PARLIAMENT’S WORK

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 289, 2 September 1931, Page 10

PARLIAMENT’S WORK

Imprest Supply Bill FARMING FOR BOYS Canada’s Trade Outlook RESTRICTED DEBATE (By Our Parliamentary Representative.) For the second time in a week some life was infused into the sitting of the House of Representatives last evening. The opening of the tenth week of the session was marked by the introduction of a further Imprest Supply Bill, containing authority for expenditure in State departments for this month, and although full advantage was not taken of the chance this measure offers to range beyond the usual confines of a debate, enough of interest was raised to hold the attention of members until the adjournment was taken at 11.30 p.m. It is usual for the House to sit until all hours when an Imprest Bill is brought down, but the decided disinclination of members to take up time on this occasion is further proof that the House is fully convinced of the uselessness of raising important issues while the Economic Committee is deliberating. For this month the Government will appropriate £1,960,500, as against £2,782,000 in August, the Prime Minister saying that payments would not be so heavy this month and that no doubt the House would be gratified to hear that. He did not, however, indicate exactly where less money was needed. It was hardly to be expected that Imprest would be allowed to pass without some reference to unemployment, and this was actually the first issue raised. In reply to questions the Minister of Labour, Hon. S. G. Smith, announced that a scheme had been completed for the placing of boys on farms under a system of “bursary” payments, whereby the Unemployment Board would pay boys a small sum weekly, and farmers who agreed to provide their keep would instruct them and employ them on their properties. The details of the scheme will probably be published to-day. No finality has been reached concerning trade between New Zealand and Canada, according to a statement by the Prime Minister who, in mentioning that the Dominion had done all it could to bring about a settlement of the present tariff dispute, expressed the opinion that Canada showed by her attitude that she did not appreciate the value of the trade she was losing. He pointed out that she had the best of the trade, and would continue to hold the favourable balance, yet she was not prepared to consider a proposition to her advantage. The House will meet this evening at 7.30. TRADE WITH CANADA Lack of Appreciation SISTER DOMINION’S VIEW The opinion that Canada was showing no understanding of the value to her of New Zealand’s trade, on account of her failure to come to a mutual agreement over tariffs, was expressed by the ■Prime Minister in replying to a question by the Hon. W. Downie Stewart (Ref., Dunedin West). Upon the introduction of the Imprest Supply Bill, Mr. Stewart asked the Prime Minister for the latest information upon the position between the two Dominions. Mr. Forbes said that all the cables that had passed between him and the Canadian Government had been published. and these indicated that New Zealand was anxious and willing at all times to come to some agreement. New Zealand had shown a greater disposition to go into the question than had Canada. Arrangements had been made for the Comptroller of Customs to go to Ottawa to confer with the authorities there, but on the arrival of the New Zealand Imperial Conference delegation at the Canadian capital it had been found that the door of trade had been closed. The position had not altered since, but this was not New Zealand’s fault. ■Mr. Stewart: I suggested two years ago that they should send a Minister here. Mr. Forbes said the Canadian Government had now said it would postpone consideration of the question until after the general election in New Zealand. Members: That may be two years. Mr. H. S. S. Kyle (Ref., Riccarton): How do you account for the Australian position? Mr. Forbes said the recent treaty between the Commonwealth and Canada affected/ a number of goods in which Australia hoped to build up her trade and for which there was a market in Canada. New Zealand had recently increased the duty on timber, owing to the state of the industry here, but Australia had opened her door to timber importations. Australia had a market for her wines in Canada, and also for other commodities. At present there was not a great market for New Zealand butter in Canada, and this was the only item that would be sent on a large scale. Canada was in fact exporting butter to-day. The Prime Minister said he thought Canada’s last cable showed that she did not appreciate her position. She had shown no desire to discuss with New Zealand a business proposition that was, and would be, in her favour, for the balance of trade was against New Zealand. He could not understand why it was not desired to discuss the question further until after the general election in New Zealand, as. no matter what Government was in office, any trade treaty made would he carried out.

IDLE SINGLE MEN Establishment of Camps SCHEME AMPLIFIED Unemployed Problem Although not in a position to give full details of the scheme whereby unemployed single men are to be placed in camps and engaged on backblock loading works and land development, the Minister of Labour, Hon. S. G. Smith, was able to amplify somewhat the information contained in the original announcement of the proposal. The men, he explained, would be housed in tents and hutments, and the camps would be of a size that one cook could conveniently deal with. Information as to the basis of payment of the men in the camps was sought by the Hon. W. Downie Stewart (ReL, Dunedin West). He also inquired how the men were to be housed, how many men were to be placed in camps, and how much the scheme was expected to cost the country. A similar request for information was madd by Mr. P. Fraser (Lab., Wellington Central), who said that the information already supplied was very meagre and should be supplemented. They had been told that single men would be invited to go into camps. The Minister of Labour: There won't be any gilt-edged invitation. Mr. Fraser: I would not say there is

anything gilt-edged about the Government of which the Minister is a member. The Minister: Neither is there anything gilt-edged about the honourable member. Mr. Fraser said that if it were proposed to employ men on road-making and developmental works and pay them reasonable wages, the scheme was worthy of support, but if it were proposed to round the single men up into camps and introduce a system amounting to forced labour there would be need for careful scrutiny. Work on Highways. The Minister replied that he was not in a position to give the House full details of the new proposal. The scheme had been brought about by the fact that there were not sufficient funds to give every unemployed man work every week. In view of the large number of men to be dealt with, it was necessary to devise some means of meeting the situation. Hundreds of single men were not getting any work at all, neither had they any homes to go to. It was proposed to commence work on secondary highways not on this year’s or next year’s programme. The men would not be in large camps as many people seemed to imagine, but placed in camps that one cook could conveniently deal with. Mr. Stewart: Will there be any camps in Otago? The Minister: I hope I will be able to satisfy the honourable member when the details are worked out. If there are any backblock roads in Otago that come under this scheme we will deal with them. After stating that at present single men were unable to earn more than 13/6 a week, the Minister said that they would be much better off in camps working for five or six days with good food and good shelter and payment for the effort put into the work. Mr. F. Langstone (Lab., Waimarino) : How much will they be paid? The Minister: I can't tell you that just now. Mr. Langstone: It is important. The Minister: The best will be done with the limited funds available. Camps Well Organised. There would, the Minister added, be nothing in the nature of military camps, and no man would be forced to go into them. A man who would not go into camp and showed no reasonable excuse why he should not do so could not expect work in the cities. That work would be required for other men. The camps would be properly organised and constructed, and in most cases the men would be housed in tents and hutments. The quarters might not be of so superior a type as some of the accommodation that had been provided on public works, but under the circumstances all would consider them satisfactory. Work on the highways was to be followed up by a scheme of land development, and already one block for this purpose had been chosen in the North Island. Other blocks were under review. When full details were announced it would be seen that an opportunity had been given to thousands of men in the Dominion. A member: Thousands? The Minister: Yes, in the meantime we are limiting the scheme to 1009. Mr. Smith added that 7000 men had gone out to farms for 15/- per week and their keep. Mr. W. L. Martin (Lab., Raglan): Some for less than that. Concentration on Useful Work. The Minister said that some had even gone on farms for 10/- a week and their keep. The policy of the board was to concentrate on work of a useful nature. Unless some return were obtained for the £50,000 expended each week on the relief of unemployment, the schemes would break down under their own weight. The Unemployment Board was keenly anxious to do its best, and end as far as possible the suffering of the hundreds of single men with no work and no homes. An earnest endeavour would be made to select men where the needs were greatest. He hoped later to be in a position to announce a scheme whereby married men would be able to accept employment' in the country, although the pay would naturally have to be at a higher rate. Mr. R. A. Wright (Ref., Wellington Suburbs) drew attention to the serious position of many men who were on the verge of starvation in the cities. The Minister of Labour: If we take the single men. out of the cities, that will relieve the position, will it not? The Prime Minister: Do you not think the position will improve in the summer months?' Mr. Wright said he hoped the position would improve, but the present outlook was not hopeful. He suggested that the finances of the Unemployment Board should \be strengthened, even if extra taxation were involved. The position could not be left where it was; everyone knew there was suffering and distress, and the provisions for relief now being made were quite insufficient.

MINES OUTPUT Attitude of Workers MR. HOLLAND’S DEFENCE An unexpected dispute arose between the Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. H. E. Holland, and the Minister of Labour, over the question of coal supplies and the attitude of the miners. Mr. Holland quoted figures to rebut statements made that the miners were to blame for short supplies, but the Minister refused in emphatic terms to allow the blame to be placed on the Government. Figures were quoted by Mr. Holland which, he said, represented the reasons for the stoppages at the various mines. Most of them covered the period, July 31 last year to June 30 this year. At Rotowaro 55J days were lost, six due to union action and 50} to shortage of orders. Taupiri mines were now idle and his information was that there had been only one fortnight in the whole 12 months when fulltime was worked. The stoppage bad been due to lack of orders. At Pukemiro, 40 days were lost, one due to union action. At Glen Afton. 32 days were lost, 13 being due to union action and eight to the Christmas holidays. At the Renown Collieries, 88} days were lost, only one of which was due to union action. Millerton Conditions. Mr. Holland described Millerton conditions, where from July 11, 1930, to August 21, 1931, 158 J days were lost. Only eight could .be charged to union action. "Why were there no orders for this coal?” Mr. Holland asked. The Government was sending to. Australia for orders while the women and children 1 of Millerton, a town of nearly 2000 souls, were in a desperate condition because the relief funds had run out. At the Stockton mine 52 days were lost, none being due to the union. Figures for the Dobson mine were incomplete, but 80 days had been lost, eight of which had been due to union action. The Minister of Labour: Why did the miners stop? Mr. Holland: The miners will take action to save their mates from victimisation. And I want to say that the miners are justified in taking any action that will save their mates lives from being endangered. Mr. Veitch: Oh, nonsense. Mr. Holland continued that at Wallsend 33 days were lost, eight of which were due to the union. Turning to Westport, he said 58} days were lost at the main mine, only a few of them being due to the union. These figures, it was claimed, disposed of the charge that the shortage of coal output was due to the miners themselves. At Shag Point, further south, 60 days were lost, every one being due to lack of orders. As far as State mines were concerned, the Liverpool No. 1 lost 41 days, two due to deaths among miners—according to usual practice—and eight to union action. In Liverpool No. 2, 42 days were lost, two. due to deaths and 10 to union action. In the co-operative mines in the Grey Valley there had been no stoppage except on account of lack of orders. At Seddonville they could not get orders, while the Government was sending to Australia for stocks of coal. Return of Stoppages. The Minister of Labour rose immediately and said it was a pity that Mr. Holland had taken advantage of the present time to place all the blame on the Government for the failure of the miners to fulfil the coal orders of the Railways Department. He thought that

when he had heard figures which had been prepared by the Government he would agree that there was something wrong with the leadership of the miners in New Zealand. Quoting from a return of stoppages between September 1, 1928, and July 31, 1931, the Minister said there had been 73 disputes resulting in no work being done. These included one dispute involving “go-slow” and one not yet settled. The total number of working days lost was 76.152, and the average duration of the disputes was 5.9 days. The loss represented one year’s work for 272 men. The disputes w.ere in many instances over trivial questions, and several of these were quoted. The secretaries of the miners’ unions had made it pretty definite, Mr. Smith added, that they were not going to change their tactics, no matter what was the position of the country or the state of the mining industry. In many instances stop-work meetings were called without just reason, and as long as secretaries of unions created conditions as the result of which the Government and private individuals had no continuity of supply, some blame must be attached to the men who outlined the policy for the miners. Hikurangi Dispute. The dispute at Hikurangi was referred to by the Minister of Mines, Hon. A. J. Murdoch. The working of Wilson’s mine, he said, had been very unsatisfactory to the management for some time past, owing to the costs of hewing being too high. For some months the company had had under consideration a proposal for the purchase of coal from the West Coast. The dispute was over a matter of 26/11 which represented the shortage in the minimum earnings of three men. The company had paid out as much as £750 to make up shortages. It had urged the men to give better results, and the amount had been reduced to £5. The amount of the shortges, however, had commenced to increase again, and the company had informed the men it would not make them up as had been done in the past. The men, in his opinion, should have continued work and referred the matter to the Disputes Committee. When Wilsons ordered 500 tons from the Hikurangi Company’s mine the men at the latter mines threatened to go out if it were supplied. The Minister urged Mr. Holland to use his influence to get the men nt Hikurangi Mine back to work. If they went back, the dispute with Wilsons could be settled in its own way. If the two mines were to close up it would mean that Hikuraugi as a town woqld go out ol existence.