BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20851, 18 April 1931, Page 13

BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

membership of five.

NEW SCALE OF SALARIES.' PART-TIME OFFICERS. [By TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON. Friday. Urgency was accorded the passage of the Government Railways Amendment Bill in the Houso of Representatives today. The debate on the second reading was concluded and the amendment moved hy Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (Independent— Egmont) was defoated by 49 votos to 22, Labour and Independent members voting for the amendment.

Tho bill was then read a second time an<J amendments were introduced by Governor-General's message.

Tho Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates. Leader of the Opposition, asked if tho Prime Minister would explain what tho amendments amounted to.

Mr. D. G. Sullivan (Labour —Avon): Just what you asked for. Mr. H. T. Armstrong (Labour —Christchurch East): They are your own amendments.

The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, said the main amendments dealt with tho alterations in tho constitution of the board and would bring it more into tho position of a directorate. Thero wore a number of other amendments, but they were merely consequential. Demand for Explanation.

Mr. P. Fraser (Labour —Wellington Central) said the present was the time to explain the amendments. If tho Prime Minister did not know /enough about them to njake an explanation, perhaps the Leador of the Opposition would do it for him. (Labour laughter.) . The bill was bad enough already and ho wanted to know if the amendments made it worse before ho voted for it. When tho House went into Committee on tho bill Mr. Forbes, explaining the amendments, said ho thought they would mako the bill satisfactory. Mr. H. I«J. Holland, Leader of the Labour Party: Will the Prime Minister tell tho Committee who suggested five membors on the board ?

Mr. C. H. Clinkard (Government —Rotorua): I suggested six. *Labour Members: That accounts for it

Mr. Forbes: The suggestion camo from several quarters. A new sub-clause had been added to clause one, making the bill come into force on June 1. The board had been altered to a directorate, all of whom would be part-time employees. The object of that was to get the services of the best men available and still leavo them free to engage in their own business. The first two appointed, other than the chairman, would remain on the board for two years, the next two for three years and all subsequent appointments would be for two years. Revision ol Salaries.

The chairman would be paid £IOOO a year and other members £SOO. The cost of members' salaries would still total £3OOO. It had originally been proposed to have a chairman at £ISOO and two other members at £750 each. Mr. E. J. Howard (Labour—Christchurch South) said he did not proposo to do anything to delay tho passage of tho bill because he regarded tho division on the second reading as a fair indication of the feeling of the House. majority in favour of the bill rendered it useless to argue against it and prolong further the present session, which he, for one, was anxious to bring to a close. Mr. Fraser said the extraordinary feature of the bill had been that it was advocated by nobody. It had been condemned by many members and had been apologised for and defended by the Government, but no one had come forward to advocate the bill and demonstrate what benefits it might produce. Replying to Mr. Coates in reference to existing railway concessions, Mr. Forbes said those concessions would bo a matter for adjustment between the Government and the directors. The first thing the directors would do would be to submit to tho Government that the railways were carrying out the Government's policy, and that they would expect the Government to make up for any loss involved in carrying out Go\einment policy that Was not at the same time railway policy. That was an attitude that could be expected from any body of business men. Man With Railway Minds.

There would be a substantial benefit, as a result of the association of business men with railway minds in controlling the railways. The bill would make the railways as independent as possible from political interference. 'Mr. Holland said the further the debate went, the more delightful the comedy became. If the Prime Minister took „p the attitude that the railways were being dissociated from political inteiference, why did he not bring down a til to abolish political control. The present bill did not achieve that result. ;he Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister went on to state that the boaid would control the policy, and the .next moment both declared the Government was to make the policy for the board. > ..it In order to achieve this comedy of management, the Government was going to put, an extra £3OOO a year on to the cost of railway control in New Zealand. There was one assurance he wanted from the Minister of Railways. A large number (ff casual employees had recently been discharged from 'the railways, but under the pressure of public opinion, they had been reinstated. Ho would like an assurance that the position would not arise that as soon as the control was handed over to the board, the men would again be dismissed, and when the Government was approached on the matter, it would simply reply, "We cannot interfere politically with the board." Plenty of Capable Men. The Minister of Railways, the Hon W. A. Veitch, replied that all he could say was that the work of the department would be carried on by the men necessary to do it, and that policy would be maintained as long as he was in chaige of the department. The policy of paying directors a much smaller salary than the general manager was quite in keeping with other business concerns. The directors of the Bank of New Zealand were not paid as much as the general manager. It had been said it was not, possible to find five men capable of taking charge of the railways. J his was ridiculous. There were hundreds of capable business men in the country. A division on the short title was taken at midnight, the clause being passed by 33 votes to 14. The debate on the remaining clauses was still in progress at a late hour. LOANS FOR HOUSES. APPLICATIONS BY WORKERS. CAUTIOUS POLICY ADOPTED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —rREBS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Friday. In reply to a question by Mr. R. A. Wright (Reform —Wellington Suburbs), the Prime Minister stated in the House to-day' that the State Advances Department was dealing with applications for loans '/' or workers' dwellings, where cases Were urgent or necessitous. In considering applications, however, it took into consideration the question whether there were unoccupied houses in the locality where it was desired to build.