PARLIAMENT

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 223, 21 August 1931, Page 7

PARLIAMENT

f LICENSING POLL QUESTION. | LOCAL OPTION VOTING. H EXCEPTIONS NOT POSSIBLE. w, Per Press Association. K WELLINGTON, Aug. 21. K. The House of Representatives met &t 10.30 this - morning. ||; The Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. G. ■' V. Forbes, replying to Mr V. Ward, K said that if legislation were passed H; postponing the licensing poll he could ffij: not see how it would be possible to B make any exceptions in the direction K; of permitting polls on the question |p; of local restoration. He thought the HR) majority of the people of Invercargill B&v would agree that it was unwise to de3||: part from the principle involved and E||| that it would be much better that the Hh&; feeling which might arise over the local poll should not be permitted to if pgr, cloud the issues at the forthcoming HEr; election. ill RESUMPTION OF BUDGET DEBATE. Ssfff; Resuming the Budget debate, Hon. jfflwt'J. B. Donald supplemented his statement of the previous evening regarding the Post Office returns. He said fiSaSl. it was gratifying that in addition to ;|ffia n increase in revenue there was also I MP.a decrease in expenditure. Further- | ffli'inore, the department still had its best a |M ! ';jnonth before it. | i§|| Referring to the wheat duties, Mr 5 Donald said, he did not see why the mKtvheat farmer should necessarily have SpM|i:the value of his land kept at £2O per acre when the sheep farmer was find§§|||f. ing his equity dwindling away. Mr Donald said he did not agree l|§|y,with Mr Cobbe that the number of members of Parliament could be relllfij/.liamentarians were already overvvorkggfKi'sed and he hoped that when there was sffiljt (pan improvement in the national finIPljirances the Government of the day would Igiasp,increase the members’ salaries, pjpfe Replying to the assertion that the g|||jffiGoverninent could make two millions Ilf k) by ■ taking over the distribution of ?gg|g Mr Donald said that on the IffgHjl difference between the English and WRM (New Zealand prices there would be ||§s§ Scope for only a million and a quarIviH aT *d from this there would have to te deducted the consequences of a§sl| storage charges, greater discosts and costs of freighting spirit double the distance. Fur?Smi*hermore, during the time involved in V;f>'V..all these processes the evaporation would be a very high charge. 1 , Mr J. S. Fletcher: Everyone of ||j|!|||jbose excuses applies to England. ffI&ACCUSED OF EXTRAVAGANCE. RSSBSjKp '■■■ H. Holland expressed the opinb:if;‘jon that it was a pity the services of iwflwl* o members of the old Unemploy- > iinept Board had not been retained because their experience would have E|j||||been valuable. He urged that the Efj;i|inoney should be spent on more proworks and lie enumerated a ilfl Dumber of relief works on which he '-vjibnsidered money had been frittered mllnHE a y- Ho accused the Government of s‘.v^l^^pkrn.vnganco in expenditure on rail- • and roads. F. Lye said that, although a number of Opposition members 'SjjfjipMta- spoken during the debate, there not been much in the way of consuggestions. He defended . the Government’s administration of ®mW*funds from the petrol tax. W. Nash (Hutt) said that much jfe;fes4l[ad been heard about Arbitration awards in relation to farming glf||®Sosts. He argued that the Labour Sjjjifcharges formed a comparatively small |||§ S'.; item. |Kjg «§jf The House adjourned at 1 p.m. m The report of the debate on the yesterday appears on page 2.