"GAG" APPLIED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 211, 7 September 1933, Page 20

"GAG" APPLIED.

LABOUR ORATORY. CENSURE MOTION REJECTED. CONDITION" OF UNEMPLOYED. (TTram Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, September 1. So far ae the session of the State Parliament has gone, it has provided an amount of public interest and excitement out of all proportion to the actual work done. In the first place, when the Addrese-in-Reply came on, as the Oppoeition members seemed inclined to use their opportunity solely for the purpose of reiterating violent attacks upon the Government, without contributing anything in the way of serious suggestion or constructive criticism, Mr. Stevens applied the ■ gag and the debate closed abruptly.

. This naturally annoyed the Langites, and two days afterward Mr. Davies, Labour member -for Illawarra, moved the adjournmejit of the House to diecues "a matter of urgency"—the refusal of the Government to allow the State metal quarries to sell its product in the open market. The statements made by Mr. Davies were, as the Premier subsequently showed, erroneous—not to eay fictitious—but the greater part of the member's speecli was taken up with personal abuse of a highly scurrilous nature. Party Funds Allegation. Attacking the Government's declared policy of closing down State enterprises, Mr. Davies said: "The public is being robbed to pay people back the money that they paid into the party funds at the last election. Everybody knows that the insurance companies paid £50,000 into the National party funds last election, and the only way they could get it back was by closing down the Government Insurance Department. The same thing applies to the private metal quarries. The directors arc. all prominent Nationalists, and this is what they are getting in return for what they gave to the Government party funds."

There was a great deal more to tho same effect, and Mr. Stevens, in his reply, was moved to wrath. Among other things, he made vigorous reference to the report of the Tin Hares Commission, reminded tho House that the Leader of the Opposition handled the funds of tho Labour party—which a Royal Commission had found to include thousands of pounds of bribery money. "If I know tho temper of members on that side of the House," added the Premier, "their chief complaint is that they did not get enough of it." This rather ill-advised remark evoked a furious outburst of interruptions from the Langites; but Mr. Stevens was not finished. He charged Mr. Davies with speaking "with his tongue in his cheek," he offered to submit all his dealings with his friends to investigation, challenged any member of the Opposition to charge him with corruption outside Parliament, and he concluded with a remark that many members on both sides must have heard with silent approval—"the time is rapidly approaching when members of the House must bo forced to stand up to these libellous statements," and no longer plead Parliamentary privilege in their own defence. Mr. Lang's Thunder. Altogether it was a very unpleasant episode, but it at least shoVed that the Opposition, though numerically weak, meant to miss no chance or excuse for annoying the Nationalists and obstructthe "business of the country. Consistently with this policy, Mr. Lang gave notice of a motion of censure ot the Government for the failure to fulfil its promises in regard to the assistance of the unemployed and the destitute, and on Tuesday last the want of confidence debate was duly staged "Throughout the State," declared Mr. Lang, "there is a story of hardship and misery—aye, of want, starvation and illness—that should turn any human heart to pity, and temper human wills to action. In every wage-earning home where, 12 months ago, there was difficulty there is now want; on every farm where there was faint hope, there is now bleak despair; in every business house whore there was only political malice there is now economic chaos. The people are hungry, resentful and sullen —and the Government, conscious of the misery that it has wreaked in its attempt to give tax relief to the wealthy banks, mortgagee companies, and monopolist*, dares not face the voice of the people. So the debate was gagged." All this might servo very well for a prelude to Mr. Lang's attempt to justify his vote of ceneyre on "the monstrous conduct of the Government in refusing to supply adequate food relief, and for using for other purposes money raised for the .specific purpose of feeding the people." Mr. Lang came to the House provided with large numbers of individual instances of destitution and want, and of alleged official neglect or maladministration, and with copious quotations from religious journals and other periodicals regarding the need for more assistance for the unemployed.

Premier Quotes Facts. But the majority' of members do not take Mr. Lang seriously and when he talked about starvation and the misuse of the unemployment relief fund he was reminded that these very charges had availed to drive him from office. As one Nationalist interjected rather unkindly: "You starved the people and took the relief money—that's why we're all here." And then Mr. Stevens got fairly to work. He demblished'wKSpVef semblance of a case Mr. Lang had built up. He showed that though his Government had not been able to work miracles it had brought about a vast improvement in general conditions since the Langites were driven from power. It had obtained food supplies at lower cost, had improved the scale of food relief, had provided clothes, boots and blankets and special food for children and invalids, and spent 7iearly £3,000,000 for relief works last year —an amount exceeding by over £2,000,000 what was spent for this purpose by Mr. Lang during his last year of office.

The total Government expenditure on unemployment prevention and relief amounted last year, said the Premier, to over £8,700,000, with the result that, in 130 towns, no persons were left on the dole, and in 3(> towns each', only one. This was all effective enough; and Mr. Stevens, who is always well equipped with facts and figures, was able to meet successfully all the specific instances of alleged neglect or injustice that Mr. Lang had quoted.

When thft Premier came to deal with the Unemployment Belief Fund, many people outside the House must have been surprised to learn that, "Under the provisions of the Finances Adjustment Act passed last year, the whole of the proceeds of this special 1/ tax were directed to be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund." Thus Mr. Stevens was quite at liberty to apply the funds derived from this tax to any purpose that he chose. Mr. Lang did not even avail himself of his right of reply, and the censure motion was, of course, lost on division. But, though all this constituted a technical victory for the Nationalists, there are a good many people outeide Langite ranks who think that not enough has been done for the unemployed and the poverty-stricken, and that Mr. Stevene has sacrificed too many interests to his budget-balancing idol.