawke's Bay, 107,975 in Taranaki and Wellington, a total of 320,000 acres. Over 10,000 acres had already been purchased. Up to the present ,-£10(1,380 had been spent, oud

C!Kl,r>74 remaining had been allocated for the purchase &f lands for which the ; Government was already in negotiation. , Tlie sum mentioned on the Dill was for ( the completion of purchases already in t contemplation; 7000 acres had been'pur- , chased in Hawke's Bay, and after pur- , chasing an additional 3000 acres it was ' not intended to go further in that district; 70,000 acres or thereabouts had been purchased in Taranaki, and nothing further would be done there under the existing Act. Mr Massey hoped when' the Native Land Bill was brought down it would be at such an early period of the session as to enable it to be thoroughly discussed and gone into by the House. Mr Ngata said he would have no objection to the Bill if it were merely retrospective, but if it was intended to acquire further lands, how was the Government going to prevent the wasteful expenditure of the purchase money. Mr Herrics said that, though according to the Minister's statement over one hundred thousand had been Rp;nt in the purchase of native lands, not a single acre was yet available for European settlem'ent. Mr Carroll said ho agreed with Mr Massey that the Native Land <]uestion was an! important matter, and he promised to do what he could in connection with submitting the Native Land Bill to the House at an early date, lie explained that he only commenced operations under the Act of 1005 at the beginning of IflOfl. Negotiations wi:h Natives could not be carried through by private individuals as a rule except over a course of years, yet the member for the Bay of Plenty expressed furprise that the lands had not been thrown open within a period of tw.ilvc months. Replying to Mr Ngata, he said be did not think they would have an? reason to complain of the Government'* I interpretation of the Act of 100!>. The I Government had never endeavored to force the natives to sell, but had always undertaken to give what was a fair price for lands purchased, lie had advised the natives, if they wanted to sell their lands merely to squander the money, not to sell at all. Tie had idvised the natives to place what they received in the Post Office Ravings "Rank, but it was most difficult to persuade a native to trust money to anv but tilom selves. Personally he thought it woulc

lie a good thing if the Government ie-1 tained half the purchase money, and held it for the benefit of the natives, and if Mr Ngata moved an amendment , to include such a clause on the Bill he would accept it- I Tito second reading was agreed to on the voices, HARBOR BOARDS' BILL. Mr Millar moved the second reading of the Ilarhor Boards' Bill, which sought, he said, to give tile Auckland and Otago : Harbor Boards increased country reprc- •. Isuntation in older to obviate the necessity of bringing in local bills to deal jwith these cases. The only reason for ( j the inclusion of a number of other i boards in the Bill was that their eonIstitution provided for the chairman of, the Chamber of Commerce having the : right to a seat. That provision had been abolished, and a representative of payers of dues was put in their place. With that exception, no alteration of constitution lias been made. Mr Massey said the provisions sot forth would not suit the people of the rolonyj»n<l lie Import the Minister would not endeavor to place the measure on the Statute Book until the electors had had a chance of giving expression to t their feelings.

Mr "Ell urged that all representatives j a on harbor boards throughout the colony j should be elected by electors. j, Mr Laurenson said he did not think x payers of dues or the Chamber of Com- , mcrce had any right to direct represeu- j tation. lie approved of the eleetivo j scheme. Out of 95 members on the har- , bor boards of the colony, he found 3(1 ( were elected. Of course lie agreed the i Government should have the right to nominate certain members. Mr Witty expressed disappointment with the Bill, in that it did not provide for more comprehensive representation. Mr Allison agreed that as far as possible representatives on harbor boards should be elected by the people. ; Mr Buddo said the electors generally wanted better representation on boards. He hoped the Minister would delay the Bill until all sides had had an oppor-

tunity of discussing it. Mr Aitken pointed out that out of ten members of the Wellington Harfiwr Board, provision was made for only six as direct representatives of Wellington province. He suggested that the Minister should send the Bill to a special committee. Mr Davey thought the representation of harbor boards should he on a broader fanehise. _ . , , Mr Hogan expressed disappointment with the Bill. Mr Field saw no reason why the Wellington Harbor Board should not have the same representation as Dunedin and Auckland.

Mr Barber said the Bill was most unsatisfactory in its present state. Jlr Lang expressed dissatisfaction with the Bill. Jlr Poland did not think payers o! dues had any claim to Bpecial representation. Mr Hall advocated the election 01 representatives by the peopleJlr Greenslade said he could not congratulate the Minister on the proposals so tar as the Auckland Harbor Board was concerned. Mr Stalhvorthy considered there vai a good deal of room for improvement it the Bill. If owners of vessels am payers of dues were entitled to spceia representation on hoards, so also weiN city workers and workers at the water side. ' ' At 11.45 Mr Lawry moved the nil journment of the -debate, and the afo tion was negatived. Mr Millar said there were about 6i harbor boards which were constitute! by local Acts. Would the House toU' ato a complete change in respect to Hi whole of these. The constitution o harbor boards was now before th House, and any member desiring t amend the representation of any harbo had now the opportunity to place th matter on the supplementary orde paper. The House adjourned at 11.59.