PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 74, 14 August 1912, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

TUESDAY. AUGUST 13, 1912. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night, The House met at 2.30.

, THE PANAMA CANAL ' P i yi ? g , to , Mr " Kussel1 > Mr - Massey said that he hoped before the session i ? J* I '/?, make a statement on the subject of the Panama Canal dues. , LAND AND INCOME ASSESSMENT. The Land and Income Assessment Amendment Bill was introduced and read a first time. THE FINANCIAL DEBATE. Mr Macdonald resumed the debate on the Budget. A great plank of the Liberal policy, he said, was the opening up ot lands for settlement. He was very much concerned in the land policy of the country. The Finance Minister of the Liberals had always submitted sums in his estimates for nublic works There never had been such a time for the development of the back country as at present. The time had now* arrived for sound finance, extension of the public works policy and settlement of lands in the back-blocks. Last year two million sterling had been advanced for public works. In Mis year's Budget it was stated that rents and the proceeds from the sales of lands would have to be sufficient fox public works purposes,, instead of going on the London market' This he regretted. He further regretted that adequate provision had not been made for loans to local bodies, and for roads and bridges and other activities to facilitate the transport of the produce of settlers. It was the bounden duty, whatever Government was in power, to provide money for the improvement of country conditions. He hoped that there would be no retrograde movement in connection with railway construction. Light lines had been advocated, but grades and curves prohibited the successful construction and maintenance of such lines. That matter slioud be referred to local bodies. He hoped, however, to see the present system maintained. lie -held that the cooperative system was the most satisfactory way of carrying out the work. Referring to Mr. Fisher's statement on Friday that £7500 had been spent on the new Parliamentary buildings and not a .brick had been laid, he gave the figures up, to June 28, showing £5454 expended. Dealing with the complaints from Lake Coleridge, he said that they were groundless. The late Government had done all that was necessary for the welfare of the men engaged there. In conclusion, he stated that if the iegislaiion which the Government brought down was in the interests of all classes of the people and the settlement of the land, it would have his support. Mr. Newman referred to the statements made by previous speakers in connection with Parliament Buildings. He loked upon the work as a waste of money. With regard to loans lie thought the Government could justly go slow in that matter. He thought the Budget was the most open and important statement of the Dominion's affairs that had ever been presented to Parliament, , He refuted the statements made that the Massey Government had stolen its proposals from t'he late administration, and quoted the planks of the Reform Party's policy enunciated by Mr. Massey in Wellington eighteen months ago. He pointed out the generous action of his leader in appointing a political opponent as High Commissioner. lie was convinced that the Government should purchase lands where railways were to be built. Concluding, he held .that the policy of the Government was sound, practical and democratic. The Budget would inspire confidence in people who wanted to invest money in the country. It was stamped with sincerity from- be"innin<» to end. ' ° n

Mr. (1. M. Thomson said ..that the Budget was a plain, unvarnished .statement of the Government's proposals. It had its defects, hut they were due to Hie inadequate time the Ministry had had for consideration. He was surprised that the Cost of Living Commission had not been instructed to make the fishing industry a question for enquiry. The State coal industry had been a disastrous experiment' for New Zealand. hen private enterprise was doing good work the State should not interfere. A great many people had been put out of business owing to the establishment of State coal depots. The State wa.s credited with a profit of £2.U44 on the coal enterprise for the last five vears. but if the Department 'had paid the wharfage and royalties charged to private enterprise, instead of making a profit the State would have lost heavily during the period named. .Miners had been averaging 18s lid per day in the Stale mine for (i'/i hours' work. While believing in a man getting [lie 'highest reward for his labor, lie contrasted the amounts received by clerks in the Government Departments. The House adjourned at 5.30. The House resumed at 7.30.

Mr. Thomson continued his speech, contending that the State was losing on its coal mines every year, though, he admitted, having started the industry it would have to bo kept up. Pie believed that the Reddonville mine had already run out. He quoted from ail authority to show that the available coal supply of the Dominion would be exhausted in 50 years. He referred to the iron industry in the Dominion, and said that the proposal to advance ,£CoO,OOO to a syndicate was absolute nonsense. He dwelt on the possibility of the old fields of Taranaki, the development of which would do_an immense amount of good to the. Dominion. Regarding bush sickness in the North Island, an agricultural chemist in the Department had discovered that the cause was due to deficiency of iron in the soil. The land should be watered with a solution of iron sulphate and the trouble rectified. He contended that the experimental stations had not been conducted on a scientific system, and left much to be desired, lie hoped that taxation would be reduced.

Mr. Laurenson followed. Dealing with tlif State Coal Department lie thought it had been manured very economically so far. They wmiM have to spend more on mines to make tllem pay. Referring to the iron industry, he "was for the Slate owning it. Tie had heard a lot about the Liberals increasing taxation, but, he never heard where it had been raised. The land tax had not been raised. It had been graduated. They were taxing the rich man. He was surprise to hear Mr. Newman's statement regarding JTawke'.s Bay estates. In five miles he saw only three children on the land, lie admitted that, it was native land, but it was monopolised by white men. The wealth of the nation was not as supposed in gold and sheep,, but ill baliies. The great' question was the sctilenient of (he people on (he laud. Could that, lie asked, be expected to be done ■with a Conservative (jlovernnient in liowcrV

A voice: Why did you not settle the people on the land? Mr. Laurenson: We were not in power long enough. There was, he continued, 110 reason why the Maori should not, make money «ut of his land. He was the original owner. To hear Mr. Fisher speaking 011 consistency was like a weasel addressing an audience on the prevenl ion of cruelty to animals. Mr. Fisher was the biggest Japanese acrobat in 'he world. If they had proportional . representation Mr. Fisher would soon find who would be on the Treasury benches. As to the Budget, what was good in it wag stolen, and what lad not

been stolen w:is no good. The proposed elective Upper House would leave the contest only to rich men. There would be a,storm of protest against the Civil Service Commission if the proposal was adopted. The graduated land tax proposals were a delusion and a snare and a farce. He hoped the Government would not sell renewable leases. Mr. Malcolm contended that the Government had redeemed its promise to secure honest administration. The most valuable attribute the people had was a sense of independence, and that attribute had been undermined by the patronage exercised by the Liberal Administration. With regard to political patronage the Government had passed a selfdenying ordinance in regard to roads and bridges, the Legislative Council, and other matters. He expressed stron" agreement with Mr. Laurenson when he said that he desired to see every member of the community above the possibility of poverty and degradation. Hie debate was adjourned and the House rose n f 10.45.