THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3566, 18 July 1922, Page 58

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT.

• ADDRESS IN REPLY DEBATE DRAGS ON. (BraoL&L Correspondent. Otago Witnrss.) WELLINGTON. July 14. Parliament has done nothing but talk this week. The Address-in-Reply debate ha 8 been proceeding in both chambers, and its progress has been slow. The Legislative Council, true to its leisurely habit, has ■at merely in the afternoons, and its proceedings nave not had many features of interest. The House of Representatives has extended its sittings into the nights, and although it has listened to many dull speeches, the debate has had features of importance. Mr Massey, Mr Guthrie, and Mr Downie Stewart have been among the speakers. The House came to a division on Mr Wilford’s want-of-confidenco amendment on Thursday night. It rejected the amendment by an emphatic majority of 37 to 20, and left the way clear for the Labour amendment, which was presented on itriday. Soldier Settlers. The soldier settlers had much of ( lb e attention of the House on Tuesday. lne Minister of Lands, who has been harried on the subject ever since the session opened, took the floor early in the evening and replied to some of his critics. He said again that the time had not come for the revaluation of the soldier settlers’ farms, since values had not been stabilised. But he carried the matter a stage further by announcing his intention to ask Cabinet to appoint a commission of practical men to report upon the condition of all the settlements with the object of providing a sound basis for future action. T’he members of the House had been told by the Leader of the Opposition, said Mr Guthrie, that the sole remedy for the present troubles of the soldier settlers was revaluation. He disagreed entirely with that suggestion. I he dav for revaluation might come, but it had not come yet. The duty of the Minister of Lands, in the meantime, was to protect the public interest as well as the soldiers, and he could not lightly consent to accept the reduction of the mortgage. The proper measure of reduction could not be determined in any case until values had become stabilised. Tied to the Land. One of the complaints made in the course of the debate that followed was that the Government had bound the soldier settlers to the land for a period of ten years Mr Guthrie said the Government had placed restrictions on transfer within ten years of occupation because it had no desire to give facilities for speculation. It wished to make fanners, not speculators, and the ten years term was not unreasonable in the case of Yt man who had been assisted on to a farm with scarcely any capital of his own. If any man could show good and sufficient season for leaving tile section before the end of the team, he would be permitted so make the change. , ( Mr Young (Waikato): In the cases ol inefficiency it means ten years’ hard labour. 'The Minister: I am very sorry to think that there are any of our soldiers who arc incompetent, but I have to admit that there are some. The policy of Parliament was that the soldiers should get then-chance. If they cannot make good on the land we shall have to do as we have done with some men already—give them their chance at something else. Another Commission. ‘•I have discussed the matter with die Prime Minister,” continued the Minister of Lands, “and although it has not yet been before Cabinet it will be brought up there sometime this week. It has.been decided, as I have already announced in this House, to give full consideration to the question of affording such relief as will enable the men who are making an earnest attempt to succeed to overcome their present diffi out ties It is a most difficult problem, for the reason that the soldier settlers are not all in the same position.. r lhe relief tfuu is neeessarv in one case 13 not necessary in another. The cases will have to be considered on their merits and in the light of local factors. In order that this may be done I am recommending the Government to appoint a number of practical men to make a report on all the soldier settlements throughout the Dominion. This will enable the Government to arrive at a conclusion as to the relief that should be granted in the different localities. I have decided on this course because I think it is the only one that will meet the position. Did Its Best. Mr Guthrie added that he believed the Government had done everything it could reasonably lie expected to do lor the retarred soldiers. Some of the men had paid too much for land. That was very regrettable, but it had been done under the provision that enabled the men to make their bargains direct with owners of land. He thought probably the men would have been in a better position if that clause had not existed at all. He quoted figures relative to the work done by the Repatriation Department in the training of returned soldiers. In conclusion, the Minister urged that if members of the House wished to help the Government in making the soldiers' settlement scheme a success they should take a practical interest in what was being done, and offer assistance instead of mere criticism. The Government had done its best, and it had achieved, in his opinion, a remarkably large measure of success. Hurried Eloquence. The other speeches made in the course of Tuesday afternoon and evening touched many subjects besides soldier settlement Why do members of the House talk so fast? The question was bound to suggest itself on Tuesday, since earlier in the day the Dominion’s legislators had listened while Mr Sastri stated India's case with the carefully chosen words and measured periods of an orator. Ministers and members in the House speak usually as if their task was to compress a maximum number of words into a given period of time, and they Jose clarity and emphasis in the process. J’erhaps the trouble arises from the time limit, that is impeded by the Standing Orders upon ail speeches. The veterans declare that things were different in the leisurely days, when no man’s eloquence was cramped and ccrf-ned by the Speaker’s clock and bell. He Had the Courage. “The country is grateful that it has had at the head of its affairs during the last few years a man who is not frightened to do the right thing at the right time, and is Hot afraid of taking cction that will rob him of ropport at the general election,” de-

dared the member for Awarua (Mr J. R. Hamilton) in the course of a brief tribute to Mr Massey. "He is doing his duty, and I want to say that the vast majority of the people are thankful to him that he is prepared to do hie duty now. We cannot reduce taxation and the cost of living unless wo reduce the cost of government, and we cannot reduce the cost of government unless we reduce wages and salaries. Mr Massey has had the courage to face the facts.” Overdone. “I think that the saluting of,the Hag in the schools and elsewhere can be overdone, said Mr G. Forbes (Hurunui) in the House of Representatives. “We are a loyal people. We have proved our loyalty, and wo do not need to be reminding ourselves and other people all the time that we are loyal. If a man continually talks to you about his honesty you are apt to watch tne spoons. We borrowed this custom of saluting the flag from America, where the conditions are entirely different from our conditions. America has a composite population, and many of the children attending the schools there are of foreign birth, and have to be introduced to their new flag. Our children know the flag. I approve of saluting the flag on special occasions. But I think that we are rather overdoing it when we make the salute a daily business.” Mr Statham’s Policy. The Address-iii-Reply debate was resumed in the House on Wednesday by Mr Statham, who represents not merely the Dunedin Central electorate, but also the newly-revived Progressive Liberal and Moderate Labour Party. Mr Statham, as the leader of a party, very properly made a policy speech, and he placed the planks of his platform—proportional representation, elective executive, State banking, and the rest —before the House with the earnestness that always secures for him a hearing. Incidentally he delved rather deeply into Hansard for the purpose of proving that the Prime Minister does not now hold the opinions he held 10 or 12 years ago. This was largely wasted effort, for public men all over the world have been taught in late years that inflexible devotion to early opinions is not necessarily the mark of wisdom. Administrative Economy. Mr Statham urged the need for administrative economy. The department expenditure for the 1020-21 financial year had been two and a half times greater than in 1912. The Prime Minister had said that one method of effecting economies would have been to reduce the staffs of (lie State Departments. That was an admission that the staffs at present were unnecessarily large. When Sir Joseph Ward had cut departmental expenditure by £250,000 in 1912 Mr Massey, then Leader of the Opposition, had said that the change was an admission that this sum of money had been spent unnecessarily year after year. The cases were parallel. The presentation of the public accounts, said Mr Statham, was very unsatisfactory. The public accounts did not show assets in a proper way, and they did not present a clear statement of liabilities. The Prime Minister could not reconcile his statement that he had carried forward surplus revenue to balance the accounts with his other statement that ho had no money in the Treasury. The Minister for Customs. The Minister for Customs (Mr Downie Stewart) is one of the most effective speakers in the House. He has no great gift of oratory, but he has a keen analytical mind and a habit of exact expression. He speaks of what he knows, and he develops on occasions a streak of Scottish humour that is disconcerting to a political opponent. He amused the House for ten minutes on Wednesday while he offered a little pilotage to one of the drifting Liberal barques in the person of Mr L. M. Isitt. His point was that there are two important political parties in this country, and that the Liberals do not form either of them. Turning to a subject of possibly more practical importance, Dr Downie Stewart talked of the operation of the new Customs Tariff, and assured members that if the tariff was to fulfil its purpose of protecting local industries it must remain flexible, even at the price of occasional embarrassment to local traders. Electoral Reform. Several of the speakers on Wednesday referred to proportional representation. This reform of the electoral system is a part of the policy of the Labour Party and of Mr Statham’s Progressive Party. It has been offered by Mr Wilford as a preliminary plank of the policy of the United LiberalLabour Party. It used to have the approval of important members of the Reform Party. But one suspects that very few indeed of the members of the House have got any clear idea of the details of the system. They certainly seem quite unable to agree upon elementary features. Some of them imagine still that proportional representation can bo applied to single electorates. But it appears probable that they will have plenty of time for study before proportional representation is tested in a Now Zealand parliamentary election. Delayed Payments. When a soldier settler buys stock with Government money he does not handle the cash. He buys the stock and the Lands Department pays the bill. Some of the settlers have complained that the department is so slow about paying the bills sometimes that the auctioneers have charged interest on the unpaid purchase money, and this has been an added burden on the shoulders of the settlers. The matter was brought up in the House by Mr R. Masters (Stratford), who asked if the department would make a refund of interest in such cases. The Minister of Lands (Mr Guthrie) replied that the Marne did not always belong to the department. He was prepared to examine every case of the kind, and if the fault lav with the department ■ he would see that a, refund was made. The Chatham islands. The representation of the Chatham Islanders in the New Zealand Parliament was one of the minor matters mentioned in the House on Wednesday. When the late Mr George Laurenson held the Lyttelton seat he used to regard the residents of the Chatham Islands as a section of his constituents, and he kept the Government in some sort of touch with their needs. In more recent years the islanders have lived in a condition of political isolation. Perhaps they have not missed much, but when the question was raised the Prime Minister said he thought they ought to have votes, and he suggested that they might be enrolled formally in Lyttelton.

No Moratorium Bill. When Dr A. K. Newman (Wellington East) inquired in the House on Wednesday if there would be a Moratorium Bill this session, the Prime Minister replied that he thought not. The present statute had some time to run yet, and if an amendment became necessary next session would be quite early enough for its passage. Mr Massey added that he hoped before the end of the session to make a statement of the Government’s intentions in regard to the moratorium. Cut Was Necessary. "I honestly believe that a out was necessary,” said Mr L. M. Isitt (Christchurch North), discussing the reduction of public servants’ salaries last night. “We all regard the Prime Minister as an astute and cajiabie party leader. We all know that the effect of such an Act as the Public Expenditure Adjustment Act on any party introducing it must be the loss of votes. Can wo believe that any party would introduce legislation of that kind for mere fun? Could anything but recognition that it was a dire necessity lead to the introduction of such a law?” While Mr Isitt thought the cut necessary, he did not admit that its incidence was just. Hotel Accommodation. The difficulty of securing improvement to hotel accommodation under the present law was referred to by the Hon. W. H. M’lntyre in the Legislative Council on Wednesday Speaking as a member of a licensing committee, he stated that, altnough when a license was renewed the Health Department often demanded substantial improvements, it was unreasonable for the committee to insist, in all cases, on these being carried out. The loss of the license through the oarrying of prohibition was always hanging as a threat over the publican’s head. Mr MTntyre strongly urged that if prohibition was not carried at the next election a period of at least six years should elapse before the liquor referendum was taken. If this was done, every hotelkeeper would improve his accommodation and travellers would get the benefit. The Minimum Wage. The Hon. W. EarnshaW told the members of (he Legislative Council that the minimum wage was a curse. A reply came from the Lon. J. Barr, who declared that the minimum wage ,w.as the most important item in the whole gamut of Labour matters. In 1909, as a result of sweating in England, it was decided that boards should be set up to regulate wages. Since, then this practice had continued. The minimum rate was the only safety the worker had against the individual who would make his fortune out of the blood of his fellow men, as many had done during the war period. When the minimum rate was introduced into New Zealand it raised the rate of wages, and employers made it the maximum. This soured the workers. Remove the minimum wage and we would go back to the bad practices that prevailed before. He held that the Arbitration Court always acted fairly, and never yielded to pressure except that carried by facts laid before it Keep the Arbitration Court. To abolish tho Arbitration Court, con tinned Mr Barr, would be another great mistake. It was when a secretary, misguided and badly advised, took such action as led to the freezing work strikes in Canterbury, that the Conciliation Act was blamed. It was one of the finest Acts ever placed on the Statute Book. Regarding preference to unions, any attempt to alter the probational preference, for that was all we had in New Zealand, would be resisted by every one of the 400 odd unions in New Zealand. Ninety per cent, of the employers to-day were favourable to this preference. The good workers were all in the unions. There were poor workers in them, too, fbecause the Act laid down that ftny man who was of go'od moral character and earned his living at the particular trade must be admitted, regardless of his ability as an artisan. Too Many Girl Clarks. “Too many of our young women are going into offices and neglecting their proper vocation of keeping homes and rearing families,” declared the member for Temuka m the House of Representatives on Thursday afterroon. Mr Burnett comes from the back-blocks of Canterbury, and although be does not occupy the time of the House often, he does not fear to speak his mind. In fact, most cf the plain talking comes from, the country members. City members do not all trim their sails to catch the breezes of popular favour, but those that do not are at a disadvantage politically. Mr Burnett stated what he considered the things most necessary to the country _at the present time. “In my opinion,” he said, “the Government cannot do better than to encourage in every possible way the spirit of private enterprise. CHir national keynote should be self-help. Our main hope for getting through our financial troubles is to increase our output per man. Our highest Dominion ideal should be for every man to own his home arid for every man by co-operation to have an interest with his output.” The Meat Pool. The Government should see that the compulsory classes of the Meat Export Control Act are brought into force during the coming season, declared Mr IV. D Lysnar (Gis borne). If the Meat Export Board did not take the necessary action, then it would be (be simple duty of the Government to bring down legislation to enable Parliament to make the meat pool compulsory. If the pool was not compulsory the scheme would not be worth the paper that it was written upon. The farmers had asked for compulsion from one end of the country to the other. Mr Sullivan (Avon) : “Do you believe in compulsory unionism?” Mr Lysnar: “Yes. in this case I do. The compulsory pool should be brought into operation this season either wholly or in pn-t. I hope, the Government will realise that tbev have a responsibility in the matter.” Electing the Board. The member for Gisborne added that he disapproved of the method by which the representatives of the farmers on the board were proposed to be chosen. The individual farmers should have the right to give direct votes for members of the board. The proposed system of selecting delegates at meetings of farmers, the delegates to meet in Wellington and elect the members of the board, would have the effect of placing control in the hands of (he mercantile element. “At the last conference individual farmers were frightened to speak and frightened to vote when it came to selecting the men who should represent them,” asserted Mr Lysnar emphatically. They were frightened because their mercantile

friends were there and were dominating them. They owed money to their mercantile friends, and they believed that they would have trouble in their financial matters if they did not do what the mercantile community wanted.” The Future of Parties. Mr Massey had something to say about the future of parties. ‘“the plain truth was indicated in tiie Dunedin North election,” he declared. “’lhe party that Reform has to light ia the party on tire Labour benches. It is my duty to Gail the attention of the country to what is going on, and 1 am going to do it. . . . Speaking irom memory, i. say Lucie were six by-eleotions during the Parliament that is corning to an end pretty 6oon. 1 think I am right in saying that we won four of them. There was one election where the Liberals did not get a single vote. There it is: the publio of the country understand. They have to choose between the party behind me at the present moment ana the party that occupies the Labour benches. Every vote recorded for a Liberal candidate will be a vote for Labour. (Derisive laughter from the Liberal benches). The Liberals are down and out. 1 know it, and they know it.” An Invitation to Liberals. “There are men over on the Liberal benches,” added Mr Massey, “who are good fellows and good politicians, but are not with us. I am going to give them an invitation now that they will be glad to accept later on. I say to members on the opposite side who think as we do, when the opportunity comes, come over and help us. I say to the others who are not of our way of thinking: There is the place for you! (with the Labour members). This country is up against a political crisis, and it is beginning to understand it. I know there is a tremendous amount of capital being made out of our financial position and the reductions that have become necessary. I am going to do my duty according to my lights My friends are backing me up in a most enthusiastic manner. We are going to put the finances of the country right, and when we have done that we shail be a very long way on the road to prosperity.” 1 The Labour Members’ Day. was f he Labour members day in toe House of Representatives. Mr Holland moved in s want-of-confidence amendment to the Ac. dress-m-Re pi y early in the afternoon and otiier Labour members, including Mr Munro, the new representative of Dunedin JNoith, took the floor after him. They were not permitted to have matters all their own way, for Mr Potter (Roskill), who makes a specialty of anti-Bolshevism and toe Minister of Education were among the speakers. Liberal-Labour Discussion. I he event of the day was the brief encounter between the rival Opposition .Leaders on the subject of the rumoured Liberal Labour entanglement. Mr Holland declared m effect that less than a week a °f > . e Liberal Party had been ready to enter into an understanding with the Labour Larty lor the purpose of securing proportional representation. Mr Wilford denied the statement. Mr Holland, with an air ox being about to spring something sensational on the House, invited Mr Wilford to agree to having “every card placed on the table. ’ Mr Wilford agreed promptly and then Mr Holland subsided with a promise that he would put tho cards on the table another day. More Information. Neither Mr Holland nor Mr Wilford can afford to let the matter rest at that point -Lhe next move is Mr Holland’s. He has to produce the cards, and members will wait with keen interest to see what sort of a hand he really holds. The lobby gossips are saying that tile Liberal-Labour negotiations started in Auckland where the chiefs of the Labour Party were gathered in conference last week, when a well-known Liberal and ex-member of the House took part in them. The suggestion discussed was that the Liberal Party and the Labour Party should co-operate at the elections to the extent of avoiding triangular contests wherever nossible. and that in the event of their combined forces being sufficient to oust the Massey Government, they should pass a Proportional Representation Bill, and go to tile country again at. once. One got an impression that when Mr Holland said “Will the honourable member agree to have every card placed on the table,” he expected the Liberal Leader to remain silent. The Labour party could have scored the point then without going into possibly delicate details, but Mr Wilford said “Yes,” so now Mr Holland must tell his story. Perhaps it will be a rather difficult story for him to tell. After all it takes two to make a flirtation as well as a quarrel. About the Committees. The election of committees caused a little party sparring in the House. The Leader of tho. Opposition (Mr Wilford) had a suggestion that instead of referring ail the Estimates to the Public Accounts Committee, the Prime Minister should allow each committee—Education, Agriculture, Defence, and so forth—to deal with the Estimates in which it was particularly interested. The Prime Minister did not accept the suggestion. He pointed out that the chief purpose of referring the Estimates to the Public Accounts Committee was to secure economies. 'lbe separate committees could not be expected to study economy to the same extent. A protest came from Dr Thacker (Christchurch East), who had discovered that the Native Affairs Committee contained 12 Government members and only three Opposition members. He regarded this as another example of the “Spoils to the victors” poliev. Sir William Herries explained that the committee was not selected on party lines at, all. It consisted of the members whose electorates contained substantial numbers of Maoris. The Unemployed. “Is it the intention of the Government to further absorb (he unemployed, and, if so, when?” asked Mr Mitchell (Wellington South). Mr Massey said he could not promise that the Government would be able to do very much more than it was doing in the way of providing work for men who otherwise would be unemployed. The Government was employing about 7000 men at the present time, and about, 2000 of these could be regarded as men who would not be employed if the conditions were normal. The wages bill was a very large one, and be had to look ahead. He would like the local bodies to do more. Mr Mitchell: ‘"Those tie the hard months.” Mr Massey: “I know that July and August are usually tho worst months. September will bo pretty bad, and then things will improve. I

think I shall be able to find some more money, and then I shall distribute it to the best advantage. Homes for Soldiers. lhe Minister of lands made another statement concerning the provision of homes for discharged soldiers. He said the available money was being reserved for men who had been in hospital and had not had an earlier chance to apply. Men who had suffered from tuberculosis and men who had acquired sections in the expectation of assistance in building were not encouraged to put in applications unless they were prepared to wait their turns. One difficulty was that the men tended to build homes far which they would not be able to pay. It was no good allowing a man to assume obligations that ho had not a reasonable chance of meeting. Still Talking. The debate on Mr Holland’s amendment did not reach an end on Friday night. The Prime Minister permit ted the House to adjourn fairly early, and the Labour members will have another opportunity to pretout their views when the debate is resumed on Tuesday. Tile working days of the session are still ahead. Our Flecks and Herds. Mr T D. Burnett, speaking in the House this afternoon, sounded a warning in regard to New Zealand’s flocks and herds, which, he said, were rapidly deteriorating m quality. One of the reasons was the passing away of the big flooks, and the fact that the farmer was becoming more and more a sheep dealer and less and less a prominent flock master. It was the fine strain they liad hud in their flocks that had built up the reputation of New Zealand mutton at Home. He hoped that this was one of tho matters the fc Meat Board would (leal witlj by maintcining the finest possible grading system in connection with our meat. In tho back country it was necessary to have merinos. Stud flocks of the merino breed would be maintained in only a few localities, with a special environment, and in this connection he thought tho Government might take some action in lightening taxation on merino stud farms—at least in saving the country necessary for them from being unduly cut up. Smutty Wheat. The member for Temuka (Mr T. D. Burnett), speaking on this subject in the Ad-dress-in-Reply debate, said that 30.000 sacks of wheat had been rejected last season because it had been alfected by smut. Ho hoped the Government would consent to the export of this wheat, as it would relieve the finances of the farmers in Canterbury and help to clean up the stores. it was rarely that smut attacked wheat in the Canterbury district, but it might pay the farmers to obtain a special wheat-washing machine and place it in a central position for the cleaning of this wheat. Badlyaffected wheat had been dealt with in Australia and put in a fit state for marketing at a cost of lid j>er bushel.