PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 115, 12 June 1909, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

FRIDAY, JUNE 11. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Wellington, June 11. Tlit' Hon. C. Jl. Luke welcomed and upported the Dreadnought oiler, inid aid it was desirable the I'reniier should ;o home unhampered by fear of what should happen in Parliament in his nbTiio Hon, Ansley endorsed the previous remarks, and suggested the dcvclupini'iit of Hie natural resources to lind L'lnployiuent for the workless. The Government had done noble work in land settlement, but more could be done.

The Hon. Ik-Cardle heartily unproved of the Premier going Home, and an adjournment of Parliament in the interval. He looked upon him as a great man in whom every confidence was placed. The Hon. Dr. l''indlay congratulated the mover and seconder on tneir appearance in the Council, lie was pleased at the unanimity regarding the Government 'proposals. The motion was then agreed to and thu Council rose till 2.30. Wellington, Last Night. The Council resumed at 2.3(1, and adjourned in order to present the Address-ill-Reply to [lis Excellency. On resuming the Governor's reply was read and the C.Hincil adjourned until 10.30 to-morrow morning. MOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

I'lif House met at 2.j1). .Mr. Forbes moved the Addrcss-i; ltcply. He said the speech frail " throne outlined a wu,e .mil statesman likv policy in connection with deieuc The cll'ect of Sir Joseph Ward's pre sence at the linijiTial Delente Confereiic would be very good. It would be unfui to the Premier to continue tile sessioi in liis absents, in view of tile iniportan igislatiou to be dealt with. .Mr. Taylor (Thames) seconded. Ill' .'line, lie said, had come for it change ii he British Navy, and the coming con erence would be the beginning of tha liangc. Mt. Massey moved to strike out tin ine in tile Address-in-Kcply ailirmin; he desirability of an early prorogation if Parliament. The country was wait njj for social and land legislation, in vas anxious, like the memlier for Hum mi, to break up laud uioiloploy, out lie Government was the greatest lane nonopolist. lie protested against tin idjouriiuicuL of the session till Octouer, Vustraliii and Canada were not seining their Prime Ministers to the Con'erence. Emphasis had been laid on thf lecessity of the Premier being present n Parlmnient to explain their policy, What was their policy'( They had none, it tile general election the policy was to retain office at any price. He criti:ised recent Ministerial appointments in humorous style. In connection with the construction ot the KoxburghLiwrence Railway line, the Government had made a serious mistake. They should have known before asking for £30,000 whether the line would pay. People were leaving the colony in hundreds every week, and 1000 left last month in excess of arrivals. Mr. Masse/, ifter touching on native land and other questions, referred to the Second Ballot Act, and asked what it had cost. The ell'ect of the Gaming Act had been to make Xew Zealand a paradise for spiel era. The gaming legislation was faulty, and he hoped it would be remedied, lit did not intend his amendment as n want of confidence motion, but simply iv i protest against the postponement ol the session. Mr. Hardy seconded the amendment The Hon. T. .Mackenzie, in reply tc Mr. ilassey, referred to questions o linance, uueniploymein, und aural de fence. The last, he said, was the great est question before the Umpire to-day The position was exceedingly seriou: Britain had never been so defencelcs as now. In the event of Great Britai being involved in a struggle with Gci many, there was nothing ,to hinder East crn nations attempting to wrest Ncv. Zealand from us. There were indication! of the revival of industry in the Do minion. He advocated'greater attention to the primal industries. If the workers had the right to demand wore, the Government should have the right to instruct the young people in industrial rts.

Mr. J. Allen drew a parallel between the linancial cleaning-up necessary today with that of 1887, due to the Government creating billet Departments which were not required, then casting out into the world men appointed to the positions. German naval development was not so much aimed at Britain as intended to. aid her influence in world politics. He charged the Premier with being unsound on the military defence of the Dominion, and hoped he would come back with a well-thought-out scheme of military defence. Sir Joseph Ward denied that the retrenchment scheme was an admission that there 'had been a waste in the past The Main Trunk line had necessitated an enormous number of officers who were not needed now, If a nonpolitical power was set up it would u< like a judge of the Supreme Court and superior to Parliament. The responsibility on the Government in the mauer ot retrenchment was great, but it would jmt Hie financial position of the country on a sound basis. He denounced tire attempts made to create an impression that Aew Zealand was on the verge ')< bankruptcy. ° Mr. Massey denied that the Opposition had attempted to damage the credit of he country It was the action of the •Ministers themselves. The Hon. Hogg, lio said, had advocated paper, monetae defended Mr. Herdman's action and denounced the present system as vicious and corrupt. There was intense dissatisfaction with the railways. Thev were not paying, and it was political in lluence winch interfered. H e did ' n " t suggest going back to commissioners, there should always be a Minister of Messrs. Fisher, Wright, McLaren, and I!' I '*f unw V»° "Poke, and the Bill was then ordered to be read that •lay fortnight. The House rose at 1 p.m. u M

ill. Wilford quoted British and foreign papers m support of the contention that Oernuinys naval scheme was solely directed against Britain. It was a diplomatic axiom that if a great national ideal could be fostered it would have the eilect of swainpiiig smaller dissensions. In I!KM the. Socialists in Gcr,„a-, y swept tin. hoard at the elections. This and other causes led the Kaiser to spread the idea that Britain was about to attack Germany. The Kaiser next engineered the Balkai crisis. at' 1 7 ! 'j'o" OUS< ' 10S '' :lt 5 " 3 ° il ' Ul I ' t ' su " led

air. Wilford continued that he recalled t iv tune when the Kaiser was the guest •it King Edward. The former made a famous speech, mi which tl„. statement | occurred: " l!lo„d is thicker than water. At the same time the lieii-hstan- wis voting 201) millions sterlhi., „,, thc'VivH 'programme. If British shipbuilder depended on German assurances. Britain would he left behind. The German nnvv mid army were kept i„ a st ale of preparation tor war, while the British were maintained on a. peace footing. 'Sir Joseph Ward said it had been a very interesting debate. |i„ recapitulated the arguments in support of his representing the Dominion at the Confer, eticc ami the adjournment of Parliament. Hie Conference had been called by tnc Imperial Government after the Dominion had made the oiler of a Dreadnought, the statement had been made that the people were leaving the Dominion. The number of people who left during the past month was not above the avera"" In l!)l)!l the arrivals till Slav amounted to 18,11!), and the departures' 17,4(1. In 1008 the total arrivals were 18.500 and departures 1.1,70(1. During the last ten years our gain in population from outside was 120.0110.

Regarding Mr. Allen's statement as to the financial cleaning-up i n IHB7. t.h.' l'reiuier said he was'one of those who had helped Hi,. Atkinson Government in doing so. Mr. Alien hud further said the (ioveriinicnt's linaiicial position was not sound, lie denied that entirely. The position of Mr. Xgata was perfectly constitutional, and one in accordance with precedent. He denied Mr. Allen's statement that he (the Premier) had scoll'eil at. Australia's defence proposal's.. Sir Joseph Ward quoted his statement at the imperial Conference in regard to military defence of the Dominion, and advocated uniformity throughout the Empire in volunteer ami ■oilier defence forces. Regarding Mr. Allen's miggestion that New Zealand and Australia should have navies of their own, the Premier quoted an authority as stating it would he liftv years before an Australian navy coiil.l be of anv use. The late Sir John Colomb bad called it "a squirt." It was our hounden duty toj help the British Government to bring tin' navy to a stale of efficiency, lie concluded with an appeal to the parties to sink all differences on tins question. "Mr. Fisher continued the debate at considerable length, after which Mr. Bil ick moved the adjournment. Sir Joseph Ward gave notice to move "That this House approves of {ha ac-j Hon of the Government in. Its .offers of| assistance to, the Imperial Navy in t'hel terms convoyed to the Home Government in, the despatch ..of,Mawli^||k'J=J a .^ha'Mifeabaßiiaaiaar^MiMM