PARLIAMENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21910, 20 September 1934, Page 13

PARLIAMENT

CUSTOMS BILL POOR PROGRESS MADE ITEMS IN SCHEDULES DEBATES ANT) DIVISIONS 'All? OF LEVTTY ABROAD [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] We-Irenday The mills of Parliament erround slowly and they around exceeding small today when discussion on individual items in the schedules of the Customs Bill was continued. There ara 449 items in the schedules. Not all are involved in the Government's tariff revision, hut all come under review in the bill, and it is competent for the House to debate the , merits of the duties, whether they have ptood for 20 years or have only recently bee» increased jor reduced. iWhen the House began to-day it was on the sixth item, and the progress made was painfully slow. The spirit cf levity which pervaded the greater period of the proceedings might, in normal course, have expedited the despatch of business, but members seemed to be in a niood to vie with one another in passing witticisms on subjects such as dried apples, pickles and blackberries, and although urgency had been secured at the outset of the sitting, the House had only reached the 42nd item by supper time to-night. Many Divisions Held

Most of the afternoon was devoted / to consideration of the duties on tea, coffee and cocoa. At one period the division bells were ringing almost continuously, but in several instances divisions were not forced. ' The most important division in the afternoon was in connection with the duty on tea. Labour members used the argument that because the tax on beer had been reduced, something should be done in the interests of the even vaster army of tea-drinkers. An amendment was accordingly moved that the duty of 3d per lb. on British bulk tea should be abolished. This was a fairly popular move, for the clause was retained only by the relatively slender margin of jeven votes. An argument on blackberries unexpectedly arose ear!y in the evening. Mr. A. M. Samuel Thames) drew attention to the fact that blackberries were included in two items, one dealing with fruits and the other with fruit trees, and he urged that revenue should not be derived by placing duties on a pest. When the Minister of Customs, Mr. Coates, pointed out that no blackberries had been imported recently, Mr. Samuel asked the Minister to consider deleting the item from the schedule and placing an embargo against the importation of blackberries. The Duty on Honey Although Mr. Coates declared at first that there was no real necessity for such action, seeing that in practice none were brought in, he eventually agreed to consider issuing an Order-tn-Council on the lines suggested, and the opposition was dropped. The next item which blocked progress was honey. Several members declared that the lowering of the duty on honey under the preferential tariff would injure struggling local bee-farmers, particularly in view of the concession encouraging imports from Australia. Quite a lot of humorous comment was provoked by this subject. For instance, Mr. W. J. Jordan (Labour—Manukau), who was formerly intimately associated with the honey industry, speaking with an air of authority, said there were 7000 apiaries /in New Zealand and 111,000 hives. Quick as a flash came an interjection from Mr. H. 1. ArmStrong (Labour— Christchurch East): **How many bees?" ~ . . This item was pressed to a division and was retained by eight votes. The Beer Duty Items Resuming after supper, the House dwelt on the items relating to duties 6n'pickles and soap, but no calls for - divisions were made. f .. An iippeal was made by Mr. U. A. Wilkin-»on (Independent —Egmont) for the reniesion of the duty on sugar used for beet;, and Mr. Coates promised to consider representations if a method or denaturing sugar could be found. Only a short time was spent on the tobacco duties, but when the beer duty items were reached, the battle which took place earlier when the clauses or the bill were under consideration was renewed. A division was forced on the item relating to the duty on unported beer, and the item was retained by ot) votes to 21. • , „ , The House had passed 91 items when the adjournment was taken.

EXTENDED RIVER LIMITS AMENDMENT OPPOSED ADVERSE REPORT ON PETITION / _ [3T TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Wednesday Reporting that it had no recommendation to make on the petition or Mr. E. H. Northcroft and 194 others for the amendment of the Auckland extended river limits, the M to L Petitions Committee informed the House of Representatives to-day that it was of the opinion that any extension of the existing limits would reduce the standard of safety to a degree that could not be considered adequate for the protection of life and property in those waters. , , The report was tabled without comment. /

STUD STOCK EMBARGO PETITION FOR REMOVAL NO RISK OF DISEASE [by telegraph SPECIAL reporter] * 7 WELLINGTON, Wednesday Claiming that there is no risk of foot find mouth disease being introduced into New Zealand through the direct shipment of British livestock under full quarantine regulations, Sir William Perry (Masterton) and Messrs. _E. C. Barnett (Palmerston North), F. J* Ellis {Bulls), Q. Donald (Featherston) and J. W. Harding (Waipukurau) have petitioned Parliament for the removal of the stock/embargo. . , Their petition, which was presented to the House of Representatives today, states that the weight of evidence of these who have studied the question ia in favour' of lifting the embargo and that the number of stud stock being imported under the present excessive cost is proof of the need ox freshblood.