POLITICAL NOTES

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16961, 9 October 1920, Page 8

POLITICAL NOTES

(SPECIAL TO "XHS riIKSS.")

WELLINGTON, October 8 Housing Bill.

Tiio Prime Minister was asked thia afternoon by Mr 1\ Frasor when the Housing Bill was to bo introduced. In support of his plea for speedy action, .Air Prascr quoted tho caso of n man who had come to W eilington to work, his salary licing £0 ft week or thuroabouts. Ho iuul (jo on umi bio to fintl a house, and was living with his wifo and two children in lodgings, for which, ho had to pay six guineas a week. Ho had had to let his insurance policy g O , and fail behind wiUii other liabilities. At tho same timo there wore empty liouses in Wellington which wero being held out of occupancy for the purpose of sale.

M\i Masscy pa id that tho Bill was in course cf preparation now. Tho Minister in charge of tlho Department (Sir "William Herrics) was very anxious to have tho mcasuro before tho Houso as soon as possible. Another, aspect of tho housing qu»tion was ruiscd by Mr Witty, who asked if the Government, when framing tho Bill, would* give consideration to the iluirdship sufiered by people who owned houses, but wero unablo to get possession while tenants, wero making profits by fanning out portions of tho homes. Tho Prime Minister said that ho had not seen tho Bill, but ho know that something of tho sort was contemplated. Basis of Valuation. An allegation that tho Valuer-Gonc-rnl had instructed his valuers that no country valuation must exceed the pre•'ivar rate, on tho ground that tho riao in values during the war lmd boen fictitious, was brought under tiia notice i of the Primo Minister in the Houso thia afternoon by Mr McCallum. It was stated further, said ■ Jlr McCalltun, that the Prime Minister had assented to that course, which was being followat present. Air Massey said that (he had sent to tho Valuer-General asking him to stato the position. He stated that during the early stages of tho war, from 191-1, " to 1910, inclusive, an instruction to obsorvo a pro-war standard was in force. Values at that time had r.ot increased. The general expectation was that they would: go down, and some of teem did so. During the period from 1916 to tho termination of tho war tho instruction became inoperative, and tho valuers increased tho values temporarily to tho market values. Since tho termination of the war, market values had beon assigned to tho land. Sword of Honour. The presentation of a sword of Ihon: our to General Sir Alexander Godloy by the High Commissioner was tho subject of a question asked by Dr. , Thacker in t'ho -Houso to-day. I>r. Thacker wanted to know if tho High Commissioner was entitled to spend public money in such a maimer, and ho* added a suggestion that during tiho war the General had on his staff "English officers for whom ho got decorations, to"' the disadvantage of our own men." Tho Prime Minister drew the attention of the Speaker to this part of tihiv, question. He did not think that it? ought to appear on tho Order Paper. The Speaker stated that the question '■ would be • examined before it printed. When to-night's proof Order Paper,' arrived, it was noticeablo that Dr s Thacker's innuendo had been deleted from the question. • . Teachers' Superannuation. The possibility of teachers going ont of the sorvico on superannuation being permitted to count in fheir period foil pension tho time that they spent at the training college, formed the basis' of a question 'which Br. Thacker afllwd the Primo Minister this aftornooni .lt appears that at present some of thorn, were permitted to count this period. Tho teachers wished to .Jmow whether in the new legislation there would be, a provision allowing all of them to count this period. ' Tho Hon. C. J. Parr said that he (had not gone into the matter for sotiie. time, but he thought tho position was that until recently teachers were ajlowed to count their time in the training college £is service for superannuation purposes. Some who had. .retired were ■ given superannuation on that basis. There being some doubt about the matter, tho opinion of the SolicitorGeneral was asked, _ and ho advised that the period of training should not be counted, so that teachers leaving the servico now would not be allowccTtnat time. Tho whole question of superannuation, both for teachers and for tii© Public* Service, was before Cabineb at tho present time. He was not able to say whether there would be legislation this, year or not. That was a matter for tho Cabinet to decide. Carriage of Heavy Parcels.

Mr. Bitchener wants the Railway department to mako it possible for people in the South Island to consign goods to Wellington without having to send ■ them through forwarding agenta, He states that parcels which aro too heavy __ for the parcel post have to bo sonfc to • i Wellington through agents, who charge ! most exorbitant rates, whereas the Department will take tlio parcels if con-' < signed to Petone, or any station out- _ side Wellington. ' Empty Benches. Just after ten o'clock this evening there was an unusual stato of affaire tf> the House. Not a single member of the Opposition waa present. There wero only two members on the Oppo#tion benches —Mr Witty, who has serer- < ed his allegiance to the present Opposition ; and Mr Masters, an Independent. Mr J. S. Dickson jocularly suggested that the Opposition wero having * meeting. Mr McLeod, who was speaking, expressed regret at the absence of the Leader ,of the Opposition.^bb'» , causo he wished to Bay something about | tho remarks of tho latter regarding 9 Wairarapa landowner who "had neither chick nor child," and whoso estate, might bo taken by the Government fe f soldier settlement. Mr McLeod cdly defended the landowner referred to a» ono of New Zealand's most generous and oatriotic citizens. Subseqnent- . ly Mr Wilford and two of his supporters came into the Chamber. Chrlstcharch Drainage BilL

In the Legislative Council this after* noon tho Christchurch District Drain* ago Act Amendment Bill was' read 8 second time.

Compliment from the Enemy. Mr Isitt, a prominent Oppositionist to-nigbt paid Mr Guthrie,'the Minister of Lands, a very high compliment* Whether (ho said) the Govcnuneß policy -was right or wrong, Mr Guthrw had earned the admiration of them a jr (Hear, hear.) He had always ma®', fested an intense desire to do his t*®*' and he had met members with cpu** tesy in his Handling of individual csu&' t