FRONT BENCHERS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 122, 16 February 1935, Page 6

FRONT BENCHERS

Coalition Ministers In Pairs HOTHOUSE POLITICS No Easter Egg For Civil Servants (By Recorder.) All the Ministers of the Crown in the House of Representatives these days are enjoying the rank of Front Benchers. There are eight of them in a row, still paired off, it is true, as political party comrades, but probably now having but a single thought—to maintain the Coalition in Parliament, and, later in the year, to promote the Government’s appeal at the General Election polls. It is surprising, however, that they do not change partners occasionally, just to show that, really, the old party lines have been obliterated and that all are working for the State. The present, somewhat rare, Ministerial alignment in the full stare of the Labour Opposition, has been brought about by the temporary absence of the Postmaster-General, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, in Sydney where he is awaiting the arrival of air-mail envoys, who are on the wing from London but apparently are not attempting anything like a record flight. No Additional Minister, In reply to an inquiry as to the prospect of appointing an additional Minister, at least, to relieve the strain of work on the administrative team, which is comparatively small, numerically, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G W. Forbes, said the Government was not even thinking about doing anything of the kind. This will cause keen disappointment among several wistful aspirants to Ministerial rank, but obviously they will have to nurture their ambition on hope for some time yet. There has been plenty of conjecture about the question, particularly in view of the fact that the portfolio of Employment appears to be somewhat akin to the plight of Japhet in search of a father. It is not a Cabinet secret that none of the present Ministers wants it, and that each of those who have held it in turn was not sorry to pass the troublesome portfolio on to the next willing horse. Though all Ministers agree that the office should be a fulltime job for, say, a robust man with inexhaustible: patience, the idea ot making such an appointment appeals to involve a suggestion that the ]problem has become a permanent task Hopelessly beyond political solving. Meanwhile, there is to be no further appointment to the Ministry. Great Expectations. Almost in every department of State in Wellington there are great expectations of the gift of an Easter egg from the Government. More plainly told, thousands of State servants are expecting the restoration of another five per cent, of the cuts in their salaries during the bad years. Their arguments possibly are more plausible than impressive. They point . out that money has been “rolling in” to the Treasury from the sales tax, the income "tax (the rush to pay in this month has been remarkable) and from all the other sources of taxation revenue ; also, that the Budget is going to be balanced, with everything as right as right can be. Moreover, it is urged that if the Government intends to restore another five per cent, of salary cuts throughout the Public Service,this is the time to do it, since the granting of such a concession in the preelection session to come would look rather too blatant. It is to be feared that departmental great expectations will be nothing more substantial than the perversion of hope. Leading Ministers did not hesitate in their replies to questions on the subject: “Certainly not,” said one. "Not a chance in the wide world,” the other replied. Thus the prospective Easter egg to the Public Service is already blown. Hothouse Politics. Even sour grapes would have turned to a ripe sweetness in the House of Representatives this week, the indoor thermometer registering as high as 75 degrees. Without exercising the old joke about hot air in Parliament, it may be said that the temperature in the legislative chamber on the first real working day of the resumed session was a great deal hotter than the politics, which were almost frozen as far as general interest was concerned. The Companies (Bondholders Incorporation) No. 2 Bill went through the House almost as quickly as some of the schemes dealt with in the measure engulfed money for the planting of tobacco. citrus fruits, trees, and tung-oil. Labour members showed some animation in debate, but even they -were content to talk with unusual brevity. They hailed the Bill as a sort of hard stable broom for sweeping away some of the expensive litter of company bonds, but made it clear that they would have preferred something more effective for dealing in the future with enterprises which they loosely described as swindles. As sponsor of the Bill, the Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, had no difficulty in clearing all the hurdles without clouting a rail. Mortgage Finance. At the outset of the debate on the second reading of the National Mortgage Finance Bill, it was made clear at once that Mr. Coates was riding a horse of a different colour. But if there were any anticipations of a buckjumping show these were not realised. The Minister of Finance was given an excellent initial run on Thursday evening, and the numerous obstacles that were temporarily raised merely were inevitable questions seeking detailed information about a bold experiment. Members on all sides agreed, without prejudice to their own opinions about the proposals, that the Minister did exceptionally well, revealing sound knowledge of a highly technical subject. When the debate was resumed yesterday, Mr. Coates concluded his long explanatory speech, but during the day he was kept busy replying by way of invited interjection to more queries about the probable effect and benefit of the measure. After a vigorous speech by the Leader of the Labour Opposition. Mr. M. J. Savage, and a Ministerial reply by the Hon. E. A. Ransom, Minister of Lands, the debate quickly begun to sag and to drop at times to the level of dullness. So far, seven speakers have taken part in the debate which looks like going on for several days. Tlie Hon. W. Downie Stewart (Government. Dunedin West) intends to speak on the Bill next week. As far as discussion has gone there has been no indication of the possibility of drastic amendments to the measure.