PARLIAMENT'S PROBLEMS

Taranaki Daily News, 19 July 1929, Page 11

PARLIAMENT'S PROBLEMS

LAND SETTLEMENT POLICY IMPORTATIONS FROM AMERICA. ITIE CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Tho Address-in-Reply debate was re-, Burned in the House of Representatives to-day by Mr. J. T. Hogan, who referred to statements tha~t the present debate could be of no value. ,He contended it would enable the' Government to hear suggestions and would in that way serve a good purpose. He commended the Government’s intention to introduce legislation to provide some institution to care for unfortunate old people and avoid the necessity that had existed in the past for bringing them before the court for having no visible means of support. Mr. Hogan approved of the principle of free trade so long as other countries allowed free trade, but he could not see how there could ever be a world fiscal policy in that direction so long as" there was such a nation as the United States. It should be possible to regulate protection in such a way that the manufacturers would not as a result penalise the consumers. He thought the time hud come for the Government to fix a limit on the number-of motor cars imported into the country from America. The average amount spent on motor vehicles by New Zealanders in the last three years was £G,500,006 per year, and the average costs of motor spirit and lubricating oils were £2,000,000 and £275,000 respectively. Referring to land settlement, Mr. Hogan said he favoured settling people on derelict farms which were already * served with roads. The men would require Government assistance to enable them to farm these lands, but it would be preferable to bring these areas back into a state of productivity than to spend large sums on roads and fences for Crown lands. There should be no .undue haste in. employing Crown lands when derelict farm lands were available. The Government might lose money on the undertaking, but such loss would be justified. The next step in land settlement should be the division of the large estates, and to attain this object the procedure should be to give a fair warning and then apply a graduated land tax. More land aggregation had gone on along the Main Trunk line in the North Island than iri any other part of New Zealand, and he advocated the purchase of some of this land for settlement. Much of it should be available for £2O an acre, and it would be very suitable for dairy farming. WHEAT AND FLOUR TAX. My. Hogan said he had no fault to find with the tax on luxuries, but there should be a lesser tax on such necessities as flour and bread. If the. farmers and millers found this would affect them adversely they should endeavour to reduce the cost of converting grain into flour.; There should be an increase in the tax on amusement. It did not seem unfair that people who could afford to visit theatres should be called on to pay, say, a penny in the shilling to help those who could not afford a loaf of bread. A remission ot some of the tax on companies might aid in providing more employment, Mr. Hogan attacked the system of centralisation in railway workshops, stating that it seemed absurd to haul trucks and carriages hundreds of miles for trifling repairs. Mr. K. S. Williams agreed that the importation of motor vehicles was too heavy. Defending the Taupo railway project he said it had been undertaken as development ■ work entirely, and neither he nor any other members of the Reform Party had looked on it as purely a railway proposition. When the railway had been constructed from Hamilton to Rotorua to enable tourists to visit the thermal regions the land in the vicinity of the line, which had formerly been idle, had been settled and farmed and was now producing butter and cheese. While he admitted that, in the Rotorua-Hamilton locality the land was somewhat more attractive than in the Taupo region, he still thought the latter land could be made sufficiently attractive and productive.

Mr. Williams would like to ask the Government when it was going to carry out its promise, to provide cheaper money for settlers and workers and bring about a cessation of unemployment. He would also like to know what the Government was going to do with the workers when its rash programme of railway construction had been completed. It had been the policy of the late Goveminent to carry out certain railway and hydro-electric works -from year to year and endeavour to keep its onen in continuous employment. NO MAORI UNEMPLOYED. Sir Apirana Ngata- said it had once been considered inadvisable that a member who was dependent upon Native votes should be a Native Minister, but now that he was in that unique position ho would like to make it clear that he would endeavour to bo perfectly fair to all sides. He hoped, however, to be able to present some aspects of Native claims which had not been emphasised in the past by Native Ministers.

Referring to unemployment, Sir Apirana said he considered it was due to the fact that New Zealand had passed the pioneering stage. The rough worn: had been completed. The man who had been very largely in the picture, but never in the Press, when the pioneering work was being accomplished was the Maori, who had been able to undertake heavy work in inaccessible country because he was accustomed to it. There had been an impression that the Maori had merely contributed to the art and literature o"f New Zealand; that was not so. The Maori had stood side by side with the pakeha in the pioneering of the country. Now that that work had been completed unemployment had followed, and among the worst sufferers were the Maoris, but they had not complained; they had "simply slipped back half a generation, tightened their belts and lived on the natural resources of tho country.” The trouble with the present generation of pakehas was they were out of tune with nature and could not get along. It was a matter for congratulation that the Maori population, although it had suffered, had not added to the country’s unemployment burden. Sir Apirana had seen references to the conditions under which Maori girls were employed in market gardens by Chinese and Hindus at Pukekohe and other places in tho North Island. He had instigated investigations into the condi-

tions under "which all Maoris worked in these places, and there was evidence that they were being employed at 9d an hour and were living under unsatisfactory social conditions. He hoped the investigations would result in action by the Native, Health and Labour Departments. CHINESE AND MAORI GIRLS. As far as the relationship of Maori girls with Chinese was concerned he was unable to offer a solution. It had been suggested that the prohibition of this relationship should be undertaken, but that would be almost impossible. It appeared to him the best way of meeting the position was to improve the economic conditions of the Maoris so that their girls would not need to work for Chinese market gardeners. Throughout the country the Maoris were doing their best in the struggle to make their holdings pay, realising that the development of the land was the solution of their economic crisis. There had been a tendency in the past for the Lands Department, in seeking areas for settlement, to follow the line of least resistance and buy up large tracts of Native lands. / While this gave the Maoris a large sum of money it did not give them employment, and the policy of the Young Maori Party had been to put the Native in such a position that he would have to earn his living and thereby his salvation. UNITED PARTY PROMISES. Mr. A. M. Samuel said there was yet no sign of increasing confidence in the restoration of economic stability or of a decrease in unemployment as the United Party had promised; nor was there any sign of increased public support of the Government. lie believed that had there been another election in December or January the United Party would have been returned in a stronger position than it occupied to-day, but public opinion had changed since then. This, he claimed, was indicated by the failure at the local body elections of candidates who, he said, were backed by the United Party organisation. The United Party had gained power for two reasons —one was the mana of their leader, than whom he considered no man in New Zealand to-day had done more for his country; the other was the promise of a £70,000,000 loan. The public was now waiting for this money. Mr. Samuel asked that a thorough investigation be made into the working hours and conditions of nurses in all hospitals. He read a letter describing the long hours of work allotted, to probationers in certain private hospitals. Tho Hon. G. W. Forbes said the Labour Party had complained against the continuation of the debate. Members of that party had spoken on the subject of unemployment during the Imprest Supply debate, and if the United Party had not taken the opportunity of tho present debate to discuss the subject it would have appeared that it was not concerned with the problem and it would have been condemned lyMr. Forbes claimed that the people of the country had to-day a far more hopeful outlook than they had had during the 12 months prior to the United Party’s accession to office, and he felt there was a feeling of greater confidence. The State superannuation funds had got into an unsatisfactory condition and an endeavour would bo made to restore them to a sound footing. In regard to the wheat duties, he said he had stated that he would protect the crop for which arrangements had already been made, and that statement would bo honoured. It had been announced that a" committee would go into the whole question of the wheat industry, and he was prepared to abide by the findings of any committee of the House. The Canterbury farmers were not asking for any advantage—they only desired fair treatment —and he felt the wheatgrowers of the country generally had no fear concerning the treatment they would receive. TAUPO RAILWAY PROJECT. Mr. Forbes said he was surprised that the Taupo-Rotorua railway line had ever been started. It had been said timber would bo made available, but there was already a slump in the timber market and additional supplies would render the position worse, Prospects for settlers on tho pumice land were not bright, and while there was land that was capable of being broken and settled he was satisfied there was very little that could be immediately settled. It was the Government’s intention to take a block of this land and try to get the right people on it. It would take time to get it grassed, hut everything would be done to permit its settlement. It was entirely premature, however, to build a railway through the locality, as such a step would involve enormous loss. Then there was the question of closer settlement of cultivated land. The Government had been trying to purchase land that was capable of closer settlement and greater development, but apart from, a few properties in the Southland district it had found there was a reluctance to offer suitable land at a reasonable price. There had certainly been many propositions, but the conditions were unsatisfactory. The only course left was the compulsory acquisition of land, and that policy would be embodied in the legislation to bo introduced. There was a great future before the country because there was scope for much greater production and thereby for the absorption of the unemployed.