PARLIAMENT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1162, 1 November 1917, Page 4

PARLIAMENT.

WINDING UP THE SESSION . ESTIMATES AND APPROPRIATION BILL. 1 Press Association. s WELLINGTON, October 31. S In the House of Representatives this 1 afternoon discussion on the Estimates e was resumed. V Mr Walker expressed approval of the >' proposal suggested by Mr Okey that a - bonus of £2 per ton should lie given for 1 the production of pig iron, with a view " to assisting the iron industry. He also C complained that so little had been done s to reduce the cost of living. 2 Mr Webb contended that the Otira 1 Tunnel should be brought under the 1 Mining Act, as the working eonditioas 1 were extremely unhealthy. More rigid inspection by qualified mining inspee- ' j tors was urgently needed, to say no- " thing of a more sympathetic Minister. > Mr Hunter complained of unequal e shipment of frozen lamb, pointing out 1 that from Wellington 400,000 carcases { had been liberated for export, as " against 100,000 carcases from tthe rest s of the North Island, and there was a feeling that the port of Wellington was } receiving undue preference. ' The motion to go into Committee of 2 Supply to consider the Supplementary ■■ Estimates was then put and carried. Pensions Before Bonuses. Speaking to a proposed increased of £25 to the second clerk assistant to the House of Representatives, Mr Ander--1 son contended that there should be no - bonus or increases in salaries when the ', Government had told the House that - thej r could not afford to give better pen- ' sions to widows and children of soldiers. Sir Joseph Ward said it was absurd to suppose that even though we were in 4 war time there were no instances in t which increases should be made to sal- " aries. This officer had been in the de- " partment 25 years, and he could not ■ live on the salary, considering his re- - sponsibilties. His predecessor received 2 £345. There were very few instances 5 where salaries over £350 were increased, and these were special eases. The following votes were passed:— Legislative Departments, £6860; Department of Finance, £3750; Post and ) Telegraph Department, £74,790; work--1 ing railways, £274.038; public buildings, 2 domains, etc., £1270; Native Depart- - ment, £1396. Prison Warders. On the vote for the Justice Depart- ' ment of £28,024, the Hon. J. A. Hanan, replying to Mr Webb, said that the number of prison warders was being j increased, with the object of reducing ■ the hours worked by these officers, but j, he could not agree with the statement that warders worked 70 hours a week. He was not going to waste public money I setting up commissions to inquire into . this matter. He was quite capable of p inquiring into it himself. This he would do, and make a statement to the House next session. Mines Department, £6750. Mr Isitt expressed a hope that in • spite of the war the Minister would not be timid and refuse to spend moliey 1 on development work. Defence Department, £5468, Customs - and Marine £7054, Labour' Department - £930, Lands and Survey Department v £26,699, and Agricultural Department £42,470 were passed. The House rose at 5.30 p.m. ' The Evening Sitting. The House resumed at 7.30 p.m. Consideration of the Estimates was continued, the following votes being passed practically without discussion: — Education Department, £79,828; Pub--1 lie Works Fund, £6940; Tourist Dee partment, £200; construction and main--1 tenance of roads, £11,085; State'forests, c £5315; scenery preservation, £810; State ' coal mines, £10,575; land for settler ments, £1158; land drainage, £7500; Public Trust account, £6900; Governs ment Insurance account, £650; State Advances account, £900; unauthorised expenditure, £148,055. Appropriation Bill, f Consideration of the Estimates was completed by 8.10 p.m., when the Ape propriation Bill was introduced. i Mr Mander began the debate by atj tacking the Minister of Public Works -, for unfair allocation of votes for public works, and for treating members as s though they were unworthy of eons sidcration. Whether members got votes e or not all depended upon the state of r the Minister's liver. a The Hon. W. Fraser, in reply, said he a did not act upon the principle of equality of. expenditure in the various electorates, but upon the necessity for the expenditure. The inequality complained of was due to votes in connection with land settlement which the Minister of Lands had asked him to provide, so that they were not really his votes. His aim ever was to hold the balance fairly I in connection with the requirements of the Dominion. Mr Ell also entered upon a criticism ) of the Public Works Department, which, - he declared, was wasteful and absolute f in its methods. Competitive designs i should, he said, be called for all public buildings of a value of not less than - £SOOO. Competition was a useful stimulant, and would help to raise the i standard of our public buildings, which I should be to this country what the great r buildings of England were, the glory of , the Old Land. Mr McConibs proceeded to discuss conscription, but was pulled up by the - Speaker, and after several vain attempts to get round the Standing Or- - ders and rulings of previous Speakers - he gave up the enterprise and resumed his seat. 5 Alleged Gagging. ' Mr Payne raised a protest against ' the attempt to gag Labour members. He suggested to his colleagues that they should take the Bill and read every line and word in it, and thereby hold the House up for a few hours by way of protest, and in order to show the country that there were some members solicitous about expenditure. He thereupon proceeded leisurely to deal with the Bill, clause by clause. The debate was continued by Messrs Glover, Rhodes (Thames), and Webb, who, in discussing a great variety of k subjects, addressed an almost empty . House, their speeches being punctuated t by the ringing of the bell summoning a . quorum. I; Just before midnight the second readl ing of the Bill was agreed to on the k voices, and the House went into Comr mittec. All clauses up to 28 passed in a few r minutes. -, At clause 29 Dr Newman protested against the postponement of the re--3 grading of Civil Servants as an act of a injustice. . Sir Joseph Ward said that regrading could not be continued at present, as so I many Civil Servants were aw r ay at the war. The extension of time was only temporary. I Dr Newman insisted upon calling for , a division, but the clause was retained. Twelve Ministers. ! Replying to Dr Newman, Sir Joseph

Ward stated that clause 32 meant that all 12 Cabinet Ministers would be paid full salaries when the additional Ministers were appointed. Payment was [ ante-dated ono year. The Bill then was reported from Committee without amendment. [ On the .notion for the third reading, Mr Payne was about to speak, when the Prime Minister suggested that "Hansard" reporters should be relieved, as they had been on duty since 9.30 that morning. 5 This suggestion, was taken by the La--5 bour Party as an attempt to gag them, and they "entered an emphatic protest ' against such an attempt. 1 Mr Massey denied that he had any idea of the 'kind, and if there was no intention on the part of members to I debate the Bill ■ at great length, lie ; would not ask the Speaker to have the reporters relieved. \ Mr McCombs said the debate would ' have been over in five minutes if the i Prime Minister had not interfered. 1 Mr Massey: Very well, let the debate proceed. Messrs Payne, Webb, McCombs, and Veiteh then spoke briefly. 1 The Bill was read a third time and ' passed. '' The House rose at 0.30 a.m. till ' 110.30 a.m. To-day's Business. j The Legislative Council met at 10.30 . a.m. and passed the Appropriation Bill. ■ The House met at 10.30. After the dispatch of formal business Sir Joseph Ward stated that the Governme'nt was in cable communication with the British Government on the sub- - ject of permitting parcels of sugar to ' pass through the post to our troops. The " ground on which the application was ' made was that sugar was a commodity 5 about which we were in no difficulty, ; having an ample supply and at a moder- " ate price. In the event of the British • Government not agreeing to the request, ' the High Commissioner had been asked 1 to press for the delivery of parcels en 1 route. At 11 o'clock a message was received from the Legislative Council that they - had passed the Appropriation Bill, and the Speaker at once proceeded to Go- ' vernment House to obtain the Governor- ' General's signature.