RIGHTS OF PEOPLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22424, 21 May 1936, Page 13

RIGHTS OF PEOPLE

REPLY TO MR. COATES "SOCIALIST DICTATOR" AN AUCKLAND MONOPOLY [BV TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] . WELLINGTON, Wednesday "There is no question in which society is so interested as transport," declared Mr. J. A. Lee (Government — Grey Lynn),'during the Transport Bill debate in the House of Representatives to-night. "Transport and civilisation go hand in hand," he added. "No private individual has the right to collie between the people who built the roads and railroads between our towns and cities and hold up to ransom those who have been taxed to pay for these services." Mr. Lee, who followed Mr. W. J. Broadfoot (Opposition—Waitomo), devoted most of his time to a criticism of the speech made last night by the lit. Hon. J. G., Coates (Opposition— Kaipara). "I can be excused if I neglect tho sprat from Waitomo, for 1 want to go for the mackerel from Kaipara," said Mr. Lee. The Term Socialist Mr. Coates, added Mr. Lee, had condemned the bill as socialistic. No one was deterred to-day by the use of the term socialist. Mr. Coates condemned the present legislation, but conveniently forgot . what was done by the Government of which he was a leading member. When the member for Kaipara was Prime Minister, he set lip an Auckland Transport Board giving it the sole right of transport control. ■ That board was given a monopoly in Auckland for the transport of the people and given the right to determine if it liked that no other competitor should run against it. > . The Minister of Transport, Hon. It. Semple, was taking that right away from a small group of people in the position of dictators and restoring it to the people and Parliament, continued Mr. Lee. Mr. Coates was a socialist dictator, but Mr. Semple was a socialist democrat, giving effect to a policy for which the present Government had received a mandate from the people. The very principle for whieh'Mr. Coato« once stood was denounced by hiin as an invasion of the rights of the people. Co-ordination Board Members "Can it be said the existing Transport Co-ordination Board is nonpolitical?" asked Mr. Lee. "I have nothing against the estimabfe gentlemen who have been members of that board, but'let us see how non-political they were. Sir Stephen Allen is an ex-anti-Social ist candidate and certainly he has shown no desire to assist the Labour Party. Mr. H. B. S. Johnstone is a squatter, and Mr. Lisle Anderton is chairman of a Reform organisation. Even if the squatter were a socialist, and that is not likely, the politicians had a majority on the board. "If a person is a member of the Reform organisation, then he acts in the public interest, actuated by noble motives, but if he is socialistically inclined and only giving effect to a policy he pledged himself before the people to put into operation, we are told it is political control," Future ol Air Services Mr. Coates: Do you apply that to the chairman of the Unemployment Board ? " Surely it is necessary that the State should determine who is to run services in 'the air," said Mr. Lee, in referring to the section of the bill dealing with air services. " Surely we are not going to allow private interests to corner the air. Under intelligent State control we can visualise the day when we will be able to control services across the Tasman, This is more than a transport question. It is a defence question. " There is a day coming when people from Australia will spend the week-end in New Zealand, and vice versa. If we pass this bill and develop services in the air as wo should with proper national control of air transport, the mistakes of the past will bo avoided and it will not be necessary to buy back from private interests the right to use the air "

STATE LOTTERY GOVERNMENT'S VIEW SOUGHT "POLICY MEASURES FIRST" [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Wednesday Replying in the Legislative Council to-day to the Hon. V. A. Ward (Wellington), who asked whether the Government would provide for a State lottery, the Leader of the Council, the Hon. M. Fagan, said that until the more important and fundamental policy measures of the Government had been given offect to it was not likely that that and other similar measures could x-eceive consideration, CIVIL SERVICE PAY DAYS NO CHANGE IN PROCEDURE [BY TELEGRAM! —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Wednesday A request made by Mr. A. F. Moncur (Government Rotorua) that salary payments to civil servants should be made every alternate Friday instead of on the 15th day and at the end of every month, was declined by the Minister of Finance, Hon. W. Nash, in the House of Representatives to-day. The Minister said it was recognised that occasional inconvenience might be caused to employees when there were five Saturdays in a month, but it was not proposed to alter tho existing procedure in the meantime.