GALLERY NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 203, 27 July 1929, Page 8

GALLERY NOTES

DAY IN PARLIAMENT. LOAN CORRESPONDENCE. (By Telegraph—Special to Standard.) WELLINGTON, July 27. In the House of Representatives today Mr W E. Barnard (Napier) asked the Prime Minister: (1) Whether he considers the Government and not the Treasury Department is the better judge .is to whether correspondence relating to national borrowing, transactions° should be placed before the House; and (2), if so, ivhcther the Government will itself decide all questions as to the propriety, or otherwise, ot making all such correspondence available for the information of the House. . . . , The Prime Minister, in reply, said that in regard to the first part of the question, the suggestion made would b-j in practice impossible. There were negotiations that \vent 911 for weeks at a time regarding the financial undertakings of the country which, if made available to the public, would destroy tlie success of the negotiations. It was against precedent that the work of the Treasury should be placed on the table of the House or made use of. To do so would destroy the effect of such negotiations in this or any other country. In regard to the second part of the question, the Government should not- do what was suggested, the Treasury being the responsible authority. An hon. member: Then the Treasury is superior to the Government. Sir Joseph Ward: That is nonsense, perfect nonsense. The Government is superior to them all, but the Government must abide by the ordinary principles of financial undertakings. They could not let private people know and bring such transactions into the light of day. Mr Holland: They are partners in the business. Sir Joseph Ward: Yes, but the hon. gentlemen is not a partner in the Treasury. (Dissent). Hon. W. Downie Stewart asked if the Prime Minister remembered the occasion in 1912 when a dispute arose in the House as to a loan floated in London, and he (tire Prime Minister) gave to the House the correspondence from the High Commissioner. Sir Joseph Ward: That is a different matter. If I tabled them (the papers) the hon. gentleman would not liave a leg to stand on. Labour member: How can we judge ? ~ Sir Joseph Ward: It could not be done without doing a great deal of damage. LETTER THAT WAS NOT SENT. The matter of the Yaile letter concerning the Taupo railway cropped up in the House of Representatives again to-day. It will be remembered that the letter, supposed to have been sent by Mr Coates in reply to Mr Vaile, was read by Mr Wilford last night. In answer to a question by Mr Coates as to the telegram that was supposed to have been sent. Sir Joseph admitted that there was no telegram on the file. . , Sir Joseph Ward said that he did not wish to do an injustice to Mr Coates: It appeared that the letter read by Mr Wilford had an ink line drawn through it. “Whether that is the letter Mr Coates ordered should be sent out, I do not know,” said Sir Joseph. He added that . adjacent to the letter sent by Mr Vaile there were two carbon copies of the letter he (Sir Joseph Ward) read out last night. Mr Coates: You didn’t read it. Sir Joseph‘Ward: No; the Munster of Justice did. Mr Coates’s only-remark was that the statement now made confirmed his memory of what happened.^ From what Sir Joseph Ward said it seems evident that the letter read by Mr Wilford was not sent. MILD SENSATION. There was a mild sensation in the House just before the adjournment this evening. The Prime Minister’s answer to a question by the Leader of the Opposition said that the House would deal with the standing orders on Tuesday, but it would have to adjourii either that day or Wednesday owing to the death of an absent member. .Members crowded to the Ministers’ benches to know who had died, but were relieved to find that the Prune Minister referred only to an ex-mem-ber, Mr Arnold, whose death had been announced some days ago.