NO CONFIDENCE VOTE.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 31384, 13 February 1923, Page 6

NO CONFIDENCE VOTE.

TO BE MOVED BY MR WILFORD. ADDRESS-IN-RKPLY DEBATE. Electric Telegraph— Press Association Wellington, This Day. The House met at 11 o’clock. ~ Tho debate on the Address-in-Re-ply was resumed WMr AVilford who complimented Air Girling upon the masterly manner in which he addressed tho House for tho first time. However, li© vva,s bound to take exception to his conclusion that tho rich man paid tho bulk of the taxes in this country. He would de vote a considerable portion of his remarks to showing that the rich man did not pa,y anything like the bulk of the taxes of tho Dominion. At tho conclusion of his speech, he would move a vote ol no-confidence in the Government. Ho would not tack on to t any reason for doing so, because his position of private member did not entitle him to initiate any financial proposals, suoli as an increase in pensions or pensions for the blind men!*! i’T* J>a,rllainc '»t> the Government held a majority in the House on a minority yoto. In this Parliament, th? 7 were ~i a minority on a min’ oiuty vote in the country. This was absolute proof of the need of reform I*- 1 e^ec^ora l system, for constitutionally jfc was wrong that .hit Government Should hold office in Xew /Zealand with less than 45 supporters in the House.

The Speaker next dealt with tho policy of the Itefonn and Liberal I arties, contending it was not neccssarv for the Reform party to repeal Liberal measures to Rill them. They could do so bv neglect, and that was ivhafc they were doing. The first step taken to kill Liberal measures was tlic circular sent out by ‘■hr dames Allen, giving the right to those who borrowed from the Government to insufp sV.ith private companies;, Jhis step dealt a deadly blow at the .State Eire Office. Tty next censured tho housing policy of tho Government. yvlnch, he declared was useless to the worker, and onlv those with considerable Canitnl could avail themselves of it. So far n.s the worker was concerned, the Act wins a dead letter. The Premier’s financial statement just issued looked splendid on the face of it, hut the claim that savings had lxien made, was pleaded guilty to bv the previous extravagance. Only last year, the Premier had declared we were galloping to n .deficit. To-day, lie claimed a surplus. AVbic-h va.s correct? The question was whether the Premier was being correctly informed by the departmental officers. Otherwise, why such contradictory statements. Nor ! did the statement S“t out the tru I jjosition. for it took lio recount- ot the interest on the capital cost of railways, which for the past trim months amounted to LI .1.3,000. Tin reason the Government was unpmtlai in the country was the fact that they had been too long in office. >'< mniced with, the Premier s former declaration that some one shotih look into the pigeon holes, further tho Government was a one-man Government and the people were grow ins tired of autocratic rule. The Go vornment’s system of taxn poll trihu ting ’i(o unemployment, .n----crensing the cost of iviug, restrict Vwr borrowing, limiting enterprise and strangling industry. -Ml those effects arose out of the present comi ‘ !t r4 xatvon, which did not- hit the Withy man, but was mssed m bv him oil to others less able to P*r