BURDEN TOO HEAVY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 267, 10 November 1937, Page 12

BURDEN TOO HEAVY.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

"THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS."

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. When the House of Representatives resumed at 7.30 this evening it proceeded with consideration of the vote of £133,538 for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Hamilton, expressed the opinion that the Department had expanded unduly and that the burden on the taxpayer was over heavy. He stressed tho danger of overlapping as a result of increased activities of the Department. The Minister in charge of the Department, Mr. Sullivan, assured Mr. Hamilton that every effort had been made to prevent overlapping during the past two years. Mr. S. G. Holland (National, Christchurch North) expressed the view that travelling expenses for the Department, which totalled £.»314, were too heavy. Mr.TH. E. Herring (Government, MidCanterbury) said he would not worry if the vote had been increased to double thd*preoent amount so convinced was he 6f the. value of the worlc of officers of the department. Mr. Sullivan, in reply, deprecated the idea that the wings of the Department should be cut by the curtailment of expenditure.

Mr. Coates said an expansive report had been given, full of a lot of word* and wind, but could the Minister point to any definite result, particularly from geophysical surveys? The country was spending thousands and thousands in good hard cash on this form of research, but not twopence worth of benefit had been achieved. Mr. Sullivan, replying, said Mr. Coatee was too impatient. The vote was passed after the closure had been applied by the Prime Minister, Mr. Savage. The Valuation Department vote of £62.000 was passed with little discussion. The following votes were put through with little discussion:—Census and Statistics Department, £33.999; Government Insurance account. £325,783; Government Accident Insurance account, £28,990; State Fire Insurance account, £87,950; Public Service Superannuation Fund account, £8504; and State Advances account, £1867. The House rose at 12.30 a.m.