LOAVES AND FISHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3117, 10 December 1913, Page 34

LOAVES AND FISHES.

DIVIDING THE SPOIL.

PUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES. (Fhom Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, December 5. Tha member of Parliament has parochial as well as national obligations in pursuance of the well-known policy of politeness—“ otherfe first and seif last.” _ ihe Ptiblic Works Statement, which is pyeeminently the touchstone of parochial interests, is produced late in the session after the bulk of the national work has been done. To-day the House got to work , on the Statement and the Estimates which accompany it. The bitterness being manifested in this debate is produced by the reversal of policy in many points which a change of Government necessarily brings. The Opposition charges the Government with a lamentable lack ,of performance, and the Government, sitting on the lid of the exchequer, retorts cheerfully and with equanimity that it is doing better than the Opposition did in giving loaves where it proffered stones, and even in the case of half-loaves it promises “ more to follow.”’ Sir Joseph Ward sprang at once into his stride of condemnation when he started his speech. The Government, he said, had not spent enough of the money it had voted last year, and it was not voting enough to be spent this year. Even where the Government did something vrhere his Government had sat silent he was unsatisfied, as, for instance, the Waiau Railway. For 20 years Liberalism refused to authorise it, but last year the Reform Government did so, and this year it voted £SOOO for it, but Sir Joseph jeered at the £SOOO votes. He asked if it was intended that these poor, unfortunate settlers should die before the line was carried to them. -Similar!v with the Otago Central line. 'The £7OOO voted by the Government this year -is also characterised as “paltry.” “ And even'then,” he says, “ I expect that none of it will be expended at the end of next year.” Sir Joseph ended his speech with reference to taxation. lie twitted the Government with having provmised to reduce taxation. “ But if they try it,” he declared, “ I will not support them in the present circumstances.” The man in charge of the exchequer, the Hon. James Allen, jumped joyously it this opening, and got in some fine blows before the Opposition saw what had 'truck them. “ I will not support any proposal to reduce taxation,” he quotes Bir Joseph as saying. “ Now,” he exclaimed, “we know where we are. The people should know this. Sir Joseph Ward Bays he will not reduce taxation if the Keople want reduced taxation; therefore tiey won’t get it from the Leader of the ,0 Opposition. ’ ’ Flabbergasted by this brilliant setting up of the position, the Opposition was unable to reply as Mr Allen danced away in a merry rhetorical flight of annihilation of Sir Joseph Ward’s attitude. Scarcely ever of late has Mr Allen been more brilliant in running shots and small arms display. Without giving any «dress parade of financial figures he met 'the points of Sir Joseph Ward, and showed the utter stupidity and contrariety of complaining that the Government htid spent too much in the year past and did not propose to spend money in the year to come. Touching lightly on the desire of all members to do well by their own district at the expense of tho general exchequer, he confessed that he had a grievance against tho Minister of Public Works. “ 1 have a railway in my district,’ 5 he said. “Last year I got it authorised, but I cannot get a vote for it, and I have got telegrams from rav constituents asking what is the use of a Minister of the . Crown if he cannot help his own district.” Laughter greeted this rally, which Mr Allen rounded off by saying; “ I must make the bast of a bad job.” The next Opposition speaker, Mr W. D. S. MacDonald, was constrained to compliment him beyond the ordinary heights. “ I don’t know what has happened to the Minister,” he confessed, but “ I think he must have been out in the sun without his hat. 1 have never seen him so happy.” Thereafter the occupants of the back benches took their part in the time-worn annual growl. There were complaints of deficiency in district votes, openly expressed jealousy of rival districts which had secured larger votes, and there were inevitable comparisons and bickerings, interjections, and comments. The question of north v south was raised. The north condemned the Otago Central‘railway, dc ridsd tho big “hole in the hill” behind Christchurch, and was generally jealous of southern grants. Southern members insisted in claiming their legitimate grants, and repudiated viciously “the arrogant claims of the greedy north.” The Government members were not backward in talking in this debate, and they particularly criticised the actions of the' Opposition in years part in favouring the towns at the expense of the country, and in indulging in unnecessary expenditure while the backhlocks were starving. From a promising, interesting, and enlivening start the debate gradually drooped until the best hours of the evening became filled with the utterance of parochial pabulum which is intended to be Hansardised for “ home ’’ consumption. Many members seemed to feel constrained to justify themselves in respect of the votes secured, and their efforts took time. The House drooped to a dead level of mediocrity, but just before 11 o’clock About midnight Mr Russell rose and made a vigorous speech. The galleries, however, were almost empty, and the House was dull and apathetic. Mr Massey rose to follow Mr Russel], and heartily congratulated him. thanking him for having infused some life into the debate. Up to an hour before vhe debate had been the dullest and most painful he had ever listened to Of course the reason

was obvious. No fault could be found with the Government. Every member knew the Minister had done his best and the result was to give complete satisfaction. Mr Massey proceeded to metaphorically pummel Mr Russell for his allegations against the Government. i lie ground was the old one about financial obligations, and, of course, Mr Massey scored with broadside shots'. “ We are a progressive Government,” declared Mr Massey finally. “We are working to expand production. We are going to put settlers on the land, and of course we-will have to borrow money. Results had already been secured by the Government’s policy, he said, for the last 12 months. Up to October 51 it would be found that the exports of the country had increased by £4,000,000. —(Opposition laughter, but Government endorsement.). December 7. The discussion on the Public Works Statement and Estimates, which was proceeding in the House of Representatives when the telegraph office closed yesterday morning, continued throughout the night and long after the rays of the brilliant early morning sunshine had commenced to penetrate through the windows of tho stuffy, ill-ventilated, and talk-ridden Chamber. The Prime Minister, speaking shortly after midnight, went on to justify the allocation made for new buildings, and asked the Opposition whether they objected to such items as £65,000 for workers’ dwellings, £125,000 for school buildings, £IO,OOO for hospitals, and £50,000 for mental hospitals. For post offices £IIO,OOO was provided. This was one of the legacies that had come down from previous Governments. He admitted that £486,000 in one year for public buildings looked a big thing at first sight. He thought it was too much, and he still thought that too much was being spent on post offices, but with this exception he did not think that it was possible to improve upon the proposals. It was true, as had been stated, that work on the South Island Main Trunk railway had been stopped, but the reason was that the first survey was wrong, and that the route was over country over which the line could scarcely be built.. A new route had therefore to be chosen. The member for the Bay of Plenty had said that the Government had starved the Advances Department, but of new money in tho 12 months endede March 31, 1913, the Government had advanced £937,435. That did not look like starving the Department. Mr MacDonald: That is about -half. Mr Massey: The amount spent by the previous Government was spent during the election year. Mr Russell: What axe you spending now? Mr Massey said he did not know the figures exactly,' but he believed they were advancing at the rate of about a million a year. The present Government had raised the limits for advances to settlers and workers and to local authorities, which limits had been reduced by tho previous administration. The Government had also given local bodies assistance by giving them the advantage of the Government guarantee when they went on to the market to raise money. This measure was necessary, because it was quite impossible for any Government to borrow all the money required for advances. The Prime Minister concluded his speech by arguing in detail that the Government had kept the pledges given by him during his speech at Wellington in 1911 on the lines of several previous utterances, and he emphatically asserted that none of the new railways which were to be authorised had been put on the list for political purposes. The debate on the Statement concluded just before 5 a.m., and the House went into committee of supply for the consideration of the Estimates. Between 5.30 and 6 a.m. Sir Joseph Ward asked if the Prime Minister proposed to put through the whole of the Estimates before the House rose ? “Yes,” said tho Prime Minister. Sir Joseph Ward protested, and moved to report progress, by way of emphatic protest. Speaking at 6 a.m., the Prime Minister reminded the Opposition that they were occupying a position to which they had for years been foreign, and he went on to say that he could see that members were not anxious to get away. He did not care if the session lasted another fortnight, hut many members had run after him asking him to let them get away. He did not care whether he got away or not. After 6 a.m. a motion to report progress was lost by 31 votes to 16, and the committee entered on the usual custom of voting millions of money in the early hours of the morning when most of the members in the Chamber are fast asleep or indulging in fitful snatches of slumber. The Estimates had passed through committee at 5.55 a.m., and at 7 a.m. the House rested from its labours and adjourned till Monday. JOTTINGS. (From Ocu Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, December 5. “ Push through to Kaikoura,” was tho burden of Mr M‘Call urn’s speech. “ txeep your beggarly £20,000 for the north end,” he bellowed at Mr Fraser, “and put £50,000 or £60,000 on to tho south end of the Main Trunk line. If there is one place in New Zealand which deserves a railway it is Kaikoura. I take all the risks in making this offer.” “ I know perfectly well that that railway (the Waiau-Culvcrden line) ought to be constructed,” said the Hon. James Allen. “ It will develop the country and will pay. I know it will pay.” Then, answering a plaint by Sir Joseph Ward about the inadequacy of tho vote of £SOOO, Mr Allen said: “ What has this Government done for this line. It has authorised it, and has voted £SOOO for three months’ work upon it. That is a promise of better things to come.” Mr Forbes said the sum granted was a very small one, but he was not going to complain, because the settlers of the district had passed a resolution thanking the

Government for the £SOOO. They were thankful for small mercies, and it was not for him to be anything else but thankful. “ I am disappointed with the Prime Minister because of the stoppage of work on the South Island Main Trunk Railway,” declared Mr Forbes. He advocated the completion of the main arterial lines before all the money was spent upon branch lines. The people were waiting for the Hnking-up of these lines, and were looking forward to the time when the trains would run from end to end of the island. “ Every one of us does it. It is no use our getting up here and pretending to be virtuous when w r e are not virtuous. We are all worrying the Minister for grants for buildings, etc., and if we don’t get them we are very- disappointed, and so are our constituents.” Such was the open confession made by Mr G. J. Anderson,