POLITICAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 825, 27 September 1906, Page 7

POLITICAL.

GOVERNMENT LAND POLIUY. •{iV The Premier on Tuesday made a mstatemeut regarding the Govern•ment's land policy in respect to - tbe Laud for Settlement Act. The matter was raised by Mr Harries, who said it had boen stated by one of the Ministers that the present policy oould not go on very much <"~ longer. If the Premier would make a definite statement that the policy was not to be abandoned, it would havß a re-assuring effeot on the country. Sir Joseph Ward said that this was the first time that he had heard it suggested that anybody bad said that the purchase of lands under the kand for Settlement Act was to be stopped. $e had not made any suoh statement. What he had said in his speech on i the financial debate was that the colony oould not go on purchasing estates to the e\tent of 1 , threequarters of a million annually without some alteration in the existing land laws. He was quite . sure of tbat. If they went on at the rate of three-quarters of a V million a year the amount would A probably soon inorease to a million, lv and from tnat to a million and a ■ quarter, and so on. The Government was sug«esting a system by which the soheme oould be considerably relieved. It would be a bad thing to stop the policy, and no speech that he had ever made oould be said to bear that construction.

IHE ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES. The possibility of a dissolution was contemplated by tbe leader of the Opposition on Tuesday in asking the Premier what was being , done in regard to the. readjustment of tbe electoral boundaries. The report of the Commissioners had been sent in three months ago, and so far as he knew nothiDg had been done. There were rumours going about—some very stupid he admitted—regarding a dissolution. Apart from that, however, it was to the interest of the whole State that the electoral boundaries should be adjusted as soon as possible. Whether there was a dissolution or j* tbe law ought to be complied I with and the boundaries adjusted be- *"" fore any election took plaoe. It appeared to Mr T. Mackenzie that the country was tired of this oonstant readjustment of electorates, because the electors never knew how long they were going to have the same representative. He thought it would be better, even if they enlarged some and reduced others, to have some permanency in the electoral boundaries—for ten years at least. Sir Joseph Ward said nothing so far had reached him officially in connection with the 'matter, but he would make inquiries and see what the position was. The law would be carried out so far as the Government was concerned. Thd Government had no desire to do anything prejudicial to any part of the, colony. If there had been a change in the population the provisions of the act would be given effeot 10. He would make inquiries so that in the event of an election the people would have proper representation. With thfl previous speaker; be agreed, that the re-adjustment should extend over a very muofi longer period of years. LOANS TO BOOAL BODIES. The leader of tbe Opposition, on the introduction of the Imprest Supply Bill on Tuesday afternoon, urged on the Colonial Treasurer the desirability of reducing the rates of interest on loans granted to local bodies. He pointed out that five yeaxs ago, when the Boer war was going on, the then Treasurer brought down a Bill raising the rate of interest, peoause of the scarcity of money en the Home market at that time. The House agreed to the Bill on the understanding

that when the war was ever, and the money market again reached its normal level, the rate of interest would be reduced. Nothing, however, had been done, fie thought the rate of interest now being charged to local bodies should be reduced by at least half per cent. Mr Ross (Pabiatua), who earlier in the day had piesented a petition Baking that the interest on loans to iooal bodies should be paid out of the consolidated fund, disclaimed the responsibility of originating the petition whion bad uome from Maeterton. ■'■'., , The idea that the State would entertain any suggestion that such interest should be paid out of the consolidated fund was at once dis- " pelled by Sir Joseph Ward. He was sure the hon. member for Pahiatua did not endorse the sentiments contained in the petition. Be recollected the circumstances of the increase in the rate of interest at the ti:ne of the Boer war. He agreed that a reduction ought to be made as soon as they oonld do it and hoped that before long they would be in a position to make a reduction with a view to helping to carry on the import-ant-work upon which local bodies •were engaged.