ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

Southland Times, Issue 19294, 12 July 1924, Page 5

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY

CONTINUATION OF DEBATE LAND SETTLEMENT IN SOUTHLAND MR HORN’S PLEA. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 11. £ In the House of Representatives to-day, ] the debate on the Address-in-Reply was t resumed. j PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS. < Mr G. McKay (Hawke’s Bay) said no more severe indictment of the Govern- ( ment had been made than by the speakers in the debate from their oWn side of the , House. The most they could say for ; their Ministry was that they had something , in view; that they intended to do something. But members had all heard of the road which was paved with good inten- < tions. They had had reference to the reorganisation of the Railways but the Government had been in office twelve years ( and although the reorganisation of the , Railways had been urgent for a long time, the Government had only yet reached the stage when reorganisation was promised. He complained that there was no money for farmers and declared that the Government’s claim that the Housing problem had been solved was absurd, as the people were still living in tents and not half the buildings required had been provided. He complained of the lack of agricultural education in New Zealand. Mr McKay then proceeded to deal with speculative land values, contending that this was as evident in the towns as in the country and unless checked would bring about a slump in the towns as inevitably as it came in the country. The towns were going ahead of the country and and so long as land values were kept up, the prices of food, clothing, etc., must be high, and there would be no chance of reducing the cost of living. THE HOUSING PROBLEM. Mr J. W. Munro (Dunedin North) dealt first with the housing shortage in the Dominion and especially in Dunedin. He said that instead of the Government’s Amendment to the Workers’ Housing Act having solved the problem, it had sent people, who had been waiting for years, almost to a state of revolt. Continuing, Mr Munro said that there was ample evidence that the Government was simply taking taxation off the shoulders of the wealthy and putting it on the shoulders of the poorer classes. This was the result of a campaign in the Press that taxation must be reduced. The argument was that the money so released would be spent upon labour. 'This was an economic fallacy and had no influence whatever in reducing unemployment. High taxation had been imposed in this country for war purposes; how then could it be said this taxation should be reduced since the war debt had not been decreased ? This policy of relieving the rich of taxation was directly responsible for the recent railway strike, for the men resented a policy which was agreed to by a caucus outside of Parliament and which the Government was told to carry out. NEW ZEALAND SOUND AND SOLVENT.

Mr W. S. Glenn (Rangitikei) said that while the Opposition was predicting that the country was rushing to ruin, the facts pointed in exactly the contrary direction. The position of the banks, judging by their deposits, was never better. Private wealth had rapidly increased since 1914 and these barometers were at least a refutation of Liberal criticism. Then as to , the credit of the Dominion, if there were any doubt as to the solvency and good ; management of the country, New Zealand could never have raised loans on such ; favourable terms as it did recently and L surely the Government was deserving of > some credit for the sound and solvent state iin which New Zealand finds itself. The Dominion held a position unparalleled and one as good as that of Britain. He dealt • with the importance of improving the grass lands of the Dominion and with the I necessity for supplying farmers with cheap ; manures for that purpose. The import- ; ance of the matter might be judged by the fact that 96 per cent, of the occupied land in the Dominion was grass land. The production from land treated with Nauru ’ phosphates was, in some cases, remarkable, ' and to encourage their use every avenue ’ of transport should be made as cheap as I possible, and there was no room for the middle man. Referring to returned soldier l settlers, who were unsuited for farming and unable to make a living on the land, Mr Glenn said the sooner such were trans- ' ferred to another avenue of life, the better it would be for those men and for the country generally. He regretted the Im- • perial Government’s abandonment of Singai pore base which would have provided dei fence for Australia and New Zealand if, r at any time in the future, there should be - any trouble with Eastern nations.

GOLD MINING INDUSTRY. Mr Horn (Wakatipu) commended the assistance being given the Muir’s Gold Mining Company. He would like to see other similar companies obtaining such assistance. New Zealand’s exports of gold to-day were only two per cent, of the total exports; at one time they formed 75 per cent, of the country’s exports. The embargo on gold export had cost the miners of New Zealand millions. Though export was permitted again now, New Zealand was importing specie to a greater value than it was exporting gold, therefore every encouragement should be given to the gold miners so that the export might again reach the volume it should show in view of the potentialities of the gold fields. LAND SETTLEMENT IN SOUTHLAND. Mr Horn, referring to land matters, urged that some of the larger holdings in the South Island should be cut up so that the men who at present were land-hungry, might be able to get sections. In Otago and Southland from 10,000,000 to 11,000,000 acres of Crown lands were locked up among a few men and it was intolerable that applicants for small holdings could not get any. Population and production were wanted and nothing was being done to give men an opportunity to ensure these needs being met. Mr Horn then urged that soldier settlers in the backblocks should have every consideration in the matter of financial assistance to build houses. The Prime Minister interjected that in eight months, the Government had given such assistance to the extent of £600,000. Mr Horn rejoined that some men he referred to were too diffident, or too independent, and would rather live with their families in huts than ask for that to which they were entitled. Touching on taxation he complained that- the liability to two taxes (income and land) pressed unduly on the small man. THE BLUFF-MELBOURNE SERVICE. Mr Horn added that the resumption of a weekly mail steamer communication between Bluff and Melbourne was necessary to afford an outlet for the produce of South Otago and Southland. A LABOUR VIEW. Mr H. T. Armstrong (Christchurch East) said that a great deal had been heard of the conditions under which the farming community worked and lived. He would point out that there was also a considerable section of the community in the cities and towns, whose service to the country was as important as that of the farmers. Their interests in seeing that the country’s prosperity was maintained were identical. The Government’s wage reduction policy was as injurious to the farming and industrial interests as it was to the wage earners. The combinations of employers aimed to impose longer hours of work at lower wages and in this country the lead was given hy the Government

which reduced the wages of its employees. The Government thus showed that it was prepared to be the willing tools and do the dirty work that was too dirty for the Employers’ Associations. If the workers to-day received the same percentage of the value that their labour produced as they did in 1914, their wages would be about double the 1914 amount. STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.

To-day, said Mr Armstrong, the struggle for existence in the case of mothers and children of the poorer paid people was harder than ever it had been in the history of the country. When such people saw others living in idleness, and enjoying riches and comforts obtainable therefrom and doing no useful work, was it any wonder that a spirit of unrest became manifest? Since 1914, the x private wealth of the country had increased by £300,000,000 yet the standard of living of the people had been reduced. Labour intended to fight to the last against the Government’s plan to increase the hours of labour. Reduced hours formed, the only real gain organised Labour had to show foy its efforts in the past years and the strongest possible defence would be put up to maintain those reduced hours. Unemployment was assuming serious proportions in the cities, largely owing to the influx of men from the country at the close of the seasonal industries. In the Railway Department, men were being discharged as the result of an extension of the working hours to 48 weekly. The housing problem could not be solved merely by lending money to those desiring housing. The Government must step in and supply timber at reasonable rates, eliminating the present exploitation by a combine which controlled timber and other supples. PREMIER DEFENDED. Mr G. K. Sykes (Masterton) replying to Liberal and Labour criticism of the Prime Minister’s conduct in public affairs while absent from the Dominion, quoted freely from British and Canadian newspapers eulogistic references to Mr Massey’s public speeches and general activities. An adjournment of the debate was moved by Mr J. A. Murdoch and. at 11.10 the tf House rose till 2-30 o’clock on Tuesday.