REAL PROGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 255, 27 October 1937, Page 10

REAL PROGRESS.

HOUSE REFRESHED.

BUDGET DEBATE ENDS MINISTER AND HIS CRITICS. SALES TAX JUSTIFIED. (Hjr Tologrnpli.— Pαrllnniont nrj Uoporter.) WELLINGTON. Tuesday. Rni! progress whs made in the House ■i' Representatives to-day. Ministers i rid members, refreshed by the week-end I'inak, which included the Labour Day holiday, were quickly into their stride when the House met this afternoon, and nl'hcr formal business wn* concluded, the Physical Welfare and Recreation Bill wag introduced by Governor-General's Mnesagp.

TTip Leader nf tlie Opposition, Mr. Ifiimiltnn, wns quickly on his feet for mi explanation. This is the customary procedure) on the iippuarunco of every (iovprninrnt measure.

'Fbe Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Viifry, KiiM- a brief survey, saying it was an important measure, particularly in view of tho movement the world over in rogiinl t<> physical fitness. The measure whs not intended to make champions, he Hflld, but to lay the foundations for physical litness of all people. The next buslnens wan tho .inanguratinn of the second reading debate on the Army Board Bill, which seeks to eoiircMnatn the land forces of the Dominion.

This measure was explained by the Minister <>f T>fenr<\ Mr. .Tones, who said that "New Z<'u!an<l was being brought into lino with other parts of the Kinnire, When tho dinner adjournment arrived tho debute, was still in progress, but it was not continued In the evening, because, thn sitting had been set a-side for tho reply of tho Minister of Finance to the Budget debate that had wearied tho House and the country for a month.

Mr. Xush was in good form, an<l replied tn his critics in his usual thorough manner. ITc interspersed his renin rkn with leeturettes here and there on principle of taxation and Socialism, defining the meaning of the terms with apt illustration!". rTo spoke for two liottrs, und the House adjourned an hour earlier than had been intended, discussion on the first item of the F.sfcimates that had been announced for the. concluding business of the day being postponed. 'fhero wae no suggestion of decreased tuition in the final Budget speech of the Mii)i*ter of Finance thought he touched odA the sales tax. However that was onty to jtfstlfy it by means of a Duncdin business man's story. Thi* bu#ine*e man lind a small shop, said Mr. Xaah, and during depression yearn he ueed to gr«mble *t paying 12/ per week .sales tax as Tie declared he could not afford it. "I am now paying £2 or £3 a week nnd am happy, this man had recently declared. The Minister pointed out that the man wii* now getting th» sales. It meant that hi* turnover had increased l>y 400 per cent and, of course, he did not iiifnd paying tfie Mies tax even if it went tip to £20 wrekiy for then he would be the happiest man in the Dominion.