PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20950, 13 August 1931, Page 13

PARLIAMENT.

BUDGET DISCUSSION. ~i flagging of interest. / '■ 'little new material. SEARCH FOR ECONOMIES. .MR ATMORE NOT HELPFUL. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday. • /= It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Financial Debate is not holding the attention of members of the House of Representatives. Little interest is being taken in the/ speeches of any but the ' p a rty leaders and their more prominent followers. At one stage to-night only 18 members of a House of 80 were in their places. The day was spent in debating of * rather drab nature and once again there was lack of new material in spite of the fact, that there was a number of speakers and that the subjects covered were comparatively numerous. Mr. K. S. Williams (Reform —Bay of plenty) dealt' with the cost of Government early in the afternoon and suggested that in addition to the appointment of a commission to investigate the cost of local body administration, which is contemplated ,by the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. G. V 7. Forbes, there would be no waste of effort in inquiring whether it would not be possible to conduct the country's business with fewer , members of Parliament. He drew atten- ' tion to the excessive cost of Parliament generally, advancing the repeated view that there was no reason why the general politics of the Dominion could not be left to the consideration of a smaller Parliament than that provided for under the present constitution. ' The Cost of Education. His opinion was not received with whole-hearted support by Mr. H. T. Armstrong (Labour —Christchurch East), who took special exception to the proposal that the number of town seats might be reduced and who was particularly emphatic that representation should be on the basis of "men, women and children" and not on "sheep and cattle." In view of the strenuous appeals for economy in the administration of educa-' / tion more than .. usual interest attached to the speech' of the Minister of Education, Hon. H. Atmore, who was expected to devote a considerable part of his time to the specific problem of expenditure by the department under his jurisdiction. However, the House / was disappointed, for the Minister dealt with this point more or less in passing and his speech was very much along the lifces of others he has made recently. He went as far as to say that in his opinion expenditure on education could not be reduced materially other than by making a further reduction in teachers' salaries, but that this was not anticipated at the moment. The House; therefore, was left with the impression that as far as the Minister was concerned it was impossible to reduce expenditure upon education. Debate Almost Lapses. Apparently through the temporary absence from the Chamber of a prospective speaker the debate almost lapsed toward the end of the evening, the Speaker almost putting a moiiop that he would leave the Chair. After Mr. R. A. Wright (Wellington Suburbs) had sat down the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. A. J. Murdoch, filled the breach at a moment's notice, although he had /to send the Minister of Labour, Hon. S. G. Smith, for his notes ig a hurry. • Early in the/day the Auckland and . Suburban Drainage Amendment Bill which seeks to give the Drainage Board power to undertake works for the benefit of special areas within or adjacent to its district.. was- reported from the Local Bills Committee with a recommendation that it be allowed to proceed with amendments, one .;0f which ; :S an additional clause requiring the agreement under which work is to be done to be entered into before the work is started and requiring the prior consent to the Local Government Loans Board where a loan is necessary for payment of the work. The consent of the Loans Board is also required under S clause giving the Drainage Board power to overdraw for these special works in anticipation of receiving payment from the local authority concerned. i RESERVE, AT ROTORUA. NEW PROVISIONS IN BILL. REGULATION OF BUILDINGS. [SI* TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL REPORTER.] . , WELLINGTON. Wednesday. Several alterations have been made to the provisions of the Rotorua, Borough Reclamation Empowering Bill by the Local Bills Committee, which reported ,to the House of Representatives to-day. The bill provides for the reclamation of 12 acres along the foreshore of Lake Rotorua and the inclusion of the area in the borough. The amendrnents inserted by the committee include the provision that any lease granted shall not include the authori , sation of the erection of any building other than if. necessary for the full use. of the land, which the committee has also laid down shall be only for the purposes of enjoyment or recreation. No building is to be erected except on 8 n approved site and in conformity with i design approved by the Borough Council on the advice of ' the Town Planning Board, but. tfie council may grant to the Board of Maori Art a lease of a portion of the land to be agreed upon. Ihp bill will now be referred to the Lands Committee.