The Daily News MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1924. THE MORATORIUM.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 September 1924, Page 4

The Daily News MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1924. THE MORATORIUM.

In their handling of the Mortgages Final Extension Bill on Tuesday night, neither the Government nor the House of Representatives appears to have done itself full justice. The point at. issue which concerned the country most intimately was the date on which the moratorium should cease, the date, that is, on which mortgagees should be free to exercise the rights originally conferred upon them by their securities. The Bfll, as it was presented to the House, fixed the date at December 31, 1924. Whether this was the choice of the Prime Minister or of a majority of the Cabinet outsiders are not permitted to know. In any case it is of no particular consequence. The Bill, after passing through its preliminary stages in the House was, in the ordinary course, referred to the Public Accounts Committee and that body recommended, among other things, that the date for the expiration of |the moratorium should be July 31, 1925. When the Bill reappeared in the House on Tuesday night for the purpose of passing through its committee stage it soon became evident that the Government’s mind—whether the mind of the Prime Minister or the mind of a majority of the Cabinet—had changed. In reply to a question put to him by a very faithful member of his own party, Mr. Massey said he would be prepared to accept an extension of the date to March 31, 1925. December 31, 1924, he explained, would be an awkward time for the farmers to re-ar-range their finance. The question was held in suspense while the earlier clauses of the Bill were discussed and then the Government’s good intentions in regard to the moratorium were submitted to a kind of Dutch auction. Mr. George Witty, the Liberal member for Riecarton, who now sits on the Government side of the House, opened the game by moving that March 31, 1925, in place of July 31, 1925, suggested by the Public Accounts Committee, should be substituted for December 31, 1924, the date mentioned in the Bill. This was defeated on a division by 30 votes to 27. Then Mr. A. Harris, the membei for Waitemata, who had interrogated the Prime Minister on the subject at the opening of the discussion, moved that. April 30 should be the final date. This was defeated by 31 votes to 28. Next Mr. J. A. Nash, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, moved that May 31 should be the fateful day. This also was defeated by 31 to 28. Finally Mr. A. Harris moved that June 30 should be the date and this was rejected by 30 to 28. Then Mr. T. M. Wilford, the leader of the Opposition, moved that July 31, the date suggested by the Public Accounts Committee, should be inserted in the Bill, and this was carried on the voices. All this cannot have formed a very edifying spectacle. The divisions were practically on party lines from beginning to end, Mr. F. J. Rolleston, the Reform member for Waitomo, and Mr. J. McC. Dickson, the Reform member for Chalmers, who voted with the Liberals and the Labourites, alone asserting their independence. The argument on the Opposition side of the House, emphasised by both Mr. Wilford and Mr. Holland, was that Parliament should have an opportunity to review the situation when it assembled next session. Mr. Massey and his colleagues strongly opposed the postponment beyond March 31. “In the meantime,” the Prime Minister said, “this wretched thing is hanging over us and doing incalculable harm.” Mr. Massey made a rather unfortunate allusion to “another place,” the Legislative Council, implying that the Bill might meet with disaster there if an extension of the moratorium were made to July 31. No doubt it was a slip of the tongue, which the Minister himself would at once regret, but it was a slip not easy to repair, and the passage of the Bill through the Council will be watched with critical interest.