PARLIAMENTARY

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1595, 2 September 1885, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY

« Wellington, August 28. The following is a continuation of the no confidence debate : — Walrefield, in reply to Mara n drew, said that Major Atkinson had been most unwilling to take any hostile action ngainst the Government, and difficulty had been experienced by the party in prevailing upon the hon. 'gentleman to move gainst the Ministry. The Premier had said that the hon. gentleman was to put his resolntions in one, but he (Mr Wakeh'eld) might say the Premier was afraid to let him do so, as he would gladly have done so. He accused the Government of being afraid to bring forward the telegrams relating to the East and West Coast Kail way, and he said they were afraid of their policy in that respect He de fended Major Atkinson's policy at somo length, and disclaimed any party feeling, only wishing to do the beat for the country. He had always been opposed to continued borrowing, and held that it was absolutely necessary to decrease expenditure, or the time must come when it would be found impossible to meet the charges made on the country. The House would not be doing its duty if it'iid not insist upon a considerable reduction of the expenditure. The House then adjourned for supper and on resuming, Mr Turnbull rose wlien there were

cries of "divide, divide." Turnbull then sat down and when the question was put ; Montgomery got up. He said lie ■ expected to have found the pledges of the Government carried out, but be had been grievously disappointed. When the House refused to accept the additional taxation, he thought th«* Government would have resigned, but what most shook his confidence in the Ministry was the f.iot that the Treasurer called a me: t'iv.<r of the Canterbnry and Nelson ni< mbers A his residence to discuss what those districts should get, and when the Meigga scheme was brought dovn and a proposal made to give them £3.000, 000 out of the public funds he felt he cculd not longer give his allegiance to a Government which could do such an injustice. Still he did not take any direct hostile action, but when that proposal was rejected it should have been taken as a vote of no confidence, and that, added to other thing*?, led him to consider that the Government ought nn longer to have con tinned in ntfic?. When some of the support* ;s of the Government left them they did not join tli? Opposition, but left them - selves free to vote, as they considered the best interests of the country A> - manded. He considered the conduct of Major Atkinson had been self-deny ing, but it would have been better or the Government to have waited for the measures and taken the sense of the House on them as they came down. The Ministry had not hi 3 approval, and lie would do anything he could to have it reconstructed. The Premier, instead of using high minded arguments in favor of his Government's conduct, contented himself with using fit quoqve arguments. He held that it w-.is di siraMe for members to have a fbi y of purpose He had always adher> d to his opinions, and it was a strain upon him now to have to vote against the hon. mem! km* for Egtnont, Major Atkinson, but he did not do so to keep the Government in, for they 1 had forfeited their right to retain office. He believed Major Atkinson was anxious to see a good Government on those benches, though he himself was out of it. He, however, could not support the motion moved by that | gentleman. | Mr Hurst, condemned the proposal j to borrow more money, and urged that | the expenditure for tlie year should be ! limited to £1,000.000. j Major Atkinson, in reply, characterj ifepd tlie speech of the Premier as j extraordinary, and said that gentle- ;; man could be nothing if not luirFj^itMng or quibbling. He did not o >cc attempt to dispute tlie >eso!ution | He (Major Atkinson) could co-nplefv | crush the Premier if that gentled n in di-rstood figures, but he really did nor. No o-.ie had controverted his (Atkinson's) contention that thco'ony reducd reduced txp»nditure. He dated the Premier to take the vot" on I each resolution without amendment. He. did not envy the position of the hon. member for Akaro:\, who was brimnrng ov» r with morality. The position he had taken up was such tiiat lie had retained tliose gentlemen on those benches, and it should bo let go forth to the country that he had done so. Ho congratulated Mr Montgomery in having fallen into tta told J from which he had been straying, and he congratulated the Government in having him ou their sil« again. Speaking on the subject of the policy bills of the Government, he asserted that there was no intention of passing tin- Native Lands Disposition Bill this session. When he referred to the Treasurer being a " visitor," he whs nvly quoting his own words, and he did not pretend to say anything derogatory of the Treasurer. Sir Julius Yogel said th« Goveni- | ment exactly understood the position | i of the Opposition, and he con!.-! imaine ! them advising Major Atkinson to koep ; ! quiet and say nothing, because the j j country would have nothing to do j with him, and that the best thing he j could do was to wait till he could j catch votos from the Government | j party. At last tliey have gone to the ! member for Akaroa, and it must have { bsen a grievous disappointment to them to find him so unexpectedly in opposition. What right had the hon. member to claim that he had thrown nut any of the Government Policy Bills. It was the first time he had the courage to even show himself a leader of the Opposition, and as to the tariff would not he have been a supporter of the Government if his friends liad allowed him to have his own way? Would the hon. gentleman say, if he sat on the Treasury Benches to morrow, that he proposed to repeal that bill, if he did lie would cast upon the country a quarter of a million taxation. He (Sir Julius) claimed that the Government have virtually effected a saving £59,000. He congratulated the hon. member on the greatest piece of assurance any member of Legislature had ever shown. He proposed that the Government had already proposed to rednre them by £29,0»K), and that, gentleman had gone £1000 better (laughter). The question was whether they were now to consider this £ 1000 more. Had the Government seen those resolutions the previous day they would have estimated them at their worth. The motion was then pnt and lost by 39 to 51. On the amendment being put. Mr Pyke said he objected from the first to the manner in which th« hon. member had brought down his resoln- ! tions. He had simply invited defeat. 1 He tyonld move " That the policy, as disclosed by the Public Works State ' ment is not satisfactory to this ' ouso '' His character would be at stake if li ;■- --<• returned to his constituents wit'iont making an effort to remove the Gov » eminent. His motion raised a dis-

tinct and definite »ssue. Either Government had or had not thp confidence of the House If fliey had not they should be removed, and if they had the country should know it. Ho criticised the policy of the Government generally, and expressed his satisfaction with the Treasurer. No one replied and the amendment was lo?t by 43 to 39. Mr Hislop moved the following addition to the motion :—" And unii the Mini«try is so constituted as to command the confidence of the House." He spoke at considerable length in condemnation of tiie Government in failing to cany out their promises. Captain Russell spoke also at length and deprecated the extra vagance of the past, and held that it was possible to go on reducing expend itnre till it got do*n to half a million. Mr C. F. Bockland next spoke and supported the amendment of Mr Hig- > lop. j Mr J. 0. Backland followed in the wake of his brother, and Mr O'Conor took the other side, and spoivp in favor of the Government, I holding that the country was in such a state that further borrowing was I absolutely necessary. j Mr Barron then moved the adjournment of the debate. 1 Mr Seddon spoke for some time on the question of adjournment, and when a divisiou was taken, the votes being 42 each way, the Speaker gave his vote with the ayes, and the House rose at 3 a.m.

Anguft 29. Mr Ormond dislaimedany " intrigumg "on his part. He had been asked I to bring down a want of confidence | motion some time before, bat no conditions were made nor wonld he have . submitted to conditions. He foond he was unable from various reasons to undertake the task ; bnt there was no intriguing nor auything discreditable to lumseU: When* the Premier was pnt forward for his present position he (Air Ormoud) gave in bis adhesion to the Ministry and became one of his supporter* He was pledged to repeal the Property Tax and substitute a Laud Tax, to reduce taxation and the expenditure, and introduce reform in Idal government. That was the Premier's platform, and he believed the hon. geutlem.m would have been true to bis principles. It was alsounderstood that the North Island railway was only to be constructed after land bad b^en obtained alo >g the Hue for settlement. [Here Mr Stout asked. — " Who gave that pledge V*] Mr Ormond replied that (he whole, of the Government had over *nd over again, and it was idle to deny it. It became apparent that the Premier's place had been usurped by the Treasurer, aud when the House met this year it was foui.d tint the Premier had not kept bis pledges, but had abandoned his principles. The land tax hid not been b ought in, ther.< was no reduction of expenditure, the sinking fund had been used, uot to relieve the working classjs, but the moneyed classes, who sought no relief ; the Local Government Bill was a miserable contemptible proposal to bribe the local bodies ; but to the honor of the colouy this proposal was refected. The Government had not ft shred of policy, and no words were too strong to describe tbe way in which those hon. gentlemen had " sold " those whotrusted iv them." As fora record, tbey bad no record, bat submitted to anything to stick upon those benches ; and as miserable contemptible & position as it was, there was no very little hope of getting a party in the Hou8», who would not act as they did till the country was again appealed to. He condemned the Hospitals aud Charitable Aid Bill, which he said had not in it even the germ of local Government. Tiie whole policy of Government was gone, and they still sat there. There was one thing which he wished to place upon reco d, as it showed the Government's position to be even more contemptible, than anything else : when the party which were following the>.n tod the Govern* ment tbey would bave none of tbeir policy, they formed a committee of safety, and passed a resolution appointing de'e^ates to go to the Government and tell them they must either eat the policy or go. The caucus actually gave Government till 5 o'clock that day to consider it (laug'.iter) ; but they did not want till 5 o'clock. Half-an-hour was enough for them to swallow the dictates of their party, and, continued Mr Ormoud, their they sit — and that is called constitutional Government They have brought constitutional Government in this olony into otter contempt. Mr Stout was not, Mr Ormond went on to say, in reality Premier, he only pretented to >«c Premier. The tariff proposals were not his: tbey were crammed down his throat He (Mr Ormond) did not believe the hon. gentleman would give up his principles, but he had shown himself too weak to resist the domination of a more powerful mind, and that was not what ought to be expected from a Premier. It had been stated that threats had been thrown out of a dissolution. " Good God ?" exclaimed Mr Oi mond, " What would they f^o to the country upou ? Their policy would be to offer a few jobs, a railway here, and a road there. " The hon. gentleman then went on to criticise in detail the Public Works Statement. He co idemned the Native Minister's management of Native affairs, and said that whoever succeeded him in office would have years of work before he could bring matters back into the condition they where in when Mr Bryce retired. With regard to the N >rth Island line, he had heard from the lirs :f the great < hief Wah.umi t.lv ho had never henvd that itwa^nr ' \>' i ■■■'' tr> taki> laud tor settlement al-.. M ;.i.;'v .;uc.

The Premier said the lion, gentleman's speech reminded him of an aphorism, " Bitter are the woes of a disappointed man." He wanted to know when the member for Napier had been satisfied with a Government. He had voted agains the Government ou several occasions when proposals were made in accordance with the views now heM by him. What single political principle did the lion, gentleman ever support. He had supported the Property Assessment Bill and the -Government which brought it in, but when was he ever a supporter of a land tax ? The whole cause of the fion. gentleman's opposition was the Native Land Bill, which put an end to land rings and speculation in native lands ; which pat a stop to men getting native lands from infants ; and which prevented large blocks of lands falling into the hands of two or three men. The lion, gentleman did not like the Hospitals Bill because it provided for the rating of large properties. Til it bill was an honest attempt to deal with a difficult subject He defended the railway management (attacked by Mr Ormond), and as showing its satisfactory character lie pointed out that this year the railway paid ten shilling per cent on the cost of construction more than last jrear. He denied that there was any pledge that land would bo acquired alonii the North Island line before this work was commenced. A motion of the kind was most unusual at this ■period of the session, and what party was to succeed Government in office ? Did they expect to form a party which could agree on any one thing? Mr Ormond was like a ship at sea without a compass, going about in a politic! sea without any aim, and ti.e stitute book would not show one great act he had ever passed. For himself, he •could say he had ever been actuated by desire for the welfare of the colony, and never i»y personal feeling or a desire for self aggrandisement. (The Premier sat down amid prolonged •cheering.) Mr \V. C. Smith devoted some little attention to an attack upon Mr Ormond, and created some laughter by relating how that lion, gentleman had endeavored to cut out a portion of a road district in order to escape his Tates, and how he (Mr Smith) ont■witted him. Mr Smith also asserted, as showing what Mr Ormond's local government is, that the lion, member for Napier had a farthing rate struck, and spent the money on a dray road to facilitate the carting of his wool. Sir George Grey regretted the personal character of the Premier's speech, and said that the Government liills played into the hands of the land ring instead of attempting to break them up. He described the Premier's speech as an advocate's address to a jury, and he treated as " tiivn" !')>! Premier's statement that reforms couid only be made by steps. That w.-»>- not how such reform? were passed he fe. There was not a particle of L : b»r.:»b;«Mi jil><»iit their measure. It would be btfn r for ihotu to v- tire from the benrlu-s which they could not till honorably, go into Opposition, abandon Voaalism and assist the Liberal side df the House. Mr Ballajice commence! with a castration of (he last speaker. Sir G. Grey, h -id, ought to have been the leader ot « party, but he had not used — or rather had unused — bis opportunities, until at present lie stood isolated and alone., without sympathy in the lions". Mr Bal lance entered upon the defence of his Native Lands Bill, and asked wiiy Mr Ormond had not made his at/u-k on it on the second reading. Th» B;i! was, he alleged, just to the natives and the Europeans, and the speech of the member for Nnpier was insincere. Said Mr Ballancp, referring again to Sir G. Grey, *' The charge of insincerity which the lion, gentleman levelled at ns I hurl back at him with interest," as to w!n> had beon said about the settlement of the nativp lanth, everyone who knew anything about native affiirs know* that nothing eoulil be, done with such lands niuil tliov passed through the land C"irt. Hh denied that Wahanui, as vv- alleged by Mr Ormond, repudiated the idea of settlements alon^; the North Island railway line.