HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 11634, 5 November 1887, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Wellington, November 3 ONEHUNGA CEMETERY RESERVE BILL. Mr Lawry moved the second reading of the Onehunga Cemetery Beserve Bill, to change the purpose, of the cemetery reserve, and to authorise an acquisition of other land for such purpose. — Agreed to. OHRlsrOflUßCfl DRAINAGE BOARD BILL, Mr Jones moved the second reading of the Ohristohurch Drainage Board Reserves Sale and Exchange Bill, .ex-» plaining that it was simply a maohinery measure to authorise the sale of certain drainage reserves in Ohristohurch. — Agreed to. NAPIER HA.BBOUB BOARD IMPfiOVEMENT BILL. Mr Ormond moved the second reading of the .Napier Harbour Board Amendment and Endowment Improvement Bill, to authorise the Harbour Board to reclaim certain reserves, and to borrow £30,000 for the purpose, He pointed , that tha reserve in question was now becoming a menace to the health of the town, and it was a most necessary measure. — Agreed to. ONEHUNGA WATER RESERVES BILL. Mr Hamlin moved the second reading of the Onehunga Water Reserves. Bill. The debate was interrupted by the 5,30 adjournment. The House resumed at 7. 30 p.m t AUCTIONEERS BILL. Mr Seddou moved the second leading of the Auctioneers' Bill. He explained that it had already been three sessions before Parliament, and wai designed to consolidate the existing acts, which were all of a provincial chanoter. Dutch auctions were to be abolished, and various reforms which expeijienoe had shown to be ueceasary were introduced.and a uniform'license fee of £40 wj.b fixed. After a short dißOUseiou the second reading waß oarried. LIMITATION OF VOTES. Sirj George Giey moved the second reading of the Limitation of Votes Bill, preventing electors from voting in more than one electorate. The motion for the second reading was oarried on the voices without debat-. LAND SBTTLKME.KT. Sir' George Grey moved the second reading of the Land for Settlement Bill. It was intended to provide land oa such terms and in such a way as would attract immigrants with capital, and also enable people now in ih« colony to acquire land on reasonable terms. The land taken under the bill was to b 3 paid for in land boards oa the sacne aysfcem that had been pursuei with eminent success in Prussia. It was to be divided into farm and cottage allotments, and power was given to lay out town sites. Be had been told that> a large number of the Irish Constabulary had expressed their wish to come acre if some suoh measure became law, and he believed that many other colonists would be at" tracted hither.— The Premier said the Government had recognised the time had come when a measure of this kind was required, and they would agree to theseoond reading, so that the bill might go to the Waste Lands Committee, with a view to seeing whether a satisfactory solution could be arrived at. He did not, however, altogether agree with the. bill as it stood, for he thought that it did not provide sufficient safeguards. — The seoond reading was oarried on the voices. . RETRENCHMENT. Mr Ballanoe moved for details of the retrenchment proposed by the Government, which the Premier refused. — Messrs Fish, Turnbull, and Seddon expressed the opinion that details would have to be given before the House separated, but advised the withdrawal of the motion for the present. — Mr Fisher avowed his surprise at the attempt to discuss the Financial State" ment by a side wind, —Sir Julius Yogel pointed out that if the details asked for were refused, it would naturally give rise to suspicion that the retrenchment belonged to the whole House, and not to Ministers only. It would not however, be convenient to enter into a general discussion at the present juncture.—Mr Ballanoe siid that his motion was not intended/in a hostile spirit, and Le asked leave to withdraw it. This was done, and the House rose at 1120. November 4 The House met at 2.30. QUESTIONS. Replying to questious if; was stated that the question of introducing a bill for settling old soldiers' and volunteer land olaims was under consideration. — That had been spent on the road from Nelson to Westport apd Grevinouth during the last 7 years, and in the present ciroumstaooes of the country it was impossible such ruinous sums of money could continue to be expended. — That the question of legislating for allowing mining on private property would be considered during the reoess. — That it was very desirable that the police should receive instructions to put down rowdyism during eleotion times. That Government had no control over the time for deciding the Waitotara eleotion petition. AN EXPLANATION. The Hon Mr Mitchelson esplapaed that h© had not stated a few days ago, as reported, that railway employees would be granted compensation iv cases [ c of sickness. What he had said was ex- c aotly the opposite. c THE WAITOTABA PETITION. i Mr Seddon moved the adjournment r of the House to dravy attention to Sir J. s Hall's question with reßpeot to the b Waitotara petition. He considered it a fc unosij unwarrantable imputation on the g aotion of the judges.— Sir J, Hall dis- r tinotly repudiated any attempt to interfere with the aotion of the judges : Dor ?i was his question brought forward with any party motives. He had no doubt h the sitting member for Waitotara and Tl the gentleman petitioning were both « anrioua that the matter, should Uei k

settled. —A lengthy discussion followed, and the motion for the adjournment of the House was loat. SUPPLY. The House went into Committee of Supply, when the Imprest Supply Bill for £250,000, £175,000 Consolidated Fund, and £75,009 Public Works Fund, j were carried through all stages, The House rose afc 5.5 p.m. The House resumed at 7.30. THB MIDLAND RAILWAY. The Premier moved his resolutions re the Midland Railway contract, premising hiß remarks by brifley detailing the history of the railway. The Government were clear that the railway would not be built without further legislation, and that was the reason why they had brought down fresh proposals. Persons ally, he was in favour of the work, though he thought it might have bean delayed for a few years, in older to give the company stable basis at Home. They aß&ed that the value of the land concessions should be guaranteed, and fchia mieht fairly be conceded. The other important point was that of mining. Tfce goldfields must not be interrupted, and the Government proposed to take the power to proclaim 750,000 acres, which, he thought, would be a sufficient safeguard. It had been intended to insist on the company being registered in New Zealand, but it was found that this would break it up altogether, as'it would prevent funds being raised. The Government pro* posed, instead, that the company should have a representative in the colony, who could sue and be sued. Sir Julius Yogel also entered into the history of the undertakings, dwelling at some length upon the difficulty which had_ cropped up of preventing the mining industry from being interfered with. He considered that the 750,000 acres which it was proposed to set apart would be ample for the purpose. He pointed out that the company did not ask that the value of the land should be guaranteed at an average of 10a an acre before the railway was oompleted, but what they wanted was that by the i time the work was finished the" land should have brought that amount. This was an important point, and minimised the risk, if there was any. The modifications proposed by the company were of a reasonable nature, and he did not imagine that the House would refuse to agree to them. Mr Downie Stewart said it was apparent that the company was likely to fare very well through the outbidding of parties over this railway. It had been distinctly understood that no guarantee should be given, but as far as he could judge from the oomplioated terms of the original contract, there was every probability of the whole matter ending in a gigantic lawsuit. He noticed also that the company asked the colony to give up the alternate blocks, whioh had formed a pronounced and favourable feature in the original contract. It was evident that all they wauted was to get all the money they I could out of the transaction. • Mr B. Richardson denied that there was anything to justify the assertion that parties were outbidding one another for political support over this railway. He complimented the Government on their efforts to bring matters to a satisfactory oonolusion. . Mr Hutchison said that there should be dome mutuality if the colony guaranteed a land concession worth a million and a quarter; then if it brought more the surplus should go to the colony. Restrictions should be.imposed on the sale of land, and a provision made for settlement along the line. Mr Menteath said that these new proposals showed that the company was too weak for the task it had undertaken, and he was afraid that they would give an exorbitant advantagp to foreign capital; they were in effect sjoing to raise a three million loan at a discount of about forty per cent, for the colony would eventually have to buy the line, and would then have lost the land. Mr Percival said they were nofc asked to guarantee the money, but only to make up the vulue in land, and even that was limited in area. Those best qualified to judge opinion were satisfied • that—the- land was. extremely vuluabUv He quoted from various authorities on this poiut. Mr Taylor eatt it was within his knowledge that fifty thousand aores of land along the railway line had been applied for at £2 an acre, but applicants were just too late. Mr Turnbull had always supported the line, but was rathor staggered at the alterations proposed. He disliked the extension of time for the completion of the line asked for ; there were a good inanygaps still in the conditions, and he was afraid that they had not been carefully revised. He oondemned the abandonment of the alternate blooks and che absence of any penalty for the non-completion of the line by the oompany. Mr Gritnmond said that the alternate blooks were of vital importance to the West Const, and if, they were given up, deeply interested as he was in the line, he should feel it hi 6 duty to oppose the j concession, The mining industry was I also threatened, and when in. Committee he should further express his objections, Sir George Grey trusted that the House would pause before committing itself to this new departure. He viewed with alarm the tendency to alienate large areaß of land, He stronlgy opposed the alterations, and advised them to adhere to the old contract, and suggested that the matter be referred to a comj mittee. Mr Hodgkinson supported tht» proposal to refer the contract to a Select Committee, Mr Fulton had grave doubts whether this would be the last concession asked for by the company. He moved, That a committee be appointed by the Government to consider the question, and bring down a report at an early a date as possible. Mr Turnbull said it was little use relegating the matter to a committee ; it would be better to adjourn the debate for a week, Mr Blake, as one who had 25 years' experience in the oolony, believed that very few of the members knew what they were talking about. He was satisfied that the land would average a great deal more than 10s an acre, and a qorii- ' mittee would lesd to no good objeot. < Railroad legislation was wanted, and j let them get it at once. ] Mr Valentine said that to effect these I alterations would be to shut up all the i land in the railway district for an inde-* 1 finite time, "' «