PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11305, 2 September 1922, Page 7

PARLIAMENT IN SESSION

The House of Representatives met at 2.80 p.m. yesterday. The preliminary business—questions with and without notice, eto. —was completed at 8.40 p.m.. and Mr Outha Mackenzie (Auckland Bast) resumed the debate on the Financial Statement. “A WISE POLICY” GOVERNMENT COMMENDED. It was, stated Mr Mackenzie, a very wise policy for the Government to use its surpluses as sparingly as possible to meet the exigencies of the present period of depression, because that depression might continue ' longer than was hoped and expected, with the result that the surpluses might be completely dissipated, and the Government might 'have' to borrow at a higher rate of interest. He wanted to stress the need for a vigorous, policy of closer land settlement, to increase the production of the Dominion, and help us to meet our heavy liabilities. There were many young men' at Home, who. if sufficient encouragement were given them, would be only too willing jo come out here and settle on the land, (undergoing first of all two years’ training in practical agricultural work here before actually going on the land. Our aim should be, he urged to train a Scientific practical agricultural ownerlabourer, who would take up a bolding and work it scientifically on his own account. At present we I were* turning out men of too academic a turn for the practical hard work of the farming industry. "STILL VERY SIfALL.”

The Dominion.was still very small, and must be built up and' strengthened if it was to stand four-square against international etorms that might sweep ever the Pacific. Mr-D. G. Sullivan: Do you look for more wars? < , Mr Mackenzie: No; but we must be prepared for eventualities. If w.ar . continues our right to hold these islands will be challenged.; if wars cease, it will 6till be ohalleiured, for economio laws, and the laws of the rise and fall of nationalities will still operate. He urged that the true way, the only way to maintain safely our hold of these islands was to increase pur population and. adequately' develop our great natural resources. He hoped before many years were over bo - see the population of the Dominion from" five to six millions. The leaders of the Labour unions in New Zealand and Australia clamour for a white New Zealand and a white Australia; but they* opposed adequate contributions to the British. Navy, forgetful ’of _ the fact .that the 'holding of these lands for. .' the. white, bases was only done by means of artificial barriers, and that these barriers oould. only be maintained po long, as our navy (had a certain : gun-power. If we are to secure an adequate population for and on adequate development of the Dominion wa must be less tender in our Barupplng of useless instltutijms bhalfc handicapped the trade, and industry of the country. He thought thafi the money that it was suggested should he spent in advertising New ( Zealand in connection with the British; Empire Exhibition, could he far more usefully, spent in independent advertising- of the-'Dominion. The cost of living and the cost of developing the country was greatly increased by trusts and combines, usually known here "as associations, which preferred a email turnover at a big profit to a big turnover at p. small profit. The’ cost of house-building was far 'higher thpn it ought to be, in spite of the fact that there, was abundance of timber, sand, clay, lime, and'so forth' in the Dominion; and a country that oould not economically ' and cheaply house its population had not a very long life before it. The credit system that, was so rife,was one £Teat cause of high prices;! and there were too many business men in the.country, probably because of our education system. (Applause.) LIBERAL LAND POLICY NEEDED. Mr W. T. Jennings (Waitomo) declared that the Government had failed to do its duty in regard to soldier, and other land settlement. In his district an estate bought at a oom/parattiveily low price Was sold to a certain family for ,£5000; they sold it to another family for £7000; that family made some improvements on it, and' then the land was acquired by the Government for soldiersettlement at £22,000 But to-day not a single returned soldier was on the land.: No soldiers would touch it. There Was not a settler in the district but would say that land was. not worth £5 on acre, let atone the £ls an acre it was sold to the Government for. The Government’s system of purchasing land at inflated values, he maintained, tended 1 to produce the present Stagnation so far as the soldiers on the-land were concerned. Within eight miles of prosperous New (Plymouth the; Government had bought another estate - at a high price, and hot one man had been settled on it yet. A proper land' policy, such as that of John .Salience, John Mokeneie, and Richard Seddoh, a policy of settling on the land men without much money', but with wives and ohildren, would go a long way to put an Slid to Unemployment. There was practically no unemployment in Germany, and very little in France as compared with the position here and in the Old Country: and A live land policy was needed to put matters Tight. (Hear, hesT.) He wss sorry that he had not been in the House the previous evening. If he had been present, he would have voted with the Labour Batty on the unemployed question. . TOO MANY BOARDS. He-did not care whether it was oalled Socialism, or Bolshevism,, or what, but there would have .to he. an alteration made to enable people to .live properly and decently and get rid of the present - profiteering in land and. nearly everything else. For his part, he would abolish the Board of Trade. The setting up of boards to control this, that, ana the other was increasing the cost of Rv. tng. The travelling expenses in connection with these boards and the Government departments must be enormous, and these Should be cut oil instead of cutting down the wages of the smaller salaried man. (Applause.)

“THIS WEARY GABBLE** WHEN WILL IT CEASE? Dr. Newman (Wellington East) said that he was not going to keep the House long. During a pig debate in the House of Commons, the Speaker had said: "Good God, when will this weary gabble cease?” (Laughter.) And that, he thought, must be the feeling of Mr Speaker in regard to the present debate Things were very bad just now, but that was always the case after a. big War. All history showed that ; and he

FINANCIAL DEBATE COMES TO AN END PRIME MINISTER ON ECONOMIES MORE ABOUT THE SURPLUS The Financial Debate, which had dragged on a litlie longer than was generally expected, came to an end last night. The last of the members who desired to take part in the discussion concluded his speech shortly after 9 o’clock, and the Prime Minister then commenced hie reply to the criticism that had been offered. Mr Massey dealt with several subjects of importanoe, and more was heard of the kurplus that it had been alleged the Government'was not putting to satisfactory use.

had, therefore, looked for the present slump, but people laughed at him when b© told them.. Bad as things ore, hoTw ever, ye ought to be very thankful indeed that the Gormans had not won, because if they had things would b© ten thousand times worse. "SlLbi CFTiMTSTS." Foolish optimists had gamhleii in land and gambled in the over-importation of high-priced goods, and that, had done more to ruin New Zealand than any* thing else. Land had been forced up to a perfectly ridiculous price all over New Zealand, and l then came the financial blizzard. Men had paid .£l4. an . acre for land that would only cairy one sheep to tho acre; whereas before the-war we imported 20 million pounds'* worth ,of goods a year, after the war Wps over and 1 a slump was bound l to coiqe, the silly optimists imported over 60 millions pounds' worth of .high-priced goods. . -If they had been wise they have imported only 15 millions "Tortn, thus saving some £0 millions 1 i jTj. *h®d had to .go out of New- Zoaland' to pay for that over-importation. BELIEF FOR i soldiers who had been put on the land at high prices were in a miserable position; and he would like to say something on that point if the Ministers who Were asleep in the House would only him their attention. (Laughter.) The Horn F. P. Lee: They're not (Laughter.) Dr. Newman: I am glad- to see they aT S ®»wake now, anyhow. (Laughter.) Mr Lee: No one was asleep. lam ter? nSOd at 7011 ' bein * xinfair * (Xeugh- . Hr. Newman, remarking on the heavy indebtedness of many of the soldier-sot* tJers urged ..that, of forgiving *bese men their debts, the Government should introduce legislation to relieve them of their liabilities. Many of them were m debt thousands of pounds and Working-on the relief -works.. A board should be set up to go into eaoh oase on Its. permits and relieve the soldiers oftheir present worries. • Of course, the Dominion would pull through, he' said: .but he would like to see it pull-through .much more quickly than it seemed like, ly to do on present lines. What was -wanted.was a poliov of self-reliance and the utilisation of the great undeveloped natural resources of the country. With guok. thrift, and energy we should pull fiC, „ other

SINKING FUND MOBATORITTM. ' anould not declare a moratorium, so far as the sinking fund was, concerned, for five years. Great Britain Uau declared moratorium, for" several years after the Napoleonic ware dha that ja V V t ?^ P Tr >pl ® IP® 4 <leal of ease. Sir Robert Horne (Chancellor of the Ekdhequer) had brought in a bill the other day and token £47,000,900 out of the sinking-fund and appUed it to the relief oftaxajaon; and so far as he oould see from the financial papers, there was no opposition to it whatever. FINANCIER WANTED "NO TRUMPETER FOR BUDGET.” Mr S. G. Smith (Taranaki) twitted the Finance Minister on so few of the apeakcongratulated.' him on • his __Mr Massey: The Budget needs no trumpeter. » Mr Smith:; No, it doesn’t need a trumpeter. It contains no hope for the manufacturers of the country that taxa•tion is to be reduced and no hope for tne workers that the unemployed' problem will bp dealt with effectively. What it .needs is, ' not a trumpeter, . 'but aj financier and an economist to see that these problems are tackled as thev ought to: he. • Referring to the--Votes'oast at the Kaiapoi election, Mr Smith twitted’ Mr D. Jones with being .the representative of the minority of the electors; ana, in response to Reform interjections as to why he brought the matter up again,, no .said that he did so to emphasise the fact that tne Prime Minister was the leader of a minority party. That point must be hammered at till- the people came to their senses and turned: the ilcfonn Minority Government out of power. -Mr Massey: Where will you be when they come to their senses? .Mr Smith replied that he would 1 be aU right. As a matter of fact the Prime Minister could not get a man on the He-fon-a aide to stand against him in Tara- ' naki, though the nomination had. been hawked about for the past two elections. The present Government nominee against him was a renegade' Liberal. 'lt had been claimed by Ministers, he added, that the Press of the Dominion had given theßudget a'favourable reception; but he had looked through all the leading papers of the country, and the outstanding feature disclosed by that review was. that the great majority of them made no reference to the Budget for or against, while a number of them criticised it severely. The "New Zealand Herald," for instance, commenting on the Budget, observed that it was no good giving a starving man. a cookery book; and pointed out that, while the Finance Minister had effected economies, the logical result of such economies, a reduction of taxation, was nowhere to bo found in the Budget. SUGGESTED ECONOMIES.

He hoped) that money would be saved by the abolition of the Board of Agriculture and the Council of Education, neither of which had any administrative power, They merely passed resolutions; and, for all the good they did, they 1 might a« well be abolished. Again, with no loss of efficiency, the country could do with fewer Minister* than thirteen for a population of only 1J millions. There Were eleven Ministers drawing salaries, house allowances, and travelling expenses to the amount pt £16,032; and two Ministers without portfolio drawing .6332 for house allowances, etc.

The Hon. W. Noswovthyi Don’t you think there are too many members of Parliament? (Laughter.) Mr Smith There are too many in the South Island. (Laughter.) Speaking seriously, he added, he would have no regrets if the number of members of Parliament was reduced. Further, a good deal of money could be saved by we abolition of the Publio Service Commissioners and the appointment of a good, strong, stable Minister who would oontrol their departments. (Hear, hear.) He strongly supported the suggestion of the hon. member for Stratford (Mr R. Masters), endorsed by Mr B. Newman fManawatu), that the Government, in conjunction with the primary producers, should take immediate and effective notion to establish a State line of steamers in order to combat the present' high freights and fares charged by tho ahiiPr ping ring. He strongly stressed the need for a reduction of taxation. He

understood that the Prime Minister had promised that before the session ended he would make a statement as to what could be done to reduce taxation; and be (Mr Smith) was sure, that such a statement would be very welcome throughout tile Dominion. He urged, that there should be no further retrenchment at the expense of education. He notioed that a saving of £125,000 was claimed in the Education Department, £105,000 of which was due to the first cut in the teachers’ cost-of-living bonus. He feared that most of that saving was effected at the cost of restricting the continuation classes for the workers’ children.

Mr A. D. McLeod (Wairarapa): At the expense of education in the backblocks. Mr Smith; Yes; and at the expense of education in the backblocks. The Hon.' C. J. Parr (Minister for Education) denied that that was the case. AN ANAEMIC TREASURY SHIFTING TAXATION. The Hon. J. A. Hanan (Invercargill) remarked that the Treasury was very anaemic, and that unless ways and means were found it oould not finance it* obligations in regard to war and other debits. But for the assistance furnished ;by the Customs, reserve fund we Should have liad a substantial deficit thia year; and he predicted that it would take the Government all its time to avoid such a deficit next year. To a large extent in. this country we had been living for some time past on borrowed money and on paper money.- The full effect of it had not been felt yet; but it would be before Ions:. The only way to avoid disaster was still further economy und increased production. He did not agree with the shifting of taxation from the wealthy, who were well able to bear it. The Taxation Committee suggested that the income tax should be reduced to 5s in the *6; but if it was to be reduced to that extent who was to bear the burden? Ha ..objected to the burden of taxation being transferred« from the big companies and the wealthy to those less able to bear v it. Ho did not think that financial and. industrial prosperity oould be restored to the countries of the Old World who had suffered in the war until the war debts were • cancelledand until their prosperity was restored' the purchasing-power of * our Old World customers could not return to normal nor oould our trad© regain its normal position. As to tho free-of-iu« oome-tax bonds, he believed that no responsible Government wopld break any pledges with regard to them; but something could be done to meet the position by a system of purchasing these bonds and by an alteration of the Income Tax Act, that would do no injustice to the holders of them. The Government must plhy the. game by. these people, but they in turn must play the game by tiae country. Those who tried to escape going to the front during, the war were called shirkers, and rightly 60; and these bond-holders should see to it that they did not shirk their obligations to the country- (Hear, hear.) Referring to the disastrous effects to sol-dier-settlers and others caused by land speculation and land gambling during and since the war, he said that if there f had been a proper system of land value 'taxation that speculation and gambling would not have taken -palace. (Hear, here; and Reform dissent.) - . = ':h MI—THE BANK AND THE PEOPLE A DUNEDIN CRITIC, Mr C. E. Statham (Dunedin Control) stated that the profits of the Bank of New Zealand' this year were £682,000; While £50,000 was written off the bank’s buildings, . bringing them down to £246,000, whereas the managing director of the bank admitted last year that their value was more nearly £900,000. This pzqfit was shown, too, after a reserve of over £400,000 had been set aside for- ratesand , taxes. The total of the bank, therefore, were upwards of a million pounds, but of these profits a 10 per cent, dividend of £50,000 was paid on the Government's A preference shares, and. a 10 per cent, dividend of £62,000 on the Government’s B shares; while the ordinary Shareholders got a dividend of upwards of £300,000, or 20 per l cent, on their shares as they etood before they were watered. Up to £356,000, sixsevenths of the profits went to. the or, dinary shareholder's and one-seventh to the. Government. It paid the Bank-, of .Nfiw, Zealand to distribute; as little as possible over, £856,000.; because, if there was anything over that, tlie Government got one-third and the ordinary shareholders two-thirds, instead of the Government getting only 'one-seventh and the shareholders six-eevenths. Gome £150,000 Of tho profits had been transferred to the reserve fund-, and £69,000 had been ourried forward; making the total undivided profits of tho Bank of New Zealand no less than £430,000. The bank had piled up a reserve fund of £3,750,000; and' he held that it was improper for the Government to hold a share in. a bank ; thait was, extorting such profits from, -the people .of.-tho country. He maintained that the Governmentmight to set up a State Bank. The Budget. foreshadowed the establishment of an agricultural bank; and -he could not see why the Government should not do the logical thing and establish a State bank.

THE PRIME MINISTER \■' ' ' ECONOMY AND RETRENCHMENT. HOW MUCH IS IN THE TREASURY. Replying on - the whole debate, the Frime Minister said- the policy'of the Government was economy and retrenchjnent, with increased production. There was no country in the world whose finances were sounder to-day than New Zealand’s, but we wore not out of the wood yet. We had to continue to retrench and economise for some time to come until we got our expenditure well within our income. Mr Massey read a statement showing Ihe excess of expenditure over the income of the Consolidated' Fund, ordinary revenue acoount, during tho four mouths ended July 31st. 1922:—The balance on April Ist, 1922, he said was:— Cash, £4,824,955; advances, £347,229; investments, £2,859,183; total, £7,531,367. In succeeding months the .balance changed, as the following figures would dhow:—

„ £ Excess of expenditure over inAdvanced to impreateee 1,786,397 4,762,465 Less securities taken over by other accounts 463,500 Total cash issues in excess of receipts 4,318,965 Cash as at April Ist 4,824,955 Less outgo as above 4,318,965 Balance July 31st 505,990 THE ECONOMIES. So that out of the 'money they had heard so abo»t and respecting which there had -been a want of confidence motion, there was on July 31sf a sum of £505,990. Opposition members, he said, had sneered at the economies of the Government, so he wanted to quote the following statement from one who knew, the 'Controller .and. Auditor-General: "Speaking generally, audit is of opinion that some of the items taken credit for could reasonably have been increased. It may also be pointed out that in some cases the savings effected are in separate accounts and do not apply to ths

Consolidated Fund. They are, however, unquestionably savinga effected in the general expenditure of the Government. It is impossible in the ehort space of time allotted to audit to check all the details which go to make up the sum of .£5,190,41!*, but from the examination which has been made audit is of opinion that the net amount shown may be considered to approximate very closely the savings and economics effected during the period under review/* Mr G. Forbes: They are only paper economies after all. THE AUDITOR-GENERAL.

The Auditor-General, added Mr Massey, was not a Government officer. He was appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of the Government of the day, and could only be removed from office by the vote of the House, and with the consent of 'the GovernorGeneral; so that he was quite an independent officer. Mr R. McCallum (Wairau): As indeSendcnt aa judge of the Supreme ourt. Mr Massey: Yes; and it is only right that he should be. Mr Forbes had said that the economies effected were paper economies; but he (Mr Massey) would like to know what the Public .Service thought of the so-called "paper economies/' They knew they were not that. Mr W. A. Veitch (Wanganui): Why not add 81 millions to your estimated expenditure and pay off the war debt? That is on a par with your economies. Mr Massey: That was worthy of the hon. member. (Laughter.) "TOTALLY MISREPRESENTED/* Intentionally or otherwise, added the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition when discussing the report of the Auditor-General on stores purchase and control had totally misrepresented the system. In his report tho AuditprGeneral was referring jfco the system which had become out-of-date, and was not intending to reflect on this Government or any other; but he was reporting on the position so that the Government could put it right by legislation or otherwise. He had discussecF tho matter with Colonel Campbell when he was Secretary |to the Treasury. When he (Mr Massey) took over the Treasury that was one of the first things that he took in hand. Ho saw that the stores system was a very loose system and required amendment; but delay occurred owing to his having to leave for England and then followed a long session. A thoroughly efficient board 'had been set up, however, to purchase and control stores. The system was working very satisfactorily, and he believed that there was going to be a saving of a very large sum in that connection. The chairman of the board, was the Minister for Public Works, and part of the system was to appoint special auditors to the following, amognsfc other departments—Customs, Railways, .Government Insurance, Public Trust, and State Advances. A special auditor to the War Expenses Department had been appointed sever at years ago. Xhesemen worked in the departments concerned;everything was under their eyes, and they had a system of control to-dav such as the country had never had before. (Hear, hear.) Mr Witty: But there had been a lot of losses all the 6&me. Mr Massey: I know there have been in the past. Mr Witty? But during the present year, too. Mr T. W. Rhodes (Thames): They axe discovered very quicker how. "SERIOUS STATEMENTS" REPLIED - TO *■? •" U ’u Further serious statements had been made by the Leader of tho-Opposition, said Mr Massey, statements which implied that among the public officers of this country there was a number of dishonest men. While it must Jbe admitted that" there would probably be the usual proportion of men among the publie servants not able to resist temptation, he must say that on the whole lie believed them to be an honest set of pien. (Hear, hear.) He believed, we had just* as good a set of puhlio servants a* they had in Britain itself, and* he thought that Mr Wilford's statement should be either modified or withdrawn, foecausedt-was not correct. (Hear, 'hear.)The Auditor-General had said that he feared that considerable losses had occurred in the past, losses which it had hot been possible to detect because of the bad system • thal; IpreVailed; but the Leader of the Opposition had left out the words "I fear?' Mr Witty: We know the losses have occurred. Mr Massey we did not know; but he was not going to pursue the 'matter further then. TAXES IN NEW ZEALAND AND ; . -j , AUSTRALIA. . Complaints had been made of 'the heavy taxation in New Zealand, and the taxation was undoubtedly too'high; hut it was much worse in Australia, aa the '‘Sydney Bulletin" had recently shown. After quoting his (Mr * Massey s) statement in Parliament that "the present high taxation is doing New Zealand an immense amount of damage," the "Bulletin' added:— compared with the double dose administered in Australia, tho M.L* income. tax is by no means drastic. It started at Is Sd in the £, the same as in New South Wales, which : ha? no war bill to meet, and finishes at •8s 9d, as against 10s 7d in the Ma, State and the,Commonwealth. There is a general exemption of —higher than any on this over-governed Continent together with sundry allowances. And henceforward people who pay up promptly will have 5 per cent, deducted from their income tax and 10 ner cent, knocked off their land tax, whilst those who weigh id extra early are to receive the Savings Bank rates of interest on their money until tho # due date. Australians, who aro promised no such concessions and have no possibility of getting any, mAy" veil envy the sagacity with which the M.L. finances have been administcr--1 • «/i **

Mr Holland: Don’t forget that Is from a oomic paper. (Laughter.) Mr Massey: The hon. gentleman forgets that there is nothin? comic in the "Sydney Bulletin’’ eo far * as he is concerned. (Laughter.) Mr Nash: He tries to treat it as comic. (Laughter.) Mr Massey: Tt is a jolly .good paper. It is good on finance, and . I admire its attitude during the war. (Hear, hear.) UNAVOIDABLE) EXPENDITURE “ INCREASES. It “was. added the Prime Minister, absolute nonsense to suggest that the Government -would overestimate the expenditure ami underestimate tho revenue in order to show a surplus at the end of the year. The only way to show a surplus was to have the revenue in the Consolidated Fund exceed the expenditure. (Hear, hear.) And to that end great savings in expenditure must he and 'had been made. These economies in. the annual charges had been brought about, moreover, while the votes had to carry the considerable increases duo to normal expansion, statutory increases in salaries, and the operation of the ordinary progress services required bv the country In general. The following were illustrations : (1) Statutory increases in salaries, wages, etc., of Public servants. £200,000; (2) general election expenses this year, ,£78,000; (3) increased number "of children entering schools, 7500, necessitating employment of 230 additional teachers and rent, etc., approximately costing .£74,000 —this has been provided for, and a reduction of .£11,208 also made In the vote; (4) secondary schools, £10,000; (5) old ace and widows’ pensions, _ £22,951: (6) eusidies to local bodies increased by. £7012- (7) other items such as justice, prisons, mental hospitals, national provident fund £20,000: total,. £411.903. To this must he added interest on borrowed £960.000. or nractieallv a million sterling of increasing expenditure that the Government could not control; and the Government could not show a penny <St saving until it had met that large amount. "ACTUAL REDUCTIONS." If life was stationary and business did not inci-ease then the economies could have been mnch increased by the voiding, had it been possible, of such items as he had quoted. Here were some of the actual reductions in the principal

departmental votes in this year’s Estl- J mates as compared with actual expendi- I ture last year:— I £ j Railways 309,231> Post and ’telegraph ....-.....’..‘...v:..' 00,42:* . Internal Adairs 98,15 b Defence 97,831 ' Naval 46.861 Customs 27,968 Marino and Machinery 25,390 Lands and Survey 22.003 Agriculture 21,861 ■Stamps . * 21,234 Tourist 15,151 Valuation 12,925 Industries and Commerce 8,701 Total J £806,748 "VERY CREDITABLE POSITION." I Last year, forseeing the trouble that was coming, he had sent the ifestitnates back to the various departments to be reduced by 10 per cent-; and after they bad been so reduced, he had sent them to the Public Accounts Committee, which had reduced thorn by a further £250,000 and odd; while the actual expenditure was under the. Estimates by nearly, £BOO,OOO. There had been last year a drop of £3,200,000 in Custom® duty, ot over two millions in income tax, and of nearly a million in other departments, or £6,500,000 of a drop in one year; and then, when it came to March 81st, the Government had made the accounts very nearly balance. In fact, but for a deficit in the law, which did not allow credit to be taken for stores In. hand, there would have been an actual surplus. He thought that was a very creditable position. (Hear, hear.) ; He knew that this year was going to be a rery bad year;, but he was glad to say l that the indications were improving, though there was nothing- to throw up our hats over yet. The Customs duties collected in August, 1921, amounted to £374,034; but in August ot this year they* amounted to £527,539. (Hear, hear.) Mr McCallum: Give as the figures fo> the five months. Mr Massey : 1 haven’t got them by me; but I -will -be quite willing to ask the department to furnish me with them. Ho thought the figures he -had quoted were very satisfactory; and there had also been an increase, though not a very important one in excise duties. He thought we had, very nearly reached the turn. (Loud laughter.) The figures were a confirmation of what he had stated the other day that we had very nearly turned the corner. ■ . Mr Masters: And are entering the straight. _ . ~ , Mr Massey: Yes; and will go straight through and win. (Hear, bear, and laughter.) , This year’s Estimates showed, as compared with last year, a saving of £806,746. Mr Witty; Are you getting an equivalent in service? FARMER AT TREASURY IMRpRTANT IMPROVEMENTS EFFECTED. Mt Massey: We are gettin# tte work done, and .that is the main thing. _ It was a strange thing, continued Hx Massey, that a farmer had been called to be Ministerial (head <jf*the Treasury, and had succeeded iq effecting a number of Important reforms. (Hear, hear.) These might he summarised as follows Parliamentary control had. been safeguarded and. Improved; important financial measures and ‘estimates of expenditure being ■ referred to the Public Accounts Committee, Continued improvement in form of publio 'accounts had boon effected, fuller information being given both in accounts and estimates; and,.the. Estimates.bad been standardised, making comparisons easy* Our reserve fund in London lad been increased by '£1,200,000, now £2,000,000. Departments now- annually subiaited balance-sheets on commercial lines, by means of which criticism was possible and an adequate idea of our assets was obtainable. When valuations were completed, the complete compilation of - a-Dominion balance-sheet on sipiilar lines would he effected. In,.regard jo publications, etc., a committee of control had been established and savings effected. A uniformity committee, consisting of the Puhlio Service Commissioner and heads of other branches had been eat up. A -Purchase and Control Board bad been established to secure co-ordinated - purchasing add standardisation of stores; and a stores audit established, Acts and regulations being amended to fix responsibility, and ensure efficient management, deficiencies to be immediately reported and dealt with under law. District Treasury Offices had been established, enabl:, , ing prompt local payment and discounts to be seoured.; and payment by means of postal drafts introduced. With ’ regard to exependlture, the Economies . Committee report had been obtained. Ministerial oontrol improved, ond audit strengthened ; and over-expenditure of items stopped without special reason, and authority of Minister of Finance. Provision had been made for the temporary investment of a portion of the floating cash balances, and a respectable increase secured from them. Extended privileges had been given for the conversion of debentures into Inscribed Stock; and the redemption of 21 millions of free-of-in-come-tax and death duties securities had been effected. Our debt to the Imperial Government bad been funded, and the publio debt reduced. He might also mention the Banking Legislation and successful flotation of loans, and the profitable employment of surplus revenues, which had enabled him to provide material assistance in connection with unemployment. Other important improvement* were contemplated. - Mr Maeeey defended the action of the Government in utilising the accumulated surpluses for purchasing land for soldier settlement: and in a peroration.subjected to no little interruption, repeated his Foxton statement that the policy of the Labour Party was one of confiscation; that the party was lacking in loyalty, and that no party that was willing to hold office by the support of the Labour Party and negotiated with it to that end was worthy of the support of the people. At 11.20 the House went into Commit-, ten of Sunnly. and the Chairman of Committees (Mr A. S. Malcolm) proceeded, to put the first item—"Legislative Departments. £63.901." Mr T. K. Sidey (Acting-Leader of the Opposition) objected, however, to the first item being taken m the absence, through illness, of the Leader of the Opposition (Mr T. M. Wilford). - At 11 25 p.m. progress was accordingly reported, and the House adourned till 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Month. Keoeipta Ebcpediture. Jl . jz April 1,829,737 May 669,999 JUDfr 5,003,672 July 1,457,337 5,964,677; 8,960,745