OVER THE SPEAKER’S CHAIR

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 5, 30 September 1922, Page 5

OVER THE SPEAKER’S CHAIR

A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF PARLIAMENT GETTING ALONG WITH THE ESTIMATES / (By Randall.) The Legislative Council listened with evident approval to a very emphatic plea for national economy from Sir Edwin MHtehelson. The councillor from Auckland did not mince matters. He said that railways which would not pay ought to be pulled up, and he named the lines that he had in mind. He talked of "wild-cat hydro-electric schemes,” and mentioned Mangahao and Arapuni in illustration. He urged the Government to stop borrowing and wasteful expenditure before the country got into a financial position from which recovery would bo difficult. It was a useful speech. Tho Estimates were the business of the day in the House of Representatives. Members made a start with the External Affairs Department in the afternoon, laboured heavily among tho many sections of the Internal Affairs Department, and then, late in the evening, hastened through enough classes to justify the Prime Minister in Jetting them go home. The manner of voting mone'y is one of the queer things about Parliament. Members vote the millions while they argue about the trifles.

Samoan affairs occupied the attention of the House during the afternoon. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Wilford) had some newspaper clippings and some letters relating to the alleged grievances of the white residents. He explained that he was not acquainted with the authors of the letters, and that he did not know . anything about the facts, and then proceeded to put on record some little complaints that sounded rather like the gossip of tho beach. The Minister obviously was not impressed. His report on the Samoan administration, the indentured labour, and So forth was not available, and; he promised that members should hare another opportunity to discuss it. The Leader of the Labour Party sought information about the censorship, and did not get it. Most members of tho House would be interested to know iust why certain books-that circulate freely in Britain and Australia aro not permitted officially to enter New Zealand, but Ministers do not Itffi the veil of secrecy from the censorship. Mr. Holland did not discover even which. Minister carried the responsibility of determining what New f Zealand should not read. “My im- , pression is that it is between tho Post Office and the Minister of Customs and the Attorney-General,” said Sir William Herries, genially non-committal. Members wanted to know why the cost of the High Commissioner’s office had doubled in recent years. They showed, as they had done on other occasions, that they suspected the office to be stronger on entertainments than on market reports. Mr. Massey had a word .to say about the expense of representing a Dominion in London. He mentioned that a gathering of Zealanders to meet a visiting Minister had cost the High Commissioner somethirig like £250. His impression evidently was that in London the man who speaks for New Zealand must do as wealthy Londoners do.