THE IMPREST SUPPLY BILL

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12908, 3 July 1905, Page 3

THE IMPREST SUPPLY BILL

POINTS IN THE DEBATE.

THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY,

CRITICISED.

[BY telegraph.—special COERESI'ONDEXT.J

;. "; (■'.',; ' Wellington, Friday. , The' debate on the Imprest Supply Bill, which came" on this, afternoon, furnished the members of .the Opposition with an opportunity of airing their grievances in regard to the financial policy of the Government, and various other acts on the part of Ministers which they claimed called for explanation.

Mr. Massey set the ball rolling by asking for information on various matters. More light was desired as to the rate of remuneration of the members of the various itinerant commissions which have lately been travelling about the colony, and the terms on which the last loan was floated, whilst the fact that a number of returns asked for last session had not yet been supplied subject of strong criticism. ' The appearance of various "tags".by the Auditor-General to the public accounts was also again alluded to.

■ "If the Auditor-General wishes us to do that which the law does not require we cannot help it," said the Premier. "Will you give us an opportunity of altering the law ?" v was Mr. Massey's unanswered query. The Premier went into a detailed'explanation of the reason why the revenue of various Departments was not audited by the Audit Department, and said he thought the entire system should be changed by adopting the post-audit, instead of the pre-audit, system, as at present, If this were done he thought that what members now asked for would be met. "You would-be able to 'fix up a million surplus then," .interjected Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Seddon: "With the hon. gentleman's assistance I might fix up one or two millions."

"If I were the Minister for Public Works I would not boast about a surplus in the Public Works Fund. I would keep that dark." It was with these words that Mr. Hemes prefaced a few remarks regarding the Premier's boast of a surplus of £861,000 in the, Public Works Fund. " We do not want such a surplus there," he declared. "We want to see the money spent instead of the Premier and Minister for Public Works boasting of a surplus. They ought to be ashamed of it." He went on to refer to the hardships endured by the country settlers in the sparsely-roaded districts, and said it was enough to make these people almost wild to hear of such an amount lying unexpended .in the Public Works chest. "I think," he added, "that, every country member, whether on the Government or Opposition side, will agree with that. This fund needs to be expended with a little more vigour." ' Mr. Lang also spoke in no measured terms on the same point, and declared that whilst the land of the backblock settlers .was 'being loaded for .reading the money was not being expended with ' sufficient diligence in the construction of the roads. The Premier, in reply, said that the fund for these backblocks was already over expended by half-a-million, and he said he had no doubt that the Opposition would yet be twitting the Government with piling up the national debt by doing this. THE LAND COMMISSIONERS' FEES.

After the House went into Committee of Supply Mr. Massey succeeded in extracting from the Premier a* statement as to the remuneration of the members of the Land and other commissions. " They receive three guineas a day and a steamer and other locomotion fares," said Mr. Seddon.-' '■ " That ,means that all these commissioners who' have lately been travelling round the country draw 21 guineas a week?" rejoined Mr. Massey. ' .' The Premier replied' that the fee paid was the' usual one, but he could not say how many days of the week they were paid for. The Premier s statement brought Mr. J. C. Thompson to his feet with a question as to the utility of paying men three guineas a' day to travel round the country on a matter which had already been settled by the Land Boards Conference at Wellington last year. That each member of the Commission should draw about £356 for lour months of such needless work wats, he said, an " enormous piece of extravagance." Mr. Bedford also made a strong point of the setting 'up of the Land Commission, which, he said, was practically tantamount to an admission of incapacity on the part of the Government. It meant in effect, he said, that the Government admitted that it could not efficiently administer the Lands Department, and that it was therefore necessary to set up a Commission and pay the members thereof three guineas a day to travel round the country trying to find out a: policy for the Premier, and to enable him to decide on which side of the fence he would fall." (Laughter.) Speaking of railway expenditure, he condemned the Government for spending small amounts on various lines in different parts of the country instead of completing one or two of the important liens. "The Premier," he said, "believes in giving every constituency a share." "Of course he does," continued Mr. Bedford; " he knows that is the way to keep himself in office, but it is time that we had a policy directed not so much towards keepiug his party in office as in promoting the interests of the colony." Continuing to speak of the railways, Mr. Bedford said that lie would be content to let other lines go if the Government would set to work to complete the Otago Central and North Island Main Trunk lines.

MR. FISHER'S MAIDEN SPEECH. Mr. Fisher, who delivered his maiden speech in this debate, spoke very forcibly in regard to > everal matters. He devoted considerable attention to matters connected with the administration of the Defence Department by the Premier. Preferring to the recent election, he sa'id, "The Premierclaimed my election* as a great Liberal victory." "Why did he not then extend to me the courtesy which he would extend to any other member of his party, and ask me to move the Address-in-Reply? Not that I cared, as I would not waste time over the matter." The Premier: "Would you have moved it?" " No, I would not," was the reply.