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Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 2, 2 July 1926, Page 10

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ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE

FINAL SPEECHES IN THE HOUSE

The Address-in-Reply motion in the House of Beprcseutatives was passed in tho early hours this 'morning, after a' week of debate, during which thirty-eight speeches were recorded.

Resuming th,i debate, Mr. J. R. Hamilton (Awarua) maintained that tho wages and conditions of tho workers to-day were better than they had ever been in New Zealand, and there were much better opportunities for saving than hitherto. Discussing rural problems, lie declared that wherever the farmers endeavoured to better their position they always met with an unsympathetic reception. He alluded to dairy 'control, and said that nothing was going to help the farmer more than stabilisation of prices. He stressed the seriousness of the drift from country to town, and said he had never heard the Labour Party, who were so concerned about unemployment, make any suggestion as to how that drift, which was linked up with unemployment, should be stopped. There was any amount of work offering in the couutry, and there was no need for people to go to the towns. : The apple-growers were receiving only Id per pound for appjes, and how could they be expected to carry on at that? And yet the community* looked on and did nothing to nelp. Mi H. G. R. Mason (Eden): "How can the community help?"

Mr, Hamilton: "By attempting to stabilise the price and allowing the growers a fixed minimum price, just as" the Arbitration Court fixes the minimum wage." Something should be done also to protect the oat-growers against Canadian importations. He refeired to the battle between the City Council and its milk suppliers as another instance of the unsympathetic treatment being meted out to the primary producers. He opposed the establishment of the Agricultural College on the score of expense, and said that if tho Government did adopt such a p.?'posal he hoped it would make use of some .of-tho laud it possessed and rot spend mora money for a site. He was not concerned Rijout where the-col-lege was situated.

REVISION OF TAEIFF OK TIMBER.

Mr. F. Waite (Clutha) said he believed that farmers should co-operate, and that all.those interested in capital and labour should work together for the solution of national problems. Beferring to the timber industry, he pointed out that .the mills were not working full time. Why did not New Zealand builders use more New Zealand timber? Architects should be read a sharp lesson when they specified imported timbers in the erection of new.buildings. The tariff on imported timbers should be revised. An increase would not increase tho cost of building very • much. Turning to the subject of defence the speaker said that overseas trade must-be kept up; land defence in ■ itself was not sufficient. We must have naval and military protection if we wero to play our proper part in defence of Empire. He also pointed to the inadequate proportion New Zealand was paying towards naval defence.

MANY SUBJECTS.

The Eight Hon. Sir J. 6. Ward (Invercargill) put in a plea for the execution of certain afforestation works in Southland, and dealt with the question of shipping facilities between Bluff and Melbourne. He said he had nothing to say against the Union Company, in which he had no interest, but which he thought was well managed. Ho thought however, that the Government might well subsidise the company with the object of improving its Southern services. Whereas there was formerly a weekly service, they now had a fortnightly service with alternating routes. He. made an earnest appeal to the Government to have the service improved. Sir Joseph then devoted attention to the timber industry, the serious position of which ho emphasised. New Zealand was suffering by foreign importations. Timber was being "brought into the country at freight rates which were not as high as the rail charges between Ohakune and Wellington, ar.d Orepuki and Dunedin. Higher wages were being made by the timber jnen in New Zealand than in Canada, the East,. arid the United States. (Labour dissent.) The low freights on imported timbers wero killing th'o local industry. In regard to coal, Sir Joseph wanted to know why New Zealand" coals, supplemented by imported coals, could not be used on our railways. We were being urged to assist the local indus-' tries and keep our own men employed, but it made one politically sick to hear such cries in view of what was going on around one. With regard to wheat, Sir Joseph Ward'said the present deadlock between the millers and the growers should be ended. He thought the matter was worth inquiry. If necessary the growers should bo given time to get out of' the industry, and wheat should be imported. i Great Britain, which had a population of about 45,----000,000, imported her wheat, and yet sold wheat at a cheaper rate than New Zealand. He did not believe the growers could produce their wheat at under 7s per bushel. The matter should not bo allowed to drift. If necessary, let the duty be taken off wheat and allow wheat to be imported. , An honourable member: "Arc you in favour of free trade in wheat?"

Sir Joseph replied that if they could get wheat at 5s per bushel he would take it. Sir Joseph asked whether the Prime Minister would lay upon the table of the House at an early date the Locarno Pact. He asked X Mr. Coatcs had any information that was not confidential'showing why Germany was not admitted to tho League of Nations. No one could say with any confidence that war would not again occur, and perhaps much sooner than everybody imagined. Sooiier or later, ho said,

they would have to drop party politics in tho House on the great issue of representation abroad. A permanent body would havo to be established in England to voice the opinions o£ Now Zealand both in the Parliamentary recess and during tho session, without the Prime Minister having to be torn away from his responsibilities. In conclusion Sir Joseph stressed tho need for increasing tho number of people on tho land, oven if it came to acquiring the land compulsorily.

Mr. E: Walter (Stratford) spoke on tho unemployment question, saying that lie believed the payment of union wages on relief works would break the country.' The Government was doing what, it could to meet the position, aiid was doing its best in the matter of immigration. He appealed for an adequate contribution to tho Navy, and favoured free trade within the Empire. Mr. Walter devoted a good deal of attention to rural matters, and argued that subdivisions should be encouraged with a view of promoting closer settlement.

Mr. H. S. S. Kyle (Riecarton) referred to the necessity for encouraging production from tho laud, and suggested the insertion of a clause in tho Land Act giving power to land registrars to stop further aggregation of land over a- certain value. It would be a sorry day for New Zealand if ever the wheat industry was driven out of the country.

ASSISTANCE FOR TIMBER INDUSTRY.

Mr. T. E. Y. Seddon (Westland) dealt with the position of the timber industry, which he urged should be assisted in every possible way. He said jt was a hardship for people living on mining liases to be debarred from tho right of obtaining State advances. Mr. Seddon commended the work of tho Plunket Society, and said this was of the utmost importance to the country. The advisability of establishing farm demonstration plots was urged by tho speaker, who also dealt with afforestation, which he said could be helped by co-operation with the Forestry League, which had very high ideals. Mr. C. E. Macmillan (Tauranga) said he expected to find that the price of fertilisers would be reduced as a. result of a proposal which the Minister of Agriculture had in mind. He thought the problem of the value of land could be solved by making it illegal for a mortgage to be registered for a greater value than the Government valuation, or in other words at more than its productive value. Mr. E. A. Ransom (Pahiatua): "Confiscation." After the mover of the Address-in-Reply motion had briefly replied to the discussion, the motion was passed, and the House rose at 1.26 a.m. until 2.30 p.m. to-day.