DEPARTMENTAL VOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 227, 24 August 1938, Page 7

DEPARTMENTAL VOTES

ESTIMATES UNDER DISCUSSION OVER TWELVE MILLIONS INVOLVED The House of Representatives, yesterday, resolved itself into Committee of Supply to resume the consideration of departmental Estimates and before the adjournment was reached had approved of votes totalling £12,439,634. The following classes were passed: Marine Department, £177,497; Police Department, £621,000; Health Department, £1,327,398; Mental Hospitals Department, £416,800; Education Department, £3,989,900; Post Office Account, £3,907,039; Naval Service, £502,196; Army Department, £703,904; Air Department, £493,900. Urgency was taken for these items. The discussions ranged from'naval and air defence to fisheries, education and mental hospital administration, and during the consideration of the Police Department vote references to the increase in crime statistics were made by members of the Opposition. v

ILLEGAL FISHING. , ' MEMBERS' CONCERN. REASSURANCE BY MINISTER. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Aug. 23. I . The House of Representatives went into Committee of Supply thi| afternoon for consideration of the Estimates. Discussing the vote of £177,497 for the Marine Department, Rt. Hon. J. G Coates asked what success was being met in the planting of oysters. He understood the propagation of oysters on rock had proved quite satisfactory. The Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. W. Parry): Where? Mr Coates: I understand at Kaipara. Mr Parry: No. Mr Coates continued that, by following the methods adopted in Australia, it would be quite possible to to accelerate the propagation of oysters. Mr W. P. Endean drew attention to the large amount of illegal fishing which was taking place around the coasts of the Dominion, and said he had seen evidence of it himself in the sheltered -waters of the Huaraki Gulf. He also complained of the high prices' chnrged for oysters. The problem of illegal fishing was also referred to by Mr C. H. Burnett, who complained of the pirating of fisheries in the Bay of Plenty area and. urged that the Government should collaborate with local residents' 1 with a view to having the trouble stopped. ' The Minister of Marine (Hon. P. Fraser), in reply, said the department had not lost sight of the question of. illegal fishing in the north and was taking action to check it. Replying to - further Opposition questions- as to the cause of the tremendous- loss of toheroas last year, the Minister said officers of the Marine Department were engaged in research work concerning the loss of these shellfish. The theory at present was that the tide on the Ninety Mile , beach had not been sufficiently high, i hence the mortality among toheroas. . The loss on the Ninety Mile beach had ! nothing to do with human agency. | In reply to a question by Mr En- , dean as to the installation of radio beacons as an aid to navigation, the Minister stated that the latest and most scientific beacons were being in- 1 stalled by the Government. The vote was passed. , INCREASE TN CRIME. Referring to the vote of £621,000 for the Police Department, the Leader of the Opposition (Hon. A. Hamilton) drew attention to the fact that, according to the departmental report, there had been an increase in serious crime in New Zealand by some 10 per cent.

The Minister of Justice (Hon. P. Fraser): It is because the police have been more vigilant, not because there has been any actual increase in crime. Mr AV. J. Broadfoot also drew attention to the increase in crime as disclosed in the police report, and add-, ed that he hoped it was not duo to all the leisure we were enjoying. (Laughter). . Mr Coates, who also stressed the increase in crime, asked why it was that there were so many undetected murders of late. The Minister, in reply, said the percentage of unsolved murders was no higher than it had been before. “I assure the hon. gentleman that the Government has nothing to do with it.” (Laughter). Mr Coates said that when the present Government had been in Opposition it had blamed the then Government for the increase in crime, ancl even for'the increase in suicides. He knew that tho Government was not to be blamed, nor was the Minister or department. The Police Department, was a good one, from the Commissioner down. _ Mr Endean asked how far the Government had gone in the direction of supplying police with cars equipped with radio The Minister replied that the problem of providing the police with radio cars was being carried out as expeditiously as possible, and it was hoped before long to have the department pronerly equipped in this direction. The vote was passed. MEDICAL RESEARCH. -

Speaking on the Health Department vote of £1,327,398, Mr Hamilton asked if satisfaction had been given as a result of the compulsory amalgamation of tho Wallace and Southland Hospital‘Boards ' The Minister of Health (Mr Fraser):

Everyone seems to be quite satisfied with it. It has been very successful. . Speaking on a question by Mr R. A. Wright, who expresesd the opinion that research work might beneficially be specially concentrated on health problems peculiar to New Zealand, Mr Fraser said he did not think money could be spent to any better effect than on research and preventive medicine, and he would like to think that the House and country were whole-heart-edly behind any expenditure in this direction. He was more hopeful about research than any other aspect of the health service. If by research they could reduce the incidence of tuberculosis among the Maoris alone it would be more than worth the money spent on it. One never knew, said Mr Fraser, but that perhaps New Zealand would be able to make some great contribution to the world in discovering a cure, for some dread disease. The vote was passed. EDUCATION MATTERS,

The vote of £416,000 for the Mental Hospital Department was also passed, and the House was discussing the Education Department vote, £3.989,900, when the tea adjournment was readied Mr S. G. Holland asked if further use of the radio could not be made for the extension of the work of the Education Department’s correspondence school. * The Minister of Education (Mr Fraser), in reply to various Opposition questions, said that, although lie would not be able to present it to the House this session, sooner or later the House would be asked to face up to the problem of the conveyance to school of children attending private or Church schools. With regard to the use of radio for the correspondence school, it was being used to-day, said the Minister, and its extension was receiving consideration.

Mr S. G. Holland contended that tho provision of £SOOO for libraries for city schools throughout the Dominion was totally inadequate. Mr Wright asked what was being done in tho direction of physical instruction in schools.

Mr K. J. Holyoake expressed regret that the Education Bill was not being introduced during the present session. The Opposition had fully expected the measure, lie said, and its non-appear-ance had somewhat taken the wind out of their sails. The House had had to consider some measures which were perhaps not of quite so much importance. Mr J. B. F. Cotterill expressed ■pleasure at the provision which had been made for the appointment of physical instructors for schools. The vote was passed without further discussion.

The Post Office account, providing for the sum of £3,907,039, was the next item to .be considered.

In reply to a question by Mr Holyoake, the Postmaster-General (Hon, F. Jones) said there had been 800 appeals against regrading in the Post Office, but they had not all been settled yet. In reply to a request by Mr R. McKeen, lie said 112 slot telephones had been installed during last year. Mr McKeen suggested tliat more slot telephones might l>e erected in hilly areas. Tlie average revenue was large and there should be a reasonable margin over the maintenance costs. NAVAL STATION. On tlie noval vote of £802,196, the Minister of Defence (Mr Jones) said the Government’s objective was ‘ that in 10 years the naval personnel in New Zealand should bo 100 per cent. At present the percentage of New Zealanders was 51 per cent. Mr Coates ’asked if the Government would be prepared , to_ consider, in view of the efforts which were being made at present by Great Britain, the upkeep of an additional cruiser. ■Mr Jones: ,We have quite a number of plans under consideration at present.

Mr Coates: Is the Minister not prepared to make a statement on the subject at present? The Minister: I cannot do so until the plans are complete. Mr Coates continued that he thought there could be nothing against such a suggestion, except the cost. He also inquired concerning co-ordination between the Air Force and the Navy, and asked if the Navy required, say, six bombers, would they he made available by tho Air Force. The Minister of Finance (Hon. AV. Nash): If the Air Force wanted six cruisers would the Navy make them available ?

Tho vote was passed. On the Army vote of £703,904, Mr Endean said it was our duty to educate public opinion to the necessity for adequate defence. Mr Coates asked if the previous coast defence scheme had been completed, and whether the Government intended to enlarge that scheme. The Minister of Defence said work had been continued oh the scheme men-

tioned by Mr Coates, and was now nearing completion. The vote was passed and the House proceeded with the discussion of the Air Department vote of £493,900, which was rapidly put through, and the House rose at 10.30 p.m. Altogether nine classes of providing for a total of £12,439,634, were passed during the day, making the total Estimates £13,317,137 passed so far this session.

JOTTINGS FROM SPEECHES* ATTENTION TO DEFENCE. The state of the Territorial Forces came in for a measure of Opposition criticism during the discussion on the Army Estimates in the House of Representatives last night. The question was raised by Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, who said the Government did not appear to be giving the matter the consideration it deserved. Mr W. P. Endean: Look at the number of Government members present. Mr Coates: There does not appear to be a single member on the Government side of the House with a thought in his head on defence. The Minister of Finance (Hon. W. Nash): AVe have got better results than you ever had. Mr Coates: There is one thing: 1 am not a political wriggler. There is one champion at that in this House and that is the Minister of Financed PUBLIC SERVICE APPEALS.

Notice of his intention to ask the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the Public Service Commissionqrsxare claiming before the Publio Service Appeal Board that, by the provisions of section 17 of the Public Service Amendment Act, 1927, the rights of appeal are so limited to members of the geenral division of the Public Service as to be valueless, was given by Mr C. H. Chapman. Mr Chapman will also ask whether, to save useless litigation,, the Government will bring down legislation this session giving members of the general division the right of appeal on any matter affecting their position or employment in the Public Service and any act or omission of the Public Service Commissioners. , ILLEGAL LIQUOR SALES. The efforts of the police force to check illicit sales of liquor were referred to by the Minister in Charge of the Police Department (Hon. P. Fraser). “Sly-grogging is rampant in my electorate; in fact, more rampant than ever before,” said Mr AV. J. Broadfoot (AVaitomo). “I wish something could be done to keep it in check. However, I fully realise that it is pretty difficult.” Mr Fraser: You realise that members of the police force are doing their best to keep it in check. SCHOOL LIBRARIES. An item of £SOOO for school libraries was described as totally inadequate by Mr S. G. Holland during the discussion on tlie Estimates of the Education Department. It was quite useless the department making a grant of £3 or £4 to a school to assist in the establishment of a library, said Mr Holland. It 'was far better to equip ! one school with a first-class library than to give a number of schools one book each and leave it to the committee to supply 999. INCIDENCE OF CRIME.

Reasons for the increased crime in New Zealand were sought by members of the Opposition during consideration of tho Estimates of the Police Department. “It is a peculiar fact,” said Hon. A. Hamilton, “but there appears to have been .less crime during tlie years of the depression. One would expect more crime in poorer times.” Hon. P. Fraser: At last the Leader of tho Opposition, has found a justification for tho depression. (Laughter.) AVHALING IN ANTARCTIC. Mr AV. P. Endean asked whether, in view of the exceedingly high price of oysters, private enterprise could not do better. “1 also want to ask about whaling,” he said “Japan refused to take part in the international conference on whaling in the Antarctic. Is the attitude of Japan still one of isolation?” The Minister: Complete isolation. The Chairman of Committees (Mr E. J. Howard) : There is no item on whaling. 4 Mr Endpan: There is one on the Ross Soa, and I understand that the only reason we have suzerainty over the Ross Sea is to protect the whales. OVERTIME ALLOWANCES. An item of £85,000 for overtime and meal allowances in the Post Office account was criticised by Mr S. G. Holland. The sum, he said, represented an increase of £SOOO on the amount voted for the same purpose last year. It seemed reasonable to assume that 1000 additional men were now employed by the'■Post and Telegraph Department, and in those circumstances it seined extraordinary that so large a vote should bo required for allowances. Hon. F. Jones said the vote for extra labour was due to the huge amount of telephone extension Work that was taking place. It was not advisablo to have a- large staff on a permanent basis. During the last twelve months a large number of temporary employees had been placed on the permanent staff. BLUE COD DIFFICULTIES. Tho contention that during the last few months tlie price of blue cod had been fixed so high that it was now impossible for fishermen at Bluff and Stewart Island to compete in tlie Australian market with South African exports wits made by the Leader of the Opposition. Tho position was serious because the inhabitants of Stewart Island depended almost entirely on the fishery for their living. MENTAL HOSPITAL SERVICE. An indication that the Government was offering higher salaries and considering other inducement to attract medical men to service in mental hospitals, where tho shortage had taken an acute form, was given by the Min-

istcr in charge of the Mental Hospitals Department. Mr Fraser said it had com© down to a question of offering inducements, and the Government had been compelled to offer higher salaries than it would otherwise havo offered for young medical men just emharking on a career. The Government was also considering offering a year’s leave after so many years’ service.