POLITICAL NOTES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 173, 27 August 1914, Page 9

POLITICAL NOTES.

MANY AND VARIED QUESTIONS. JTrom our own Parliamentary Reporter.] . WELLINGTON, August 26. Mr T. M. Wilford (Hutt) asked the Prime Minister what provision was being made for the support of the families of. Imperial reservists in New Zealand who, had teen called Home to join the colours. He instanced one case of a reservist who worked in the Petone railway workshops, earning a v wage of . 9/6 a day. When he went on serv.iQe he. •got l/lOiia day, and. even this, small sum his wife could not get as it was paid .by the Imperial authorities. , The. Prime Minister said that the Kew Zealand Government was supple..nienting .the pay of reservists by the i difference between , the Imperial rate and the. New Zealand rate. In the case of a private his wage was being brought „up to 4/- a day, and the difference of 2/2 -would be paid to the man's dependents .in New Zealand. Mr Wilford: That is not sufficient to pay the rent. Mr Massev: Well, we'cannot do any more. There are all kinds of calls on us, and we cannot possibly cover them oil. There is no doubt that the Imperial pay is miserably inadequate. The Minister of Defence (Hon. J. Allen) said that at present the New Zealand Government was paying the wages of the, reservists, but it was hoped to collect the amount from the Imperial Government later. He was not quite certain as to the payment of a separation allowance to the dependants of reservists, which was made at the discretion of the Army Council, The supplementing of their pay by the New Zealand Government was in the nature of such separation allowance.

TOO MANY FUNDS. Mr G. Witty (Riccarton) asked, on tehalf of a committee of local bodies, that the War Contributions 'Validation Bill should be # amended so as to allow .■> flocal bodies to make contributions to • : fuaids other than the Empire Defence Fund,.for instance,, to local patriotic ; fundsj and distress .funds. . The Minister of Finance said Cabinet .. had considered the question, and he .. regretted that the door could be opened . bo wider. The Empire Defence Fund ..had been created with the express idea of consolidating the moneys, and he was rather sorry so many funds were . , being created. (Hear, hear.) UNDER AGE VOLUNTEERS. Mr 11. Atmore (Nelson) brought up • the question of the ages of some of the members .of the Expeditionary Force - -being too low. • ; The Minister of Defence: Which part of the force? Mr Atmore: The second section. He added that some of the members of the Nelson contingent were under 19 years of kge. He had understood the department, wanted seasoned men who would probably have to withstand the rigour of an European winter, and surely nineteen was too early an age. .. The Minister said he thoroughly ;*agreed with the hon. member that the ; age was too low. Indeed, he thought twenty was too low, but, owing to the , present standing of the Territorial force they had not seen their way to make it . any higher. Very definite instructions, however, had gone out to officers in charge of all districts that birth certificates or Territorial record books must loe produced. ( Mr Atmore: They are not demanding birth certificates in Nelson. & Mr Allen: Well, they are disobeying ' orders, and I will have it looked into. ' ' • • r : ■ • CARGO IN TRANSPORTS. , " , Mr W. Nosworthy (Ashburton) stated : that owing to a scarcity of feed in the !U Canterbury province there was a glut of sheep at the freezing factories. He asked whether the.Government could not guarantee at least,,one freezing works ihjitfl cope with the .congestion, Mr Massey explained that the Imperial Government had bought a quantity of New Zealand oats, the order peiug given at Home. . The New Zea-

land Government had to place the oats on the transports,,and what room there was left was to be taken, up with other cargo. He would get .a report from the Agricultural Department on Mr Nosworthy's question. " , - The Minister of Finance (Hon. J. Allen) said that the shipping companies had been instructed to load the oats first of all, and then to allot space to the exporters who had ordered it. Sir Joseph Ward: But the ships are not calling at a Southland port. Mr Allen: Did the shippers apply for space before they were chartered for transports? r Sir Joseph Ward: Yes, I am told so. Mr Allen: I think you will find you are wrong. THE ADVANCES DEPABTMENT. In reply to Mr Vernon Beed, the Hon. James Allen (Minister of Finance) stated in the House this evening that Ihe State Advances Department would continue lending small sums, giving preferencei to settlers who wanted the money for the. development of the country. The advances to workers for dwellings would be continued, although it might not be possible to, pay the whole £450; The Advances Department had recommended that £350 should be paid, but Cabinet had not yet decided on the amount.

CONDOLENCES. The usual sympathetic votes were passed with reference to the deaths of the Hon. T. Y. Duncan, Mr J. B. Whyte, and Mr W. McLean. The House adjourned at 8.45 p.m.