PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 95, 30 July 1910, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

j HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. GOLDFIELDS LANDS. The House met at : ";0 p.m. Mr. iE. H. Taylor ( Thames) resumed the fiimnci."! debate. Referring to the land question, he held that the great majority of people who were landless should have a say in deciding the tenure on which land should be held. The people ought to be consulted before the freehold of Crown lands was disposed of. It was necessary to have either State or private landlordism, and he preferred the former. He approved of the proposal in the Budget to abolish Boards of Education, and! hoped the time would soon come when the whole control oi education would be in the hands of the Education Department. Referring to mining, Mr. Taylor said there was a land question associated with this industry. There ought to be better means of settling goldfields land. The difficulty was the overlapping of the Lands and Mines. Departments. Much of this land was fit for settlement, and a strong desire had been expressed for longer leases and better conditions generally. NEWSPAPER PESSIMISTS.

Mr. T. 'M. Wilford referred to the financial state of the Dominion, and condemned the excessive overvaluation of lands which obtained all over, the country. There was no want of confidence amongst the investors. What was responsible for any timidity was the scare caused by articles in a certain section of the Press. These articles were not written by experts on the subjects treated. Newspaper editors ought to preach the policy of self-reliance and! capacity to do, and not write dispiriting articles calculated to cause the very trouble they complained of. TO IMPROVE TRADE. As a means of improving trade in the Dominion Mr. Wilford proposed that a Royal Commision composed of experts on the produce of the country should be set up to investigate the best means of developing trade. This would assist statesmen in the Old Country to understand! the needs of New Zealand, and perhaps induce a measure of reciprocity.

EXTINCTION OF DEBT. Referring to the extinction of debts' proposals, he asked if it was worth ■while setting aside sinking funds if the country had to go on borrowing to provide them. He had confidence in the future of the Dominion, though we were passing through dull times. OPTIONAL PURCHASE. Mr. Nosworthy favored granting leases to men of limited means with 1?lie option of purchase. The chief difference between freeholder anl leaseholder was on the 'unimproved value. He held that the present value of lands was chiefly created by the farmers, to whom it rightly belonged. CIVIL -SERVICE BOARD. He was a strong believer in a Civil Servic« Board. THE PEOPLE'S HERITAGE. Hogg said the Opposition proposed not only that the freehold of Crown lahdis should be sold, but that national endowments should be parted with. It was proposed to buy further lands with money obtained from the sale of the people's heritage. He asked, were Crown tenants demanding the freehold? Many of those possessing the freehold would be glad to be in a position of Crown tenants. Holders of encumbered freeholds had to work hard for the fat man in the cities. His remedy for land hunger was to break up monopoly and to make it, if not a crime, a luxury. He hoped that when the Land Bill came down.it would contain provision for preventing the man who had been successful at the ballot from again competing with, those who had! not had a chance of settling on the land. He concluded by condemning the methods of leasing Maori lands in the King Country, where there were several areas running into thousands of acres at nominal rentals. The House rose at 5.30 p.m.

In the evening Mr. Hogg continued his speech. He suggested tljat a commission of enquiry be set up to investigate the circumstances connected with the leasing of native lands in the King Country. (Referring to the wiping out of the national debt, he said the best way to extinguish the debt was to cease borroiv--lll g' FINANCIAL CRITICISM.

Mr. Herdman, referring to financial matters, said Ms chief complaint was that at the present time there was too much interference with financial institutions. In all the departments there were too many traces of politics. This had been recognised by Lord Kitchener, who saw--the danger of the defence system being vitiated by political influence. He accused the Government of yielding to popular clamor on every occasion. Referring to the statement of the Premier that since the retrenchment scheme was inaugurated a sum of £320;00Q had been saved, Mr. (Herdman said thia was contradicted by the statement in the Budget, which only showed a saving of £98,000. The financial operations of the Government during recent years .had been of an extraordinary character. BorI rowing was necessary by a Government undertaking the whole lending operations in the country. The Advances to | Settlers Office, which was originally designed to assist the struggling settler, was now undertaking all kinds of lending. No satisfactory information was ever given in regard to finance, which penetrated into every concern of the country. He was not sure the scheme for extinguishing the public debt would achieve its object. It seemed designed rather to make 'borrowing easier. If £ ISO,OOO were set aside each year towards providing a sinking fund, then there would be this amount less to transfer to the Public Works' Fund, and it would be necessary to borrow the money paid to the sinking fund. It would be better to have raised the £150,000 "by means of taxation. Ho condemned tlie policy of weakening individual effort by the State, and advocated a policy making for strength all round. MR. T. MACKENZIE REPLIES. Mr.. T. Mackenzie combatted Mr.' Herdman's statements regarding the industries. The increase in expenditure complained of by Mr. Herd'man had been made in connection with the public services, such as railways, postal services, and education. The figures quoted by the Premier as being the amount saved iby retrenchment were supplied by heads of departments. There never was a time when a man could find such-profitable investment for hi.3 money. No notice had been taken of the money spent on the acquisition of the Manawatu Railway, which was showing a handsome return. Touching on taxation, Mr. Mackenzie said there had been no increase in Customs duties and land tax, as .alleged by ■Mr. Herdman. Mr. Massey: We put the taxation up half a million last session. 'Mr. Mackenzie: We are endeavoring to put the taxation on the shoulders of those best able to bear it. No notice

had been taken by the Pnaneia] critics of the Government# of i.ie amount received as a return on the investment made with loans, which in some cases exceeded the interest thereon. Referring to the sinking funds, Mr. Mackenzie saw Mr. Herdman's conclusion that £150,000 i would have to be borrowed annually to provide these was entirely wrong. He accused Mr. Massey of changing front on the land! question so far as the terms upon which the freehold should he granted were concerned. It was entirely | wrong to say capital was overburdened •in the Dominion, the wealth of which was accumulating at a greater rate than ever before.

Mr. iMcKenzie concluded his speech by referring to the population problem. He referred in terms of praise to Mr. TTegear's poems, inspired by the population problem, and sadd efforts ought to be made to increase the workers on the lanid. No country under tike sun gave a ma* a better opportunity than New Zealand. STATEMENTS CHALLENGED.

Mr. Dive challenged the accuracy of Mr. McKenzie's statements in regard to ■retrenchment and taxation. He doubted whether the sum of £300,000 had been saved as a result of retrenchment He supported the proposal to set up a civil seiivice board He was glad to see the Government contemplate introduc ing legislation dealing with tihe rating of native lands, but lie was doubtful if this could be done.

The debate adjourned, and the House rose at 11.5 p.m.