LESSONS OF EARTHQUAKE

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1929, Page 13

LESSONS OF EARTHQUAKE

NEED FOR COMMUNICATION

AERODROMES AND WIRELESS ADDRESS-IN-REPLY DEBATE By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. •Sir Joseph Ward, replying to Mr. R. A. Wright £n tho House of Representatives to-day, said legislation would be necessary to increase the maximum amount of loans under the intermediate rural credits scheme, and ho proposed to introduce an amendment to the act. The debate on the Address-in-Rcply was resumed by Mr. G. Black, who said he wished to take the opportunity to thank the people of New Zealand for their assistance to those who had suffered throng the earthquake. Experiences during the earthquake had demonstrated the necessity for landing bases for aeroplanes at intervals throughout New Zealand. Isolation had been a serious problem and had emphasised the difficulty of communicating with certain parts of the country. He suggested that at any rate a base should bo provided at Golden Bay whereby air communication with the West Coast and the northern, part of the South Island would be facilitated. At the present time the Southern Alps were frequently a barrier to an air service. He also advocated an extension of tho facilities for wireless communication.

Referring to the appointment of Sir Apirana; Ngata as Native Minister, Mr. Black suggested much good might come from a visit to Samoa by Sir Apirana, whose knowledge of tho Polynesians would perhaps enable him to understand the position more completely than it had been understood in the past. Mr. Black criticised the estimates for public works in the past and suggested there should be some change in legislation which would place bn the shoulders of the people making the estimates tho responsibility for any serious faults. He did not think there. would be any satisfactory control over the whole Public Works system until there had been appointed a Public "Works committee of the House.

licenses for coal mines.

Mr. Black said th® policy of refusing licenses to mine coal areas should bo discontinued. Owing to the recent shortage occasioned by the earthquake it had been necessary to import coal from Queensland. This would not have been necessary had there been more mines in the country. In bis opinion the problem should be tackled from the other end. Endeavours should bo made to find a market for all the coal that could be produced. He advocated exploitation by means of science and hydro-electee power of areas in the country likely to produce oil. In fact, all the mineral resources of the country should be more thoroughly developed. Mr. G. R. Sykes referred to land aggregation. He said an .Act to present this was already on the Statute Book, but owing to the “astuteness of the family lawyer” aggregation had in some cases been achieved. He quoted fig.ucs, ■however, to show that the number of holdings had increased substantially during the last years of the Reform administration, despite the fact that many small holdings had. been absorbed on the fringes of the cities. Referring to unemployment Mr. Sykes said the Reform Party’s “maladministration” had been blamed for the distress. This was not so; it was time it was realised that unemployment was a subject above party politics and' all parties united in an effort to relieve the position. He said there were in New Zealand thousands of motor-ears belonging to people who could not pay their grocers’ bills, but were struggling to meet the monthly demands of motor dealers. Something should be done to remedy this position. The Hon. E. A. Ransom said it had been stated it was the Government's intention to do away with the allocation of the road vote of New Zealand. This was not the case. What was intended was to vary the incidence of that system. Last year the amount available was £424.000, but this year it had been found necessary to reduce the sum to £400,000, this representing an honest attempt on the part of the Government to live within ite means and at the same time to provide for all .the requirements of the year. Variations in the system included the removal of the allocations on the area basis, which ho considered was not a fair claim on the road vote., ALLOCATION OF ROAD VOTES. Another Leading under which there bad been a change was the population basis. In the past road districts with larger populations had received a special allocation. Ho considered these were the districts that were best able to look after their own roading systems. ’Taper roads” had also been removed from the allocations. These were roads originally planned but never completed, and in many eases not even known to the residents of the districts in which they existed. These were the only items removed from' the allocations, and the money thereby saved had been added to the amount available for other items. He intended to double the amounts for mileage on roads in use, apart from those “metalled or surfaced, and for local body loans for roads in Crown and native land suitable for settlement would also bo provided for. The new system would not in any way interfere with the fairness of the manner in which the money was allocated .and there could be no suggestion that political favour could enter into *.h& position. The country demanded closer settlement and more intensive farming, and the present Government was out to give it those conditions. Nfo nxn should be allowed to possess more l.Xid than he could farm to its capacity. . Referring to. the statement that men on public' forks to-day were earning only 6s per day, Mr. Ransom said all he could conclude was that it was work commenced untfer the Reform a<lministration and upon whi’ch he had been unable to catch up. He had investigated the matter and had been unable to find any such cases. He had obtained particulars of the rates of pay at cooperative works and had found that the only case where the average was under 14s pm- day was on the Gisborne—Wairoa railway, where the highest wage

was 25s sjd and the lowest wage 6s lOd per day. In. other cases the average wages were higher. It was the policy of the Government to give every man a living wage. In answer to the criticism that the Government had not yet lowered the interest rate, Mr. Ransom said that had it not been for the handicap placed on the present Minister of Finance by his predecessor there would be cheaper money to-day. Regarding unemployment he said the Government had under consideration proposals which it hoped would place hundreds of men in permanent employment. The debate was adjourned. . . Replying to Mr. J. G. Coates, Sir Joseph Ward said he hoped the Address-in-Reply debate would end on Tuesday or Wednesday. The House would next deal with ‘the Standing Orders. The House rose at 5.30 p.m. till 2.30 p.m, on Tuesday.