OVER THE SPEAKER’S CHAIR

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 284, 26 August 1922, Page 5

OVER THE SPEAKER’S CHAIR

A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF! PARLIAMENT ' AN UNEVENTFUL DAY IN THE HOUSE (By Randall.) Th® financial debate dragged yesterday. Four Labour members, two Reform members, and one Minister spoke during the day. They told the House of Representatives about land settle, ment, war loans, unemployment, public finance, and the other highly important matters, covered by the Budget. But they said very little that had not been said before. The Labour men had much to. say about their leader’s suggestion that the accumulated surpluses ought to be spent providing work for the unemployed. A reduction in the price of sugar was announced by the Hon. E. P. Lee. The consumer is not to be rpw qjiired to pay more than bld- per pound •after September 7. The Minister boa not made it clear why the Government remains in tliQ sugar business, hut an any rate be is entitled to congratulate himself and the country on an arrangement that gives the New Zealand housewives their sugar at (a price non far above the pre-war level. The Minister of Education insisted that members ought not to talk about reducing the cost of his Department. He mentioned that the number of children attending the schools increased each year, by 7000 or so, and that accommodiation and teaching staff had to be provided for them. “Hear, hear,” said a country member. The reprol sentatives of the country districts ar® alvfaXs hungry for schools. The queer assertion that the Government had. created an unemployment Sroblem deliberately in order to force own.wages was repeated by the member for Lyttelton (Mr. McCombs). Presumably the member believed also that the world-wide financial stringency had been engineered by the New Zealand! Government in order to secure a reaction on local conditions, since he scarcelv could imagine that the Dominion's troubles were distinct from the ills afflicting the rest of the world. , It must be pleasant to be able to reduce. all these problems to simple proportions and define causes and effects in the easy fashion affected by the Labour economists. Electoral rolls interest, members keenly these days. The member for Waitomo (Mr.' Jennings) told the House an alarming story about the hundreds of farmers whose namfs had been deleted from one electoral roll. Even his own name had been struck off, and when he lodged a complaint ha had encountered an official who had never heard of William Thomas Jennings. In the face of this tale the Prime Minister had to promise prompt inquiry. The House is sure to ask for more, information about the rather drastic purging', of the rolls that is now proceeding. The House adjourned until Tuesday next without reaching a division on Mr. Holland’s want-of-confidence motion, and without getting in sight of the end of the debate'.