LEGISLATURE IN SESSION

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12211, 8 August 1925, Page 5

LEGISLATURE IN SESSION

HOUSE CONSIDERS THE ESTIMATES FOR THE YEAR

.EXPENDITURE ON HIGH COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE

SHOULD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BE WIPED OUT?

Yesterday's sitting of the House of Representatives was devoted to a consideration of the Estimates. Mr J. A. .Lee (Auckland East) asked what the Government was doing with a property on Wyndham street in Auckland. This had been purchased from the Bank of Australasia, presumably for a publio building, ana the Government maintained silence about it. He suspected something wrong somewhere. There were a succession of votes for agricultural instruction, in the fields branch, said the Hon. X>. Buddo (Kaiapoi). and the money had not been expended. They should ihave v an. undertaking from the Minister that he would expend money which they voted. A blunder And a muddle" was what the Hon. J. A. Hanan (Invercargill) called the Minister's lack of knowledge of what loan money would be requited this year. Business men would be alarmed when they discovered the position, (he said, and the Minister yet did not take the thing seriously. Mr W. H. Field (Otaki) commended the action of the Minister for Lands in commencing to develop the flax industry in the Hauraki district. This industry was well worth while. “SEEMED EXTRAORDINARY” It seemed extraordinary that they should be asked to debate the Budget when the Minister was unable or unwilling to explain items of it, said Mr R. Masters (Stratford). They had been told days ago that the Minister wae actively engaged in preparing his. Budget, but when it came down and a mistake in it was pointed out he was unable to reply. No doubt he would later, when his departmental officers arrived. He thought that the House would be quite justified in moving that the vote should be reduced by £1 as a protest against the conduct of the Minister. He advocated the establishment of experimental farms, which should be in each country where evidence was taken on deterioration of land. This would do a great deal of good. Also there was very little on the Estimates for the killing of wild pigs in. the North Island. There was .£250 on the Estimates for this and £I4OO for killing keos in the south. Mr McLeod: You'll And two other items. Mr Masters: Well, what is the total? Mr McLeod: £650. Mp Masters: Where is the member for Waimarino? He could do with the lot of it. My district could take £IOOO. Mr H. T. Armstrong (Christchurch East) complained of the sznallnqss of the amount on the Estimates for kindergarten work. This was a most important branch of education, and there should be at least four or five times the amount. This' year was the Dominion's most prosperous period. Yet proportionately die amount allocated for education was smaller than before. And he hoped that the House would insist* upon an increase. BECOMING SERIOUS? i They were criticised for the careless way in which they dealt with publio money, said Mr G. W. Forbes (Hurunui), and there was no doubt that things were becoming serious. 'lf they were to judge by the amount Ministers knew about their departments it was little enough. They should have the head of the Treasury seatedin. the House beside the. Minister for Finance, and then they could have their questions answered. without waiting. On many occasions, said the Minister for Lands, the figures concerning the writing down of lands had been given to the .press. He quoted them again. In conjunction with the Agricultural Department and the Forestry Department his department had made donations for the purpose of destroying pige, but they had to draw the line somewhere. And if they granted Is a snout they would soon have people cultivating pige for the purpose. (Laughter.) Why stop at pigs? There were noxious weeds and rabbits, and a whole host of other things. COST. OF HIGH COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE The increase in the cost of administering the High Commissioner's office was commented on by Mr R. Masters (Strat-

ford). In 1916 the cost was £18,228; in 1922, £32,000; in 1924, £49,000; and in 1925, £47,550. An item that made one marvel was clerks and messengers' salaries, £21,561, which expense in 1916 was £6535. 'Rent had increased. A sum of £BOOO was paid in rental, and he could not see, therefore, why £BOO a year should be spent in repairs. Sir John Luke did not agree with any suggestion that money spent on the High Commissioner's office was wasted. Mr A. Harris declared that the expenditure was justified, and that it compared well with Australia's expenditure. Sir S. G. Smith (Taranaki) said that many who came back from England had declared that the expenditure was not justified. Migrants were not given the fullest possible information at this office. The Hon. Sir Heaton Rhodes said the expenditure by the High Commissioner’s office was due to so many visitors being in England for the Exhibition, etc. However, whatever salary the High Commissioner got, he was still out of pocket. ABOLISH THE COUNCIL Mr Monteith (Wellington East) moved in the House last night to reduce a vote for the purpose of indicating that the Legislative Council should be done away with. He pointed out that the Council had sat 30 minutes in one week, 70 minutes in another week, 220 minuteß and 230 minutes in subsequent weeks. The cost of this worked out at the rate of £l4 per minute. The upkeep of the Council cost £30,000 per ye^*. The Prime Minister did not allow these statements to go unchallenged. He said the Legislative Council did good work, and their revisions had saved the country considerable expense.' The short sittings the Council had held in the early portion of the-session were no indication of the hours they would sit later on, nor of the work they did in committees. Mr P. Fraser said that a committee of the House of Representatives could do the revising work as well. Further, everyone in the Council could be eliminated except the Attorney-General, who already did 60 much in regard to legislation. Mr Monteith's amendment was lost by 41 votes to 12. RACING PERMITS Why was Auckland specially selected when racing and trotting permits were allocated ? , Mr S. G. Smith (Taranaki) asked for the information. He said that so far no explanation had been given. There had been a discussion between the president of the Racing Conference and the Minister, and Mr Smith thought the president was not treating the Minister fairly but at .the same time the Minister had not treated the country fairly. Why should Reform have an all-for-Auckland policy as it had always had in respect to things generally. The Hon. R. F. Bollard replied that the Auckland province could have done with another twenty permits. The population of the Auckland province was 437,000, one-third of the population o' the 'Dominion THE PRESS AND POLITICIANS Mr H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour Party, moved to have the total vote reduced as an indication that the accommodation provided for the Parliamentary Press representatives should be on the condition the newspapers did not discriminate in favour or‘against any section of the Honse in their Parliamentary reports. Mr Holland did not blame the reporters, saying his experience of newspaper work made him aware how reports were blue pencilled in the offices. Chi a division Mr Holland wae defeated by 33 votes to 18. His voters were the members of the Labour Party and Messrs Ransom. Sidey, Corrigan, Veitch, McKay, Lye,. Perrelle, Poland, and Smith. , VOTES PASSED Before the House rose, early this morning, the following votes were passed: —Treasury, £35,456; Inland Revenue, £68,663; Stamp Duties, £93,767; Publio Buildings, £114,013; Justice, £139,782.