PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 219, 21 October 1909, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL By Telegraph.—Press Association. .Wellington, Last Night. I'he Council met at 2.30. The election of the Chairman of Committee resulted in the return of tiie Hon. K. A. J. Reeves. The debate on the Address-in-Rep'.y i ■was resumed by the Hon. Beehan, who J characterised the Dreadnought oiler as a great act of Imperialism. He entirely approved of what the Premier had done at the Defence Conference. The promised Special Settlement finance liill would give many people an opportunity to get oiTto the land that they would not otherwise have. He congratulated the Attorney-General on his' efforts at prison reform. Tiie Hon. Marshall applauded the step taken by the Premier in the direction of obtaining cheap money for local todies. There was very little to complain of in the land system, which was

much appreciated. The Hon. Luke complained of the undecisive characted of the Timber Commission's report. Timber millers were deserving of every consideration. He also complained that undue restrictions were placed upon employers of labor, who were harassed in their operations. He maintained that if industrial efficiency was to be maintained some assistance would have to be given by meaos of the tariff. The debate was adjourned and the Council rose at 5.30. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES The House met at 2.30. The debate on the Address-in-Reply was continued by Mr. Craigie, who, having stated that he considered discussio-i on the Address) a waste of time, sat down amid applause and laughter. Mr. Mander dealt at length with the results of the Timber Commission, the . Teport of which, he said, was a compromise between the varying views of its

members. He thought more attention should be paid to afforestation and forest on broken country. On the land and labor questions, he supported the policy of opportunities for all workers to ea ; -n as mutih as they could and improve their positions in life. He favored closer settlement of lands along with the' freehold in restricted areas, which would encourage immigration. Mr. Witty pointed to the loan raised

by the Premier when at Home as evidence proving that financiers had not lost confidence in the country. He complained of misrepresentations on the part of the Opposition. Dealing with the land question, he said he hoped the endowments would be kept intact. Tuc object of the Opposition land policy was to obtain large blocks for their friends. Mr. Jennings pointed out, that settlers in the country districts were under great disabilities in procuring education for their children. Regarding land settlement, he complained that practical men had been denied opportunities of acquiring sections, yet blocks were being opened for civil* servants, who could not work bush sections. The men who too'v up land in isolated districts of the North Island were entitled to the freehold. Mr. Buchanan hoped the Minister for Education would inquire into the wa..t of educational facilities in country districts. Regarding the frozen meat industry, steps ought to be taken to prevent overstocking the English market. The House adjourned at 5.30. MINISTERS' REPLIES TO QUESTIONS Ministers, in reply to questions to-day, said the Government was looking into .the question of old age pensions law generally, with a view to ascertaining ■whether any further relief can be given to old age pensioners without excessive cost to the dominion. Full information regarding retrenchment will be placed before the House in due course; the return asked for on the subject would not be warranted, as it would necessitate the employment of a special staff to prepare the information. In due course a responsible officer will investigate the matter in connection with old soldiers who feel justice has not been done to them. It is not feasible to convert the Post Office Savings Bank into a Dominion Bank exercising the sole right of issuing the paper currency Tequired by the Savings Bank and private banking institutions in New Zealand. The question of taking steps t;> prevent the .flour-milling trust and the associated bakers from exploituig the public by fixing arbitrary prices for flour and bread is receiving consideration, and a proposal will be submitted to the House which will be in the direction of giving municipalities greater power than they possess at present. Suitable lands are' being acquired in the neighbourhood of centres of population for subdivision into workmen's lots. It is not intended to amend the Timber and Flax Royalties Act this session. It is not consider 4 that the offering of more liberal terms than those now given would have the effect of increasing the supply of domestic servants to the dominion. There is no necessity for financial assistance to the railway superannuation fund, as the State insures the fund bing financially sound. Replying to further questions, Ministers sa'id that to prevent any immediate 'hardship the concession of free railway passes to country school teachers taking classes in town had been extended until the end of the year. It is not proposed to extend the Old Age Pensions Act in the direction of providing for the payment of pension to persons under 65 years of age. The arrangement for the remuneration of the Chief Justice as chairmm of the Native Land Commission was the ibest that could be obtained, and the value of the work done had placed beyond question the assumption that thj work done by Sir Robert Stout could have been done more efficiently, expeditiously or economically than it was done. The Premier was now considering all the aspects of the question of the San Francisco mail service, and is now negotiating for a service via 'Frisco. The Government proposes to submit legislation connected with defence, and af'.er the proposals have been placed before the House the question of referring them to a committee will be considered. The question of offering a bonus or prize for the first aeroplane manufactured and successfully flown in the. b•minion is receiving attention. Any conditions decided upon will be gazetted. If time permits, an amendment, to the Workers' Compensation Act will be, brought down this session EVENING SITTING.

lin the House in the evening, Mr. Buchanan urged an active policy in con nection with Native lands. The Government had denied that capital was leaving the colony, but there was no doubt that some of the wealthy farmers hid left our shores while the Government had been assisting immigrants without capital to come to New Zealand. (Mr. Bauiue said tenants who made a bargain with tiie State had no right to demand the freehold at the original valuation. If leasehold tenants were granted freehold the price Should he based on present values. He considered no judge should lie paid for any extM ■work done outside the Judicial Bench, pine course taken in regard to Sir Robert {Stout was injudicious and should not be Repeated, as it would open the way to ■buses. Hie Hon. D. Buddo condemned tie wholesale misrepresentation by the Opposition of the dominion's financial position. He considered one agreeable feat--» .:.' thf debate was the fact trial t : •■• . cmbjrs of the Opposition were i : - icady to accept the whole of the (' iU'i-nmcnt's legislation. He denied that the Health Department had got out of hand as alleged by Mr. Allen. Th? Department had done much good work for the public. On the subject of land valuation he said the valuations of land, were considerably below the selling value. If the productive value of the land was used as a basis of valuation, that would amount practically to an income-tax. Which would be unfair. Annual value was also impracticable as the incidence of valuation. The statement, made by S, Mr. Massev with regard to loss of popn

</ lation was not borne out by fisrnres The population from 1000 to lflfl.S had shown an increase of 20 per cent. Mr. Alien asked that the docununt containing the Valuer-General's instruction, quoted by the Hon. Mr. Buddi, he laid on the table. Mr Buddo said he saw no reason for doing so, but the Speaker rilled lint any papers referred to by him in his speech must be laid before the House Mr G M. Thomson (Dimedni North) deplored the waste of time in recrimina-tion--by both sides of the House The Premier, he said, scarcely realised tr amount' of feeling created in the eountn by the suspension of Parliament during his absence. . , Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hnrnmii) chargei the Opposition with changing its name. while it retained its Tory character. Mr. Forbes announced himself as strongly in favor of the leasehold tenure, and thought the Maoris should be given tiic opnortnnitv to settle on their lands. ■' - , Dr. Buck (Northern Maori) expressed mtincntion at the Government's an-jj§j|s|fe~-AmMem«nt to introduce legislation 4-

fecting anil dealing with Native lands. He considered the cry of putting the Maoris on the same footing as Europeans) a sjiccious cry. The Natives should be allowed a chance to settle on their own lands.

Mr. T. Secldon (Westland) dealt mainly with mining matters relating to his own electorate.