THE DAY IN PARLIAMENT

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 1, 1 July 1922, Page 7

THE DAY IN PARLIAMENT

Members -were curiously apathetic yesterday aftemon—not on* question without notice was asked Ttaie may have been due to th* reminder given by Mr Speaker on Thursday that questions without notice are supposed) to be of an urgent nature On the other hand, it may have been due to a lack of ideas. Whatever the cause, the Parana Minister was allowied to present the Governor General's Message transmitting fch^ Imprest Supply Bill some minutes, before 3 pmN Labour, through. Mr Holland, immediately entered the arena with its amendment, asking the House to siate that the fhst cut in salaries was not wan anted, and to lecommend that restitution should be m^dia at least to the lower paid employees He argued, his case, and wasi supported by Mr Sullivan (Avon), but the sting was taken out of ttie debate by the immediate intervention of the Prime Mmistei. Mi Massey was like the man who had a hundred excuses for not paying, the hundredth, the soundest of the lot, being that he hadn't the money While, maintaining that, -with caa«,_the country would come through the financial yef creditably, he was sympathetic in his assertion that there would, be no surplus Just what the1 second cut would be he was not prepared to say until he had placed tho statutory report of the Judge of the Aibitration Court before his colleaguos This was the one thingl in Mr Massoy's speech that appealed to appeal to the Leades of the Opposition, whom it gave a chance to call aloud the United Party's new slo?,in "Collective Responsibility " With most of Mr Massey's other arguments, at least, m sofar as they applied to the lower ranks of the Public Service Mr. Wilford most heartily disagreed The general debate had little brightness except for one flash, of humour on. the pait of the now member for Dunedm North (Mr Miunio), who appeal's likely to be a big support to his Party'e fighting forces The amendment was decisively defeated at 10 40 p m by 38 votes to 19 And thsn members apparently recollected that they had not aoked questions at the opening of the sitting and, in the Committee stage of the Bill, made up for then earlier omission The questions ■were useful, m that they brought from the Prime Minister a definite statement that no subsidy would be paid on money raised ior the1 relief of the unemployed. It was 11 SO p m when the Bill passed! and the Houser rose.