DEFENCE ESTIMATES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 156, 1 July 1916, Page 9

DEFENCE ESTIMATES.

WIVES' SEPARATION ALLOWANCES. STBONG PROTEST BY MEMBERS jffiFEKEXCE TO CABINET PROMISED. ADVERSE AMENDMENT MOVED. (By Telegraph.— Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLIXGTOX, Friday. The Hoilbe of Representatives wont into committee on the Defence Intimates .. rlv this afternoon, and kept the Minister busy m answering questions and crifefems for several hours. The debate mi the first item revolved round matters pertaining to the Expeditionary Forces, Lush the estimates themselves dealt Srto the Territorial Forces. After the dinner adjournment Mr. Polaad nised a question as to the. amount 01 separation allowance to married men in the forces by moving a £1 reduction, a- an indication that the allowance should be increased. He declared the present allowance absolutely inadequate. The Minister for Defence said the Government's policy was to make provision for the man with a wife and two children. They did not want to touch th-s man" with'five children. The object of the Compulsion Bill was to make certain that a man "with children would not go to the front before single men. No special inducement ought to be offered to married men with five or six children. When compulsion had been in operatioa. and had taken all the unmarried men in the division, and then sent all the married men with one child, we could deal with the man bavins; five children. This would be at least eighteen months from now. Mr. Walker said he believed Mr. Poland had expressed the opinion of the entire people of the Dominion respecting pay to married men. ■ Mr. Wilford: "What about the married men already at the front with wives aiid several children in Xew Zealand!"' (Hear, hear.) The member challenged ile Minister to take the platform •with him on this question. Dr. Sewman. in supporting the amendment, said that what was an utterly inadequate allowance could be improved by a comparatively small amount. If the Government proposed to give Civil servants drawing less than £:?00 a year a ten per cent bonus, how much more should they increase the allowance to •srives of soldiers with several children 'to keep. CONSIDERATION' PROMISED. Mr. Allen said the married man with a wife and five children was entitled to draw £2 19/6 a week. The matter would, iowever, be brought before Cab- . met again. He would be very pleased to bring it before Cabinet himself. "It was all very well to say the Gov- . eramait did not want married men, but, aavmgused theic services, then -we should pay-fer their services,"' contended Mr. Wright, in supporting the amendment. Mr. Allen repeated that he was perfectly prepared to refer the question to -. Cabinet. - -

lir.Tfilford: That does not mean any thing.

Mr. Allen went on to say that Xew Zealand pay for privates was the highest m tie world, while w e were paving today over £49,000 a year for children alone at the rate of sixpence per day. -Ur. Payne: It ought to be double" ■Mr. Allen again declared that the Government did not ask married men to go and had discouraged them. In many instances, he believed, wives and children were better off than before the husbands went

Bon. members: Oh! ■Mr-WDford: You should not say that. ilr. Isitt asked the .Minister to" throw the whole responsibility/ upon the House lor the extra allowance. If the right 7f,™ to done the whole House should he allowed to speak quite frankly to the >sationa! Cabinet. Mr Talbot said it was do argument to say the War Relief Associations were S7!??? theallowance - This real^ nZlw bUSine5S men cognised the need ior bigger payments. tary Service Bill was to send the right ri2 t° t] V ront - ]t *"ye State the men. X^ 0 " f ngle men before raarried ZZ t ngH theref °r p - the Government should pause before increasing named Wβ allowance while there lack mcD in the CoUntl T banging

-Mr Book contended it was not a Zr!L 01 enccura 2™!? or discouraging earned men to enlist now. but of doinS mZ- 1 ?™ t0 wives and chiw «n of: nwned men who had responded to the I rau when men were badly needed. The i aS mc ,f 3 obli * ati ™* should not be Mouldered on to patriotic societies. A MDJISTEMAL SUGGESTION The Hon W. H. Herries suggested'that Srin Tw ment ShoUid be withdrawn,! W m ltS Object had achieved I to refer the fete' b i remark «d that the MinfebLt a do , better than «i«i« opiniol: 6 COUJd take Parliament's Ie « that the whale anattpC-% on tbe Governmental *? P ut monl *« into a hole. vote to?- m I nt WaS r<? J ected 27 and the first item passod at! TRANSPORT FITTING. * I worl ° d "W" and real "tercst PU^ purposcof -- the attiS, jj™ t 'nformat lO n respectpCurp^ n CU » ;U '^ U «ion CoZit V' 1 S ° mC inSta " CPS the r efittedthZ? A. atS had bl ' en alnj ost =°u«r;» h °"t ft the expense of the **» miking la , ct that the com P a ™ try thS th Se n P ? fits ° ut of the «*"- e<^ Cc »ember s Tp\s? a e f V bat thre * or four ««fnl add tion= o th" t VO,,I<I haY " Wn tte y wouldi have Transport Hoard; to «c C the heaV ™ and earth |^ nded - Had we got it?

Mr. Payne added that he offered to give the Minister his time free to officially inquire into the alien questions, but the Minister, in a grandiloquent manner,, answered. "That's our business."

The Minister for Defence replied that the Government paid £10,000 to refit tho Limerick. The Union Company undertook the refitting of its ships which were char- ] tered to the Government at ordinary j rates, the Government paying 3;] per centi commission. Where a ship was not owned by the Union Company 7 J per cent commission was paid on the labour cost only, : not on material. The Limerick was I commandeered with cargo aboard, and had to go Home and deliver it after transporting troops. It was too expensive to bring the ship back to Kew Zealand, so the refitting was done in London. It was true that a charter party contained the right to purchase at a price fixed just before a large increase took place in the price of ships. This was fixed in case of loss. The Government could have exercised its eonfiscatory rights, but it decided to recondition the vessel and band her back to the owners. Mr. Veitch suggested that the Minister's own statement convinced him of aft unbusinesslike artion. He bad the opportunity to buy the Limerick at a price much less than her market value, but failed to do so. spending £10.000 instead to hand her back to the owners. WASTED RATION'S. Mr. Wiliord commented on what he described as huge increases in expenditure on the. territorial forces. Did the Minister know of the waste of rations which went on in camp? Mr. Allen replied that this had been inquired into over and over again. Officers went around at meal time. He didn't know tha- the waste was greater than usual. A little waste couldn't be avoided. Meat was drawn' from the Imperial meat supply, and other rations v.ere tendered for in large quantities. Mr. Witty remarked that he blamed the officers, who went round the tents, but didn't see anything. The defence votes, totalling £494,923, were passed unaltered at midnight. AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS. On the Agricultural Department's ■vctes. Mr. Wilford congratulated the Hon. Mac-Donald on being at the head of so important a department. Answering various inquiries, Mr. MacDonald stated that 61 employees of the Department bad enlisted, thus disturbing its operations. Great assistance had been given to the Defence Department in purchasing animals, fodder, etc Wh-»<i matters became normal more lectures would be given at the experimental farms, and farmers' bookkeeping classes would be started. .Tust before 1 a.m. Mr. Young strongly advocated efforts to check drifting sand, which was threatening 900 acres of Crown land near Karwhia. THE RABBIT PEST. I e Tho Minister, in reply to complaints that rabbits were increasing to an alarming extent in many districts, declared that the Government was doing its best. Where settlers considered the stepa taken were ineffective, they could appoint their own local rabbit boards, and the Department was prepared to refund money expended by such boards. Closer settlement, however, was one of the chief remedies lor tho rabbit pest in most districts. The agriculture vote passed, and the House adjourned at 1.40 ajn.