THE BUDGET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 August 1924, Page 9

THE BUDGET.

DEBATE CONTINUED. MEN ON THE LAND. (by telegraph-—press association.) mi YVELLINGTUN, Ang. 5. the debate on the Budget was continued m the House this afternoon and to-nignt. Mr ,j . C. Thomson (Wallace) advocated the establishment of a development fund ior the assistance of .men on the land who were really deserving of such aid. Mr Thomson urged that the fullest assistance be given to develop thy Urepulti State oil deposits, since power resources in any country were of supreme importance' in these days. Iho Government had already granted a. bonus on oil produced from Orepuki, but it limited the payment to £2(JUu per annum, and it should extend the oonus to all oil produced. Mir G. R. Sykes (Masterton) thought the time had arrived when all young men, whether ex-soldiers or not-, should be able, if they so desired, to get laud for settlement. Mr Sykes supported the establishment of ail agricultural bank, whereby farmers might get some assistance additional to that obtainable under the Advances Department. Mr E. Lve (Waikato) commended the group settlement scheme in operation in Mest Australia. The Government was not giving sufficient aid to the men who went .in to the backbloeus to develop second - class lands. Cheap money for developmental purposes was a prime necessity. He contended that 'the* city man received great benefit from the reduction in postal rates, while the people in the backblocks had their telephone charges increased. Mr F. Hockley (Rotorua') advocated the offer by the Government of a bonus to the chemists of the world for the discovery of a cure for the “bush sick” lands in the Rotorua districts, on which at present cattle could not run longer than six months, and if they were not then removed they died. New Zealand chemists had investigated, but beyond hazarding the opinion that the lack of iron in the soil was at the root of the trouble, they had -been unable to point a way to the solution of the problem, which affected at least a million acres of land. The debate was continued till 10.30 p.m., when the House adjourned till 2.30 p.m. to-moirrow.