PARLIAMENT

Te Puke Times, Volume II, Issue II, 4 July 1913, Page 3

PARLIAMENT

THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY. CRITICISM BY MR MACDONALD Wellington, Thursday. The debate on the Address-in-Reply was opened last evening. At the conclusion of the speeches of Messrs Wilkinson andStatham Mr W. D. S. Macdonald rose. The member for the Bay cf Plenty declared that the Government must give attention to the question of branch railways. The Government was moving in the direction of Legislative Council reform, but not so confidently this session as before, because it realised there were evils iri connection with the legislative system as well as the nominative. He quite agreed that there were anomalies in the tariff. Reciprocity with Australia had been considered before, but the House would encounter difficulties right at the start and must be careful New Zealand did not get'''the worst of the bargain. The Government had so far done very little in the interests of any.,section of the people.

Land settlement had always been a prominent plank in Liberal platforms, and the Prime Minister, ?when going about the country, making exaggerated statements as to what he would do, forgot to mention that very little Crown land remained. It would be news to him, to hear that the Prime Minister knew anything about back-blocks pioneering. In their hurry to show what a lot they were doing, the Government threw open a Taranaki block without miking a single road to give accGss to it, with the result that there was not ,a single applicant. He granted that the Government had been active in purchasing estates, but had it bought the best class of country ? Some of it near Mastcrton cost 14s 9:1 per acre. Would that be fit for close settlement ? The Government bought an estate in< Mr Herries' district which had long been cut up unavailingly. What was the state of affairs when Mr Massey took office ? • Mr Massey: The worst possible. Surveys had stopped. Mr Macdonald: The UnderSecretary for Lands-has-given figures showing that on March 31st, 1912, there were 835,120 acres of Native land, of which one-third had been completely surveyed, and also 690.000 acres of Crown land on which a great deal of surveying had been done. In what way had the new Government improved land settlement ? It should have special care for the men who took up far-back lands to-day. for it was uncertain if they could make a success of it. The only source from which the Governmentcould acquire first class'land was frorti the Natives. Legal.difficulties existecl, no doubt, but • otherwise there was no problem aboutit. The problem had been settled long ago ; the trouble was there was little left for European settlement.

What was the explanation of the Hon. James Allen's success in London. Was it his splendid finance or the splendid finance of his predecessor, Sir Joseph Ward? (Government laughter). It was curious that, in spite of all the statement i about extravagant borrowing and wasteful expenditure, the Minister of Finance j went home and told the inves- 1 tors about the excellent reproductive assets to the credit of the country, PUBLIC WORKS No member who had public works going on in his constituency could say that the Government kept faith with him. The Government alleged that it spent more money on public works ynj{l9l33ithaa in ths previous year, but available figures did not bear this out. The available resources were £3,632,580, but last year the Minister, according to his own statement, spent £1,908,671. The Minister of Public Works: I said under my own control.

The member for ;the Bay of Plenty added that, in face of this, it was useless trying to maintain that things were as good as ever. One or two railway lines in the South Island had stopped altogether. The Napier-Gisborne line was nearly shut down, and 2,805 fewer men were employed on public works,

The Hon. W. Fraser moved the adjournment of the debate at 10.30 p.m.