GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2389, 30 July 1892, Page 2

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Imprest Supply Bill received from the House was passed through all its stages. The Provincial Ordinance Bill was read a third time. The Land Transfer Act Amendment Bill was committed. Clause 13 was amended, limiting the time in which to bring actions against the RegistrarGeneral to six years in place of three years. Several other immaterial amendments were also made. Progress was reported and the Council rose at 3.45 p.m. The Council met at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday. Referring to the cablegram which had been sent Home congratulating Mr Gladstone, the Hon. Mr Walker said that Home Rule was detestable to most colonists. Sir Patrick Buckley warmly protested against Home Rule being referred to in such a manner*. He was a Home Ruler, and Lord Salisbury knew it, but he was none the less a good colonist. After some discussion the subject dropped. The Wanganui Hospital Bill and the Palmerston North Courthouse Bill were read a second time.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday. THE LAND AND INCOME TAX. Mr Saunders presented a petition from a large number of farmers in Canterbury on the subject of the Land and Income Tax, which was read by the clerk. Mr Saunders moved that the petition be printed. The Premier said that the petition came from the Conservative Association, but he had no objection to it being printed. After a long discussion the motion was carried by 42 to 20. THE FINANCIAL DEBATE. Mr Reeves (Inangahua) resumed the liuancial debate. Ho said in spite of the attacks of the Opposition the Budget still remained intact, and it stood as one of the best Statements ever delivered to the House—a monument to the good sense and statesmanship of the Premier. Referring to the position of the PostmasterGeneral he pointed out that Mr Hislop Colonial Secretary in the late Government, drew his salary for a month after he ceased to be a member of the House, and Mr Mitchelson, another member of that Ministry, received his salary for some time out of unauthorised expenditure. The House adjourned at 5.30 p.m. and resumed at 7.30. Mr J. McKenzie said that his proI decossor in qflice had last night taken up the Statement with the evident intention of finding every possible fault with it, but he (Mr Richardson) made an extraordinary exhibition of himself. He had perpetrated huge blunders, and he (Mr McKenzie) was not surprised at the reports he had heard in the lobbies about Mr Rolleston wishing to give up the leadership of the Opposition when so many embryo colonial treasurers were always ready to get up and address the House. Mr Richardson was wrong in every one of his particulars, and it could easily be seen that he had mixed up the liabilities of the Public Works Fund and consolidated revenue, and had brought out a balance to suit himself. Alluding to some of the charges made against the Lands Department, he asserted that he had aqted in the best interests of the colony, lie deprecated the action of the Opposition in continually crying down the village settlements started by the Premier, He thought that was one of the best acts his colleague had done in providing for poor people in this way. He defended his special regulations for land settlement, and said that they were working so satisfactorily that ho could not supply the people rapidly enough who wanted to take up land under them. One great advantage of the leasehold system regulations of the present Government was that leaseholders would get the full value of tljeir improvements. The travelling expenses of Ministers were dealt with at some length, Mr McKenzie declaring that all tlid money he had received on account of travelling expenses had gone through his bank-book, which any member could examine, In the course of reference to Mr Scobie Mackenzie ? s political career he pointed out that he had stated that he was afraid

of a dissolution before long, but he would tell him (Mr Scobie Mackenzie) that whether a dissolution took place this year or next year, he would fight him in the new district of Waihemo, and he was not afraid of the result. Mr Fisher referred to the remarks made by the Minister for Education to the effect that he (Mr Fisher) was kicked out of the Atkinson Government, but he now wished publicly to state that up to the day of his leaving the Cabinet the late Sir H. Atkinson and ho had not had one word of difference, although it was quite true that after he left the Cabinet some unfortunate differences arose between them. His opinion was that the present Minister for Education was the autocrat and the present leader of the Opposition was the Liberal. Mr Rolles- ' ton had all along been a most consistent administrator of the land laws of the colony. Mr Pinkerton moved the adjournment of the debate. The motion was agreed to, and the House rose at 12.30. The House met at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday. KEI’LIES TO QUESTIONS. Replying to Mr Moore, as to who paid for the cablegram sent by the Government to Mr Gladstone congratulating him on his success in the English elections, the Premier said that the Government thought they had a right to express their opinion on the matter, and he believed that in doing so they not only expressed their own opinion, but that of the great majority of their party. As to who had paid for the cablegram, Ministers themselves had done so.—Mr Rollestou rose to question the propriety of the Premier of the colony sending such a cablegram to England.—The Speaker ruled that no debate could take place on the question at that stage. In reply to other questions it was stated that the Government proposed to bring in a Bill this session dealing with the question of remitting stamp duty charged against local bodies under the Local Bodies Finance and Powers Act, 1885; that if a portrait or tablet of the late Sir Harry Atkinson were presented, the Government would be very happy to find a place for it in the precincts of the Parliamentary Buildings; that the Government proposed to place a sum of money on the Estimates to encourage prospecting generally, but it was not considered wise to allocate the money to any particular district, and each case would be dealt with on its merits.

BILL THROWN OUT. The Wairarapa Hospital Bill was thrown out on the second reading by 26 to 23. SECOND READINGS. The Dunedin Ocean Beach Domain Bill, the Oamaru Racecourse Trustees Empowering Bill, the Te Aroha Recreation Bill, the Napier Harbor Loan Bill, the Fydenham Borough Council Empowering Bill, and the Napier Harbor Board Further Empowering Bill, were read a second time. The House rose at 5.30 p.m. and resumed at 7.30 p.m. THE FINANCIAL DEBATE. Mr Pinkerton resumed the debate on the Financial Statement. He combatted many of the statements made by previous speakers in the debate, and warmly approved of the Government policy generally. Referring to the co-operative system, he thought it encouraged people to work who were desirous of doing it, and he denied that it encouraged an undesirable class of laborers. As to the freehold system, he considered that it was a very good one if the farmers got it, but was a bad one if the land was kept in the hands of large owners. Mr Mitchelson justified the figures quoted by Mr Richardson in his speech the other evening. The Financial Statement was prepared in such a misleading way that no member of the House could come to any other conclusion than Mr Richardson had. It had been absolutely proved that instead of the debt being reduced by £117,282 it had been increased by £334,311. As to land settlement he thought that the late administrator had done just as much in that direction as the present Government. It was true that the present Government had disposed of 15,000 acres more than the late Government, and put seventy more people on the land, but when these figures were analysed it would be found that where the area had been increased it was in the direction of small grazing runs, and where the number of people on the land were increased it was in village settlements. The result of the late Governments finance was a monument to the late Sir Harry Atkinson’s administration. If the Premier had set apart the £200,000 which lie intended to spend in public works in the following manner, he would, in his (Mr Mitchelson’s) mind, bo doing better for the colony than his present proposals would do, namely, £IOO,OOO for the purchase of native lands, £40,000 for school buildings, £50,000 to open up lands before sale, and £IO,OOO on miscellaneous works. That would be infinitely better than throwing down this £200,000 to be scrambled for amongst members. Speaking on the Native land question he said that the time had arrived when all Native land in settled districts should be taxed as the lands of settlers in those places were taxed for making roads and bridges, which the Natives used probably more than Europeans. He was under the impression that when the great Liberal party got into power they would have proposed a Laud Tax, pure and simple, but the present taxation was only a mongrel Property Tax. His opinion was that the present Government had destroyed all confidence in the colony. They existed to please one class only. As to the Civil Service, ho had never known it to be in a more disorganised state than at present. The Civil Servants were now absolutely afraid to speak to members of the Opposition, and they looked like hunted rats when spoken to. Mr Meredith warmly approved of the Government policy. He criticised Mr Rolleston’s speech as being a very feeble one, as he had no fulcrum to work upon. Mr Lake moved the adjournment of the debate. The motion was agreed to, and the House rose at 12.45 a.m.