THE SESSION.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20551, 20 May 1932, Page 16

THE SESSION.

LEGISLATION REVIEWED. MR H. E. HOLLAND CRITICISES GOVERNMENT. (PBB3S ASSOCIATION TELEGBAM.) WESTPOET, May 19. This evening, under the auspices of the Unemployed Workers' Union, Mr H._E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, addressed a crowded meeting in the Town Hall. He reviewed in detail the legislation of last session, claiming that the measures -enacted had not been before the electors in December lust, and urging that 'the Government should be called upon to resign and submit its legislation to the electors. Eegarding the extension of the life of Parliament, Mr Holland said he was fully convinced that the clause was unconstitutional. Members of Parliament were elected for three years and no longer, and they had no constitutional right to extend their own term of office. It was quite within the'bounds of possibility that if Parliament should run a four years' course members would find themselves required to refund the honoraria drawn for the fourth year. In that ease all the legislation for the fourth year would be ultra vires. This was not the only illegal act of the Government. The deductions made from pensions, etc., before the passage of the National Expenditure Adjustment Bill were glaringly unlawful. Unemployment. Condemning the Government for its failure to make adequate provision for meeting "the unemployment problem, Mr Holland said the utmost confusion had prevailed in the Government's introduction of its legislation, and was now even more prevalent in its administration. Indeed, New Zealand had never laboured under the misfortune of a more unbusinesslike Government. This fact was emphasised by the manner in which the old and new schemes of the Unemployment Board were now being handled. No one could say when the new scheme would become fully operative. They had the old scheme operating in some centres and the new scheme in others; consequently there was not only confusion but widspread dissatisfaction and unrest. As a concrete example of this muddle they had the farcical methods adopted in connexion with the work of the Women's Committee set up by the Board. When the committee visited Buller recently it camo in an atmosphere of virtual secrecy. The Mayor of Westport was given about three hours' notice by telephone, and industrial unions with female memberships were in no way communicated with. The committee was back in Wellington before the unions knew of its visit. The amount expended on the trip was money thrown away. The Public Service. There was nothing more shameful than the Government's attack on the public servants. Claused of the Finance Bill embodied a gratuitous insult to every member of the Public Service, and its sinister meaning was now indicated by the Government's latest outburst against the employees of the Postal Department and its banning of the "Katipo." The Government's refusal to give further official recognition to the Post and Telegraph Employees' Association was clearly the outcome of the fear that because of the class nature of its legislation affecting public servants, it was losing the votes of many postal employees. The " Katipo V only offence was that it had offered fair and wholesome criticism of the legislation which affected the lives and well-being of men and women in the Public Service. Mr Massey on one occasion carried a measure through the House to enable public servants to stand for Parliament without'loss of status, and Mr Forbes had both spoken and ' voted in support of full political rights for public servants. Now both the Ecform and.United Parties were seeking to deprive public servants of every right to secure the redress of their grievances by constitutional methods. He was confident, notwithstanding the irrational methods now being adopted by the Government, that the Post and Telegraph employees would continue to give the same loyal and capable service to the people as in the past. He was equally confident that they would insist on their constitutional -right to maintain their organisation - and its official journal. No Government should be permitted to introduce terrorism into its relationships with the employees of the State because of differing political viewpoints. .In any ease, the duty of good citizenship must be regarded as the first attribute" of a public servant, and good citizenship did not consist in silent acquiesence when the public wellbeing was threatened by subversive legislation. Singapore Base. Mr Holland denounced the annual payment of £IOO,OOO on the Singapore Base Account as a criminal waste of money at a time when there was such widespread hunger and want in the homes of the people. He was not prepared to believe that the British Government would be so utterly callous as to insist on this payment if the position in New Zealand were honestly represented to it. In any-case, the Singapore base could only be regarded as the creation and the creator of an atmosphere of fear that might easily prove a factor in the precipitation of war in the near future. The following resolution was carried: "That in view of the fact that thO Government's legislation of last session abolishing compulsory arbitration, reducing wages and pensions, and extending the life of the present Parliament was not an issue at the last election, in the opinion-of this meeting the Government should resign and submit its policy electors."