THE HOUSE AMUSED

Southland Times, Issue 21649, 10 March 1932, Page 7

THE HOUSE AMUSED

MR T. MAKITANARA IN REMINISCENT VEIN. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, March 9. In supporting the proposed amendments to the I.C. and A. Act during the course of his Address-in-Reply speech in the House of Representatives this afternoon, the member for Southern Maori, Mr T. Makitanara, adopted a reminiscent vein and spoke of his experiences as a labourer on a flaxmill. “I worked in the flaxmilling industry for 20 years and am not ashamed of it,” he said, and added that the member for Rangitikei had been his camp mate at one time who did the cooking. “Mr F. Langstone wanted to know if we went through the mill together,” Mr Makitanara declared, and members laughed heartily. Mr Langstone: Through the flaxmill? “No, not the flaxmill,” Mr Makitanara shot back amid renewed laughter. In 1890, he continued, fibre was worth £2O a ton on the London market and flaxcutters were paid half a crown a ton. Over 4000 ryere employed in the industry, and if the Arbitration Act could be amended, he was sure thousands would again find employment within a few weeks. Awards were crushing industry, and he went on to quote the wages . employers were required to pay. He was interrupted several times by Mr Langstone and finally gave him his conge, by tartly remarking, “I don’t know where the honourable gentleman comes from, Mr Speaker, but I doubt if he knows a flaxmill from a cowbail.” This remark appeared to delight members and Mr Makitanara resumed his seat amid general laughter. MR D. McDOUGALL’S EXPERIENCES. Wellington, March 9. An amusing interlude took place in the House of Representatives this evening when Mr D. McDougall expressed his opinions on the fall in the cost of living during the course of his Address-in-Reply speech. Although statistics showed that the cost of living had gone down, he was of the opinion that the fall was not great enough. “I suspect the fall is in theory and not in practice,” he said. “When I was over on the West Coast I met a dear old Scotch lady in Greymouth. I asked her if the cost of living had gone down and she said 'No, we have to pay as much for milk as for beer here’.”

As soon as the laughter of members had subsided, Mr McDougall said that he had asked the lady if the cost of living had not gone down at all and she had replied “The only things that have gone down are clothes pegs and Beechams Pills.” (Roars of laughter.) “If the cast of living has gone down, the cost of building has not,” Mr McDougall continued. Mr H. T. Armstrong: You are the only one that wants to build a house. Mr McDougall: If I build one, FII be building it for a good man. It still cost £lOOO to build a house, he said, and no working man could afford that.