PARLIAMENT AT WORK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18180, 28 August 1922, Page 8

PARLIAMENT AT WORK.

, A WEEK OF SPEECHES. FINANCIAL STATEMENT. INCIDENTS OF DEBATE. CRITICISM AND REPLIES. [BY TELEGRAPp.—SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Sunday. The House of Bepresentatives has now spent a whole week on the financial debate, and the end is not yet in sight. Tho want of confidence motion put forward by t'he Leader of the Labour Party will slightly prolong the proceedings, as it gives members who have already spoken the right to participate again. It will be necessary for Parliament to pass an Imprest Bill" before the end of the present month, and the Prime Minister will no doubt endeavour to dispose of tho noconJidence motion before doing so. Tho financial debate is therefore likely to run to t'he end of the week. The debate opened on Tuesday night with a vigorous attack on the Government by the Leader of the Opposition, who alleged extravagance and blundering finance. The Prime Minister, in turn, doubted Mr. Wilford's ability to dissect a Budget intelligently. Mr. Wilford also stoutly defended the loyalty of tho Liberal Party. , , Tho Hon. G. J. Anderson carefullv • analysed the Budget, with the" object of showing that there had been no extravagance, and bluntly asked the Opposition to substantiate their charges and show where toa much money had been spent. The Minister incidently touched on an interesting point when he announced that it was hoped to make sealing in the Southern islands a Government monopoly, and to have a boat to protect the seals in the season. He also found time to say that he expected that quinnat salmon would be put on the market next season, and to express the hope that private enterprise would taKO the matter up and establish salmon canneries on the banks of the Waitaki River.

The Taxpayers' Burdens.

On the following day Mr. T. K. Sidey (Dunedin South), lieutenant to the ! Loader of the Opposition, took up the i fight, but as he has the softest voi<» in tile House it was difficult to determine j whether he was being fiercely aggressive or merely earnestly critical. His main ! point seemed to be that the New Zetland I taxpayers were more heavily burdened than the Australian, an assertion which Mr. Maasey promptly contradicted. Mr. Sidey then dramatically produced a telegram from the Commonwealth Statistician which, he claimed, clinched the matter. The Minister for Justice, Hon. E. P. Lee, made an effective reply to the Opposition's argument, and on asking where" the Opposition thought tho next cut in expenditure should come from was not favoured with a reply. Mr. Holland's amendment camo late on Thursday evening, when he suggested that the Government had forfeited tho confidence of the House by failing to make provision for the unemployed. Mr. B. Masters (Stratford) told the Government that it should economise by making the Tourist Department pay its way, but the Minister who followed claimed that a mere comparison between revenuo jind expenditure was useless *as a test of the real valua of a department to tho , State.

Labour and Loyalty.

The Hon. W. Nosworthy, Minister for Agriculture, had a lively time at the hands of both Opposition and Labour members when he came to tho favourite topic of loyalty, and when he had nearly used np the time at his disposal Dr. Thacker and Mr. Holland, both of whom had come under fire, wished to get him an extension so that he might discuss the Budget. This unkind suggestion was put forward by Mr. Holland who, however, devoted about three-fourths of his hour to painting a faithful picture of the possibilities of the next world war. The last speaker for tho day was Mr. A. P. McLeod (Wairarapa), who also gave his opinion of the loyalty of Labour members. He said there were times in the nation's history when those who were not for us were against us and some of the Labour members were very slow in being for us- y The Education Vote.

Labour members predominated on Friday, when four of them took part in the debate. The Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister for Education, in answer to the charge that the education vote was too large, invited suggestions showing where further could be secured. He reminded the House that the number of children attending the schools increased each year by over 7000, involving an increased yearly expenditure of £80,000. Something like £200,000 to £300.000 could be saved by following the New South Wales system of charging for secondary education, but he hoped that example would never be followed in New Zealand, for secondary and technical schools were as much the people's schools as the primary schools.