THE ESTIMATES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 40, 26 November 1937, Page 2

THE ESTIMATES

EIGHT MORE CLASSES PASSED. SUM OF £2,145,361 INVOLVED. (Abridged from Press Association). WELLINGTON, Novemehr 25. Further classes of the Estimates were considered in the House to-day. Referring to the Transport vote of £46,500, Mr H. S. S. Kyle (National, Ricearton) drew attention to the statement by the Transport Licensing Authority (Mr T. H. Langford) in Christchurch, and published by a Christchurch newspaper as follows: “1 am trying to force tho hand of the Government so far as licenses are concerned, because I am satisfied that as soon as you get the transportation system under licence you do not need to worry about the licensing of industry as they are doing in Germany. Get control of transport and you will get control of industry.” Mr Savage commented that no one was going to force the hand of the Government in the manner suggested. The vote w'as passed. Native Department!. Speaking on the vote of £152,420 for the Native Department, the Native Minister (the Hon. F. Langstone) said that houses erected since March 1, 1937, totalled 100, w'hile 99 houses had been repaired. There was authority under all schemes for 688 houses at a cost of £142,341, including houses for Maoris which had been started by the Hon. Sir Apirana Ngata. Several hundred houses had been bought or built, and the Department was trying to better the conditions of the natives as fast as it could. About 5000 Maoris were working on development schemes or on developing their own properties under Government direction. The Prime Minister moved the closure at 7.55 p.m., and this, on being farced to a division, was carried by 43 votes to 14, and the vote was passed. The vote of £15,200 for the Native Trustee Account was passed. The Public Trust. Discussing the vote of £341,289 for the Public Trustees Account, the Leader of the Opposition asked if the Public Trustee paid laid and income tax on the same basis, as other businesses. The Minister of Finance said the Public Trustee paid the same taxation as other businesses. The vote was passed. Th© Dairy Industry. Referring to the vote of £61,086 for the Dairy Industry Account, Mr K. J. Holyoake (National, Motueka) asked why there was such a Jarge discrepancy between the present account and the vote of £44,550 last year, of which only £28,968 was expended. / Mr Kyle asked if the acting-Director under the Dairy Industry Account was the superior officer of the head of the Internal Marketing Department, These two officers must meet frequently and one should have a certain degree of authority. Mr Nash: The two officers concerned get on very well together I can assure you.

Mr Hamilton asked that the Minister should make the Guaranteed Price Committee’s report public. Mr Nash:- It is all in the Marketing Department’s report which was published some days ago. Mr Hamilton: Is the Minister prepared to disclose at present how he will finalise the unpaid balance in this Account ?

Mr Nash: Not just now, but the facts will be given. Mr W. A. Bodkin (National, Central Otago) referred to the total salaries of the staffs both in London and New Zealand, which amounted to £29,970 out of the total vote of £61,086. The amount of the salaries, he thought, was not out of proportion to the work these staffs were doing. They were doing very valuable work for the Dominion and were certainly not overpaid in view of their valuable work. The vote was passed. The Leader of the Opposition, speaking on the Internal Marketing Account, said he would vote against it as it meant setting out on an unknown adventure. There was a good l deal of mystery about it. He thought the Minister and others could be blamed for giving information at the end and not at the beginning of debates. Mr Nash read a review of ibe financial transactions in the purchase of Picot Brothers. This showed that the price paid was £65,959. A detailed statement of the valuation was as follows: £ Freehold ... ... ... 28,000 Goodwill 15,000 Compensation for loss of book debts 5,000 Plant and equipment ... ... 2,054 Vehicles ••• 2,549 Stock 12,745 Stationery 150 Sundries 214 Portion of insurance and telephones 247 Mr Nash added that the whole report would be laid on the table to-morrow. The Internal Marketing Department vote of £24,450 was passed, after being forced to a division, by 37 votes to 16 votes. Broadcasting. The last item on the Estimates for which urgency was accorded, the broadcasting account of £354,416 was passed with surprisingly little difficulty. Referring to the vote Mr Hamilton • stated that they had already had a discussion on the whole matter and the Opposition had no « confidence in commercial broadcasting. He considered that the Controller of Commercial Broadcasting was unfortunate and had not the confidence of a mighty lot of people in New Zealand. He moved an amendment that the total vote be reduced by £120,643 which was the amount of the vote for the commercial service. He added that there were two broadcasting directors, but no one bad 1 any fault to find with Professor Shelley. Mr Hamilton’s amendment was lost by 40 votes to 16, Messrs Rushworth, Sexton and Wright voting with the Opposition, and Mr McDougall and Mr Atmore with the Government. The vote was passed without a divi-

sion. The total amount involved in the eight classes of Estimates passed during the day was £2,145,361. The House rose at 10.33,