NEW MINISTERS’ CHAN

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1929, Page 13

NEW MINISTERS’ CHAN

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBA' REMEDY OF UNEMPLOYME! SECONDARY INDUSTRIES By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night The debate on the AddressMn-Re was continued in the House of Rep sentatives to-day by . the Hon. W. Taverner, who said he was equally keen as the Labour members to get with the legislation of the Session, 1 he felt new Ministers such as hirns should take .this first opportunity give an indication of what kind of-m they were. _ • ; Referring to the country’s trade b ance, Mr. Taverner said money could regarded as frozen wealth. He presu cd the farmers and business spent all the money they considered n< essary to develop their - interests, and was therefore apparent some new av nue must be established to utilise tl wealth. He suggested it should be tur cd into a number of secondary indi tries which, jf properly fostered, wou help to solve the economic problem, b in doing so the Government would tai care not to cause a rise in the cost living. That point would be kept stron ly in view when Customs charges we under revision, and no increases wou be made which would cause an advan in the cost of diving. • The Manufacturers’ Federation he promised ils assistance in the formatit of an advisory board to collect data i regard to the position of the Industrie and groups of industries. He wished t emphasise, however, that he was nc advocating a tariff board. The duty c contending with that problem should nc be taken out of the hands of the Hous

STATE FOREST SERVICE.

Dealing with the State Forest Service Mr. Taverner said . thp. programme o planting a total of 300;000 acres in tree would be_ completed in 1931 at the lai -est, arid it was necessary to review th whole position,to det.erniinejwhat slioul be the future plans. He assured th House that no land would be taken tha could be used for agriculture and • pas ture. . However, experience had show: that it .was often'the land unsuitable fo these pursuits that was most useful fo tree-growing. Such land would be safe guarded for forestry purposes and woul< be utilised in the proper manner. Ther was a good market in Australia fo soft woods, and the valuable trade ii

that quarter might be developed. Replying to criticism by Mr. Coate that- there had been delays in the +>sll services, Mr. Taverner said the tim lost had not increased any more than i had progressively done in'the last fey years, and this infinitesimal increase ii the time lost, had been contemporarisec with the increase of 300,000 miles in th( mileage record of trains. Overhaul oi the workshops had been necessary. Ehgine failures in 1927 had totalled 144 and in 1928 they had increased. to 184 but in the year just closed there hac been a decrease to 15S. It had been neeessary in this year’s estimates to pro* vide £600,000 for new rolling stock. The Minister refuted the statement of Mr. 11. S. S. Kyle that he (had inspected the proposed route of .the ! South Island Main Trunk in a closed-car on a wet day. The fact was. that he took two days to make the inspection and the weather was beautiful. It-had been reported that he said the Jihe would be justified from the scenic viewpoint, but it was scarcely necessary for him to contradict that statement, because no one would suggest a line should be built lor scenic reasons alone. . The WharanuiParnassus gap must be considered as part and parcel of the South Island Main Trunk line. ?

COST OF THE RAILWAYS.

It had been freely suggested in the last few weeks that £32,000 per mile was the definitely ascertained cost of railway construction, but such was not the case. With the exception of tho Tahawai-Tauranga and Waiotira-Kiriko-pani lines (which passed through difficult country) the records showed that in only one instance—the TaurangaTancatua line —had the cost of railway construction exceeded £20,000 per mila It was estimated that the WharanuiParnassus gap would cost an average oi £27,715 per mile. • ‘ Mr. 11. G. Dickie (Pa tea) deplored the fact that so many Government members thought it. necessary to attack the , Leader of the Opposition and support the South Island Main Trunk line. Any- ■> one. who stated the United Party came into office on a railway policy was indulging in extravagant talk. Not onetenth of the people of the Dominion were interested in the line, and the majority would be delighted if it were abandoned. Tho real reason for the Government’s success at tho polls was the proposal to borrow £70,000,000 and . the fact that Sir Joseph Ward led the party, . . Mr. Dickie blamed the economic conditions throughout the world for the unemployment situation. If the nations had spent years in destructive warfare it was inevitable that a bad period should follow. Immigration bad done no more than help to replace the man- ' power lost in tho war. Tho Minister of Education had stated ho intended to give education an agricultural bias; he would find that very difficult. Mr. Dickie considered tho best way to train young men for the land was to apprentice' them to practical farmers. Tho less time they spent a 4 Flock House the better. J Mr. R. AV. Hawke claimed it was th! i. Government’s land policy and not th< promise of the £70,000,000 loan that ... had been responsible, for tho success oi tho United Party. Ho appealed for an > investigation of markets further, afield > for eggs. New .Zealand, was capable last year of producing all eggs required fol its own consumption, also to export £60,000 worth to tho United Kingdom, The poultry industry, however, was languishing for want of encouragement and had much vaster possibilities. It had been promised assistance- from the present Government and looked to , it. an improvement of the conditions. The adjournment of the debate was moved by Mr, W. J. Broadfoot and the > House rose at 5.30 p.iu. till 2.30 p.m. on j Tuesday.