PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 14, 11 October 1927, Page 10

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

PROGRESS ON CUSTOMS BILL CONTENTIOUS CLAUSE DROPPED PRICEFIXING PROPOSAL DEFEATED fl* Considerable progress was made with the Customs Amendment Bill by the House of Representatives last night. The measure itself was debated for an hour and a • half, and then an attack was made on the individual items in the schedules, of which one class representing 72 items was passed. The total number of items is 446. The chief 'incidents of the night’s work were the withdrawal of the clause dealing with the restriction of excessive bond clearances, and the rejection of a Labour proposal, which the Government regarded as an attempt to fix prices. There was some discussion also on a suggestion made by the Minister with reference to the duty on lemons. The House rose at 11.45 p.m. The Bill will be considered further to-day.

i PRICES AND DUTIES “A PERFECT MUSSOLINI PROPOSAL” LABOUR AMENDMENT REJECTED “Its operation would be followed by constant ferment, and there would be no. stability to the secondary industries concerned. It obviously amounts to fixing prices.” This was the description applied by i the Prime Minister (Right Hon. J. G. Coates) to an amendment moved by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. H. E. Holland) as a new clause in the Customs Amendment Eill which was before the House of Representatives last night. Mr. Holland’s amendment proposed: “(l).If, as a result of the coming into operation of this Act, there should be any increase in the price of any item , of goods subject to duty under the First Schedule hereto, the Minister shall be empowered to reduce the amount of the duty on such item by an amount not exceeding the amount of the increase in the price of the item: (2) in the event of the Dominion producers failing adequately to supply the market with any item of goods included in the First Schedule, the Minister shall be empowered to reduce or abolish the duty on such item as he deems fit, until such time as in his opinion the market is adequately supplied.” Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central) said the Minister had already accepted ' the principle in connection with the wheat duty. The Minister of Customs (Hon. W. D. Stewart) said he could not accept the new clause, as it would be a most i far-reaching and difficult problem .to determine whether any item was increased in price owing to the alteration of the duty. How could they determine whether the increase was owing to the increased Customs tariff or to alteration in Arbitration Court awards? The clause was far too wide. Labour members had already admitted , that the . power was contained in the present law. “A Perfect Dictator.” “This is a perfect Mussolini proposal,” declared the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. O. J. Hawken). “It would make the Minister of Customs a perfect dictator and put him in an impossible position. The difference between profit and loss, especially in a big business, is so fine that it would be impossible for the Minister to ascertain where the big profits were coming in. Last year he.had. to decide .whether the depression in the timber industry was due to world de--1 pression or to the absence of a duty.” i Mr. Fraser: What sort of a Minister wopld he be if he could not do that? Mr. Hawken suggested, that the amendment was a Socialistic one which was designed to catch the attention of people who did not think clearly on the subject. Mr. M.' J. Savage (Auckland West) saicT the. Minister already possessed far more drastic powers than those which it was intended should be given him bv the new clauses. The'Minister of Customs: “The pow-

er we already have covers the new clauses to some extent.” He added I. that if the clauses were added he would have placed on him. the responsibility for seeing that in all cases where the duty was removed or reduced the saving was passed on to the public. “For instance, I would have to see that hot-water bottles were J reduced a shilling in price and. cattle £l, for we have lowered the duties on these items,” added the Minister. “I ■ cannot attend to all these details.” Mr. Fraser said the Labour Party was in the new clause offering something to the Government which would enable the latter to save themselves, and improve their tariff. The amendment endeavoured to take the manufacturers at L, their word. They said they were prepared to guarantee thev would not in- : crease prices. They had never done that before. The Minister: Oh, yes, they have. Mr. Fraser submitted there could be no discouragement of trade under the proposal. A Political Humbug. The Minister of Agriculture said it was not so much the principle as the operation of the suggestion. “It is un- ■ workable,” added Mr. Hawken, “and is just put forward as one of those political humbugs of which we sometimes hear. It is an attempt to camouflage the position. . . - If the Government were to regulate trade in the way suggested you would have stagnation in a very short time. It would be a sorry day for this country if trade were shackled, bound up, and ruled abso- ; Jutely bv one Minister, or the Government. Trade must flow freely after the Government has dictated to it what the Customs only shall be.” The Leader of the Opposition declared that a similar provision had been placed on the Statute Book by the Reform Government. Mr. Savage affirmed that the clause was not mandatory, but empowered the ! Minister, if he thought there was an un-due-rise in the price of an article,, to reduce the duty • The same principle was contained in the existing law. The Minister of Agriculture: Why do you want the amendment, then? Saving Himself. The Prime Minister considered that the amendment was framed to meet obI jections from every source, the protec- , tionists, primary producers, or anyone else. If timber fell in the South Island, and rose in the North, what position would the Leader of the Opposition take

then? A group of importers should regulate the price of imported articles. Did not Mr. Holland think that with the Act of 1921 and the Board of Trade functioning, the public interest would be properly protected ? “Mr Holland,” added the Prime Minister, "is trying to save himself if the customs duty works out in the direction of increasing prices to the public.” The policy behind the tariff was to try to assist local manufacturers in order that they might successfully launch and develop industry. Therefore anything in the nature of endeavouring to restrict or fix their prices would be dangerous. The 1921 Act gave sufficient power to meet emergencies. The amendment obviously amounted to the fixing of prices. The amendment in operation would be followed by constant ferment, and there would be no stabilitv to the secondary industries concerned. “The amendment,” added the Prime Minister, “would undermine stability and the necessary confidence which capital and the investors must have to establish their businesses under the shelter of the proposed protection under the tariff. In the case of public interest being definitely exploited, the Minister can take action under the existing Act."

Mr. T. K. Sidey (Dunedin South) said the Minister’s objection was that Mr. Holland’s proposed amendment would be throwing too great a responsibility on him. The remedy was the appointment of a Board to deal with the matter. The Board in Australia had that power but had not acted upon it so far. It was a question whether there had been anv occasion for acting on it. Mr Holland’s amendment was defeated by 38 votes to 12. CUSTOMS DUTIES INCREASES AND DECREASES. A promise that a statement would be issued showing the effect on the customs duty of the increases and decreases in the tariff was given in the House of Representatives last night by the Minister of Customs (Hon. W. D. Stewart) in reply to a question by Mr. A. Bell (Bay of Islands). 1116 Minister said he could not undertake to supply details of the effect on the duty in so far as they related to goods for the farming community. So many items on the tariff schedules, household goods for instance, were for all classes of the community that it would be impossible to separate those for the farmers and those for other people. MARRIAGE OF “INFANTS” MAGISTRATES’ CONSENT. The conferment on Magistrates of the power to give consent to the marriage of “infants” is the object of the Guardianship of Infants Amendment Bill, which has been read a first time in the House of Representatives. It was intended to do this in last year’s amending Bill, but the intentions of the Legislature in this respect were defeated by a previous clause, which restricted the jurisdiction of Magistrates with regard to applications under the Act to cases where the children were under sixteen years of age. SAWN DRESSED TIMBER A CLAUSE POSTPONED. Consideration of the special tariff provisions for computing the measurement of sawn dressed timber was deferred by the House of Representatives last night. The Minister of Customs (Hon. W. D Stewart) explained that the parties interested had made further representations to the Government as to whether the clause sufficiently carried out what was desired. Further inquiries were to be made by the Department, and the clause could be postponed until after the consideration of the schedules. This course was agreed to. PIG-IRON INDUSTRY PROTECTIVE DUTY WANTED. Mr. R. P. Hudson (Motneka) last night asked the Minister of Customs if he would make provision in the present tariff for an import duty on pig iron, similar to that imposed in Australia, and, he belieycd, every other country in the Empire, except England, conditionally on the price, of the locally produced pig iron being subject to the approval of the Government. The Minister replied that there was no provision of the kind in the tariff as it stood at present, and it was not proposed by the Government to introduce such a provision. WHEAT AND FLOUR DIFFICULT MATTER OF ADJUSTMENT. The tariff proposals dealing with wheat and flour were not considered by the House last night, the Minister of Customs explaining that it was proposed to make a slight amendment. It was a difficult matter to adjust the position as between the farmer, the consumer, the miller, etc., and care had to be taken that no mistake was made. The Minister added that it was proposed to group the items postponed, and deal with them at the one time.

INTERMEDIATE TARIFF BENEFITING THE IMPORTERS There was some discussion in the House last night on the clause in the Customs Amendment Bill which empowers the Minister to admit goods which cannot be economically produced or manufactured in the British Dominions as if they were the produce or manufacture of some part of the British Dominions, or, in the alternative, that they be admitted at a rate of duty intermediate between the preferential tariff and the general tariff. * Mr. T. K. Sidey (Dunedin South) asked if the Minister had received any objections to the paragraph, which was regarded by a Chamber of Commerce in the south as very obnoxious indeed. Sir Joseph Ward (Invercargill) supported the previous speaker. Such a provision, operating at the sweet will of the Minister, could - easily impose very heavy losses on importers, he said. The Minister of Customs (Hon. W. D. Stewart) replied that he had received communications on the subject from a southern Chamber of Commerce, but he thought they were under a misapprehension as to the object of file clause, which was really meant for the benefit of importers. It had been in existence for many years in a limited direction. The clause was passed. PROTECTIVE DUTY ON LEMONS NEW SCALE APPROVED An alteration in the duty on lemons was made bv the House of Representatives at the instance of the Minister of Customs (Hon. W. D. Stewart) last night. The effect of the amendment is that foreign lemons will pay twopence except during the months from November to March, when the duty „will fall to one penny. The Minister of Customs said the amendment ought to protect the local consumers from a famine in lemons. He had seen three telegrams received bv the Minister of Agriculture yesterday stating that the lemon growers of California had already indicated to the local importers that they were ready to reduce their prices by the amount of dutv. Mr. R. P. Hudson (Motueka) comme.nded the suggestion to make the duty Id. per lb. during certain months. He supported the using of New Zealand fruit in Bellamy’s, including lemons. “If you had seen the lemons in Bellamy’s this evening, you would have come to the conclusion that they are like manv politicians, very thick in the skin,” said Sir Joseph Ward (Invercargill) . Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) and Mr. J. A. Lee (Auckland East) made the point that during the months when the duty was low it would be possible to import sufficiently large supplies to cover the period when the dutv was at the higher rate. Mr. C. E. Macmillan (Tauranga) prophesied that within a few years, the lemon growers would become sufficientIv strong to enable them to compete without any duty at all. Mr. H. L. Tapley (Dunedin North) considered the proposed high protective tariff was quite premature, seeing there was no guarantee that the local growers could supply the whole of the Dominion’s requirements. DUTY ON CONFECTIONERY NEW SCALE FIXED “Let the British manufacturers come cut here and set up their factories if they want to compete,” said Mr. J. S. Dickson (Parnell) in the House last night when supporting the raising of the duty on imported confectionery. He declared that last year the value of the chocolates made in New Zealand was one million pounds. Sir Joseph Ward (Invercargill): That is not much; anybody can eat 15s. worth of chocolates. Mr. Dickson said the matter had all been organised by the English manufacturers’ representatives, as a bigger profit was made on the English chocolates than on the colonial, the profit being at least from 15 to 20 per cent, on the English article. The number of employees in New Zealand was 2404, and the wages paid came to £318,703 annually, the value of the land and buildings used being £711,169. Owing to the absence of protection, several factories had been closed down. “What about Hudson’s in Dunedin?” asked Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central). “They did well last year,” “Yes, but thev had the exhibition, and their chocolates were used as prizes in all the roll-downs and bowling alleys,” Mr. Dickson replied He contended that the New Zealand-made chocolate was as good as the English make. The new duty was approved. NEW MEMBER SWORN IN Mr. W. L. Martin, the new Labour member for Raglan, was sworn in in the House of Representatives last night, and took his seat next to Mr. J. A. Lee (Auckland East).