AIR OF APATHY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22887, 16 November 1937, Page 11

AIR OF APATHY

OBST MONDAY SITTING T WO NEW MEASURES MORE departmental reports

LITTLE INTEREST IN DEBATES r ß y TKLEGHArn —SPECIAL REPORTER] "WELLINGTON, Monday In spite of expressed desires to expedite the work of Parliament tho first "uiday sitting of tho House of Representatives to-day saw members largely cU gage<l in "marking time." There was far fro" 1 being a attendance in tho House and an air of apathy pervaded the greater part of the proceedings. perhaps the most important feature 0 f the day's work was the introduction of two new Government measures, the Electoral .Amendment Bill and the Companies (Special Liquidations) Extension Bill- The 'former is the anticipated measure restoring three-year Parliaments and altering the electoral for Maori voters, while the latter bill is designed solely to provide f o r the winding up by the Public Trustee of one of the companies in the JlcArthur group. ' Mental Hospitals Report

For the rest of the afternoon the House endeavoured itself to some semblance of interest over annual departmental reports. The discussions were desultory in the extreme and the onlv point of interest arose from tho debate on the report of tho Mental Hospitals Department. legislation was dealt with in the evening, but here, too, there was an air of •unreality about the proceedings. This m av have been occasioned in part by the fact that there was no division of opinion concerning the Sale of Wool ]3iU abolishing t'lie draft allowance on Trod sold in New Zealand. Operation of the Legislation This, measure was put through its second reading expeditiously and the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, announced that its provisions would not become operative until a date had been decided on by the various Empire countries interested in the wool growing industry. The dying hours of the sitting were given over to a somewhat laboured explanation of the Physical Welfare and Recreation Bill bv the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry. The Minister spoke for about an hour and finally Mr. ,J. Hargest (Opposition —Awarua) had a few words of mild criticism to offer on the possibility of State control of sport. The debate was still proceeding when the House rose at 10.30 o'clock. FERTILISER WORKS , NEW LICENCES SOUGHT ' i PROPOSALS HANGING FIRE CONCERN AT THE DELAY [BT TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] ' WELLINGTON, Monday Concern at the delay in dealing with applications for licences to establish fertiliser factories in various parts of the Dominion was implied in an urgent question addressed to the Minister of Industries and Commerce, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, in the House of Representatives to-day. Proposals for the establishment of new fertiliser works lave been hanging fire for some months. Mr. H. M Christie (Government — TYaipawa), in conjunction with Mr. E. L. Cullen ('Government —Hawke's Bay) and the Speaker, the Hon. W. E. Barnard, in his capacity as member for Napier, asked whether in view of the importance of an adequate supply of fertilisers to the primary producers of Hawke's Bay and the prolonged investigations into proposals for the granting of a licence to establish fertiliser works at Napier, the Minister would make an early public statement on the position. Mr Sullivan replied that the manufacture of phosphatic fertilisers had been gazetted as a licensed industry under the Industrial Efficiency Act. Several applications had been received for licences to establish new phosphatic fertiliser works, including the proposal to erect a works in Hawke's Bay. The granting of the licence was a matter for the Bureau-of Industry set up under the Industrial Efficiency Act and a special committee of the bureau had visited Napier,' Hastings and Wliangarei m connection with the matter.

lhe erection 61 vforks in any one district, the Minister said, was not merely 2 matter of local enterprise, but was odo affecting the whole Dominion, and it was necessary to consider the matter from that aspect rather than from a purely local point of view. He rccognis,'(l its mi porta nee to the farmers in the Hauke's llnv district, and hoped ii ttoiik! | Jt . possible for a decision to be C| i'(le at an earlv date.

SEARCH FOR OIL

- PENDING LEGISLATION COMMENT BY MINISTER [nv- tEi,ec; nai'n —sp i:< iat. h k p<>hteh ] , WELLINGTON, Monday Ine prospects of obtaining petroleum ■" payable quantities in the Dominion discussed in the annual statement ff hicli was presented in the House of to-day by the Minister °f Mines, the Hon. P. C'. Webb. He stated that a comprehensive bill had prepared dealing with the qucstio" »'ifl it would lie submitted to Lirliainont in. a very short time. It the bill is passed, then. 1 is little Ql| l)t but that major oil interests will iiinkn nil immediate and vigorous effort ? find petroleum in payable quantithe Minister said. "The products v petroloum have such far-reaching in our modern civilisation there is' scarcely any development ; 'at would n.ean more to the Dominion hart the successful search for oil.'' •'jr. \\ ebb s,aid the only boring ear- , out in 1936 consisted of live rvfc v ' lo ' os |>'it down by Maoriland 'lfields,. Limited, at Kotuku, from , hu '» a total -of 1188 gallons was eolC( ted. Motni'oii Oillields. Limited, ob•Uiiod 10, ,891 imperial gallons of crude I troleiiin oil Irom three wells. The Dominion's total production of crude oil 0 December 31' last rear was estimated at 2,631,337 gallons.