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Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20635, 15 August 1941, Page 6

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STATE PUBLICATIONS REDUCTION ADVOCATED DISCUSSION IN HOUSE (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. There was almost a complete absence of formal business when the House of Representatives met to-day and it immediately went into committee of supply for the consideration o' the estimates. The first vote to be dealt with was that of the Printing and Stationer) Department for £357,530. Discussing this vote. Opposition members stressed the necessity for the conservation of paper. Mr. W. J. .Poison (Nat., Stratford) advocated the cutting down of the distribution of free copies of Hansard. He also stated that a large number o' Government Gazettes sent out wen seldom used and often discarded without being opened. Here again a savinf might be effected by cutting down the number of copies distributed. Mr. F. W. Doidge (Nat., Tauranga) suggested that it might be made a condition when new telephone directories were issued that the old directories should be returned and usee for re-pulping purposes. The saving in paper thus effected would amount to many hundreds of tons. New Building Postponed Mr, C. G. E. Harker (Nat., Waipawa) said he had noticed that while there had been a reduction in the size of nearly every newspaper in New Zealand he noticed that the Listener had not been reduced and said this might be done with advantage. The Minister in Charge of me Printing and Stationery Department, the Hon. P. C. Webb, said that every effort was being made by the department tc conserve paper supplies. The department had from 300 to 350 tons annually ot waste paper and every scrap that could be utilised was used in different forms. A saving had been effected in connection with the issue of the telephone directories because •.he department was not issuing directories twice yearly now but only once a year. The Minister also mentioned the overcrowded state of the Government printing offices. He said that tenders had been called for a £600,000 building in Wellington to replace the present building, but owing to the war conditions this had not been gone on with. The vote was passed.