PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume L, Issue 16498, 2 August 1924, Page 7

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN.”

(Pniliiimciiliny liepoi-lcr.) WELLINGTON, this day. The orators of the Labor party bench probably address more pfiblic meetings than the members of the two other parties. This no doubt accounted For Mr. McKeep (Wellington South), in summing up an hour’s speech in the House yesterday afternoon, exclaiming, “and in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen. The slip convulsed the House, and Air. MrKeen hastened to apologise to Mr. Speaker. PLEA FOR AGRICULTURE. “Throughout the country there is a general feeling that the Agricultural Department is not getting the fair deal to which it is entitled from the Cabinet, said Mr, Masters. He did not know whether Cabinet was unsympathetic, or whether the Hon. W. Nosworthy was not strong enough to get the necessary money to carry his Department along, but he did know there was a feeling in the Dominion that the Department required speeding up, reorganising, and some initiative and life. There was a serious position ahead, and the Department would have to face competition from Argentina and Russia. He criticised as paltry the sum of £2OOO on the estimates for agricultural education, and said it made one wonder if the Minister was really sympathetic towards agricultural instructipn. HEAVY DEATH DUTIES. The question of death duties was touch nd upon bv Mr, Williams. He said £1,455,655 had' been collected. The waj money abstracted for death duties was treated was not financially sound. It was all capital, and if it was necessary that an amount should he taken out of capital he thought it. would be sounder finance to place if towards the reduction of the national debt. There was a moot point whether it was wise to take so much out, of estates in a young country. Many of these estates had been built up from practically nothing by people in industries, and there was a clanger of the Dominion losing these industries. It was sounder finance to work on income tax rather than take too much out of death duties. HEAVY LOSS OF DEFENCE STORES. “Wo have lost £60,000 worth of military stores in five years,” said Mr. Masters. “How long is the Minister of Defence going to allow this sort of tiling to go on?” Air. Masters said that such a gross waste was due to the Minister being unable to allocate the responsibility for the losses that occurred.