GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2240, 13 August 1891, Page 4

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Wellington, August 11. . l LEGISLATIVE. CO.UN.CIL. ; The Council met at -2:30 p.m. on' Tuesday. . ( »AN,?: OB] :,BJLL. I The Bank of New Zealand Bill' was I read a third time. TRUCK BILL. The motion for the third reading of the Truck Bill was adjourned until the other : Labour;,Bills .were , .from/ the. Select Committee, j AUCTIONEERS ,BILL. The Auctioneers Bill was considered, in of any consequence was one suggested, by Mr Shrimski, favouring local bodies. The Bill was reported as amended, and .orderpfljfco ;be ; rea| a, .third time next day. ' HOUSE OF ( REPBESENTATIYES. The House met ait 2.30. p.m. on Tuesday. THE AUDITj.iDEPAftTJttENT. A letter was read from the AuditorGeneral to the effect that,the. work.of the Audit Department.;.was not, at -present satisfactorily performed, owing to the staff being shorthanded, and .asking .the House to take the matter into consideration. The letter wgftreferred,,.to the. Public AcQOunts..Gonimittee... REPLIES QUESTIONS. . Mr Seddon pWjaiseij t|u% the spvernment would'make enquiries, .and. if the accommodation of the Parliamentary Buildings allowed of it, he should arrange that a room be set apart to enable members of the House,to exhibit some of the most .iinportani natural productions of thqir^respectivejdistricts. ThO J Premier said'in reply,to Mr; Wisher that it was intended to set apart Thursday week 4 for private members!.business,, when •facility ; -would probably be gflven ,ior discussing the Eight Hours Bill. : s AL|BJ*S t «SILL.. ... The report of the Managers of;,the, Conference .on the Aliens BilLwas brought up by the Minister,iOfjthejPiublic .Worjks.i. !r It r .,was, , : tq f ?the j effectKthat.; the Cbnf Tbgen .*on , the amendments made in a the,;Bill by.the Legislative Council, which were,( ! s.hoi<tly i that no registration fees should be charged to Chinese. He suggested, fresh Cominitte i e.V9 appointee 1 , to, confer with the Council. It, was finally decided,.-, that Mr Seddoniwould give the : matter further consideration. JiAND;AND/INCOME ASSESSMENT BILL. Assessment Bill was further considered in Committee. Clause, , objection; is> to be made to. The clause was amended so as to provide that notice in writing ishaLU.be given of assessment. Clause 20 —Boards of Reviewers-to be appointed.- - Dr. Newman and Mr R. Thompson thought that County Councils should have a in,: ;the appointment. of these boards. " The Premier said that he had carefully considPEedthis. point. .He did,not think thai;' mvideoi J responsibility would be advisable, jit wouldbe better ..to leave the responsibility >.with the Government as proposed by the Bill. Mr Bryce agreed-with-the last remark made by the Premier, but he inferred from it that the Government intended to appoint a-Board of Reviewers who would keep valuations up. After considerable dispussion Sir John Hail moved an addition to the clause, that; no person holding Government office of: sitting ona Ijjoard of

Iteviewv: The Premier said that Sir John Hall had mare's nest, as there was no ;iatpniionj r whatever of appointing Government . jO&cers on Boards, of tßeviewers. should ; therefore, accept jthe ametajdme'/it. The. fehvusfe, Was passed with the .addition, proposed by Sir John Hall. Clause 21—Powers and duties of Board. Mr Guinness moveato amend j the

clause by inserting a -provision, that if, an objector to an assessment made a reason-, able Wbjectionto such assessment his costs should jba paid. Theftmeftdnient, was; agreed to,and the clause passed. Clause, 25—Tax to be recovered by the. Commissioner. The clause was amended to provide that a summons shall be served on defendant at lqafl jjbhirty days before the day appointed for hearing. instead of fourteen days.

Clause 30—Power to -purchase land at the value stated in the return. The clause caused considerable discussion, members contending that a fresh vahiatjpniShQuld bei made before the land was purchased by the Government. The clause was eventually, altered on Premier's motion, to provide that any person or company .'affected should have the right - of .appeal Reviewers to determine the fair or actur.l value of the land. Clause 40 —Covenants to, evade the tax, void. Mr Bryce-asked whether, this clause was meant to prevent the subdivision of property. The Premier said that it was.not,intended to prevent legitimate subr division and it was simply foi? the' purpose; of pjre-, venting fraud. " Mr Fisher thought that the clause was likely to give rise to a large amount of irritation and friction. The clause was passed without alteration. Olause for making false returns or evading the tax. Sir John Hall moved a : proviso that the penalty should not be enforced in cases where required by the Act was not wilful. The motion was agreed to and the clause passed. Schedule—The tax to be assessed on the actual value of the land. Sir John Hall asked the concessions he proposed to make as to improvements. The Premier said that he thought the best plan would be to leave the exemptions in the Bill as they stood for the present year. If the Committee struck off all improvements, it would lead to a large deficit in' the revenue. Mr Shera moved that all improvements h& exempted from the Act. Sir •George Grey and Mr Guinness [sfo©n"ly supported the amendment, the latter" asking whether for the sake of losing a certain juaonnt °* revenue the I

Liberal members of the House should now give up what they : ; had been fighting for for years past. Mr Saunders differed altogether from ■Mr :Guinness', views. What they should do was to make large properties in towns i pay their fair ..share, of taxation. He moved, another amendment to the/effect that the limit of £3OOO should not apply to factorieSj .fixed t .machinery, sot., any i'mprQvem«ntior agriqultural, orjiortionltunil development. Sir George Grey again append to the Premier to pass a proper land tax, which they were .all .sent there to effect.' Mr Fish would support the proposal to exempt all improvements, if it {could be •done without imperilling the •finances of the Government, but lie held that as a party they were bound to support the proposals brought down by the . Goyern- ! .merit.'.''.. Sir George Grey felt perfectly certain that sufficient funds could be obtained by a fair land tax. He intended to fight this the T utmost. Mr Fisher would support Mr Shera's amendment, as he,was pledged to his constituents to support the land tax. Tjbie Hon. Mr Reeves said that the amendment did not mean a half-penny of relief to farmers or men up to 10,000 acres. It would only help the very largest holders. : Not only would it not ! help tlie small farmers, but it would heap taxation on them,.as,,the.i'soo exemption WQuld have to ne abolished. ~< The tax on improvements would have to -be removed gradually. They could not recklessly rush to extremes, nor .could fihey imperil the revenue for the sake of the fjappearance. After further discussion the Premier said, that the difference x between Sir George Grey and the ■ Government '- was that he. went a little -further--than»the Government. The position taken by the Government was 4hat'they, wanted to know with regard to valuations before they., gave 'theirjifinal decision as to improvements/* -iJE£ they- founds next year that they could do with less taxation by exempting improvements, it could be svery. easily Ddone, and that was surely a reasonable-proposal- tomake. He asked the Committee not to go further than the Government proposed at present, but to leave the Bill as it stood till next session. :If ithe Government found that the circumstances of the colony warranted them in doing it, they would go the full length and exempt all improvements from taxation. Mr Shera's amendment was put and lost by 23 to 35. ' Mr Saunders' amendment-was put and lost by 26 to 31. The following is the division list on Mr Shera's .amendment ';■?-; . Ayes-rrr23.; < Bryce/ Buchanan, Duthie, Fisher, a Grey, Guinness, Hallj Harkness, Hutchison > G., Lawry, Macarthur, McKenzie«T., Mitchelson, Moore, Newman,- Palmer, Rhodes, Richardson , Russell, Shera, Valentine, and Wright. Noes—3s : /BaHance, Blake, Buick, Gadman, Carncross, Duncan, EarnghaWj Fish, Hall7Jon.es, Samfin, .JHoggl Houston,. Hutchison ,W., Joyce,, J£apaj Kelly J.,rKeliy ,','yt£ ) Macintosh,,McGuire McKenzie J., Meredith, Mills G. H. Parata, ; , Pinkerton, Reeves W. P. Saunders, Seddon, -Smith E. M.,. Smith? W. C, Tannerj Taylor, Thompson T., Thompson'J; G.> and WardJ ' Pairs—-For: Fergus, Taipua, Wilson, Swanj Mills- J., Mackenzie *M. J. S., and Rolleston. Against Dawson, Rees, Reeves R. H., Carroll, Macdonald, and Fjraser. Progress was reported, and the Houserose at-1.45 a.m.

ACCIDENTS, FATALITIES, ETC

WoODVILLE, .AugUSt 10. A man named North committed suicide by shooting himself at Makuri. Helfeft a.note saying he was tirqd of life. It is supposed, pne .of the ..unemployed, but no further •particulars arete hand.

Manaia, August 10,

. Frederick ȣJewm an, manager of- the Otajkeho Dairy Factory, who had been missing, for t a.fortnight, .was found on Saturday hanging in a room attached to the factory. At the inquest, which was held on Sunday, a verdict was returned of suicide-while temporarily insane. A paper was founddated October last, stating that he knew he should go mad, and kill himself some day. Deceased was a steady, temperate man. The books are all right. Deceased was a German, and had now relations in the colony. When he was missed people thought he had gone on a holiday. Invercargill, August 10. The body of a middle? iged swagger, name unknown, was found in the harbor to-day. It is supposed to be a case of suicide. Later. The body recovered from the harbor this forenoon has been identified by two business men as that of Andrew Miller, who at one time had an interest in a business in this town, and !afterwards a store at Colac Bay, near Eiverton, but who seems to have fallen into very poor circumstances. He was about 35 years old,' and a native of Scotland.

True Economy. —To purchase Countess Tea for two shillings: iFree from any excess of astringency.—[Advt.] Teas free from any excess : of Astringency—South British Tea Company's Pure Blends. All Storekeepers.—[Advt.'] Hollo.way'S; Pills.—lmportant for (the delicate. —It is difficult to determine which ;is the more trying to the human conI .stisHsipu:i the damp, cold days,.of : . autumn aha Vijs^ej?, pr the keen, dry, easterly winds Of spring, throughout the seasons good healths may i?e maintained, by occasional doses of HolJoway'S I'iljs, which purify the blood and act as wholesome stimulants, to 'the ' ek-in, stomach, liver, bowels, -and kidneys. This celebrated medicjne needs. .b«t,a fair, trial to convince the* ailing and desponding' £hafc it -will restore and cheer them 'without- danger, pain, or inconvenience. No family should be without a supply of Holloway's Pills and Ointment, as by a timely recourse to them the first erring function may be reclaimed, suffering may be spared, and life saved,