MINISTER’S ANGER

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 303, 20 November 1936, Page 9

MINISTER’S ANGER

COUNTY COUNCIL DECISION. Per Press Association. NAPIER, Nov. 19. The action of the Hawke’s Bay County in suspending the tar-sealing programme this year because Government legislation had so raised costs as to make it impossible, biought down upon the heads of the council a strong reprimand from the Alinister of Public AVorks (Hon. R. Semple) when he met deputations from local bodies here to-dav. Air Semple accused the

council of not doing the decent tiling, and told members he wanted co-opera-tion and did not want responsible bodies to vent on the Government their political spleen. Mr Semple said the remarks of the chairman of the council (Mr F. B. Logan) were an exaggeration. “To push the onus for your council not being able to complete its programme on the shoulders of the Government is not tlie decent thing, and it is not in keeping with fact,” he said. “The Government is doing its best to help. We have appropriated one million for secondary roads and £13,500,000 for main highways. This shows we are not neglecting the needs of the back-coun-

try farmer. It is perfectly true w# increased the wages of the men doing these jobs, and so we should. It is not right that we should ask them to build tip national assets oil starvation wages. I wouldn’t stay in office five minutes if we hadn't paid them decent wages. We have lifted wages so that men can have a decent standard of living. J would have been pleased to discuss the council’s position with you, Init when the council holds a pistol at the Government’s head then we’re not going to take it lying down. 1 don’t care twopence what political school of thought a mail belongs to or what his religion is, but I don’t want him to exhibit political spleen as far as my Government is concerned.”