PARLIAMENT

Southland Times, Issue 21431, 27 June 1931, Page 6

PARLIAMENT

YESTERDA Y’S WORK

IMPREST SUPPLY BILL

URGENCY FOR MEASURE

WAR DEBTS DISCUSSED

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, June 26.

The debate on the Imprest Supply Bill which commenced in the House this afternoon promises to be a long one, and members expect to experience an all night sitting before supply is voted, urgency having been accorded the measure.

Speaking on the motion to commit the Bill, Mr W. Downie Stewart (R., Dunedin West) said he wished to refer to Britain’s offer to the Dominions in connection with the debt payments. The offer meant that Britain was prepared to sacrifice approximately £11,000,000 in order to give the Dominions the benefit of the movement . originated by* Mr Hoover. When one considered the tremendous burden under which Britain was labouring, and the efforts which she was making to restore peace and prosperity, it would be apparent that this offer must arouse the keenest admiration of all who were watching the position. While New Zealand’s difficulties were great, those of Britain were so overwhelming that it was surprising she was able to make this offer. Britain was bearing a debt which some European statesmen considered she could not carry. She was determined to repay the debts at twenty shillings in the pound, while France was quite prepared to repay hers with the franc at approximately twopence. The amount New Zealand was indebted to Britain when the debt was funded in 1922 was £27,532,164, and it was on that amount which had now been reduced by us to approximately £24,000,000 that this concession was proposed to be made. Mr Stewart remarked that it had been shown that of the debt funded in 1922, £1,991,919 was for items other than war expenditure. For 'instance it included approximately £1,000,000 which was the balance owing on the warship New Zealand. The Prime Minister had stated, Mr Stew art continued, that he had set out to balance the Budget. The position appeared to be that in making his plans, Mr Forbes could have had no knowledge of this possible windfall in the form of an offer from Britain. It was true also that he would have been counting upon receiving German reparation payments. New Zealand's payments to Britain in connection with war debts amounted to half-yearly the sums of .£825,000. It had been stated that the first half-yearly instalment had already been paid. Britain’s proposal was to grant the moratorium from July 1 to June 30 next year. If the Prime Minister did not receive from Germany New Zealand's share of the reparations for the year, he would go short of £270,000 after July 1. The point he wished the Prime Minister to consider was whether he would be prepared to ask Britain to postpone New Zealand’s payments to the extent which Germany was not' paying us, but so far as the remaining £500,000 was concerned, New Zealand should make the payment as usual. Credit in London. He emphasized the extent, of Britain’s difficulties compared with those confronting New Zealand, and added that in addition to this aspect, it must be realised New Zealand's credit in London would be enhanced if the course he had suggested were adopted. It had become apparent that our credit had suffered as the result of our association with Australia. “Just as America has made the gesture to Europe and Britain has made the gesture to the Dominions, it is possible for us to distinguish ourselves by saying: ‘We don't wish to impose greater difficulties on Britain at the present time.’ ” Mr Stewart stated this would undoubtedly improve our credit, and anything that had such an effect would be of immense advantage. It all depended whether the Prime Minister could see his way to inform the British Government that while he was grateful for the offer, he had no wish to take advantage of it beyond the extent to which the Dominion would suffer as the result of not receiving the German reparation payments. He considered such course would ’ clearly dissociate New Zealand from the neighbouring Commonwealth and he thought the people of the Dominion would realize the effort was worth making. Mr Stewart remarked that he was pleased to see the Prime Minister did not propose to put through any proposals embodied in the Niemeyer report this session. Ample time should be allowed for consideration of matters of this nature, more particularly in view of the present very wide discussion on currency. The Reform Party referred to unemployment and the conditions prevailing in the country. He did not think that the men on relief work should have to pay the levy. He was not in favour of a flat rate levy and considered that it should be altered to a graduated levy with exemption for all on low wages. Unemployed men were being given work on sports ground when more productive work could be undertaken. Too much money was being spent on sport in New Zealand. Surely, he said, the Government could get to work on drainage and other developmental schemes. Mr H. E. Holland. The leader of the Labour Party (Mr H. E. Holland) complained that the Government ■ had, without the authority of Parliament, imposed very severe “cuts” on civil servants. He referred to the remote allowances for schools and said that they had been cut out altogether. Continuing, he said the Department of Health had given authority to dental comfnittees to make . a charge for the treatment of children in school dental clinics, no child to be excluded from tne treatment through inability to pay. The department had later sent " confidential letters to school committees, asking them to pay £3O per annum towards the cost of the material used by the dental nurses. This communication also suggested that the charge of five shilling per child treated should be made annually, and that dental officers should be given a list of children who had not been paid for and who would consequently not be eligible for treatment. The new policy could not be justified, Mr Holland said. There had never been a suggestion during the last session that free dental treatment would be withdrawn, and the late Prime Minister had promised to give free treatment to all school children in New Zealand.

Mr M. J. Savage (L., Auckland East) referred to subsidies to hospital boards, and said that in the past the House had a say in the estimates of expenditure, but this year the Minister had fixed the Expenditure as far as hospital boards were concerned. The unemployment situation was desperate and the Government appeared to be helpless to cope with it. Extra expense had to be borne by hospital boards, but the Minister wanted boards to curtail expenditure. Continuing, Mr Savage dealt with conditions in zluckland until the House rose at 5.30. y Offer Should be Accepted.

Mr A. M. Samuel (R., Thames) said that while he admired the sentiment expressed by Mr Stewart in respect to war debt payments, he could not agree with the action suggested. “It is all very fine to put out a gesture of independence and self-reliance bo long as we can back it up with finance,”

he said. “I don’t think our non-acceptance of Britain’s offer would help our credit one little bit. To my mind the present economic position has been brought about by a combination of circumstances among which improvements as a result of scientific research are important factors, but in my estimation the greatest factor of all is the question of the repayment of debts incurred during the war.” Mr Samuel said this factor had been the means of imposing veryheavy burdens on taxpayers and industries, and was keeping out of employment men in Britain as well as in the The repayment of debts to America was having a strangling effect on debtor nations and at the same time was strangling American industries as a result of the diminution in purchasing power of debtor nations. Gold which had been shipped to the United States was not being re-utilized; it was about as Valuable as when it had been in the mines from which it had originally been taken. The offer of the United. States was only a preliminary move in the direction of modification and ultimate cancellation of war debts. America realized that there could not be a return to stable conditions until the purchasing power of the nations became the same as it' had been before the war. Her offer had not been an impulsive one; it had been under consideration for some time and had been made in the hope that it. would be accepted.

Mr Samuel added that if the stabilization of silver could be brought about' the troubles of Europe, as well as our own, would be Hit an end. The purchasing power of India and China had been reduced over 50 per cent. While he had been at Home he had had several discussions with members of the British Ministry on the question of the repayment of war debts. He had realized that it New Zealand were offered postponement it would be of immense value to the Dominion. Growth of Taxation. Mr Samuel said he thought everybody realized that taxation had grown vastly, and the sooner it was reduced the sooner the country would get back to better times. The postponement of debt payments would enable this to be done. When he had read of the British Government’s concession in the direction of postponing the payment of principal of Australian war debts, he had written as an individual member of the New Zealand Parliament to Mr J. 11. Thomas mentioning that he had been wondering if the same generous treatment would be extended to New Zealand. Mr Thomas had replied stating that the whole question of debt payments was under consideration. "Now that the offer has been made,” Mr Samuel continued, “I trust the Government will accept it in the spirit in which it was made. This country can well do with a postponement of that payment.” Mr J. S. Fletcher (1., Grey Lynn): Is it a fair thing to ask the British taxpayers to bear New Zealand’s burden? Mr Samuel: I won’t, say that it is a fair thing, to ask them to bear New Zealand's burc.en, but I will say it is a fair thing for Britain to help one of her children who has always helped her.

Mr Samuel added that if the Government turned the offer down it would be doing a stark injustice to the taxpayers of this country. He could assure the House that New Zealand’s credit was still high in the Old Land. The two main factors which were liable to damage our credit were pessimistic utterances which were continually being made in New Zealand, and the exaggerated reports which had been circulated in Britain concerning the Hawkes Bay earthquake. New Zealand as a countryhad made wonderful progress during the last ten years.

Mr J. O'Brien (L., Westland) said no other country had increased production and wealth so rapidly, but because of a temporary slump the country had been plunged into poverty. He knew that it was necessary to balance the Budget, but up to date the money had been taken from defenceless civil servants and poorer people. There were no proposals to take money from those who had it. The Government was trying to take the breeks off the Highlander,

Mr D. Jones (R., Mid-Canterbury) dealt with the importation of barley into the Dominion, and said that if Australia were allowed to flood the Dominion with weeds it would place New Zealand in a very serious position. The aim of the Department of Agriculture was to eradicate smut -from the. Dominion, and the authorities agreed that its eradication could be made an established fact if serious effort were made. Large areas in Canterbury were being planted with smut-free barley, and the importance of this would be realized when it was known that smut could destroy a third of the barley crop. Labour Leader’s Comment.

The debate was continued mainly by Labour members who dealt with the unemployment question and policy of the Health Department regarding dental clinics and hospital subsidies. Shortly after midnight the leader of the Labour Party, Mr H. E. Holland, appealed to the Minister of Health to answer remarks concerning his department and then went on to attack the Government for having imported coal. The Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, replying, said, he had not seen the circular referring to dental clinics, but he was quite prepared to accept responsibility for it. He would remind the leader of the Labour Party that the benefits given in prosperous times could not be expected when the country was going through an economic, crisis. Local dental clinic committees had always found part of the cost of the service, and the increase made was only £3O for each nurse. It was considered that parents should pay something for the service if they were able to do so. . . (Left sitting). .