WEEKLY MORNING SITTING

Feilding Star, Volume 7, Issue 2305, 6 September 1929, Page 8

WEEKLY MORNING SITTING

THE HOUSE AT WORK

SUGGESTIONS FROM [MEMBERS (Per Press Association). Wellington. Sept. 0. The House met at 10.30 o’clock this morning. INS Til {TNG UNA [PLOYED Mi- Fraser (Labour) gave notice of his intention to introduce the Unemployed Workers Rill, No, 2. back, to VOLUNTEERING Dij.cussing the annual report of the General Officer commanding the Defence Forces, Air Jordan said it. seemed unreasonable that while persons . convicted by the civil court uere dismissed from the to roes, thereby gaining exemption il-om service, other young men who appealed for Very good reasons were not granted exemption. He also submitted that instead of raising the. standard of fitness and to keep down the number, of trainees, it would be preferable to. take in those young men who were not as tit but wanted to nerve and grant exemption to those who did pot desire to enter the forces. It seemed to him that those who were physically unfit were; more in iicod of some sort of training than the others. He urged that the country should return to the Volunteer system, and should pay more attention, to physical training. Air Waite stated that it was quite wrong to) assume that the Great War, had ended wars. There had been more terife ia the ten years following that event, than in the, ten. years preceding it. With such Ja.ctn as naval competition, subannine race, uneasiness in the Balkans, the present relationship between Germany; and France and developmets in air and chemical methods of warfare staring us in the face we had to bo prepared. Ho asked the AJin.ptcr of Defence whether lie had worked out a vselieino for the conscription of other things besides men in the event of war, and he referred to the,; French system of conscripting the whole nation.

Air Holland (Labour) said world peace wap largely dependent on international relationship and arrangement.

AL Harris defended, the present defence system and opposed the. suggestion .to grant exemption from service to • any section of the community Hie contended that the ultimate result of .such a, course would be tile brcfikdow.ii tof the defetn.ee of the country. ,

Col. AfoDouakl (Wairarapa), asserted that the Volunteer Bystem would not in, any way reduce the efficiency of the defence forces of the Dominion. He believed that the time had .arrived for a complete remodelling of our organisation and that a mi,go:,.sum of money could bo saved without any loss of efficiency.. . Air Barnard isaid the Labour Party intended next session to introduce a Defence Bill of its own. They might include some provision for the conscription of weaftu in the evd.nt •of war. ' That the power of the conscription oifi wealth -existed to-day fvas ’>fche viw xpressed by Air Wright (Reform) who- said the .Government-, could achieve this my means of taxation THE AJJNISTER. REPLIES Air Wilford replied that the naval ue,fence estimates were £40,000

higher than last year, because wo had not up to the present carried out, our undertaking arranged at, the Imperial Conference, It had at first been agreed that we should maintain in thane waters three cruisers at an average cost of £170,000 per year. Subsequently it had been arranged that we should maintain only .two! cruisers, .contribute £125,000 to the 'Singapore bane and provide repair dock at Devonport. The maintenance of the Dunedin had actually exceeded the. average and cost £200,000 pr year. The Diomede had. cost £IBO,OOO. What wo had not done Was to improve the Col lope dock at Auckland so that it would he capable of dealing with a firstclass cruiser. This task was now being undertaken. The increase in, the naval expenditure would be only temporary. The British Government realising'the state of New Zealand’s financial position, had mot this country so fairly in regard to repairs that this increase would not be permanent. The House at 1 o’clock adjourned fcoi 2.15. /