PARLIAMENTARY NOTES

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 August 1920, Page 6

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES

TOPICS OF THE DAY. DAY BY DAY. UNEVENTFUL DAY. [Our Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, This Day. Alter a long and uneventful sitting of the House the Land and Income Tax Bill was read a first time. The Statutes Repeal Expiring Laws Continuance Bill providing princpally for the extension of protection to tenants was read a second time. A GRIEVANCE VENTILATED. Dr. A. K. Newman (Wellington East) again raised the question in the House about the hours worked by charwomen employed at Parliament Buildings. He protested that these women should imt be required to work on Sundays, and said that in the days of the late Mr. C. Robinson’s control of Bellamy’s Sunday work was not required. Mr. Massey said that if Sunday work was not required by Mr. Robinson it should be avoidable new. He thougnt that six days was enough to work, and that they should be allowed to observe the Sabbath. His influence would bo in that direction.

PAYMENT OF MAYORS. Air. G. Witty (Riccarton) asked the Prime Minister if, when the Municipal Corporations Bill comes before the Hoi ise again lie would consider the doubling of the honoraria of the four cities. No Mayor could entertain the people he had to on the present amount. Mr. Massey: I have no doubt that as the cities grow tire salaries of Mayors will be increased. I suggest that Mr. Witty should take his opportunity when the bill comes before the House again. AN EYE ON AMERICA. The Government was urged by Air. T. AI. Wilford in the House of Representatives to have a New Zealand agent appointed at San Francisco to keep New Zealand in touch with trade and commercial affairs, and also to apprise the Government of important legislation which might affect us. Of such nature was the Jones Shipping Bill, reference to which he had already made, and of whmh New Zealand knew little. Air. Wilford said the only agent we had in San Francisco at present received £IOO a year, and he was of little use to the Dominion. Air. Alassey replied that the Jones Shipping Bill was being closely watched. If necessary, representations would be made to the Imperial Government, who would forward them through the British Ambassador. Air. Alassey thought it would be a good thing to have New Zealand agents appointed in Eastern and Western America. CASE FOR COMPASSION. The Internal Affairs estimates contain an item “£SO compassionate allowance to Aliss Ruth Lynn for physical disablement incurred whilst in the services of the Samoan Administration.” A slightly different complexion was put upon this item by Air. J. Horn (Wakatipu), who said that the lady was in the employ of the Government as a schoolteacher at Samoa. She met with an accident to her ankle. The local Government doc- ■ v who attended her treated her for snrain. The lady came on holiday > New Zealand, and on returning to Samoa was still suffering pain, and the doctor then found that the bone of the ankle was fractured, and the i*i; suit was the necessity for the amputation of the foot. Unfortunately, a portion of the leg had also to be amputated—and that was- the position of the lady to-day. The school teacher of the district in which the lady lived had subscribed £SO to help her pay her hospital expenses. Air. Horn asked the Government to give further consideration to the case, for the lady had no other source to depend upon. NEW ZEALAND WOAIEN. The Prime Minister stated in the House on Friday that he wished to correct the false impression given by a statement made by an bon. member the day before that there were 20,000 more women than men in New Zealand. That was not the case. Returns furnished him by the Government Statistician showed that on December 31st, 1919, the number of males in the Dominion was 588,888, as against 575,517 females or an excess of some 13,000 males. The numbers of 15 years of age and upwards were 406.880 males and 390,224 females, giving an excess of over 16,000 males. Mr. H. E. Holland (Duller) said that he was responsible for the statement referred to. He had quoted, and had correctly quoted, the figures from the latest Year Book. He had not access to the figures given by the Prime Minister. What, he asked, was the cause of the difference?

Mr. Massey : The soldiers were then away.

AVIATION. BRISBANE, August 10.— Parer and iViciutosii nave passed Powell Creek. They are Hying strongly.

Lieutenants Parer and Mclntosh have acconqdished a wonderful feat in driving a single-engine machine from England to Australia. They have no company to back them financially, turn when offered financial help they preferred to depend 'on themselves. When they wanted oil they engaged in manual labour in order to raise money to buy it. Hair-breadth escapes, frequent trouble with their engine, and Financial dilemmas make up a record which has gained the sympathy and admiration of the public. Lieutenant Parer, who was torn in St, Kilda, was in the Australian Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force for the greater part of the 'war, and when peace was signed he entered for the £IO,OOO Commonwealth prize, and for 18 months did his utmost to get a machine for the flight. He wished to have his own aeroplane. Many of the manufacturers were prepared to offer him the post of pilot. He refused several machines, which, in his judgment, were faulty. Having failed to get a machine, the Australian authorities cancelled his leave, and he was sent to the Repatriation Depot. Here he met a young Scottish-Australian, Lieutenant J. C. Mclntosh, and they determined to join forces. After various expedients and attempts to secure a machine, Mr. Peter Dawson, the well-known distiller, placed the necessary funds at their disposal. Failing to get permission to start from the Australian authorit’es, who feared that they might be killed, they decided to start on their own responsibility. Sir Ross Smith had already won the prize. Captain Matthews was at Constantinople.

At last they started off on their adventurous voyage in a great storm. O i January 14 they arrived at Paris, where everyone wondered at their daredevil courage in leaving London in such weather. Lieuts Parer and Mclntosh, in recording their experiences and adventures in making the record flight from London to Calcutta, say;

“We have crashed at Moulmein aftercovering 8343 miles of our flight from Hounslow to Australia in 95 flying hours. Had we crashed anywhere but on the Maidan, our names would probably have been added to the list of aviators who have lost their lives on their flight on the air read to Australia.

“We have added another sheaf of very interesting air data to that already compiled up to Calcutta. Our long, risky flight is becoming more and more justified. Our records for any commercial aviation company in India are almost invaluable. “We hope to be the first pilots to run a single engine aeroplane to Australia, for that is the machine of the future for the average private aviator or business man —more particularly in the East, where the climate will soon make a big machine too expensive to keep. “We depend entirely on the proved stability of our wee machine, the Puma engine, and our little improvements to it.” After passing Moulmein, they had a series of mishaps and crashes, but nothing daunted them ; they almost rebuilt their machine after one crash, and now they have, won through. Their reception in Br’sbane and Sydney wul equal those acceded Sir Ross Smith and his crew.