PARLIAMENT THIS WEEK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21113, 22 February 1932, Page 11

PARLIAMENT THIS WEEK.

STRENUOUS work ahead

MEETING falling revenue.

WAGES AND STAFFING. POSSIBILITY OF SALES TAX. TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Sunday. •For the third time within a year the quiet of the Parliamentary recess will be broken to-morrow. Members, old and new, w ill arrive in the capital in tho morning and the whole elaborate machinery inseparable from the opening of a sepsion w jll he set in motion, preparatory to the flrst meetings of the two Chambers on Tuesday aftrrnoon. Those associated with Parliament over a long period of years were agreed that lh e emergency session of 1931 and the jnain session which followed it in June TTcre the most strenuous within memory, jhe Government itself confesses that tho work lying ahead will eclipse in intensity anything that has gone before. Thorough Overhaul. Members of the Ministry do not hesitate to express the opinion that tho time has arrived for a thorough overhaul of existing conditions if the problems of the moment are to be brought any nearer solution. It is not denied that the policy proposals to be advanced will make unpleasant reading for many, nor that a certain amount of hardship and further sacrifice will have to bo borne by the community generally. On the other hand, it is maintained in Government circles that, with the knowledge of State finances already in possession of tho Cabinet, further delay in passing the necessary legislation would be unthinkable. Apart from certain measures whoso introduction has already been decided upon, the Government's policy of financial readjustment and national economy will be largely influenced by the* interim report of the Economy Commission, whose first proposals will bo made on March 1. Much has been done by both the United Government and the Coalition to reduce departmental spending and the economies proposed and effected since the end of 1930 will result in an annual saving of about £3,000,000. Shrinkage in Revenue.

The crux of the position at the moment

is that the national economies have not been able to keep pace with the shrinkage jn revenue. The main purpose of the 'Economy Commission* will be to suggest means whereby, this gap can be bridged and the Government is understood to be fully determined to give complete effect to whatever recommendations can possibly be adopted. • Naturally, no real inkling of the commission's line of attack can be gained in the meantime, but there is a definite

opinion in Parliamentary circles that the economy proposals to be made will be the most drastic to be placed before the Government for many years. There is a likelihood that -if certain recommendations made by the commission are too stringent for immediate adoption, they will be put into effect gradually, thus minimising hardship. The curtailment of Public Service staffs is under consideration, but how far the

Government is prepared to go in enforcing

widespread retrenchment at the moment remains to be seen. The unemployment problem is acute enough already and it is realised that any substantial reduction in the number of public servants must swell the ranks of the workless, for other avenues of employment are definitely closed. One / thing is certain, that the Public Works Department staff will be reduced substantially almost at once and the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister of Public "Works, will make a statement on the question to the House shortly after it assembles. Graduated Reductions.

The Public Service itself it already debating the possibilities of further salary and wage reductions. This question will almost certainly be dealt with in tho commission's , report, and it is thought that a system of graduated cuts is likely to be recommended. As about 80 per cent, of public servants receive £4 a week or less, another substantial cut would fall very heavily. ' The Government is already considering ways and means whereby it can exploit further revenue'producing methods, but it is believed questions of direct taxation ■will not be raised in Parliament for some time yet. The Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, is expected to make a statement on tho financial outlook in the near ,future and it will be upon tha -position as it then exists and the future as it is then seen that general taxation, apart from provision for unemployment, will be considered. Proposed Sales Tax. It is not unlikely that a sales tax on goods will be seriously discussed by the Cabinet this year. A proposal along these lines was advanced .before the appearance of the 1931 Budget,* but no action was taken. Such tax, it is piaintained, would distribute the burden widely and it would not have the same direct application as a further impost on incomes. Cumbersome as is the Parliamentary machine, it could move much more quickly

than it does and still allow perfect freedom of debate. The country looks to ! Parliament to push ahead with its work this scission, however unpalatable it might prove to be, but there is almost certain to be a great deal of talking from back benchers that could quite well be done without. The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, declared on Saturday that "the Government was, not going to subnit to anything in the form of determined opposition," which means clearly that the closure will be reintroduced. One of the most annoying barriers to progress that could well be swept away at the beginning of the emergency session is the protraction of the Address-in-Reply debate. This debate serves absolutely no useful purpose, being a relic of British Parliamentary practice. It is used by members here as a means of expressing all manner of views for an indefinite length of time. The Government will certainly not spin out this debate.