LYSNAR AGAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 161, 9 July 1926, Page 11

LYSNAR AGAIN.

i TANGLE OF EXPLANATIONS.

I SALE OF MEAT WORKS.

BREEZE IX PARLIAMENT. fßy Telegraph.—Special to "Star."> WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Surrounded with documents and bulky \olumes, Mr. W. D. Lysnar, member for Gisborne, took advantage of his privi lege of replying to alleged misrepresen tation by a fellow member to give Parliament nearly an hour of sidelights on the affairs of the Poverty Bay Meat Works, which was sold to Vestey Bros. He had announced his intention to reply to -statements made by the member for Ellesmere (Mr. D. Jones), who is also chairman of the Meat Board, and to make a statement, but a prelimirary discussion regarding the extent of his privileges in Parliament led to confining him to answering actual points on which he was said to have been misrepresented by Mr. Jones. The latter pointed out that this might also involve taking advantage of his own rights in turn. Mr. Lysnar declared that there was no justification for the itatement that he moved heaven and earth to sell the Poverty Bay works to the meat trust. The records" would show he had never at any time attempted to realise to Armour's. Mr. Jones: 1 never said so.

Mr Lysnar declared that similar misrepresentations were made before the Royal Commission, but were cleared up by "the evidence submitted. Negotiations were opened by a Mr. Hadley, of Napier, for the purchase of the works, but his principals were not disclosed, and the company declined to proceed without that information. He read a letter written to the Auckland representative of a large outside meat firm, showing that his company made a proposal not to sell the Gisborne works, but to arrange for the joint purchase of the Taruharu works, with a view to closing them, as the district could not maintain three works. The remarkable extent of the evidence taken by the commission was shown by the fact that the member for Gisborne" quoted from page 1147 on one occasion. Mr. Lysnar repudiated a suggestion made by Mr. Jones that the company's steamer, Admiral Codrington, involved heavy losses. It cost £90,000 to insulate the holds and improve the crew's accommodation, but they got £92,000 from the first cargo lifted.

At intervals Mr. Speaker called the member to order for exceeding the limits of his privilege by introducing extraneous matter, and Mr. Lysnar promised members further explanation during the Budget debate. The member for Ellesmere, in reply, declared that in every instance the statements he made in the speech to which Mr. Lysnar had taken exception were taken from the findings of the Royal Commision. He quoted from nothing else Mr. Lysnar: I would be glad to know where the hon. member has been misrepresented. Let him state it. (Laughter.) Mr. Jones proceeded to say that the commission found that, not only did the company make a loss of capital on its steamer, but it could not pay working expenses. Mr. Lysnar: That is not justified. Mr. Speaker: Order! "I have to confess that on this subject ■we were at a disadvantage," said Mr. Jones, "because a certain journal which showed the workings of the vessel was, according to sworn evidence, handed to the member for Gisborne, and it has never been seen since."

Mr. Lysnar: Nothing of the sort. Mr. Jones: And we were handicapped by the loss of that important journal. Mr. Lysnar raised a point of order whether Mr. Jones was justified in making wild statements. Mr. Speaker replied that unheard of latitude" had been allowed Mr. Lysnar, as the matter appeared to be extremely complicated. Mr. Jones finally remarked that he did not wish to weary the House, but he had been careful not to express his own opinions, but only the commission's findings, and what he had said would stand if the commission's findings could stand.