PARLIAMENT.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 240, 23 September 1922, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd. LEGISLATIVE COUNCH. The War Disabilities Removal Ball was reported from the Statutes ReviSl °n ; Committee without amendment. The following bills were passed:— Insurance Companies Deposits Amendment, Customs Amendment, and . weights and Measures Amendment. It was provided that the last-mentioned bill should come into operation on 1 January Ist, 1923. > HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. RAILWAY’ ESTIMATES. ! The House went into Committee of Supply on the railway vote, £6,164,000. 1 The Minister, replying to various : criticisms, said that since the war was ; over the position had improved in the supply of locomotives. The depart- . ment’s future policy would be to ad- , minister the railways in the best in- , terest.s of the country. The general . manager was being given an opportunity to get among the public and see what the requirements were. The heads I of the various branches had to slioul- ! der a greater share of responsibility, so - as to relievo the general manager of » detail work. The travelling privileges . of railwaymen and their families dur- - ing holidays would be restored by the I next holiday period. The local require- . ments of the services in various disj tricts were receiving attention, but he pointed out that these matters could 1 not be arranged at once. Officers of 3 the sen-ice were instructed to practise regid economy and to act upon their I own initiative where necessary to a - greater extent that in the past, t Younger men would have every opnorI tunity to rise in the ranks according , to merit. Occasionallv it happened , that a man was too timid to act with ( the freedom that bad been given under the new system of administration. ' Dr. Thacker urged that to improve c conditions in the railway service and to maintain the coal supplies it was only . necessary to improve the miners’ con- , ditions. and let them supply the rail- - way. coal needs by contract. Limited ’ sleeper trains should be put on main . lines. Tourist traffic should be encouraged. The Minister, renlying to further questions, said the Department had al- _ readv tackled the Question of giving [ employees tatter conditions and hous1 ing. Co-onerative mining was enco”»*- - aged hv the Mines Department. The - carriage of manure for renewing pas- . hires at minimum freight rates was a t matter deserving of attention, but the . Department’s first duty was to meet the expenses of working. The svstom 2 nf commercial agents in the North and lslands had been criticised, but * ho had noticed that no suggestion was put forward as to how it could be ini- ? proved. Facilities for tourists were I desirable, but at present that traffic ? was not very extensive, and would not t warrant expensive limited trains to meet it. ; The Minister, in reply to a Question. r said they were doing everything nossible to cone with motor competition, and he believed they had been able to red no m the traffic. * Sir George Hunter thanked the Min- ' ister for his promise to sympathetically 3 consider th") proposal to carry, manures i free on the same basis as lime is 1 carried. At 10.15 the Minister stated that he 1 had taken a full note of all the questions raised during the discussion. He would not delay the House by referring * to them at that hour, but would carefully discuss each one with the general manager. 1 The vote was then passed after five / hours’ discussion. 1 EDUCATION. ! The Education vote (£2,569,354) was next taken. s Mr. R. McCallum moved that the t vote be reduced by £1 as an indication ? that the House did not favour the establishment of junior high schools at the present time.—Lost on the voices. . The Minister, in reply to points j raised, said that they were not building , teachers’ residences because they had no money. He denied that education 5 in the country districts was being neglected for the benefit of the towns. In t many respects he had gone out of his ' way to increase the facilities there, the - proof of which was that the capitation - expenditure in this connection bad inr creased by 110 per cent. r The vote was passed. * The Department of Industries and k Commerce (£31,530) was next discussI e( JThe Hun. W. Nosworthy said the quality of wheat this year was not so good as for some years past. It was ; true the Government had bought > 1,000,000 bushels, and might have to i buy more, according to the necessities ) of the country. The Hon. E. P. Lee, replying regardj ing the Board of Trade, said the board came in for a good deal of ridicule, but was doing excellent work, much of which, of course, was not always vis- ! ible. It was proposed to spend £60,000 on the Empire Exhibition. The vote as passed, and the House r rose at 11.52 p.m. till 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday,