THE DAY IN PARLIAMENT

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 29, 3 August 1923, Page 7

THE DAY IN PARLIAMENT

With a. bulky volume of appropria-! tions totalling over twenty-Bevea mil-' lions sterling to be approved by the: House of Representatives, and not much! time left this session, the Prime Min-i ister for the second day this week asked; the House yesterday afternoon to resume its consideration of these depart-; mental votes. For the second time the! Opposition forces agreed to let the mo-i tion to go into Committee of Supply j pass without delay, but there was a longj discussion prior to this point, on reports^ from Select Committees. The bid cbn-j troversy of leasehold versus freehold wasi involved in one petition, the Lands Com-! mittee venturing to express its dp,iriion! that certain national endowment lessees! who had petitioned for the right to con-i vert to freehold had the Committee's 1' sympathy, though, as a matter of policy: was involved, they made no recommen-1 dation. The leaseholders and freehold-! ers proceeded. to make theiv own re-; commendations on familiar lines, and the: afternoon was nearly gone before the; Estimates were reached. Here another! subject of perennial interest cropped lipi in a Native Department's vote fbr the j destruction of rabbits. There are many;i experts on this subject in the House,, and they differed, as experts usually do,i quite on non-party lines. Ultimately,: the Hon. X G. Coates (Minister of Na- 1 ' tiye Affairs) saw his votes approved' without alteration, though he could hot; help reminding the House that not much: had 'been heard about Native affairs.; However, he cheerfully suggested that' this preliminary canter oh rabbits wouldl "get members into their stride for good! running form when the Minister of Agi-i culture came along, with his Estimates.! Unfortunately for Mr. Coates, the "good: funning form " was maintained for another of his Departments, the Post and Telegraph, which only avoided a small reduction of its estimates by one- vote; on an amendment moved by Mr. H. E. Holland to protest against the failure to grant relief from the salary cuts in cases' coming under the scope of the "hardship " clause. The division showed: Liberals and Labour members in the same lobby, and the Government forces on "the other side. The Independents and Mr. Isitt were absent. Subsequently' two other amendments of the Post and Telegraph vote were moved, one involving the question of the salaries of temporary officers, and the other that of telephone charges. Both were defeated by narrow margins, and the House rose at 1.26 a.m.