PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 308, 23 September 1933, Page 8

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

Discussion on Government’s Exchange Policy

PRIVATE MEMBER’S REPEAL MEASURE

Rearrangement Made in Afternoon’s Order of Business

The development of a lengthy discussion on the .Government’s exchange policy necessitated a rearrangement of the business it was orgnSy'intended to take in the House of e X7s yesterday afternoon. Tributes were to have been paid/ .to leg s lators who had died in the recess, but the introduction of a Bank Indemnity (Exchange) Repeal Bill, sponsored by Mr W.^ A. Veitch (Ind., Wanganui), was availed of by a section of the House to debate various phases of the exchange issue. . All the speakers on Mr. Veitch’s Bill were opponents of high exchange The Bill consists of one clause, the object of which is to repeal the legislation adopted by the House early in this year indemnifying the banks against any losses they might incur in respect to surpluses of exchange. Mr. Veitch and those who followed him declared the higher exchange had had a disastrous and devastating effect upon the commercial, industrial,_ professional and wage and salary-earning sections of the community. Several members expressed the hope that the Government would see its way to take up the Bill as a Government measure. With most of the afternoon sitting occupied in the exchange discussion, it was out of the question to dispose of the tributes in the twenty minutes remaining before the tea adjournment at 5.30 p.m. The Prime Minister, therefore, announced .that the House would adjourn and that tributes would be taken on Tuesday afternoon. The Address-in-Reply debate will be inaugurated in the evening.

NEW RAILWAY STATION i Conditions as to Contract" ANOTHER QUERY IN HOUSE For the second time since the opening of the session the conditions of tender for the construction of the new Wellington railway station were referred to in a question asked in the Hasse of Representatives yesterday afternoon. Mr. K. A. Wright (Ind., Wellington Suburbs), in conjunction with Mr. A. J. Stallworthy' (Ind., Eden) and Mr. W. A. Veitch (Ind., Wanganui), asked the I’rime Minister, Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, to explain why the contract conditions were exactly opposite to those adopted by the Public Works Departments and the Stores Control Board, which bodies invariably stipulated that Dominion and overseas competitors should be placed op the same level as regards exchange, Customs, and sales tax. Mr. Wright also asked Mr. Forbes whether he would take immediate steps to instruct the Railways- Board to amend its conditions in such a manlier as to place New Zealand and overseas industries on the same competitive basis. Mr. Forbes pointed out that the question was on the same lines as one asked the previous day by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. H. E. Holland. When the tenders cam? up for consideration the position of the local manufacturer would be safeguarded. It had always been the policy of the Government to give the local manufacturer as much consideration as possible in accordance with any reasonable. difference in price. The same principle wpuld be applied in respect to the tenders for the new station. The local manufacturer would r-ceive every allowance for charges and expenses he Miiglit be involved in brer and above the overseas tenderer. ELECTION INCIDENTS Public Meeting Disturbed Two incidents in the Lyttelton byelection campaign were brought before the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. The scene in, the Masonic Hall, Cashmere, where an exchange between the Acting-Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, and Mr. F. O. Shacklock culminated In Mr. Shacklock being brought before the court on a charge of disturbing a public meeting, was referred to by Mr. E. J. Howard (Lab., Christchurch South). "I wish to give notice to ask the Minister for Justice why both parties to the incident at Cashmere were not proceeded against,” said Mr. Howard. Mr. C. L. Carr (Lab., Timaru) inquired of the Minister of Justice if instructions had been given to the police to adopt offensive and provocative methods and forms of address toward officials of unemployed workers’ organisations, particularly when these unemployed men were of exemplary character and enjoyed the respect of the generality of their fellow citizens. „ “An official of the Timaru Unemployed Workers’ Union was engaged at the Redcliffs polling booth during the recent Lyttelton by-election and was wearing a photograph of one of the candidates,” explained Mr. Carr. “Inspector Cameron demanded its removal nod when asked for his authority snatched the photograph, made inquiries regarding the gentleman’s recent movements, and said he would ‘soon be cooling his heels in a safe place.’ ” PERIOD IN GAOL Claim for Compensation An echo of a trial which took place Jn the Supreme Court, Wellington, on August 3 was. heard iu Parliament yesterday, when a petition was presented on behalf of Phillip Gordon Brazier, in which he sought redress for time spent in gaol since his conviction on charges of breaking and entering and theft and subsequent acquittal by a jury at the second trial. Petitioner stated that on May 5 last he was tried at the Supreme Court, Wellington, upon charges of breaking and entering and theft at Dannevirkc. He pleaded not guilty, but was convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. On May 22 he appealed against his sentence on the ground that he could bring evidence not called at the trial to show that he did not leave Wellington on the night of the alleged offence. A new trial took place on August 3, the jury returning a verdict of not guilty on all counts, “the presiding Judge having virtually directed the jury to return such verdict.” From May 5 to August 4 he was imprisoned at Mount Crawford gaol. He contended that he was innocent of any complicity whatever in the alleged offence, and that he had suffered mental strain, loss of freedom, and “injury to reputation necessarily incident to conviction and imprisonment upon serious criminal charges.”

DEAD LEGISLATORS Tributes in Upper House , Tributes to legislators who had died since last session were paid at a meeting of the Legislative Council yesterday afternoon, following which it was decided to adjourn as a mark of respect until Tuesday afternoon next. 3,’he Hon. Sir James Parr, Leader of the Council, in referring to the late Sir Thomas K. Sidey, said that his death had been both a surprise and a shock, and had ended a long and most useful life. He had always been considered a man of considerable ability, which he had hidden under an exterior of extreme modesty. More than once had he missed high office by his desire to remain in the background. Sir James Parr dwelt upon the history and work of the late member, referring in particular to his Summertime Bill and its' ultimate adoption, to his services to education anil to New Zealand in its relation to the Empire, and concluded with eulogistic reference to other services performed in his last years of devotion to his country as a member of the Council. Tribute was also paid by the Rt. Hou. Sir Francis Bell, the Hon. J. A. Hanan, the Hon. D. Buddo and the Hon. M. Fagan. Sir James Parr then referred to the late Hon. G. M. Thomson, whose death had marked the end of the career of a pioneer of noble character, whose life had been one of deyotion to the service of his country. Other speakers were the Hon. Sir James Allen, the Hon. R. Scott, the Hon. J. A. Hanan, the Hon. W. W. Snodgrass and the Hon. D. Buddo. In paying respect to the memory of the late Hon. Wiremu Rikihana, Sir James Parr described the deceased as a rangatira of the north, and a man who had won wide esteem during his term of office on the Council. The Hon. R. Moore and the- Hon. C. J. Carrington added their testimony. B RADIO STATIONS Licenses for One Year The statement that licenses to operate B class broadcast stations were issued for 12 months only from April 1 last, and that no alteration of the jterms of these licenses would be made during that period, was made yesterday by the Postmaster-General, Hon. Adam Hamilton, when replying to a question asked by Mr. F. Jones (Lab., Dunedin South). Mr. Jones had asked whether the Government intended to restrict or cancel the right of B class stations to broadcast sponsored programmes. He declared that ample notice should be given to these stations of impending changes, some of them having-entered into contracts extending for 12 months. REDUCTION IN RENTS Request by Railway Tenants Claiming that they had not had their rents reduced in accordance with the provisioWbf the National Expenditure Adjustment Act, tenants of railway houses yesterday presented a petition to Parliament in which they asked for their case to be heard by a select committee of the House. The petitioners, who made their representations through the New Zealand Railway Officers’ Institute, requested that the Act be amended, if necessary, to compel the Railways Board to reduce rentals of railway dwelling houses in accordance with the principle of the legislation, or, alternatively, that they be permitted to vacate their houses, if they bo desired, in order that they might make necessary adjustments to their living expenses which the operation of the first part of the Act involved. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Reform Issue Raised That the House should have the opportunity to discuss the reform of the Legislative Council before further appointments are made was a point urged by Mr. A. J. Stallworthy (Ind., Eden) tn a notice of question given in the House of Representatives yesterday.