IMPREST SUPPLY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 457, 28 July 1915, Page 3

IMPREST SUPPLY.

THE COST OF LIVING. A RAMBLING DEBATE. COAL MINES AND VICTIMISATION [From our own Parliamentary Eeporter.] WELLINGTON. July 27. A message from the Governor was received applying for Imprest Supply to the extent of £903,000. The necessary resolution was reported from Committee of Supply,, and referred to the committee of ways and means. Mr .1. Payne (Grey Lynn) referred to the necessity for doing something practical towards reducing the cost of living. He woidd like to see allied with State coalfields a line of colliers established to reduce the cost of transport by 10/- or 15/- a ton. The Government might commandeer all the dairy products, so that butter might be supplied to retailers at 1/1, on the understanding that they did not charge more than 1/2. The surplus output could be placed to the best advantage for the farmers, outside of New Zealand, the proceds being pooled ami paid direct to them. He had seen advertised in Christchuvch prime mutton at 5/- to 6/- a side, and he believed the reason was that certain big farmers had had a quarrel with a meat ring, and decided to supply meat direct to the people. He was told that steamers going to Lyttelton got their meat for 2id per lb all round. Another subject deserving of attention was the erection of workers' homes. It was ridiculous for the House to calmly sit down and see the people bled for the necessaries of-life. It was ridiculous to say that since the war the cost of living had only increased 7 per cent. He had a comparison from a family man which showed an advance of at least *4O or 50 per cent. Fancy, in a country like New Zealand, margarine being advertised at lOd a lb! New Zealanders,should not be called upon to eat such rubbish.

An Hon. Member: You can get good margarine. (Hear, hear.) Mr Payne 1 was surprised to find two margarine eaters in the House. As a young nation they should set themselves absolutely against the adulterated foodstuffs to which the poorer classes in the Old World were condemned. "ASPHYXIATED LEGISLATORS." Dr H. T. J. Thacker (Christchurch East) thought it high time progress was made with v the new Parliamentary Buildings. It was important that members should get out of the vitiated atmosphere in which they now had to work as soon as possible. They wanted pure oxygen and ozone in the present chamber. He had noticed on many occasions that there was an overheated foetid atmosphere that amounted to carbonic oxide asphyxiation. It was a disgrace that the conditions of asphyxiation should be allowed to go on for so long, and he could not understand why building operations had been brought to a standstill. He would urge the Minister to get a move on, so that members would be able to legislate in a decent hygienic atmosphere.

THE FISHING INDUSTRY. Mr A. Walker (Dunedin North) •would like to know when some attention was going to be paid to Professor Prince's report on the fishing industry. It was also worth considering whether the Government should not commandeer the next season's wheat supply. He was surprised when the Prime Minister was recently asked to remove the duty on oats that he should declare there was no necessity for such a course, seeing that since the war began the price of oats had more than doubled. There was cause for the immediate removal of all duties that affected the food supply. The State coal supply system did not go far enough, a State supply of legnite being required.

VICTIMISATION. ,Mr P. C. Webb (Grey) drew the attention of the Prime Minister to the fact that victimisation was still being carried on on the water front. He had received a telegram from Greymouth to the effect that two men who had signed the petition recently presented to the Minister had been prevented from getting employment. A man who had worked lor the Railway Department for 15 years, who had applied for reinstatement after the strike, was still being kept out. Considering the way the workers were being exploited by rings, it was a wonder that the country was not full of strikes. Mr Webb proceeded to say that the casualty lists had contained the names of men who had been unable to secure employment in any mine or any waterfront in New Zealand, owing to their strained connection with unionism. The men who had fought for justice in the Dominion had gone forth willingly to fight for justice on the battlefields of Europe. He appealed to the Prime Minister to set up a Royal Commission to investigate the statement of the Labour members that victimisation of a particularly vicious kind was rampant on the wharves and in the mines. Referring to the State coal mines, Mr Webb said that the mines could produce from 1500 to 2000 tons of coal daily, and sell it to the public at a low rate, but the Liverpool mine was scarcely working half-time, and people could not get State coal. The Government allowed the Union Steam Ship Company to hold up the country by neglecting to send sufficient colliers to the West Coast, while an agreement prevented other shipping companies sending ships without the consent of the Union Company. He made an appeal for the nationalisation of the coal mines.

A SERIOUS POSITION. Mr Wilford (Hull) said that the Government was face to face with a very serious position. If the cost of livingwas not reduced, then wages would have to rise. How were the wage-earners to he helped when the purchasing power of ill to-day was equal to the purchasing power of 15/- in August, I'll I? The man who had several children and had to pay rent out of a total income of from H2 to H2 10/- per week had a very difficult task to make ends meet. The family which could count upon an income of £SOO or I'tiOO a year was not troubled by a rise yi the price of butter or of baby food. Adversity provided the test of a Governninet. The men who were in control of public all'airs in New Zealand had an exceptional opportunity. If the Ministers would look at the facts and realise the burden which the workers were bearing already they would realise that something must he done quicklv. PESSIMISTIC. Mr Hanan (Invercargill) said that if Parliament failed during the present session to face the question of the increased cost of living the people of the country would be very keenly disappointed. A period of depression and hardship was coming. Many wage-earners could not economise, since they needed all their earnings to provide the bare necessaries of life. COLLECTIVISM. Mr J. Payne (Grey Lynn) urged the Government to look further afield than the ordinary sources of taxation in raising money foi* the use of the State. His suggestions lay in the direction of collectivist enterprise. Mr P. C. Webb (Grey) eulogised the recent legislation of New South Wales. That State was determined that no one should make a prolit out of the war. The results of every election in Australia since the war started showed thai the people of the Commonwealth were determined to have in power the only party which would prevent exploitation. Mr Massey: Did you sec what the Premier, of New South Wales promised the farmers the other day? Mr Webb: Yes; he promised that if the next wheat harvest in New South Wales showed a surplus the Labour Government would not confiscate the crop, but he did not' say that the Government would not regulate the price. He wept on, to say that in many cases prices were fixtnl by monopolistic trusts which were anything but scrupulous. They had all heard of groundrup bricks being mixed with mustard, of sanded sugar; and -of wooden nutmegs. It was'the trusts which sold such articles that regulated the price of manv articles.

The Bill passed rapidly through its remaining stages, and was read a third time.