THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 47

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

LITTLE ACCOMPLISHED. MARKING TIME. (Special Correspondent. Otago Witness.) WELLINGTON. October 1. Parliament has not attempted nor accomplished much this week. A debate on the Address-in-Reply has been proceeding m each House, and it seems likely these formal discussions will run iar into another week. The House has received a few more Bills from Ministers and private members, and the Order Paper is beginning to assume quite an impressive appearance. But no start has been made with the discussion of Bills. The Leader of the Opposition has moved an amendment to the Address-m-Reeply in the form of a want-of-confidenre motion, and the leader of the Labour Party has an amendment to move when Mr A\ 11ford’s attack upon the Government has suffered its inevitable fate. Ministers have made some statements of interest and importance, but the attitude of the House during the week has been one of expectancy rather than of effort. Ministers and members are. waiting for the Prime Minister la take his seat. The Address-in-Reply. The \ddress-ill-Repiv was moved in the House on Tuesday by Mr 30. Dixon, tlie new member for Patea. Mr Dixon has no great gift of speech, but lie appears to have the qna'itios that should make hint a good representatice of it country constituency. The seconder of the motion was Mr T. D. Burnett, the member for Teniuiea. Air Burnett is a shrewd and experienced farmer, who has not yet overcome the diffidence of a new member, and obviousiy finds difficulty in saying all he has to say. This is to bo regretted the more because the House recognises in him the possessor of common sense and knowledge it would like to have more frequently at its disposal. Mi Burnett devoted some of his speech to a vig'orous condemnation of the tenure under which much of the. pastoral land in Canterbury and Otago is held. He blamed this tenure for the deterioration of what used to be good pastoral country, and expressed the opinion that if the occupiers were given security of _ tenure and the rabbit pest were tackled in an effective manner, the carrying capacity of the runs would be increased enormously. One effect of this would be to arrest the drift of population from the South Island to the North. The Opposition Attack. Mr Wilford, the Leader of the Opposition, moved his amendment to tlie Au-dress-in-Keply on Wednesday night. He presented it in the form of a full-fledged want of-ccnfide nee motion. “That the Government,” it ran, "which does not represent the majority of the people of New Zealand, has forfeited the confidence of the House by its want or foresight and incompetent administration of the public finances, thereby being in a large degree responsible for the present financial crisis and consequent unemployment.'’ The speech witn which Mr Wilford supported liis amendment was a little disappointing. He made a point of the election returns, which showed that of 542,667 votes polled in 1919. 202.461 were cast for Reform candidates and 336.206 votes for Liberal, Labour, and Independent candidates in opposition to the Government. He talked of costly Royal Commissions, of extensive repairs to the cruiser Bhilurriel, and of the waste ol <lepaitmcntal stores, lie charged the Government with muddling the public finances and with allowing the unemployment prob'em to get out of hand. But he did not indicate liovv the Ministers could have escaped tlie consequences of world-wide financial stringency and falling markets, and he showed again his tendency to drift away into the discussion of small matters to the neglect ol the major problems. Mr V« dford is a. capable speaker, ar.d he seldom fails to interest the galleries, but he rarely succeeds in impressing the House. The Atkiress in the Council. When the Address-in-Reply debate was opened in the Legislative council, Sir John Sinclair made some interesting comments I on the work of the Imperial Conference. He expressed disappointment that the T'rime Ministers of tile Empire had not made any progress with the creation of a body capable of maintaining permanent and continuous consultation between the different parts of the Imperial Commonwealth. “I would submit,” he said, “that federation—a written constitution —is not the existing need. The need to-day is for the setting up of an Empire consultative boby, not a federation with a written constitution ; the day for that is_ still far off. An Empire body is needed broadly on the lines of the War Cabinet not an executive, but it consultative body, that could keep all parts in touch on questions which concerned tlie welfare of our commonwealth as a whole, and at the same time would have a watchful care over the trade interests of our people. It is an anomaly and a weakness in our constitution that no such body exists to-day. That, tlie time is not ripe for a written constitution is no reason why the present, need should not be filled." Sir John's remarks were closely followed by liis fellow councillors, and won him a hearty round of applause. Indifferent Commons. It is to be feared that few members of the House pay much serious attention tc Imperial problems. The members are prepared to admit in a general way that the work of the Imperial Conference q highly important, and that, the l’rimc Mini.-ter of the Dominion ought to lie in London when the conferen o is sitting. But debates on the subject in the elected chamber suggest that tew members have given much serious thought to the prohleirus discussed by Sir John Sinclair. Tliej arc prepared to follow the lead of the Government in the-e matters, unq ue-t ion ini and uninformed. '1 he councillors, sittuu: ii a chamber that need pay little attention to pin ish-punip p lilies and stands aloof to a large extent front party wi angling, have more time to think about the larget problems of Empire. The Need for Economy. Members of the House are showing a growing M-nse of the need for economy in tin public exv-etidilure. The figure- tint w-re placed ltelurc them bv Ihe'Tlnn. \Y I town .• St. wa- i cm Wednesday night hav, Rignili' c . for oven the most ciarilo.s 01.-ei.’r. I’m the httlfil- of asking foi tilings is i :srd lo shako . if, and the question- that are being placed upon the Order Taper day by day contain sugges

lions that would involve the Government in the expenditure of millions of money were they adopted. Tlie demands that are being made for increased pensions are natural enough. When the principle of payment of a pension by the -State has been admitted, it. is very easy to argue that the amount of the pension ought to be sufficient for the needs of the pensioner. The demand looks fair and logical. But a Minister of Finance, knowing the plight j of the public purse, would be failing in his I duty did he not do the unpopular tiling |on occasions by refusing to loosen its The Financial Position. The little financial statement made by j the lion. W. Downie Stewart when lie was ] replying in the Address-in-Reply debate to i I the Leader of the Opposition on Wedne-s- j : day night made an impression on the j House. The Minister told members that, j I the expenditure for the first live months of the current financial year had amounteu j to £12,340.042, and the revenue for ke same period to £7,849.196, showing 'had to* j tlie live months the expenditure had ex- j cecded the revenue by close oil £4.500.01L. The decrease in revenue as against the fim five months of last year had been | j £1.318,420, and the increase in expenditure j : had been £2,065,943. The Minister exI plained that the winter months were always j I the worst so far as the revenue was eon- | cerned. and that the expenditure included j | some items that cou’d fairly be regardkd i {ns non-recurring. One item was £600.0u0 j | odd paid bv The Railway Department tor i I imported coal in excess of normal supplies, j But lm did not attempt to disguise the s o tI ousne-ss of the figures, and he showed the l j trend of his thoughts when he proceeded j to mention that the Government employees, j permanent and casual, numbered about 51,000. or, roughly. 4.19 per cent, of tne population. The biggest item on the ex- j nenditnre side was under the heading of | salaries and wages. He saw no escape from the conclusion that if the Government was forced to retrench, it must either reduce wages or reduce staffs. The Economy Commission. | The Minister proceeded to say that the I repot t of the Economy Commission wotthl \ \bo placed before Rariiameut shortly. I his ! Commission consists of certain senior ! officers of the departments, and its task has been to study the expenditure of all the departments with a view to suggesting methods of saving money. Home minor economics indicated by tlie Commission have been put into operation already, but the bigger proposals are to come, the Commission having- made some far-reaching recommendations that require the consideration and sanction of Parliament before they can he made effective. It has been rumoured that one suggestion is a reduction in the number of departments. The ; tendency in recent years has been to elaboj rate the administrative organisation by the | creation of new departments and brandies, I and exoevierice has shown that few officers. placed at the head cf a staff, can resist, j the temptation to magnify its importance i and increase its strength at every opportunity. Incited, the system encourages the i tendency, since the* head of a department j or branch benefits m status and salary by i the enhircement of bis responsibilities and j duties. The consequence has boon a serious j amount of overlapping and the creation of I offices that are being shown now to bo j unnecessary. Mr Downie Stewart assured the House that the Government was in i earnest in its effort to secure economy. ITis I word was scarcely needed, necessity being | the strong driving force towards virtue in i this respect, but it is well to have the j Minister’* frank admission of the gravity of tile position. A Popular Labour Member. Among tlie private members’ BJ’s that I have made their appearance on the Order Paper is a Workers’ Compensttion Amendment Bill introduced by Mr E. Howard, ! the Labour member for Christchurch South, i Mr Howard, largely by his genial manner, i has made a letter impression in the House | than have most of his colleagues on the j Labour benches. He has a sense of humour { and a. capacity for appreciating the other i fellow’s point of view, two qualities that | count for a great deal in Parliament, and that are sadly lacking in the gentleman |at the head of his party. Air Howard in- | trodueed a Bill dealing with workers’ centj pensaticn during the 1920 session, and | though he did not succeed in getting it. ; past the second reading stage, he induced | ! fhe Minister for Labour to insert some of | his clauses in the Government Bill that j reached the Statute Book. His Bill. Air Howard’s new Bill may not be so well received. It proposes that if a worker ’ has suffered an injury in the course of his employment, and the resulting incapacity is greater, owing to prior injury, congenital defect or disease, than would otherwise have I been the case, the court may disregard i the scale laid down in the schedule of the main Act and award such compensation as , may appea reasonable and proportionate ,j to the injtny. Another clause proposes , j that, in respect to accidents in seasonal j occupations, such-as shearing or slaughter- ' | ing, the court. in estimating average j I weekly earnings, shall have regard to the , j average usually earned throughout the , season. Compensation is to he assessed on , this average notwithstanding the fact that earnings prior to the accident may have been higher or lower than the average. A further provision is that when an accident a causing injury lo a worker is due to the > collapse or breaking of' any gear or appli- - | mice, if shah he the duty of the employer t i to preserve the broken or damaged part s I pending any a-ten for damages. Tf the j employer fails to do this the jKyident shall i j be presumed to be due to negligence on his . ; part. J Anzac Day. The Am ic Day Amendment Bill proV lo do what I’arliatn nt tried to do , last year. The original proposal in 1920 g I was that- Anzac Day should he declared a u | public, holiday, and should he eb.-erved jI as if it were a fhtnday. The Bill was f I amended hv the deletion of the ref.-r----1 once to Sunday. Ihe day was do !• ! dared a public, holiday, and provision { was made for the closing of hotels and for { the limitation of racing. Bur ; lie legislation proved itieffecliv i>, < wing pmtlv to the lack a, | of ait adequate definition of a public holic : day and partly to the clashing- of dates. ; I Tlie amending Bill reverts to the original . ! form, and proposes that, the anniversary e- of tile landing of the New Zealand and Australian 1 1 oops on Gallipoli shall be i- { observed in all n sports as if it, were a - | Sunday. This will mean a complete holi- > ! day, the closing of hotels and theatres and - i the suspension of business.

Bricks Without Straw/. .Tlie impression made upon the Hons: by Air Downie Stewart's statement of the financial position seemed to have disappeared when members discussed pensions on Friday afternoon. Demands for increases in existing pensions and for the extension of the pension system to new groups of people came from all parts of the House, and the Ministers, who probably have as linic'i sympathy for di I r-ss as the private monitors have, d-p'w.ed some traces of impatience. They hint shown that retrenchment was essential, and yet they were being urged to make 'Lug | moivases in expenditure. The Hon. G. J. j Auden on was a little hard on members i when lie accused them of “votc-catching,” | since the appeals undoubtedly were sincere. But it. is. obvious that the House will have to assist the Government- if the finances of the Dominion are to be restored to a sound | position. Alinisters cannot spend money j they have not got. Hansard. j The debate concerning Hansard may be regarded as an annual affair. Many members appear to have an idea that the netvs- | papers do not give enough space to the | reports of their speeches. They are j equally sure that the public is hungering i for rile verbatim reports that Hansard j supplies. Hie number of readers of the ! official record of parliamentary proceedings {cannot be vary large. But tlie opinion of the great majority of the members that it { ought to retain its present form probably lis sound. People wuo interest themselves j iti public affairs know that Hansard is an I historical record of some importance, and i that, often it is of immediate value as a [ check upon careless politicians. Anyway, l the Hon. G. J. Anderson, assured memI bms that they need have no anxiety about J the matter, since the Government had no I intention of cutting down the reports of their speech' . He added as an expression of personal opinion that he thought much padding could be cut out of the reports with advantage, and sometimes with profit to the speakers. Mark ing Time. The end of the week found the debate | on the Address-in-Reply and Air Wilford’s want-of-confidence motion still incomplete. 'The Acting 1 .ruder of the House accepted the adjournment, after two members had spoken, and his willingness to let the House “go slow ’ may be interpreted to mean that he wished to defer the division on Air Wilford’s amendment until Air Massey had taken his seat in the House. The defeat of the, amendment is inevitable; but since the Liberal Leader lias charged the Government with mishandling the national finance y, the Prime Minister may wish to put his reply on record before, the division is taken. The Legislative Council has been making holiday while its leader, Sir Francis Bell, is absent in Auckland returning his commission of Prime Minister to his chief.