PARLIAMENTARY

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10428, 20 September 1911, Page 5

PARLIAMENTARY

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

By Telegraph—Press Association.

WELLINGTON, Last Night, The House met at 2.30 p.m. THE RACING COMMISSION.

Sir Joseph Ward stated that he had been in communication with the Racing Commission with a view to their sitting again to reconsider the question of country club permits. The Commission is agreeable to sit again if necessary. Work in connection therewith is now being done, and a report would be brought down as soon as available.

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS

On the motion of Sir Joseph Ward, it was decided that the Government business take .precedence on Wednesdays. He pointed out that a great deal of work had to be done between now and the first and second weeks in November, when all wanted to be away to their constituencies. THE BUDGET DEBATE. Mr Myers resumed the debate on the Budget, which he declared exhibited a very happy state of affairs. The humanitarian proposals would be applied to the country generally. He spoke at length of .the satisfactory condition of the finances, upon which lie heartily congratulated the Minister of Finance. While taxation had increased from £3 18s 9d to 1909 to £5 8s 7d in 1911, the increase had been placed upon those best able to bear it. Were he not convinced tihat the Government policy was proper and honest, he would immediately walk over to the other side of the House. He urged greater expedition in the settlement of Native lands. Sir William Steward considered the Budget an excellent one, and that it would commend itself to the country. It was a record of prosperity such as had not been submitted in any other part of the Empire. He disagreed with the proposal to reduce long distance railway fares by a farthing per mile at a cost of £60,000. It would be better to have reduced the short distance fares as benefiting more people. If the Department wanted to spend £60,000 it could better be done on the erection of loading sheds in the country districts, cheap market tickets for farmers, and a reduction in the freight on fruit. He expressed regret that there was no reference in th Budget to the land question. He advocated a tax sufficiently disruptive to make it impossible to hold land in' large quantities. He also regretted the absence of any reference to education in the Budget. He„l>oped" «f.e Government would do all in its power in connection with higher education. He regretted that the Government had not done more in the acquisition of surplus lands. He looked "upon the Farmers' Co-operative Bank proposal as good, and if placed in good shape he would support the measure. He advocated the development of the iron ore of the Dominion.

Mr Bollard complained of the unsatisfactory conditions of land matters in the Dominion, and said he knew of no country in the world where the leasehold system had been successful. It was the duty of the Government to settle the people in the land and educate them how to work it. -He asked what had the Government done for the farmers in tthis direction? Scientific knowledge was essential to the satisfactory working of the land; In Europe and elsewhere there were plenty of agricultural colleges, and if this country was to compete, with these places it must be up-to-date in its methods. He advocated the extension of the workers' homes system for the benefit of final! wage men. Mr L. M. Isitt said the Government was in a happy condition. So far as the Opposition w&s concerned the Government had been accused again an J again of rash expenditure, and yet every Opposition member wanted money spent on colleges, experimental farms, etc. How could the Government meet these demands and yet esoape the reproach the Opposition. Referring to military training, he said the Government had made two very grave mistakes in omitting a conscience clause and in carrying on the training age to 25. There must be, he declared, a conscience clause even at the risk of the clause being abused. Training objectors were willing to do road-making, gorse-cutting, anything. In the Church there were 6000 people combined to oppose the system. The age limit should be 25. He deprecated and deseriped •as sihamful the charges of "bribery, corruption, and maladministration against the Government. There was nothing in the charges.

THIE PREMIER'S REPLY. Sir Joseph Ward, in reply, s&id that «uea;y one who had spoken on thie Budget had supported all the measiroee forecasted! there. For the pas* flwsnty yefars the Opposition had endeavoured to cast a reflection on i3nß financial position ©/ New Zealand. They hadi decried ;teans, and their utterances had foimd way into the Investors' Giuidie'in London, stating tbat.tßere wes> a -possability of some of i&e loams not being renewed! or converted. He asked was- this-dfone to heJp *&e country ? The men at the b&ck of this were large landed ptroprae-toi-s, who wouldi remove the fax from large estates and put it on. someone eke. He referred to the mconsisitency of the Opposition in. .crying out that too much money was ibeimg speht and then alfl. demanding raikvays> and colleges. He charged! Mi- ASlen with gross misrepresentation in the matter of the Treasury Bills, tremarking hat if theamount had beejn paid off as Mr Allen suggested tlxey could not have paid their way at all. The members of the Opposition benches had been juggling with figt»;es and juggling with law. The Public Revenues Act insisted on the course he had taken. The eibject of the Opposition in going round the country saying the finance of ihe country was in a weak position, and taxation was being increased', Mias to try to get on the Treasury benches, and; in their desperate attenupts to do this they were seriously damaging the country and the people. Referring to Mr Allen's statement of discrepancies of four millions in; the Budget figures of the pubQio debt, Sir Joseph said the table quoted' by Mr Allen dealt with borrowed money only, not revenues. .(Left Sitting.) .; ;