PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 200, 21 February 1912, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19,1012. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. Hon. Mr. Callan, in moving the Ad-dfess-in-Reply, said that the Speech vindicated the Government's claim to be called a Liberal Government. He agreed with most of the proposals, but the details were open to censure in some cases. He condemned strikes as barbarous, and hoped that the utterances of the labor leaders in Australia would be taken to heart. He was not opposed to change in the constitution of the Council. If the Council was elected it would survive. He gave a qualified approval to the local government scheme. Hon. Barr seconded. He agreed with the necessity for alteration in the constitution of the Council. Referring to the land system, he pointed to the necessity for putting an end to all gambling in land and the adoption of a scheme to secure to the community a reasonable part of the increment of land values. He would support the proposal for removing from Parliament such matters as rpads and bridges. On labor matters; he upheld the Arbitration Act, and spoke in condemnation of strikes, either sectional or general. He said a huge majority-fa-vored arbitration as against strikes. Hon. Paul believed that many' of the proposals in the Speech would be carried out in their time to the benefit of the country. He contended that Parliamentary reform was essential in both Houses, but viewed the Government's proposal regarding the Council as reactionary. Hon. McGowan spoke briefly, advocating life appointment for members' of the Council.

The motion was carried, and the Council rose.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THE ADDRESS IN REPLY. The House met at 2.30 p.m. The Sunday Labor Bill Legislation Amendment Bill and Proportional Representation Bill (Fisher) were read for the first time. The Legislature Amendment and the Local Government Bill (Sir Joseph Ward) were brought down by Governor's message, and read a first time.

_ Sir Joseph Ward gave a general outline of the provisions of the Local Government Bill, which contains over 400 clauses.

Mr. V. H. Reed (Bay of Islands), in moving the Address-in-Rcply, said that the most important thing in the "Governor's Speech was contained in the first paragraph. The present Was the first occasion for many years that a no-confi-dence motion had been moved on the Address-in-Reply. He would like to know whether some members of the House had been sent to vote against the policy of the parties or against the administration;" He contended that the Opposition Party were not in the ascei> dency in the House. If they were, they would have challenged the Government's nomination of Speaker. The motion which Mr. Massey had given notice to move in connection with the Address was a direct attack on the advisors of the Governor, not on the Party. He wanted it thoroughly understood that if Mr. Massey's motion was carried it meant the exit of the Liberal Party. There was nothing in the Governor's Speech that was not in conformity with the policy of the Liberal Party and in; conformity with the' past work of the Party. He praised the proposals to include the benefits of the old age pensions scheme. It had been said that the Liberals had taken this plank from the Opposition platform. He pointed out that the present Government had initiated the old agq pensions scheme. The present Government had made further provisions for assisting those who could not pay for nurses. The proposals outlined in the Speech in connection with native lands were the best ever put'before the House. A full trade ia native lands would spell disaster to the natives. He favored nationalisation of the iron industry of the Dominion, and approved the Local Government Bill. Tlie present Government had introduced many beneficial humanitarian measures. With regard to fostering the fanning industry the Government had instituted the advan«es to settlers, which had proved of immense value to farmers. The Government had further fostered the dairying industry, had provided expert advice for farmers, and assisted them in every conceivable manner. The Government had extended tho greatest assistance to small farmers. Tine Liberal Party must be judged by its work, not by its professions. He desired' to point out to the independent members, who at the present time controlled tile situation, that the earrying of Mr. Massey's amendment meant the putting out of the Government which had helped the people. He moved the Address.

Mr. J. C. Thompson (Wallace), in seconding the motion, suggested establishing & fund for aged legislators who had spent their lives in helping the people; He maintained that the Progressive Liberal Party had not been defeated at the last polls. The Liberal votes, man for man, were more than those recorded for the Opposition side. He was convinced that political warfare in the Dominion was degenerating. Some of the things whieh took place during the second ballots were disgraceful. (Hear, keav.) there had been misrepresentation in connection with social unrest in New Zealand. It had been stated that taxation was higher here than anywhere. This was misrepresentation, for the surplus showed that New Zealand was making money. He advocated State enterprise, not to kill private enterprise, but to bring it to. its proper level'. There had been gross misrepresentation on the .part of the gentlemen of the.Opposition with regard to the national debt The Opposition hail endeavored te scare the tlie ' v s P° ke ef a P llbIi " debt of .180,000,000. New Zealand was more lightly taxed than any State in the Commonwealth. It was the lightest in the world. The. Governor's Speech contained reforms which would ettaie to pass in the course of time. There could be no more Liberal or democratic policy than that contained in the Speech. He challenged Mr. Massey to show how he was going to bring about limitation of areas The Liberals could do it, but not Mr Massey. He approved of the extension or the old age pension scheme. If the iron industry were nationalised, sufficient material would be provided to pay off the national debt. 1 y

™° "P ccch was Interrupted by the p.,a> adjournment.

The House resumed at 7.20. Mr. Thompson, continuing his speech reviewed the work of the Liberal Government, and hoped members on the cross benches would weigh well their action in exercising the important privilege entrusted to them.

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION. ALL ROUND CRITICISM OF THE GOVERNMENT. •Mr. Massey moved to add to the motion : In conclusion we deem it our duty to represent to your. Excellency that your Excellency's advisora do not possess the confidence of tlie House. He did not intend, he said, to deal with the Speech put in to the mouth of the Governor. It was a* serious indignity to the Governor and an insult to members and people. It was an attempt to bribe the people with the expenditure of their own money. He challenged the" statement that the Opposition would allow free trade in native lands. They wanted to see the natives got a good price for their lands, and not to sell, them to speculators, as the Government had allowed last year. With regard to borrowing, the Reform Party knew perfectly well there would have to be borrowing, but not more than was necessary. Borrowed money must he spent, but then in a proper manner. With regard to Mr. Thomson's statement re taxation he said he had stated that the country, could not tax one section <)f the community without taxing the whole, and concerning the iron industry the Government made a proposal last year to hand over the whole lot to speculators, and Mr. Thompson supported it. Attempts had been made that afternoon to show that the ..Government had not lost the confidence of the people. Lately they were like a ship without a rudder or compass. He sincerely hoped thei change in Government had not been too long delayed, and hoped the country would not suffer by the delay. The interests of the Government clashed with the interests ,of the State,and when this condition of affairs obained it was time to effect a change. In connection, with finance the Government seemed to have an idea that the executive was paramount to Parliament. The gift of the Dreadnought indicated that. Instead of one man giving the Dreadnought. Parliament should have been summoned, and Parliament should have given it. It had been stated in England that it had been the gift of one man. The Party had forgotten the fundamental principles of democracy. He entered a strong protest against the manner in which the Government had withheld information in connection with loans. Probably the solution of the present difficulty would he found in another appeal to the people. He did not want to force such a thing, but he was quite willing to face a general election. The people's principal objection was to the Government's administration, not their legislation. With regard to the surplus given out during the afternoon, it was. I part of the money of those who earned it. It was bad financing to extract more from the pockets oft'the people than was necessary for carrying on the work of the country. The Government had failed' ignominiously in land settlement, and if this country was to ha prosperous it was on the settlement of the land they depended. The Government had allowed large areas of land to lie idle, and had allowed intending settlers to go to other countries to find idle land. Cottage farming had not received the attention it should have had. He prediced that whatever Government held the Treasury benches it would have to consider the rent problem. . Continuing, Mr. Massey, referring to native lands, maintained that the fringe of the question liad not been touched. Native lands must be settled. He referred to the'method in which the Government dealt with the Mokau estate, and said that was enough to wr.eck any 'Government. . Dealing with backblock settlers, he said he had come to the conclusion that the Government's, policy was humbug. He said there was. dissatisfaction with railway administration because of the abominable system of preferential rates in the carriage of goods. The Government had been borrowing, squandering and borrowing again to sucli an extent that the wonder was the country could stand it. There had been reckless expenditure. He referred to the system of grants, which, he said, were used for election purposes. No other country would tolerato such a system. ■'.'•■• Mr. R. H. Rhodes seconded the motion. THE PREMIER REPLIES. HITS OUT RIGHT AND LEFT. REFUTES CHARGES AND INNUENDOES. Sir Joseph Ward pointed out that at Taumarunui Mr. Massey had told the people he would reduce the rate to local

bodies to 3 per cent. Loeal bodies had had over three millions in two years. When it was known there was a probability of a change of Government, banks and financial institutions warned customers to clear up. their overdrafts. Sir Joseph outlined-the procedure at Home after an election, when the Liberals had not a majority and the then Premier had. not resigned. Why had the Opposition called out all, over the country that he. should resign? "Does the hon. gentleman say he had a majority after the elections!" . > ■ ■■ Mr. Massey: "Yes, I did."' Sir Joseph Ward: "Well, I say you had not." Votes' polled by the Opposition (not Labar and Independents) were 178,478, a»d for Liberals 235,018. Did that look as if the country had lost confidence in the Liberals? Since the elections the Leader of the Opposition had been moving heaven and earth to turn some members over to his side of the Houße.

Mr. Massey: .That statement is incorrect."

Sir Jeseph continued that the Lsader ef the Opposition and his friends had been making attempts to effeet his political assassination outside the House, but they would never put him down, (Loud applause.) He said he thought Mr. MasBey would have been ashamed to have brought the matter up when he knew that he and his Party could have voted against it before one penny was spent, exeept upon cables. The same thing oc ; eurred in connection with military training. The Opposition cried out against what fhey called "heavy borrowing," yet they had supported every loan for the past twenty years, with the exception of one division to reduce an amount by £250,080, and then Mr. Massey voted with the . "Ayes." He denied he had ever introduced the religions question into anything. He quoted figures to show that in the Post and Telegraph Department there were 4SOO, of which 742 were Roman Catholics; of 234 telegraph boys, 20 were Roman Catholics; in the Railway Department there were 12,500 in the service, 15 per cent, being Roman Catholics. It had been freely circulated that he was a large shareholder in the Union Steam Ship Company, the Westport Coal Company, a large timber company, and a large building concern in Auckland. He was not interested in any of these institutions. He had no financial interest in any -business outside his own and one or two newspapers. He had been accused of receiving £125,000 Qut of a loan which cost only £lll,OOO to raise. He had received about 250 letters about receiving money from loan raising. He had never been in « land syndicate, and challenged anyone to say he had speculated in land since he had been a Cabinet Minister. He had not got as many properties now as he had, ten yean ago. With regard to Sir John Findlay, he wanted to state,.

in conriccti.on with the statements maffi||| that Sir John had forced 'himself to' g?l|f Home to the Imperial Conference, ti&|||| it was absolutely untrue. The cable tyma received from Home enquired whettie'tjS he could "arrange for another member 'ss& Cabinet and a legal' one.!' All. countries .except New Zealand and Foundland had three representatives; ' ,'M Continuing,- Sir Joseph Ward, dealing -M with the land question, said the proposaV?l| of the Government take 000,000 of land from people who had '£* neyer done anything for the country, and '-j give the opportunity to settlors to get i/$ upon the land, and this was what bo -hfy Opposition took exception to. Largo '.;/ land-owners were practically endeavoring ;•« to buy themselves into Parliament. He -""' : referred to the attitude of large land-. • owners who bronght electors to polls ia :V| motor-cars to eintble rich men to get "';,' into Parliament as against poor men, '"■ They should do in New Zealand as they. ■ did in Australia, where they 'stopped, motor cars running at elections for more '; than two miles. He asked was it not a fact that 14 millions had been expended ",- to enable small farmers to obtain land / for themselves? He denied a desire to cling to office, and had declined to retire ... when he had been desired to do so, because he did not consider it fair to his party. But he would say he believed '";: they were going to win, He was willing-* '■;< to go into the ranks of the Liberal '.'-, Party. The policy he had outlined in '■% the Governor's speech was the ground -0* work for future 1 " legislation and the development of the country. MR. ALLEN'S CRITICISM. 'H Mr. Allen said, with regard to advances to local bodies, the Government had had; "$ to raise interest from 3% per cent, to,. fc 33,4 per cent; Sir J. Ward had referred " '; to the Opposition being supported by ', ' large landowners, but he knew there ;.' were as many large landowners on hie - v '. own side as on the side of the Opposi- -A tioh; With regard to the Dreadnought, ./■ the Premier knew members had not been . />'' communicated with in regard to the ' '■' gift. He should have summoned Parlia- ' ment instead of allowing the information \ to filter out through the newspapers. Dealing with the Premier's statement re ",. military training, Mr. Allen said he had '■''' always taken his full share of respon- ,:, sibility in connection therewith. He had to say that he could not accept the in-. „ formation in connection with the five ' •' million loan with equanimity. With re- J gard to the Governor's speech, he thought '<• it an unfair thing to put such a speech • into the Governor's mouth. The charge* i'"': made by the Opposition against the Gov- ;* ernment were of extravagance, and that ■'.'•" money was used for improper purposes. ~ * If a charge was made there would be a ;,„> different state of affairs than had ex- '•; isted. He did not think the Premier had ''] treated Parliament fairly with the .£ Financial Statement he had placed be- -\| fore it. It would be an extremely diffi-" fe cult thing for a man to come after him + and carry on the public works of the $ country on the statement left by the ' ■',* Premier. -J Mr. Payne moved the adjournment of J the House at 11.55 p.m. " "«