from residents of Fauresmith, praying for the deviation of the proposed railway line from Fauresmith to Koffiefontein via Rietput.

from C. Strachan, widow of John Strachan.

from residents of Philippolis, praying for the deviation of the proposed Fauresmith-Koffiefontein Railway line via Rietput.

Acting Under-Secretary of Education, period ending 31st December, 1910.

Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure, year ending 31st March, 1912.

moved that a Select Committee be appointed to consider and report upon an application submitted, in terms of Act No. 15 of 1909 (Orange Free State), for the establishment of a township on the farm Poorte, district of Ladybrand, Orange Free State, with power to take evidence and call for papers in connection with such application, and to consist of Messrs. C. L. Botha, Brain, Currey, Sir Thomas Smartt, and the mover.

seconded.

Agreed to.

continuing his speech, said that they had had an uneducated sentiment which practically proposed a course of social plunder in the form of an income tax. He protested against the earnings of any man being confiscated, even by the Government. Dr. Haggar went on to speak in favour of the taxation of unearned increment, and said that unearned increment was the creation of the community, and he added, with vigour: “We are going to have it; in this country we are going to have our own.” He thanked the Minister of Justice for having raised the cry. It was going to be the battle-cry of the next four years. He was confident that the Minister believed in succession duties. Then, if he believed in succession duties, he believed in the taxation of unearned increment. He would tell his farmer friends that they were going to cut up these large estates. In conclusion, he appealed to hon. members to put aside their pettiness, to put aside the scratching at every scar, to put aside their partisan spirit, and to rise to the great national issues and build the foundations of the country firm and strong, and not criticise, but construct.

said that he listened to the Minister of Justice (General Hertzog) on the previous evening, and thought that although his theories were all very well and might be supported by authorities, he lacked the necessary experience to be a true guide to the House in regard to a land tax. If the House permitted him, he would give Natal’s experience of a land tax. As the hon. member for Roodepoort (Dr. Haggar) had said, certain members of the old Natal House of Assembly, who were very loud in their protests against a and tax and an income tax, were obliged through force of circumstances to introduce such taxes. With regard to the land tax, he said that his regret was that it was not continued for more than one year, because he believed many benefits resulted from it. Now what was the land tax? All owners of land up to the value of £2,000 were exempt. All owners of land more than £2,000 value, if they beneficially occupied the land, were subject to a tax at the rate of 1s. 2d. upon the valuation which they made themselves. If that valuation were not accepted by the authorities, then they put a valuation upon the land. If the owners were not satisfied with that valuation, then the matter was adjudicated upon by a Board. In the event of the land not being beneficially occupied, an additional tax had to be paid, at the rate of l½d. in the £. Beneficial occupation was defined to be such occupation as enabled a man to make a living out of the land on which he resided. In the event of land owned by absentees, there was an additional tax of four times the ordinary tax. There was a great deal of grumbling, but the result was that in one year a large number of farms were brought into the market, which up to that time had not been beneficially occupied. One large company, owning hundreds of thousands of acres of land, sold it to settlers, who occupied the land, and were still occupying it. Instead of the land tax being a terror to settlers, it induced settlement. By the direct operation of the tax, many more settlers were induced to settle on the land. Now he wished to call attention to one other point, and that was, in reference to the enormous amount of money which the House was asked to vote to the Government to pay pensions and superannuation. The amount, according to the Estimates, was £419,300, and according to the Railways and Harbours Estimates, there was a further sum of £153,000 for superannuation, making a total of £572,300. Well, he did not think the Government could continue under this heavy burden, and on the very threshold of Union he hoped the Government would take steps to provide for Civil Servants and other public employees, when they retired from the public service, in some other way than by pension and superannuation funds. So far the country had not been committed to pensions, except in the case of Judges, and he hoped the Government would seriously take into consideration the state of things which existed in the Commonwealth of Australia. Twenty-eight years ago the Victorian Government decided that they could pay no more pensions, no more grants, and no more gratuities, and they introduced a scheme by which every man who joined the service after the passing of the Act had to insure his life at his own expense. Well, that system was such a striking success in Victoria that in New South Wales the same system was introduced in 1895, and when the Commonwealth Government came into office, it decided to adopt the system which was now in force. Now he considered that in South Africa they paid very liberal salaries to their Civil Service, and be contended that out of their salaries they ought to make some contribution, the main contribution, towards providing for their old age. Unless the Government took this matter into consideration, the country would go deeper and deeper into the mire with this enormous responsibility upon their shoulders. He submitted it was the duty of the Ministers to look into the matter, and on the threshold of Union endeavour to avoid these heavy charges, which would always exist, and would continue to increase. They ought to consider the advisability of putting their house in order in respect of pensions to those who entered the service after this date. In the course of his speech the hon. member for Pretoria East (Sir P. Fitzpatrick) indulged in banter, which, however, was something in the nature of a caress. (Laughter.) He found fault with the hon. member for Uitenhage (Mr. Fremantle).

Which came out first?

I suppose it was arranged (Laughter.) It was hardly possible, for them to come cut simultaneously. (Renewed laughter.) He saw that Ministers had an enormous task before them in trying to bring the laws of the various Provinces into uniformity, but he did not see any intention in the Opposition to help the Government. He was convinced that the Opposition could do a vast amount of good work, but they were not in normal times just now, and their present circumstances ought to blunt the edge of opposition to a lage extent. When the Government had laid the foundation for every Englishman and every Dutchman in the country it ought to have the active support of every hon. member of that Assembly. So that when it came to whether he should help the Government or harass it, he thought it his duty to help it, (Ministerial cheers.) Either it was the business of a member to bring about concord, and the man who did so deserved well, and posterity would remember that name with affection—or a member (brought about discord, and the man who did so was one whose name was going to be loathed. He did not think there was an hon. member who wanted to bring about discord, but lie had seen that want of friendly co-operation with the Government which it had a right to expect.

said that hon. members had spoken of the large amount of land which still lay waste in the Gape and the Transvaal, and on which people could settle, and when they looked at what could be done for agriculture, the vote of £700,000 did not seem to be too much. South Africa was quite capable of standing on its own feet, and was able to produce all that the people of South Africa needed, so that he saw no reason why they should still import foodstuffs and other goods from other countries which could as well be produced here. What they wanted, in order to develop agriculture as it should be developed, was more agricultural experte—sons of the land, who were thoroughly acquainted with the conditions of the country. As to what was said about the scarcity of mealies in the Cape, he thought that if South African mealies could be obtained in England in sufficient quantities, they should also be able to obtain them in the Cape; and if the railway rates militated against that, the Government should reduce these rates. Continuing, he said that the poor white question was one of the most serious problem, with which the Government had to deal; these poor whites should be assisted by the Government, and be enabled to settle on the land. The hon. member went on to speak in favour of protection, taking as an example the woollen industry, and saving that it could not be a success if imported articles got the preference. Dealing with the debt of the Transvaal, he said that as regards the land bank they had had good value for their money, and he thought that much good had been done by it. He doubted whether as much could be said of the £35,000,000 loan. He wanted to know why nothing had been placed on the Estimates for rifle clubs in the Transvaal, although there was something on the Estimates for the other Provinces. In conclusion, he said that he hoped that South Africa would become a great country, and that the Opposition, although it should of course criticise the Government, would not be too critical, and would assist the Government in trying to do its best for the country.

said he felt he would not be doing his duty to his constituents if he allowed the statement made by General Hertzog last night, in regard to the High Court and Master’s Office at Kimberley, to pass without comment. He could only assume that the Minister of Justice, and others who took the same view of this matter, were un familar with the history of that part of the country. In 1871, when Griqualand West was a separate Province, it had granted to it a Master’s Office and a Deeds Office. The Cape wished to annex Griqualand West, but for three years the people there refused to agree to annexation, because they were not satisfied that the rights they then had would be retained. Then a deputation representing the Cape Government went up to try to induce the people to agree. Certain promises were made, including an undertaking that Griqualand West should retain the Court, and all connected with it, and as a result of the agreement come to on that basis, the Annexation Act of 1877 was passed. Now, since that time Bechuanaland had, been added to the jurisdiction of the High Court. Griqualand West and Bechuanaland, together, were much larger than the Orange Free State and Natal. At the time of the annexation Kimberley was looked upon as the capital of the Province, and it was still regarded in the (North as the capital off that part of the country. It was not right, he maintained, that their institutions should be taken from the people. If the plea was that it was done on the score of saving expense, he would tell the Government that the few hundred pounds which were going to be saved by the removal of the High Court and of the Minister’s office—

Ah, it is always just a few hundred pounds.

Yes, but I have a few hundreds to go on the other side, if the Minister will listen for a moment. Continuing, he said that the saving would be altogether out of proportion to the cost and inconvenience caused to the people who would have to be brought from the farms thousands of miles down to the Master’s Office at Cape Town. He received petitions against the suggested change, not only from, Kimberley, but all parts of the district. He was informed that a deputation was coming down, and he should not have been doing his duty if he had not interviewed the Minister. The Minister said that the very members who stood up in the House and pleaded for additional expenditure, were the same men who found fault with the Government on the ground of excessive expenditure.

Not the very members.

I was going to say that I had not taken part in the debate. Proceeding, the hon. member referred to the Annexation Act, and urged that they had a moral right to the maintenance of the Master’s Office. He submitted that if the proposals foreshadowed by the Minister of Justice in regard to the High Court were carried out, it would be contrary to the Act of Union. Griqualand West contributed in direct taxation to the Union £500,000. What did the Government spend on that part of the country? Not one-fifth. The Government had made an appointment at Kimberley which they saw no necessity for at all. He referred to the appointment of Collector of Revenue. Mr. Oliver criticised the appointment of Clerk to the Provincial Council, and complained that Civil Servants, who were quite competent to fill the post, had been passed over. What he objected to was that, whilst the Government were trying to save money by doing away with the High Court and Master’s Office at Kimberley, they were squandering money in other directions. With regard to the readjustment of the Civil Service, he pointed out that the Government had not waited for the report of the Public Service Commission. They had decided to do away with the High Court before the Court had presented its recommendation, and before they knew what the views were of the people of Griqualand West and Rechuanaland. He trusted that the Government would reconsider their decision in this matter.

said his constituents lived in a town, though they were satisfied to be represented by a “back-bencher.” They suffered from a particularly insidious form of taxation. It was a municipal tax, which did not flow into the coffers of the country. The Crown Colony Government of the Transvaal made a start on big lines in 1902. It extended the jurisdiction of the Johannesburg Town Council enormously, and land was taxed up to the hilt. Living in Johannesburg was dear, thanks to those who were all for a greater Johannesburg. They raised a heavy loan, and the town was suffering from that to this day. There were many workingmen among his constituents, but they were satisfied with a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work—they did not look to the employer for everything. He trusted the country would be saved from the policy of the Opposition, whose confreres in Johannesburg were responsible for the heavy municipal taxation. The Minister of Finance had foreshadowed an income tax, but they should be very careful before imposing such a burden. There was a good deal of unworked mining ground which, if worked, would do away with the necessity for further taxes. They should assist men who had to pay outrageous rents within the municipalities. Farmers had been assisted by means of the Land Bank, and townsmen should receive similar support, though his Johannesburg colleagues in the House, never mentioned; that matter. One hundred and forty thousand acres of ground in the neighbourhood of Johannesburg had been rendered worthless owing to the subterranean, streams being tapped for the benefit of Johannesburg and the mines. The inhabitants of the Klip River valley were leading a hand-to-mouth existence in consequence. Their ground used to be valuable for lucerne-growing, but at present it produced nothing. He trusted that the Irrigation Bill would be carried during the present session, so that the problem in question might be dealt with.

thought the Minister of Justice was entering hon. a very important departure, and it was a departure that should not be taken until the Minister was fully acquainted with the whole facts. He wished to call the attention of the Ministry to the feeling of unrest, uncertainty, and insecurity in the country, brought about by Union. They had hoped that Union would have brought about certainty, security, and fixity. He was surprised to find that some people in Pretoria were anxious about the permanence of the Legislative capital there, and, in fact, a deputation had waited upon certain members of the Government upon that matter, There was talk also of dividing the Orange Free State among the various other Provinces, and this proposal to remove the High Court of Griqualand West would, in his opinion, only increase the feeling of insecurity. He would warn hon. members that there was no argument that could be used for this removal that could not he equally applied to other institutions as well. The mere fact that they could save a few paltry pounds was no reason why they should remove this Court. It would be an unwise thing for the Government to destroy the High Court of Griqualand West, because it had been, and was, of great value to the people in that district. The Minister of Justice had not given his reasons for removing that Court. He would ask him what amount of business passed that Court, and came down to the Supreme Court at Cape Town? No doubt it was possible to save a small amount by removing this Court, but money could also be saved in many other ways, by amalgamating a great many of the magistracies, for instance. Mr. Merriman, with the keenest instinct for retrenchment, never suggested that the High Court of Griqualand West should be closed. That was because the right hon. gentleman recognised the fair claims of Griqualand West. If Kimberley’s claims were overlooked, it might be establishing a dangerous precedent. The maintenance of the High Court and Master’s Office at Kimberley was a part of the compact entered into when the Act of Union was framed. Kimberley’s rights should be respected as much as those of Gape Town and Pretoria. Lawyers might agree that the Act of Union gave Kimberley no rights, but the feeling of the people there was that they had these rights, and if the Court were removed it would be regarded as a breach of faith. A good deal was said in the House about the Convention spirit, but changes had already been made in the letter of the Convention, and he did not know where the alterations were going to stop. One of the great points was that the railways were to be administered by a Board out of the control of Parliament, so that they should be run on business lines. But that had been swept dean aside, and it appeared to him that we had entered on a dangerous experiment. He could not feel be was on too strong ground in appealing to the South Africa Act. It might be said that this was a paltry business, and he felt it was. What, it might be asked, would; be the difference to Kimberley? From a money point of view, very little indeed, but something must, be allowed for sentiment. Let not those sentiments be brushed aside, but let the question be considered fairly, and if found not to be justified, let the Premier part a soothing hand on the Minister of Justice.

said he rose to appeal to Government to grant a little more money for agriculture, (Hear, hear.) He was very grateful to Government, and also to the Minister of (Agriculture, for what they had done in the past, but the vote for agriculture was wholly inadequate and had depressed him. The Estimates included £154,000 for fencing and dipping; this was wholly inadequate. The Minister for Agriculture had told them he meant to pursue a hold forward agricultural policy. Well, no doubt that was the Minister’s firm intention, but he was afraid that the Minister had yielded to the demands of the other Ministers for money for their own departments. For irrigation there was only a paltry sum of £359,000 provided. He urged that they should go in for a more extensive policy in regard to irrigation, and so develop the country. Agricultural development was of the most vital importance to this country, but, relatively to other expenditure, the provision for agricultural development was meagre. He hoped that when the Government brought in the Loan Bill, much greater provision would be made in this connection than was foreshadowed by the Budget speech. It had been said by several hon. members that South Africa was a poor country. He did not believe it was anything of the sort; he believed South Africa was an extremely wealthy country, but it was not developed, and they wanted money to develop at. (Hear, hear.) He did not advocate a system of doles to farmers, but in many ways the Government could give real assistance to the farmers in the development of the country. He hoped next year to see increased (provision for dry farming stations, which were of the greatest value in many parts of the country. As to the labour question, he did not think they would have to rely, as had been said, on semi-servile labour in this country. They could teach their white youths the dignity of Labour, and he thought they might begin that by having experimental stations on which white vouths would exclusively be employed. They could have separate stations for the coloured people. On the question of a land tax he would express no opinion, but he wished hon. members would read the reports relative to the operation of a land tax in that great farming country — New Zealand—and see how it worked for the advantage of the farmers there. They should encourage people to settle on the land by making the land attractive. Wherever a railway was built they ought to try and induce people to settle on the adjacent land. The hon. member spoke of the valuable results achieved in the Transvaal by means of Government assistance.

complained that the hon. member for Cape Town, Central, had said that the average salaries paid in the department of which he had charge was £1,770, whereas the average salary was only £273. He also declared that a most misleading statement had been made by the hon. member for Georgetown, who said that the amount of salaries paid by his department was £120,000 for rendering services of under £6,000. Surely the hon. member must have known that the staff who received this amount was responsible for the collection of Customs and the Excise, which brought in to the revenue of this country about £5,000,000 annually One of the objections taken by the Opposition during this debate was that by this extravagant expenditure they were going to jeopardise and weaken the credit of this country To his mind, those gentlemen who had been condemning this Budget had done far more to lower the credit of South Africa than anybody else in the House. He claimed that there was no reason to be pessimistic. In the old days when many of them did not belong to the great parties, they thought that the Progressives, as they were called, were progressive.

In name only. (A laugh.)

said that anyone who had been in that House during the last few days must have come to the conclusion that the party which had been called “retrogressive” was the real party of progress. They had heard a good deal in the past about a “best men Government.” Could anyone imagine a Cabinet in which the hon. member for Georgetown and the hon. member for Jeppe were colleagues, because he supposed the idea was that all parties should be represented in such a Ministry? In regard to the Natal members, he thought the attitude they had taken up on this Budget had been an unkind one. He knew they were speaking against their convictions.

said that he believed a “best men Government” would have been a good thing. What struck him was how men, when they were placed in positions of great responsibility, changed their own convictions and their own ideas. He denied that hon. members on his side of the House had offered opposition simply for the sake of offering opposition. As a matter of fact, the Unionist party had supported the Government whenever measures were brought forward for the good of the country, and only when they could not do that conscientiously they offered opposition. The hon. member for Dundee (Mr. Watt) had stated that from the very beginning there was no difference between the programme of the National party and that of the Unionist party. Well, if that were so, why had the hon. member sat on the fence for so long? (Laughter.) And was the Government in such awful need of a defence such as had been offered by the hon. member (Mr. Watt)? (More laughter.) He (the speaker) did not agree that the two programmes were alike, and there were three reasons which compelled him to join the Unionists. The first was in connection with immigration. The Unionists went much further than the Nationalists, whose policy was that only the poor whites of the country should be settled on the land. He agreed that everything should be done in that connection, but something more was wanted. They must have immigration. They could never expect the country to become great if only poor whites were settled on the land. Furthermore, the Minister of the Interior had introduced a Bill not for the encouragement of immigration, but for its restriction. The second difference between the two programmes was in regard to the native question. The Government’s policy was to treat the natives fairly and justly, but there was no mention of the question laid down there. The Unionists’ policy, on the other hand, was that the natives throughout South Africa should be treated in accordance with the various degrees of civilisation achieved by them. There, he considered, was the embryo solution of the question. The third difference was in connection with the liquor traffic. The Unionists favoured the total prohibition of liquor to natives, whereas the Nationalists in their programme carefully avoided the question altogether. Now, with these three great differences, the member for Dundee asked hon. members on his (the speaker’s) side to support the Government through thick and thin. They had supported the Government wherever possible, but it would be a calamity were there no opposition. There had been no party system in either the Transvaal or the Orange Free State, and when they put their officers in they could not be turned out by an Opposition. He could quite understand that the Ministry thought they were the very best that could be gat, and that they must remain in power, but this was antagonistic to British ideals, and he hoped the Government would get out of this way of thinking as soon as possible. He would like also to refer to one other point, and that was the question of extravagance, and the first step in this extravagance was the salaries of Ministers themselves. (Hear, hear.) In these salaries they laid down the foundations of extravagance upon which this superstructure was based. (Hear, hear.) The tight hon. the member for Victoria West had been perfectly honest. He had always been in favour of economy, and he believed if the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Merriman) had been Prime Minister he would have applied the pruning knife much more than it had been applied. (Hear, hear.) The Budget statement of the Treasurer was much more lucid than the previous statement in December, and he had understood what his position was. (Daughter and cheers.) He was at one with the Prime Minister in believing that agriculture should be developed, but he would like to see some development also in the Tnanskeian Territories. In that connection he was glad to say that the Prime Minister had given him a promise that when he came back from Europe he would visit these Territories, and see what could be done.

said the hon. member would have an opportunity of bringing that up on the Railway Estimates.

continuing the debate, said that the Minister of Finance, in drawing attention to the anomalies in taxation, had specially referred to the anomalies with regard to native taxation. It had been indicated by the Minister that an attempt would be made to bring about uniformity in the taxation of natives. Now, the estimated revenue from the taxation of natives in the Cape Colony was stated to be £120,000. That was not quite correct, for account was not taken of the taxation levied by the Transkeian General Council of 10s. per male. That would bring in between £60,000 and £70,000. In making a comparison between the amount of revenue raised through the taxation of natives in the different Provinces, it should be remembered also that the natives of the Cape Colony were rather more advanced than those in the other territories. They used many imported foodstuffs which the Europeans used, and paid, therefore, a considerable sum through the Customs. That should be borne in mind when they were considering the question of the uniform taxation of natives throughout the Union. It had been said by some people that the natives did not bear their fair share of the taxation. He differed from that contention. There was a difference between the revenue collected from the natives and the expenditure in native administration of £829,444, That amount represented the excess of revenue. That did not take into account the cost of the Cape Mounted Rifles, of education, and of policing. There was to be taken off £129,000 as the cost of native education, and £126,000 for the Cape Mounted Rifles.

It is not paid by the natives; it is paid by the employers.

said he thought this was one of the things that ought to be taken into consideration when they were going into the question of uniform taxation. He went on to refer to the expenditure on native education. The administration of this matter was, he said, at present in the hands of the Provincial Councils. In this connection he hoped that, instead of belittling the Provincial Councils, they would try to increase their usefulness. He was disappointed that the Minister of Education had not yet seen his way to put something on the Estimates in order to help forward the higher education of the few natives who were fitted to receive it, and who had at present to go to the other countries. Touching on the results of the matriculation examinations, he remarked that the fiasco which had occurred seemed almost sufficient to call for a Select Committee, Referring to the Wilhelmsthal affair, he said that up to the present no compensation had been paid, and he hoped the Government would not allow the matter to drop. Concluding, he spoke of the good influence of the Prime Minister, and appealed to the Government when severe criticism was offered from his side of the House upon their financial proposals, or any other proposals, not to get frightened, and put it down to racialism. There had been one or two instances of that during the present session of Parliament. (Ministerial cries of “No, no.”) He hoped that the thorny subject of education would be decided in such a way that the ugly head of racialism would not be lifted up again. (Cheers.)

said that many speeches had now been made, and he did not want to take up the time of the House unduly. He had been somewhat astonished at what had been said by some hon. members on the Opposition, who seemed to think that everything should be complete as soon as they had entered into Union, and that they would be entering quite a Utopia. But they were passing through a period of transition; and to make everything uniform in the Union would take a good deal of time. The Government had done the proper thing in setting cautiously to work, and not bringing about radical changes with undue haste. They must first see that the edifice of Union had stability; and it would be no use piling up brick after brick, if the foundation was not stable. Each Province had had to make sacrifices in order that Union might have been brought about; and they in the Free State had felt very nervous on the question of Asiatic immigration, because up to Union Asiatics had been kept out of it. If hon. members had spoken at the Convention as they now spoke in the House, there would have been no Union. The Government, in its ten months of office, had gone about its work in a circumspect and careful way; and, in his opinion, these were the right lines on which it should have gone. As to immigration, what South Africans desired was that people should settle on the land with the intention of making South Africa their home; and he wondered, by the way, how many immigrants they would have had if the mines had not been discovered. But before there could be a good many more settlers much must be done by the Government to prepare the land for settlement; for example, a large sum must be spent on irrigation—much more than they saw on those Estimates. Some hon. members spoke airily of a land tax, with which the Minister of Justice had so trenchantly dealt the other evening; but before they taxed the land of farmers, they must first have the same privileges as the more fortunate citizens of the large centres of population— they must, to mention but two instances, have better facilities for getting their produce to market, and have better railway facilities. In the country districts people did not have a post many times a day; and they did not have telephones or all the facilities which the inhabitants of the big towns had. If they spoke of a tax on unimproved land, where and how were they going to draw the line, especially in regard to cattle farms? He welcomed the Premier’s speech dealing with the development of South Africa; and thought that things would only come right agriculturally if their own sons received a good agricultural education and practical training, so that it would become unnecessary to import experts. If they wanted to make that a white man’s country, they must see that their children were adequately educated; and on a higher level than the natives. When the Opposition talked so glibly about taxing the farmers, they did not know how many poor farmers there were, and they would be disappointed with the amount which the tax would bring in. They would also be disappointed if they had their way regarding immigration, for that was not an honest cry. He thought that it would be beneficial if they had more local self-government. He thought it would be a good thing if the Free State could get the same system of Divisional Councils as existed in the Cape; for each district could be taxed according to its requirements, and would spend its money on itself, which was not always the crise now. He could not agree with the proposal that country districts should pay for any railway lines which might be constructed there —a nice thing indeed to say, after Johannesburg and district had had the benefit of all these railways, the cost of which had been borne by the State! The hon. member for Troyeville had been extremely severe on patent medicines, but he forgot that in out-of-the-way country places, where doctors could not be obtained at short notice, many people had to depend on certain patent medicines. It was wrong that a poor man should have to pay more for his patent medicines. He was satisfied with the Estimates, and although it might be said that the Government was not economising as it should, it must not be forgotten that it was better not to hurry unduly. It was better to await the report of the Public Service Commission, and wait until things had thoroughly settled down, and then, no doubt, the Government would effect economies where necessary.

said the report of the Civil Service Commission had not received the attention it deserved. He was emboldened to speak on it because those chiefly affected by it belonged to a class which were debarred from making their voices heard. There was hope that the Ministry had not yet mode up its mind as to whether it was going to put the report into effect or not. There was a great feeling of discontent and apprehension on the part of the Civil Service in regard to that report. It would be common cause among all parties in the House as to the necessity at the start of Union of having a Civil Service which was contented and likely to do its work well, animated by esprit de corps, and not marred by any sense of injustice. (Cheers.) Government should do nothing which would leave a sense of injustice behind. There were certain features in the report against which criticism had chiefly been directed. First of all there was the fact that by the nature of the instructions given by Government they were not likely to get a total reorganisation of the service throughout the Union in the sense of a complete revision and recasting. The Commission was not likely to give what the country wanted. What the country required was a Commission of independent men who would review the whole situation, and who would go into the whole matter on its merits, and see whether the framework could be improved. It was difficult to avoid approaching the matter from a Provincial point of view, because the conditions of the Civil Service in the four different Provinces were not similar. That arose from the fact that some of the Provinces had been prosperous, while some had not been in the years preceding Union. Those Provinces which had not been prosperous had been obliged to deal somewhat harshly with their Civil Servants, and in one Province the annual increments had been withheld. That affected the Civil Servants of that Province very seriously, both as to their having been penalised in the past, and in regard to their future prospects, because the Civil Service Commission based its recommendations on the salaries now being received by Civil Servants. That, was a consideration to which he hoped the Government would give proper weight, so as to avoid injustice to a section of the Civil Servants. Another point was as to the barrier between the grades. It was a system which had been condemned by Civil Service Commissions, and a system which no business house would, ever dream of adopting. The banks did not have a system of promotion by seniority; they found out the man who was best fitted for a position, without regard, to whether he had been longest in their employ. The system of barriers between grades, which meant in effect a system of promotion by seniority, was a had one. He hoped that the Government would give due consideration to these points.

said the Opposition’s Budget criticism appeared to him to be of the captious variety. Extravagance, anomalies in taxation, and what not were complained of, but the Government were nowise responsible for those conditions, nor were hon. members doing their constituents any good by trotting out those bogeys. When the right hon. member for Victoria West and the hon. member for Cape Town, Central, were letting themselves go about “inconstitutional and unparliamentary practices” it was very plain that they should not be taken too seriously He deprecated criticism, calculated to place matters in a false light. Hon. members had waxed eloquent on the duty they owed their constituents; well, honesty and sincerity were the primary duties of members of Parliament. Hon. members had referred to the broadening of the basis of taxation, making out that the country depended on the mining industry for 80 per cent, of its revenue. That figure was a little out, however, for everyone paid railway rates and Customs duties. It would be unwise to impose new burdens while they still had the mining industry to fall back upon. Millions would yet be yielded up by the soil in the shape of minerals—why, then, bleed the rural population? He supported the view that mining revenue should be applied to the development of permanent industries. The Government might, perhaps, have gone a little further in equalising taxation, had not the time of the House been wasted by endless discussion. Caution was necessary, for in raising fresh taxation it would be found extremely difficult so to devise a tax that it bore with equal weight on both the coast and the interior. He criticised the methods of the Public Works Department. Specifications, as a rule, were so involved that the plain man did not like to tender. Large contractors obtained the work, but had it carried out by poor people who only received a portion of what they might have obtained had they been able to tender themselves. In the Transvaal there was every reason to be thankful for what the Government had done for education, and he trusted that policy would be maintained. The hon. member for Oudtshoorn, who complained of the inequality in educational grants, had evidently forgotten the provisions of the South Africa Act. It appeared to him (the speaker) that there was a tendency to nag at the Transvaal. Marico was largely dependent on irrigation. Impecunious farmers should be supported in order to enable them to carry out small irrigation works. The Transvaal Land Bank had obviated the necessity of a quantity of land being thrown on to the market. If a land tax were imposed, farms would fall into the hands of hon. gentlemen opposite, and the towns would be inundated with poor whites. A farmer’s life was not such a happy one as many hon, members seemed to imagine. Miners had often gone in for agriculture, only to drop it very soon afterwards, because on a farm it was not a question of eight hours a day: they had to work all clay long.

objected to the criticism of the Agricultural vote. It was only recently that agriculture had been given an impetus in the right direction, and it could not yet be weaned of support. The enormous improvement in the Transvaal was chiefly due to the department’s efforts. Dry land farming had proved a great success, as was shown by the increased output of cereals. The experimental farms had been of great assistance, because they enabled farmers to obtain a good type of stock. Truth to tell, he had not expected the Opposition to waste much sympathy on such a thing as agriculture, but he did regret the attitude of the right hon. member for Victoria West. Though a self-styled supporter of the Government, the right hon. gentleman had lent precious little support! The right hon. member could find time to criticise the Government for neglecting the poor whites, but his own speech had contained no policy. Whilst making much of South Africa’s large imports, which he declared to be partly superfluous, the right hon. gentleman refused to support a Government which did its level best to foster local production. Proceeding, the hon. member said there undoubtedly was a certain amount of extravagant and inefficient administration in the Public Works Department. The maintenance of roads and the building of bridges were not adequately looked after. This hampered traffic. He particularly advocated a bridge across the Waterval River (Transvaal). He was not in favour of introducing a land tax, as suggested, until luxuries, such as liquor and tobacco, had been more heavily taxed. He therefore applauded the proposed cigarette tax. Immigration Should be postponed until the poor whites now in the country had been settled on the land. Government should take such measures as would induce the natives to work on farms. He did not agree that Dinizulu’s farm should have been purchased by an official, because Government purchases, effected through the ordinary channels, were always more costly than private transactions. After the Prime Minister’s explanation, renewed reference to the question was indelicate. The next Budget should provide for grants to rifle clubs.

said that the Budget contained no indication of a financial policy, but that was not uncommon. Indeed, in his eighteen years’ experience in the country he had never read a Budget which did convey any idea of a financial policy. Now, he thought the aim of the State should be to frame a system of taxation according to the taxed person’s ability to pay, and with due regard to the services Tendered by the State. He would support an income tax on that basis, providing that a distinction was also made between earned and unearned increments. He would also favour a land tax. He would tax it in the first place because it was right as a principle to tax a source of wealth, and another reason why he would tax it, was because the industrial] community had been in the past heavily taxed in order to set the agricultural industry on its feet. He would tax land to begin with, which was being held out of development, and not put to profitable uses, land held simply for speculative purposes, as distinct from land which the farmer had worked hard to develop. He described speculations in land to show how unearned increment was derived. He next dealt with the criticism passed upon his colleague (Mr. Creswell), to the effect that he had said nothing as to the poor whites.

They cannot get work in Johannesburg.

You are talking now of Kafirs.

No, the coloured.

I say they cannot get work, and I hope they never will get work if they go to Johannesburg as blacklegs, simply to undercut the white men who are there. Continuing, he said he was not in favour of differentiation between, the wages of the two so long as other conditions were equal. Proceeding, he said that the hon. member for Yeoville (Mr. Phillips) had spoken about broadening the basis of taxation. Well, he (the speaker) said that they should rope in the millionaires, tax dividends, tax the unearned increment derived by shareholders of companies, and tax the farmers in accordance with the benefits which the State had conferred upon them. (Ministerial cries of “No.”) Touching upon the question of diamond-cutting, he said that he had written, to Amsterdam to find out why the cutters there offered so much opposition to establishing an industry here. The reply he received was to the effect that the only reason the cutters in Amsterdam objected to the establishment of an industry here was that it would become a coloured industry, and that the cost of cutting diamonds would be cheapened. If they were given an assurance that only white men would be employed, they would have no objection to starting an industry here. With reference to what the hon. member for Pretoria East (Sir Percy Fitzpatrick) had said about his hon. friend the member for Jeppe Mr. Creswell), he said that the former complained that the latter had practically accused him of perjury. He (the speaker) thought the hon. member for Pretoria East was going to prove what injustice had been done to him, but he only quoted extracts from a letter which he held in his hand, and paid no more attention to the subject. He associated himself with the remarks of the hon, member for Jeppe in his protest against the suggestion of alienating the assets of the people of the country in the Premier Mine. In conclusion, he hoped that the next Budget would disclose some policy, and that taxation would be levied in such a way that it would fall on the people best able to pay.

said that after a desperate struggle lasting four days and four might, he had at last succeeded in catching the Speaker’s eye. (Laughter.) The Government had tried to dose the debate; but the Government should realise that it was only on the Budget that members had an opportunity or bringing forward their grievances. (Ministerial “Hear, hears.”) They used to take eight days to consider the Budget in the old Cape Parliament; he thought that 14 days should be allowed in the Union Parliament. (Ministerial “Hear, hears.”) But what was worse was the fact that the Treasury benches were empty, and, therefore, they had nobody to address. (Laughter.) Proceeding, the hon. member dealt with the question of the uniformity of taxation. He realised the difficulties; but he considered some start should be made, because it was only by uniformity of taxation would they be able to engender the real spirit of Union among the people of the country. He thought there were no difficulties in the way of an adjustment of the transfer duty. He was disappointed at the Treasurer not dealing with the quitrent problem in his speech, and he was of the opinion that a Commission should be appointed to discuss and endeavour to arrive at some solution in the recess. Then there was the question of local taxation. The Cape had to pay for its own roads, and a part of the expense of edution. Under unification, people expected uniformity of taxation. With regard to hut tax, in the Transvaal that was £2, and in the Cape 10s. The natives in Bechuanaland could afford to pay more than 10s. in hut tax. But beyond collecting hut tax. The Bechuanaland natives had been allowed to stew in the own juice, all attention having been devoted to the Transkei. Continuing, the hon. member pointed out that little had been done in the way of irrigation, and he hoped more attention would be paid to it in the future.

advocated an equitable system of taxation which should not bear on farmers only. The transport of produce should receive attention, for in his district a large quantity of cattle and dairy products were practically useless, whilst all the time the country imported many thousands of pounds’ worth. The farmers could not reach the markets. If more stringent measures were not taken in connection with East Coast fever, the country would be menaced with a most serious danger. Unfortunately the Government had not come to the assistance of farmers with wire fencing, although this had been promised. The farmers were willing to assist, but districts such as Dordrecht were wholly unprotected; and if the Government did not take any steps to isolate the infected districts East Coast fever would be the ruin of South Africa.

said that most unreasonable attacks had been made on the Government, and the time of the House had been wasted by the hon. member for Pretoria East the previous evening, who had spoken for an hour, and although he (Mr. Steyl) had tried to follow him carefully, he had not found any point in the speech at all. (Laughter.) These attacks had not only been made on the Government, but also on the Civil Servants who could not defend themselves, and who had been “inherited” by the Government from the four Colonial Governments. The late Premier of the Cape had been very severe on the number of Civil Servants, but what had he done to reduce the number in the Cape during the 40 years he had been in Parliament? Other hon. members said that too much was being spent on agriculture; but, in his opinion, it was the other way about, and they could not spend too much on agriculture, which would remain when the mines were no more. Much could be done in the way of irrigation, and he thought that the salvation of the poor whites lay in irrigation schemes being carried out. Much had been done by the Government for agriculture, and he hoped it would succeed in combating that dread disease, to which the hon. member for Bechuanaland had so eloquently referred. It was also threatening the Free State. If East Coast fever spread, he did not know what would happen to South Africa. He was in favour of using mining revenue for the purpose of building up permanent agricultural industries. Unless they did so, posterity was bound to suffer. Tanneries and leather factories should be encouraged. In the Free State, spinning and weaving schools had immensely benefited the poorer class of whites. He was afraid of immigration, because the Free State was now saddled with an annual interest charge of £50 000 on a loan, raised for the purpose of importing settlers.

said that the House was more than half empty, and as there were a number of very important paints raised by hon. members on both sides of the House, and as he was anxious that he should reply to these points fully, be thought it would be better to move the adjournment of the debate.

seconded.

said that the Opposition had been anxious to meet the Government and to close the debate that night. He had persuaded hon, members on his side of the House not to speak, and he hoped that before the Minister replied to the debate these hon. members would be given an opportunity to speak.

The debate was adjourned until Monday.