PARLIAMENT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 151, 5 October 1910, Page 4

PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The House met at 2.30. MACKENZIE RUNS. Replying to Mr. Buxton, the Minister of Lands said the Government could not allow the runs in the Mackenzie Country to remain in their present position, and as soon as the committee furnished it» report to the House the decision of the Government would be announced. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS BILL. Hon. Buddo gave notive that on next sitting day ihe would ask leave to introduce the Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill. THE DEFENCE BILL. On the motion that the amendmentsin the Defence Bill made in committee? be agreed to, Sir Joseph Ward explained .the alterations made in committee, and expressed approval of them. He said. that before the new law had been im operation many years he expected to tind the men in the defence force taking a. great interest in the work, and it would be regarded as an honor to belong to» the forces. He looked forward with hopeto the satisfactory working of the Act,, but anticipated it might be necessary to> make alterations at a future time, owing; to the development of the country. Mr. Allen considered too much had. been left to the regulations. He had,,, however, ibeen anxious to see the main provision carried. He was far from flunking the Bill perfect, and agreed with the Minister of Defence that in all probability it would have to bo amended in a year or two. He was afraid that attempts made to force compulsory drill in camp on the Territorials would' result in the men leaving the force. He again desired to express disapproval of havingthe Territorial and general training systems side by side.' He would, however, accept the present proposals. They •would certainly result in a more efficient defence system, and one which would give value for ithe money spent on it. Sir Joseph Ward, in replying, said in regard to the training of Territorialsand the amount of drill they were to receive in camp, this would be dealt witib by the regulations. When in camp the men would receive pay and ratioas, and it was not unreasonable that they should be called upon to serve six days a year in camp. Strictly speaking, there were not two systems, as if a sufficient number of men voluntarily joined the Territorial* there would be no necessity to enforce the compulsory system. In regard to non-commissioned officers who would be prevented by *he new regulations from serving their full term to earn long-ser-vice • medals, he considered they- should receive favorable consideration. He would undertake to see that this was done. The report was agree| to. On the motion t'hatMfe Bill be read at third time, iMr. Massey congratulated Parliament on finding a solution to a number of difficulties presented by the Bill. It was a great pity, he said, that so much of the defence system was left to the regulations. He urged the keeping out of political influence in the selection of officers. The debate was continued 'by Messrs Newman, Forbes, Buchanan and Jennings. . The House rose at 5.30. In the evening, Mr. Herries, resuminte the debate on the third reading of the Defence Bill, subjected the Bill to criticism based on its omissions. A large number of details, which ought to have been provided for in the Bill, were, he said, left to regulations. He objected to* this entirely. The Minister ought tosubmit a scheme giving a general plan of! drills, camps and a date when these would come into force. He considered that from a military point of view the scheme was depending too much on the young man. The age limit of 25 was too low.

Tie debate was continued by Meswv Thomson (Wallace), Fisher, Clark, Bu». sell, Taylor (Christchurch), Rhodes, Buick, Hogg and Hardy. Mr. Allen replied to the argumentsused by the several speaker*. He said ' the existence of the British navy did? not render it needless for the Dominion to look after internal defence. TheDominion was not attempting to create a military defence force to fight for •their hearths and homes. He believed the democracy would realise the necessity for defence, as they stood to gain a* much as, if not more than, the wealthy; classes. The exemptions were independent of class considerations, but hewould have preferred to see emptions further restricted. He Mtof to see the time come when Australia,. New Zealand, South Africa and even India might combine with the Mother Country in providing a navy for tU 1 Pacific that would be in a position t* prevent Japan, in combination with Germany, from dominating the trade routes* Mr. Witty entered a vigorous proteijt against tihe compulsory provisions in tt» •Bill, which went too far. The effect of' the Bill was to compel poor men tor defend the estates of the wealthy. He believed the passing of the Bill would be regretted in a few years. In replying, Sir Joseph Ward dealt with the increased taxation imposed to meet the expenditure in defence, and asserted that no more than £SOOO a year came from the working classes. The greater proportion of the cost came from the class—and rightly so—who had something to lose, no public work being interfered with as a result of the expenditure on .defence, as .alleged. Those who suggested that training should stop short at -21' were really taking up the position that the defence of the Dominion should T>e left to lads under 21. No country put men under fire till they had passed the age of 21>. He believed it -was an outrageous insult to the workers of the Dominion to say they would refuse to take their post in defence of the country. The Bill was read a third time and; passed. ' EDUCATION BILL. •Mr. Buddo moved that the amendments to the Education Amendment Bill maae in committee be agreed to. ■Left sitting^