PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20922, 11 July 1931, Page 13

PARLIAMENT.

UNEMPLOYMENT BILL.

house passes measure

ONE CONCESSION MADE.

TAX ON RELIEF WORKERS

decision for exemption.

[BZ TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Friday.

In his anxiety to get the Unemployment Amendment Bill through the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, gave members little rest to-day. The House sat through from yesterday until nearly three o'clock this' morning, when after a succession of amendments moved without success by Labour members, {the closest division wa3 recorded. This was on a proposal, to give single persons with dependants the same relief privileges as married persons with a similar number of dependants. From midnight onwards, the House thinned out, and when the last division was taken just before the adjournment, it was defeated by 33 votes to 30. Resuming again at 10.30 this morning, {he Prime Minister gained urgency for the measure for. the fourth time in the oae bill, and steady progress was made throughout the day until the bill passed all stages a few minutes before six o'clock. Interruption in Proceedings.

There was an interruption in proceedings late this afternoon when an important point was raised by Mr. F. Lye (Government —Waikato) on a breach of the privileges of the House following tiie receipt by him of a letter from an Auckland firm consequent on his references to coupon trading in his Address-in-Reply speech. This was something in the nature of a bombshell and gained the interested attention of the House. After the question had been talked out, a Special Committee on Privilege was sot up to inquire into the charge and report to the House. In spite of the determined efforts of the Labour Party to vary many of the provisions of the bill, the measure was passed in substantially the same form as it, was introduced a week ago. Effect of Main Alteration. The benefits to be extended to the unemployed and the incidence of the levy and the emergency wage taxation were the main points at issue during the week, bat the only alteration of any moment made by the Government in response to requests was the exemption of relief workers on local body works and who are paid -wholly out of the Unemployment Board's funds from the wage tax of threepence in the pound. Chief interest was centred upon the ability of relief workers to pay the levy, and argument upon this subject reached a climax when Mr. W. E. Parry (Labour —Auckland Central) moved that unemployed persons and those on relief works should be excused from any payment'. This was late on Thursday night anß the Prime Minister, who then promised to consider the point, announced this morning that the Government was willing to exempt relief workers from the wage tax, but not from the flat rate levy. Feme consolation was given to Labour and one or two Reform members by this concession, but it gave rise to heated protests from Christchurch members whose City Council is one of the few authorities in New Zealand to pay the higher rates of pay on relief works. A Close Division. There was a very close division early this morning upon an amendment by Mr. W. Nash (Labour—Hutt), who sought to have young men with dependants treated on the same footing as married men. The proposal was ruled out finally by 33 votes to: 30, although eight Reformers, Messrs. A. Harris, H. G. Dickie, W. W. Massey, J. N. Massey, G. R. Sykes, T. Te Tomo, -B. A. Wright and J. A. Young and one Independent, Mr. J. T. Hogan, voted with Labour. Efforts were also made to make the new Unemployment Board elective and much argument hinged upon a suggestion hy the Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. H. E. Holland, that the board _ should be compelled to pay sustenance if work was not found. This was one of the most important contentions advanced from the cross-benches, but as was the case with the other amendments, it did not meet with the approval of the House. The adjournment was taken shortly before six o'clock until Tuesday, when the Address-in-Reply debate will be continued.

LIFE INSURANCE OFFICES.

QUESTION OF REGISTRATION

BILL DEFEATED IN COUNCIL.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Friday.

The second reading of the Dominion Life Assurance Office of New Zealand, Limited, Bill was defeated in the Legislative Council to-day on a division of 16 to 13.

In moving the second reading, Sir . William Hall-Jones said a majority of 'ho life insurance companies in New Zealand were foreign concerns and their money was invested abroad. When the company was formed it found it impossible to register in New Zealand and the company had to register in New South Wales. The purport of ''the bill was to enable the company to register in New Zealand Sir Francis Bell said he hoped the Government would not consent to the •bill, which amounted to an extraordinary attempt to evade the. provisions of the Companies Act... There were good rea- ' sons why limited liability life insurance companies could nob register in New Zealand. Sir Thomas Sidey, Leader of the Council, said he was having a report prepared' in connection with the bill. The position was rather anomalous. They allowed foreign companies to operate in New Zealand and prevented New Zear '.?fld companies doing likewise. The Hon. J. A. Hanan suggested that the bill should go to the Statutes Revision Committee, as the Council was being to make a radical departure hom what he regarded as sound policy. The Speaker, Sir Walter Carncross, said there was no provision for a private bill to go to a .select committee.

INCOMES OF WOMEN.

OFFICIAL TOTAL CORRECTED. C.BV TELEGRAPH.—rRESS ASSOCIATION.] :/. ' WELLINGTON, Friday. ■ ■ The Minister of Labour, the Hon. S- G. p nn th, in a statement to the House of t ,e to-day, said he had re--1 c "t'y been, challenged when he had that during tho unemployment •I .fibate there wero 35,000 women in re- | pipt of £250 a year or over. It had y nc ® teen ascertained that an error had i. e , in the commissioner's office. : figure 55,000 applied to men in rex'pt of over £250 per annum. There er ° only; 2500 women*