PARLIAMENT’S WORK

Southland Times, Issue 19277, 23 June 1924, Page 8

PARLIAMENT’S WORK

IMPOSING ARRAY OF MEASURES. FUTURE FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS. PARTIES AND THEIR PROSPECTS. There are plentiful indications that the Third Session of the Twenty-first Parliament, which opens on Thursday next, will not be deplorably dull. The Prime Minister and his Ministers have already scheduled am imposing array of new bills, which, together with the legacies of the whirlwind pre-Conference t-cssion of last winter, the discussions on tiie Imperial Conference, the Financial Statement, Ministerial reports, and the wealth of debate attendant on the general routine of Parliamentary business, should amply fill up the space of time usually allotted to the Session. Parties are as they were—Reform. 28; Liberal, 21; Labour, 17; and Independent, 4. Interest during the Session will centre

on the prospect of a dissolution, which the Prime Minister’s critics have threatened, and which Mr Massey has stated he is prepared to accept. Further remissions of taxation, made possible by the improvement in the finances and the Dominion’s overseas trade, have been promised by the Prime Minister, who will be fortified by the unanimous finding of the Taxation Commission, to be made available to Parliament. Other measures that will attract wide public interest are the Gaming Bill and the Legislation Reform Bill, providing for proportional re presentation. Party feeling has not run high during the recess. Almost at its close, however, something of a political sensation has been caused by the statement of one of the leading Liberal organs that a new leader is to replace Mr Wiiford. All the parties in Parliament have carried out more or less pretentious recession. ! programmes of addressing the electors in various parts of the Dominion; the Liberal leader is just concluding his tour in the South Island. Labour speakers, who were first in the field, continued their policy of driving a hostile wedge into the ranks of the Liberals, with whom they dispute the rights of official Opposition. A Labour amendment, carried at a Liberal meeting at Napier, did not disturb the Liberal leader, who retorted that it would be handed down to history as the *'Napier Resolution,” and as showing exactly where Liberal stood with Labour, in the eyes of the people. The Liberals carried out an intermittent campaign during the recess, and the Reform Party took steps to strengthen its organisation throughout the Dominion. There were some professions of a desire of determination to force a general election on the country. The Prime Minister, in reply, said he did not wish to see the country put to an expense of £lOO,OOO, which such a step would involve, but was prepared for such a contingency, in the event of obstruction tactics by Labour or Liberal. Negotiations for a Coalition, which were carried on privately last year, have not been repeated, and the indications are that political supremacy will be contested on a clear-cut issue, with parties as they stand. At least three members have indicated that they do not intend to resubmit themselves for election —Sir Heaton Rhodes, Mr L. M. Isitt, and another, whose name may not be disclosed at the present juncture. While the question of an argument or understanding- between parties has been settled, without being determined, some interest has been created in political circles by the result of similar negotiations in Australia, where the Prime Minister, as representing the Nationalists, and Dr Earle Page, on behalf of the Country Party, have signed an agreement, providing for no contests between candidates of either party, except for seats now held by Labour. FINANCE AND LOANS. Loans falling due during the three financial years to March 31, 1926, total £36, 867,313, compared with £14,781,356 for the three following years, and £32,143,098 for the year 1929-30. It will thus be seen that there are heavy redemptions or renewals during the next two years. The success of the latest loan, the buoyant state of the finances, and the recover) 7 of the balance in trade justify the anticipation that the loan requirements of the Dominion will be met without embarrassment. An analysis of the revenue recently made by the Prime Minister indicates, also, a satisfactory position, in that the ratio of expenditure to revenue in the two chief State undertakings, the Railways and the Post Office, is more normal now than in the year immediately preceding the war. The results of nine overseas Government loans in London during the present year show that New Zealand, with its net price of £4 18s Id for £5,000.000, has established that its credit stands highest. REMISSION OF TAXATION. Although remissions, totalling over a million sterling, were made in taxation last year, official statistics recently published show that the rate of taxation per head for the financial year, 1923-24, while it was 30 per cent below that of 1920-21, has a slightly upward tendency, compared with the financial year 1922-23, It has been suggested that, since last year’s Budget, designed to concede £1,563.000 in taxation, yielded a surplus of £1,812,000, the Government should be able to give £3,500,000 in concessions this year, and yet balance its accounts. The Commonwealth Government is making an important concession to the demand for a reduction in taxation, and proposes to evacuate the field of income taxation on individuals, but to retain for the present the taxation of companies. Conjecture is rife as to the nature of the unanimous recommendation of the Taxation Commission, whose report is in the hands of the Prime Minister, awaiting presentation to Parliament. In this connection, it is interesting to recall the views expressed by the chairman of this and the previous Taxation Commission on the method he preferred of fixing the incidence of taxation in New Zealand. “In my opinion,” he said, in an address to the annual conference of the Employers’ Federation, “if New Zealand adopted the individual system of taxation that is adopted in other countries, charging companies only a moderate flat rate upon their individual profits, and charging shareholders taxation on their dividends, costs and charges of all kinds would come down immediately. There would be a general fail. in the cost of living; competition among companies would quickly see to that.” Critics of taxation have expressed

a general desire to see the rate of company income taxation, which was reduced from 7/4 to 5/10 last year, lowered still further, until it is nearer the Australian level, which is 2s 6d. As recently as April last, the Prime Minister intimated that he desired to see both land and income tax back to normal; it was in the interest of every section of the community, he said, that such reductions should be made. The total direct taxation in New Zealand last year was 178 per cent more than in 1913-14. Land tax increased in that period by 86 per cent, customs and excise by 121 per cent, death duties by 150 per cent, and income-tax by 564 per cent. Thu disparity indicates the direction in which remissions might be granted. AGRICULTURAL BANK. The New Zealand Farmers’ Union is still actively canvassing the claims of an Agricultural Bank in New Zealand. The president of the Otago Council of the Union stated recently that an offer had been received from London some time ago of £3,000,000 at 3T per cent, to start the bank. The Danish farmer, with a rural bank, paid 3J per cent for his money, while the New Zealand farmer paid as high' as 10 per cent, The Union hoped to put their proposal through Parliament during the coming session; if they could not yet it that way, he said, they had other methods “up their sleeve.” HIGHWAY FINANCE. A new factor to he considered in loan policies is the financing of the commit-

meats necessary under the Main Highways Act. The Government has been urged by the local authorities to take steps to raise a loan of £3,000,000, in order to secure their contribution to road construction, and the Main Highways Board is requesting the Government to bring in the necessary amending legislation. The Prime Minister stated in Auckland last week that the Government recognised the position, and that some arrangement would be made to meet it. Associated with this problem is that of the nature of taxation to be imposed under the Motor Vehicles Bill, which is to be introduced into Parliament. The Prime Minister has decided against the petrol tax, which was unofficially advocated by the Minister of Works at the beginning of the year. The New South Wales Main Roads Bill, which is about to be presented to Parliament, which opens on July 1, contains provisions for a Petrol Tax.

EXCHANGE AND CREDIT. The exchange difficulty is likely to be discussed in the debate on the result of the Imperial and Economic Conference. The matter was mentioned in an interview on his return by Mr Massey, who said that no satisfactory solution of the problem was forthcoming In the same debate in Australia, however, the matter w,as discussed at length, on the following motion: — That, in the opinion of this House, in view of the economic and financial position of the Commonwealth, and especially in relation to overseas exchange and credits, the Government should immediately initiate a policy calculated to rectify conditions which are penalising our export trade and frustrating the beneficial effects intended to be produced by the national policy of tariff protection. The Federation Treasurer said that the proposal involved the creation of a national bank. The Ministry would bring down a comprehensive bunking bill, and would put Ks views on currency and exchange fully before the country. The bill has not yet been circulated, and there is no opportunity of judging the method by which the Commonwealth Government proposes to deal with this complicated matter. PENSIONS. It is expected that legislation will be introduced in regard to pensions. What form it will take has not yet been made known, but there are indications that more will be heard from the Government concerning the contributory system The Minister in Charge of Pensions stated last year—and repeated his remarks to a deputation recently of old-age pensioners—that the question of pensions, and other matters interwoven in it, would be a subject of special investigation by him during the recess. It is understood that the Minister has had before him (he reports of experts, as well as of what is taking place in other parts of the world. He did not favour, he said, setting un a Royal Commission, preferring to secure all the information first-hand. Pensions for widow’s and children and the removal of the thrift disqualification for old-age pensions are actively before the British Parliament just now'. A wellknown English writer, reviewing the advocacy of the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship, says that it is now evident to all serious students of social problems that in 1908 a wrong turning was taken in legislation, whereby old-age pensions were given without adopting the principle of contribution. The false step was partially retraced in the National Health and the Unemployment Insurance Acts, and few people would now question the accuracy of Sir William Beveridge’s conclusion that “to-day contributory insurance has won on it® merits.” The contributory principle had done something to save political parties from temptation to compete in easy promises of higher doles. The only solution, in this writer’s view, lay in bringing both classes of pensions into (he ambit of a national insurance scheme, comprehensive, compulsory, and, above all. contributory in character. Means might have to be taken to devise a transitional scheme. The writer hoped to introduce into the House of Commons a bill designed to bring into a single scheme sickness, accident and unemployment insurance, superannuation allowances and pensions for widows and dependent children. CONTROL OF MARKETING. The control of export and marketing, in which New Zealand’s lead is now' being followed by Australia, is to be extended to fruit and honey, by projected measures. Representatives of butter producers from various states waited on the Commonwealth Prime Minister recently, submitting proposals for the stabilisation of the dairying industry in Australia. It was urged that a Board be set up, with wider powers than the New 7 Zealand Board, in that it would control interstate as well as overseas marketing. Provision is made for an advisory committee in London. On the subject of marketing, the Commonwealth Government has decided to go a step further than New Zealand, in allocating portion of the Customs revenue for the purpose of granting subsidies to assist exporters to secure markets overseas. The assistance would be in three directions—in the overseas market, in transit and in Australia. Transit help would consist of freight subsidies, bounties on exports, improvement iii refrigerating space, and in speed of service. An effort would also be made to reduce inland freights and shipping charges. OTHER BILLS. Bills arc to be introduced to provide for superannuation for nurses; to make necessary amendments in the Dairies Supervision Act; the consolidation of Land Acts; Canterbury College; Optometrists; the Registration of Dentists; and Religious Instruction in Schools. LEGACIES FROM LAST SESSION. GAMING AND ELECTIVE REFORM. What might be termed the “business arising out of the previous meeting” are the legacies from last session, amounting to about thirty Bids. Some of them are important Government measures, which the Government has promised shall be brought up again for discussion as early as practicable hi the session about ’to commence its sittings. The Gaming Amendment Bill is perhaps the most important of these, in the public mind. Il proposes that totalisator permits may be increased to racing clubs by 12, and to trotting clubs by 19. The Bill has also provisions for higher penalties in the case of trespass by persons excluded from racecourses, a limit for the number of umes the totalisator may be used, distribution of clubs’ assets, and appointment of inspectors of totalisators. The Minister of Internal Affairs announced last week .iiat the Bill would be brought up again, on lines similar to last year’s. Since Proportional Representation was submitted to members of the New' Zealand x arliament by the Prime Minister last session, history has been busy with it. Parties in the House of Commons divided on it in the first week in May, and the latest files of London newspapers afford interesting reading in regard to its fate. Ihe Government offered the measure for a free vote, knowing the division of opinion on it, and realising the peculiar position it held, as not being on any platform at lhe General Election. Only one Liberal . oted against it, and the remainder of the 238 votes cast against it were made up of 148 Conservatives and 89 Labour members. The 144 “ayes” consisted of 7 Converva.ives, 106 Liberals, 28'Labour and 3 Inependent members. The Duchess of Atholl, who acted as a teller,, moved the rejection of the Bill in n exceedingly well-informed and excelntly delivered speech. Proportional representation, she said, was only one of wo mutually contradictory systems which he measure proposed. The principle at he root of Proportional' Representation was diametrically opposed tn the alterative ote, because under the latter the canitdate at the bottom of the poll was at >nce knocked out. The Duchess drew upon Her experience of the system in the election Scottish education authorities. One defect of the system would be that it would

tend to lessen /-be representation of rural areas, to increase the power of the organisartion at the expeia’e of the individual candidate, and would tend to the •formation of groups. A measure that passed the Upper House last session, and awaits consideration by the House of Representatives is one extending the operations of the Companies’ Amendment Act of 192.2, which provided for arrangements and com’promises by companies with their creditor, and a stay of proceedings against companies. The At-torney-General, in the Legislative Council, secured the passage of an .amendment of the Police Offences Act, w T h’ich provides useful means of dealing with persons unlawfully using motor-cars —A* growing offence—the right to search fft r pillgaed goods, and proceedings against persons found during the night on property. The Minister of Health has, duct ing the recess, indicated (hat he hopes to a-e passed some measure that will more effectively control the sale of drugs. In this connection, a Sydney w'eekly newspaper stated recently that its agents had, during the previous day, purchased fifty ounces of cocaine. The Sale of Food and Drv<?s Amendment Bill of last session gives a more ample definition of the term “drug, 7 ’

and will re-appear, possibly in more stringent terms. The setting up of a Board for the compulsory registration of engineers is the principle of a Bill brought forward by the Minister of Works. A pretentious measure of 39 clauses, which was dropped after discussion last session, is the Inspection of Machinery Amendment Bill, which tightens up considerably the law passed sixteen years ago on the subject. For instance, it establishes a registration of designs of boilers and boiler-mounting, with penalties for the use of boilers not in strict conformity with approved New Zealand specification. Similar clauses apply to the erection of lifts. Young person? are to be protected under this Bill from oeing employed at or with machinery. The inspection powers of the Principal Act are to be extended, to embrace ‘'land engines” in wider measure. The Minister has not indicated whether the Bill will be proceeded with, or in what form.

A method by which ratepayers and persons interested might full prior information, both as to the purpose of proposed minor local legislation, and as to the actual legislative method by which effect was to be given to such proposals, was furnished in a new Bill, which has yet to be considered. Hitherto, the responsibility for such legislation was practically thrown on the Government, which collated and had passed by Parliament a mass of minor local legislation at the end of each session, in what has come to be known as the Wash-Up Bill. In future—if the Bill becomes law —a local authority may submit its specific empowering legislation to the Minister not later than two months after the commencement of the Session. Several measures, in the hands of private members, are yet undisposed of. In the Legislative Council, the Hon. G. M. Thomson secured the passage of a Bill, designed to prohibit the use of captive birds in all shooting under artificial conditions, and to prescribe penalties on these taking part in such competitions. The Elective Ministry is the subject of a Bill in the hands of Hon. J. A. Hanon, m the House of Representatives. There are Agricultural Banking Bills and State Banking Bills, which are not likely to meet with the endorsement of the Prime Minister, who reminds their supporters that the people already have, practically a third share in the Bank of New Zealand, and that their interest in it is growing. Labour members’ bills include an employment dole; miners’ phfhysis incapacity pension; housing, with provision.'’ for defining undue hardship in ejectment, protection of soldier tenants, and the right of children not to be termed encumbrances in the letting of a house, and a measure providing for the non-registration of a union over the ashes of another that has become defunct of the workers concerned.