PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 19, 17 August 1928, Page 2

PARLIAMENT AT WORK

BUDGET DEBATE. DISCUSSION CONTINUED. CRITTCTSAI OF GOVERNMENT. Press Association—Copyright. WELLINGTON, Last Night. The Budget made it appear that the country ,wag growing in. prosperity every day, said Mr. H. T- Armstrong (Labour) when the debate on the Budget was resumed in the House of Representatives to-day, but people were never so poor as they were at the present time. The cost of living had gone up and with the purchasing power of the people reduced it followed that the standard of living must be. PROFITS OF RANKS. The hanks, for instance, were enpoying a period of prosperity because they were making more profits to-day than ever they were before. The Budget stated the dead-weight of debt had been lifted! from, the farmers, but the fact was that farmers would continue to struggle under a dead-weight of debt until the State stepped in and relieved them from the enormous profits now being made by banking institutions. Discussing the;, public debt Mr. Armstrong maintained it was useless to claim credit in reducing one portion and the general interest charges had increased. He condemned the management! oil the .soldier settlements and declared the Budget held out no hope. No reduction in taxation" was proposed, he said, and next year if it were reduced it would bo the people who d?d not require the reduction, who would obtain it. The Government's intention was still further to increase taxation to the poor in order that it might reduce it to the rich, but he hoped the people of New Zealand - woqld so deal with the situation as to frustrate the policy as it was outlined in the Budget. SAYINGS BANK LIMITS.

Mr. W. J. GirTJng (.Reform) defended the Government for putting a limitation upon Post Office Savings Bank deposits. This was not done in )the ..interests of private hanks but because it was unwise from from the point of view of public 'Snthe point of view of public fincall, as sudden withdrawals might often embarrass the Minister! There was a time when the Budget was a Budget and when it contained a considerable amount of information to winch one could look with confidence, said Mr. G. W 1 Forbes (Nationalist). Of late years however, it had been growing smaller and smaller.

LONG TERM LOANS. Tie long-term loan sclieme for which' power was given to the Bank of New Zealand in 1926 had proved a fiasco, said Mr. Forbes- The bank had been given powe rto raise £S,~ 000,000 to lend to farmers at 6 per oonfi>. ‘So tfair been lent out of this. The Government had found half of that amount, so the much-vaunted scheme had fallen far short of public expectations. The dismal story of soldiers’ settlements, said Mr. Forbes, was repeated. What 7 surprised him was that the people had been so patient in the face of the loss o f.£5,000,000 on these settlements, and he thought the sooner all reference to it was removed from the Budget the better, unless there were further losses to be written off. MINISTER OF LANDS. Replying to the criticism of the banking position the Minister of Lands said he had had a good deal of sympathy with the idea of a State bank. He had read a great deal about it, had discussed it with men of experience and had looked into it on the* spot in -Australia, but he would certainly have nothing to do with it unless it clearly and specifically placed the executive of the bank beyond the sphere of political interference.

Regarding soldier settlements, Mr. .McLeod declared ihaf 'even if Taele had been mistakes they wore honest mistakes. No one had his palm j greased and no country hi the world ' had done so well in repatriating its j soldiers as New Zealand. I On the subject of taxation paid by farmers Air. AlcLeod said he believed that in general farmers would pro for to pay land tax rather than income tax because of the simplicity of the return which had to be made up for the former as compared with the latter. ASSISTANCE TO SETTLERSA,s to assistance given to settlers generally, ho said advances made to settlers now amounted to £50,000,000, four-fifths of which: were made since Reform came into power. In the whole of Australia, with its greater area and larger population, the total advances amounted to £78,000,000. Discussing deteriorated lands, Mr. AlcLeod denied! that anything like 5,000,000 acres had gone back. That statement was a gross libel on the Dominion. He was confident a great deal of these lands would came hack into profit if economic conditions would justify the labour it must incur. * H. G. R- Mason (Eden) criticised the public works policy, con. tending that no railway should be built unless its construction could stand the, closest examination. Tlie House rose at 11.50. p.m. THE NEW BANK. WELLINGTON, Last Night. The London and New Zealand Bank Bill was to-day sent back by the House of Representatives to the special committee \vbich formally considered it, for the purpose of reconsidering certain parts of the schedule. Replying to Air T. M. Wilford, the Minister of Education, the HOn. R. A. Wright, said he would ask the Public Service Superannuation De partment to report on the probable cost of allowing the widow of a superannuated servant to draw half his pension after the death of the superannuate Mr Wright agreed that if such a scheme were practicable it would he of very great benefit to many widows. The Wairarapa Electric Powei Board Empowering Bill was introduced and read a first time.