PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 171, 16 April 1931, Page 10

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Railways Bill Proves Unpopular CHANGES PRACTICALLY CERTAIN Departmental Economy Measure To-day ‘(From Our Parliamentary Representative.) Further signs were given in the House of Representatives yesterday that if the Government Railways Amendment Bill is to become law this session* it will have to be considerably amended. As the second reading debate progressed the critics of the Bill increased and the opinion that the measure had been drafted in a manner that would not remove the railways from political contfOl to the desired extent, gained ground. It now appears that the measure will get past the second reading, but there are indications that amendments will be moved by the Reform Party in Committee. Criticism of the way in which the Government proposes to hand over the control of the railways to a board of three, showed that the general plan Was becoming more unpopular as various points were raised. There was general dissatisfaction that the power to be given to the new directorate would be far less than was at first supposed, and there is a possibility that a request will be made for the establishment of a larger board. Much interest was aroused during the Clay by an announcement by the Minister of Transport, Hon. W. B. Taverner, that the Government intended to bring down a transport Bill next session. It has already been drawn, but the Minister said It would be Impossible to introduce it this session. His statement immediately raised the general question of transport and the relation to it of the railways, and Mr. D. Jones, Reform member for Mid-Canterbury, expressed the opinion that the House should first know the Government’s intentions upon the Wider issue of transport generally before it could agree to pass a measure professing to rectify the position of the railways—which constituted a particular aspect Of the general problem. As an alternative to the presentation of the transport Bill this session it was suggested that the railways Bill should be held over, but It remains, to be seen whether this will be considered seriously. Members, generally appeared to be dissatisfied that the Government had not revealed its proposals in full before bringing down a measure to deal with the railways. No mention has been made of the South Island Main Trunk line nor certain others, and information concerning them is sought. Provision in the Bill for all lines is likely to be asked. Mr. Jones trod on thin lee in the evening when lie referred to ft question by Mr. H. M. Rushworth, Country Party member for Bay of Islands, and Mr. M. J. Savage, Labour member for Auckland West, concerning the possible motives behind the BUI. and there was it delicate period when Mr. Speaker intervened to stop Mr. Jones making further references to supposed charges that the oil Interests had influenced the Government. . The chief Item of interest to-day will be the introduction of the Prime Minister’s second Finance Bill, in which will be made provision for extensive departmental reorganisation with a view to effecting drastic reductions in expenditure. The Bill is likely to be extremely complicated. • , ■ The Legislative Council made an amendment in the Immigration Restriction Amendment Bill yesterday by limiting the period-of its operation until 1953, the Prime Minister intimating he was agreeable to this.

REPAYING ADVANCES Half Per Cent. Rebate NO CONCESSION GIVEN Thei‘e is no intention on the part of the Government to give the Superintendent of State Advances discretionary powers to allow a rebate of one-ha'lf per cent, on repayments made after the period of grace has expired. This statement Was made by the Prime Minister, Right Hon. G. W. Forbes, in reply to an urgent question without notice by the Rev. 0. Carr (Lab., Timaru), when the House met. Mr. Carr asked if the Government would bring down legislation this session to give effect to the proposal. Mr. Forbes said it was not contemplated that any such legislation would be brought down this session. The rebate, of one-half per cent, was devised simply to encourage the early payment of mortgage half-jfiarly instalments. It was not introduced for the purpose of reducing interest payments. If the object of.securing early payments were not achieved* there would be no purpose in effecting a reduction. If the superintendent were given the discretionary powers mentioned, it would mean that everybody who owed money would apply for the rebate, and that state of affairs would not be desirable. • . x , y ■ LIVING COSTS Official Watch Kept The need for keeping a watch on the trend of living costs was discussed by Mr. Carr, who asked the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle, if he would arrange to appoint resident officers in provincial towns like Timaru'to safeguard the interests of consumers in . view Of the declining purchasing power of many. The Minister said it was not proposed to appoint resident officers at small towns like Timaru. There were already officers of the department at the four centres, and as the occasion arose they would visit towns for the purpose of investigating conditions. SAFETY OF SCHOOLS “Instructions have been given for all scholastic establishments built in brick to be inspected by the Education Department’s architect in conj'unetion with a Public Works engineer,” said the Minister of Education. Hon. H. Atmore, when replying to an urgent question asked by Mr. I). G. Sullivan (Lab., Avon). “We are taking every step to see that buildings erected in the past are safe for the , children attending them.” RELIEF WORKERS Married Men’s Wages Reference to wages paid on relief works to married men whose families were not in New Zealand, was made by MF. R. A. Wright (Ref., Wellington Suburbs), in a question to the Minister of • Labour. Hon. S. G. Smith. Mr. Wright asked if the Minister was aware that married men on relief works, whose families were not in the Dominion, were classed as single men. and that they received only two days’ work a week at the rate of 9/- a day. He asked if the Minister could see his way dear to amend the conditions so that these men could be classed with those who were sunporting families in New Zealand. The Minister said investigations had made into a number of Cases of the type referred to. but the men had not been able to furnish proof that they had been sending money to their families abroad even when they were in other employment. There were grounds for believing that many men had emigrated to New Zealand for the purpose of avoiding family responsibilities. It had to be borne in mind that the Unemployment Board’s first consideration must be for married men in Now Zealand who were supporting families here. However, if specific cases were referred to the board, they would be lodked into so that no undue hardship would be inflicted on those who were actually supporting wives and children. RAILWAY CONTROL Variety of Opinions MINISTER’S RESEARCHES The House spent the rest of the day on the Government Railways Amendment Bill, which provides for the removal or the railways from political control. Various opinions found expression, special interest centring in the speech of the Minister of Public Works during the afternoon. , "It is n mongrel Bill, said Mr. J. W. Munro (Lilli., Dunedin North). "It is not meant to ’depoliticalise' the railways. [

I The Bill is simply a costly kind of dugout into which the Minister or the Government might ‘duck’ to escape their responsibilities _ anti the shots fired at them by political and economic inter Mr. H. S. S. Kyle (Ref., Riccarton) said he would rather see the control of the railways handed over to the general manager and that official given a free hand without any political interference. The Minister should be a member of the board ex officio. He hoped the Bill would not be passed in its present form. Mr. Kyle asked whether it would not be possible to reinstate ns members of the board some of the capable officers who were being retrenched from the Railway Department, Change in Outlook. A frank admission that he had not been in favour of a change in the present system of control, but that he had subsequently changed his view, was made by the Minister of Public Works, Hon. AV. B. Taverner. The financial position of the railways had become so serious that something was necessary to remedy it. The statement that pro- ■ perty valued at £60,000,000 was to be handed over to an irresponsible board was not warranted. If the position could be remedied it was the duty of, the Government to take steps to do so, , . Mr. AV. D. Lysnar .(Ind., Gisborne) : Can you show that will result? The Minister: No; but there is a probability— Mr. Lysnar: We don’t want probabilities. The Minister said that if the proposal erred in any way it was in not giving enough power to the board. The member for Dunedin North (Mr. Munro) had stated that borrowed money had supplied the needs of .the department and that no provision had been made for reserves. That was correct. It had to be remembered, however, that the profits were refunded to the people of the country in reduced charges. It was quite true that provision for reserves would have been a prudent commercial procedure. The position would not have been so serious had the department been able to retain its ■ old monopoly of transport. Branch Lines Burden. It had been said that those who used the railways should be made to pay for them. That would no doubt be a step toward commercialising the system, but it would also probably drive even more people to the roads. There were other ways in which the new board could bring about economic readjustments. Branch lines., for instance, could be dealt with. The Minister said he had inquired into branch line questions before he handed over control of the railways to the present Minister. It had proved a melancholy business. He had indicated to his colleague that the position in regard to them was growing worse, . and later figures had borne that out. This question would demand the very close attention of the board. The Minister added that he was completely in accord with the proposals of the Bill. He thought they were doing the right thing and that the Bill was in line with the general putlook concerning the great problems of transportation. Cost of Construction. The heavy rise in the cost of railway construction in recent years was comprehensively dealt with by the Minister, who made some interesting comments upon the changed financial outlook of the railways to-day in view of rapid transport development. Even in the best of conditions, where the land was level ami there was a minimum of obstructions, the cost of line construction was exceptionally high, he said. In some parts of New Zealand railways had been constructed as low as £4OOO a mile, but the conditions that had made that possible were very different from those prevailing to-day. The difference between the interest charges in those days and those operating to-day, was a small concern compared with the increased cost of construction. The difference, for example, between 4 per cent, at the time and 5| per cem. to-day was not such II factor as the difference between £4OOO a mile and £27,001) a mile, Which was the estimated cost of the Pokeno-Paeroa line in the north-—a line which provided an excellent, comparison because the land was flat, and there were few cuttings or difficult obstructions along the route. Depreciation of Assets. One pf the factors which most influenced the present difficulties of the railways was the unexpected depreciation of assets as a direct result of rapid transport development. The assets of the railways undertaking had depreciated to such an extent that, had its administrators been able to foresee the position, there would have been provided not only ordinary depreciation and renewal funds, but an amortisation plan for the periodical writing-down of the railways capital. Had this been done the finances of the railways would have been in a healthier condition to-day. “But it cannot be said that any Government of the past could be held responsible for that,” Mr. Taverner continued. “We live to-day in times of rapid change, and something is expected of us for the future that was not expected of our predecessors. If the rapid development of transport had been foreseen, we would not have been shouldering such a difficult financial burden to-day.” i