PARLIAMENT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 266, 17 December 1909, Page 3

PARLIAMENT

{ , THUBSDAJt, DECEMBER 16.

Mf ! LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL S / By Telegraph.—Press Association, T Wellington, Last Might. '-% ; In the Council this afternoon, the .it- \ j'tprney-General moved the committal of i * the Land Settlement Administration Bui } from the House. He explained in detail i y, the provisions of the Bill, and contro--I'. verted critics who mischievously or UTS' « aorantly averred that borrowing for ti.e i , purpose of land for settlement was ridjL»_- ing the country "to the devil." fV The Hon. Stevens entered an emphatic protest against the provisions of the ig& Sill, which enabled so much to be taken J# from a man's estate. fe The Hon. Anstey supported Mr. Stev1| ens' protest. He considered it a misfE take to suddenly reduce the area from W 1000 to 400 acres. I The Hon. Duff (sic) supported the f Bill, hut hoped the compulsory prms eiple for taking land would be retain?:]. $ The Hon. Wigram supported the pro- £ posal to take the purchase money of I (states oat of the public debt. > The Hon. Paul doubted if the proposi ed abolition of the compulsory taking - of lands for workers' homes and farms pma a step in the right direction. The Attorney-General, in reply, said the sentiments .of Mr. Stevens rep:e- ---\ tented the view which passed away 20 . pr 30 years ago, and had given place to ft radically different view as to the * tights of the State where there was a conflict of interest between the rights of the State and the individual. Where lands were required for closer settle- ' Bent, it was too late to raise the sacred cry of private property against the rights, of the State. H< went on to outline the features of the English Act to meet the arguments of those w.'io ', muidered tie Government was treading f; On the corns of the individuals of this ) country, if we had the same power in a this country the whole of the large esi fates in Hawke's Bay could be acquired [without paying one shilling on the purf *hase money. In New -Zealand, the Go- \ ' fernment paying ample regard, in some cases fastidious regard, to the rights of private owners. The Bill was committed. At clause 5, relating' to provisions as to administration, sub-clause (a) was deleted. It read: "All settlement land - shall be deemed to be Crown land under the principal Act and legal title thereto shall accordingly be and remain ; in his Majesty', sot in the superintendent." ,

1 The committee adjourned until the

In the Council in the evening section 24 of the Land Settlement Administration Bill was altered to eliminate compuhuon is the acquisition of lands for itrarken 1 homes and workers' farms srithin a borough and radius of 20 miles from the. boundary ol a borough. The Attorney-General moved the second reading of the friendly Societies' Bill passed by the House, and explained that Hie measure bad the co-operation Ot the friendly societies, and it was through that co-operation that the Bill Was before them that night. Hon. Beehan, while approving of the BiQ generally, objected to the loan on personalsecurity. He thought members should receive the superannuation at the age of 65. * On the motion of Hon. Anstey the debate was adjourned and the Council rose at 9.45. : HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ] NATIVE LANS BILL.

I Wellington, Thursday. After midnight Mr. Hemes referred to the alienation of lands and advocated an extension of the principal in clause 206. which provides that land held by a single native should be considered as European land. He said the Bill''was in admirable one, especially as it related to the opening up and reading of native lands, but funds must be male available for that purpose. Messrs Seed, Greenslade, Jennings and Pearce continued the debate. , PUBLIC WORKS BILL.

The House went into committee on the Public Works Amendment Bill, which passed through the committee. After two o'clock the House spent most of the time discussing motions to report progress on the Public Works Amendment Bill, which' passed through the committee stage, minus clause 13, which was struck out. On the motion of the Prime Minister (he House loss at 5.15.

THE GOVERNMENT'S PROGRAMME. In the House in the afternoon the Prime Minister made an important statement relative to .the work which he proposed should be dealt with in the. week following. The chief Bills which would take up any length of time were the Defence and Native Land Bills. In regard to the former, he uitended to amend it so as to remove the objection to the clause providing for taking over of the assets and liabilities of existing corps by the Crown, by substituting one providing that existing companies may retain their assets and liabilities. He hoped that the Bill at amended would receive very little opposition, and pass this session. Other Bills proposed to ue dealt with before Christmas are Customs Duties Amendment, Stamp Duties, Workers' Compensation Amendment, King Country Licenses (which provides for the abolition of wholesale licenses within twelve months of the passing of the Act), a Bill abolishing pony and galloway racing, Superannuation amendment, Urewera District Reserves (under which the Government take over 100,000 acres of land), the Magistrate's Court Amendment, Society of Accountants' Bill, and a number of local Bills. The land Bill would be held over till next session to allow of its fuller consideration by members. He proposed to bring in a BUI next session to finally .settle the Meikle case, also the National Provident Bill, and legislation amending the Gaming Act and Local Government. He proposed that Tuesday be set apart for consideration of the Timber Commission report aHd Wednesday for dealing with the Police Commission report, when the Government would make a statement on the. latter*. In the event of not being able to overtake the work mentioned, (Parliament should meet again after Christmas. . Mr- Massey said the Opposition would make no efforts to obstruct the legislation proposed, so long as this was put through i- "• """istonable manner. He iwoulaass;-' ;•■ :>'"!ng the Native Lanl Bill on tL. > ' te Book. The pro gramme mentioned was a lengthy one. and included many contentious measures, and would require a month for proper'treatment. He expressed the opinion that the Government's actionem bringing in the Land Bill was not sir cere. 1} NATIVE LAND BILL.

After a general discussion, the House urent into "committee on the Native laud Bill. The Houße rose for the dinner adjournment. In the evening ,the Native Land Bill .was considered iti committee.

' Mr. Massey moved to add a proviso to clause 142 (which provides that native freehold land shall not be available for payments of debts) as follows: "TJniess the Court after enquiry certify that full and proper value was received foT },; the amount of such, debt." The amendment was lost by 42 votes Id 22. Clause 248 wa» amended on the motion of Mr. Wright by substituting one year for two, as the period within which residence shall commence on open and fi- partly open land sold by.tad boards. I' Mr. Herries moved to add a new part fo tn the effect that the Government may jb'.,--rtt the recommendation of. the Court by (?>•' Order-in-Council declare any native to ift is not a nstive within the meaning of JvV'e Act; that is, to remove the ;lis|:y", -l)ilities from natives who arc practicalV~ ■! - Europeans and bring them under the £•■: 't 'me law as Europeans. jji' • The amendment waslost-by 30 to K. $£N (Left/ •■