CRITICISM OF BUDGET

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1930, Page 11

CRITICISM OF BUDGET

OBJECTION TO NEW DUTIES CHANGE IN THE DEFENCE POLICY. MINISTER REPLIES TO CHARGE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Aug. 1. Replying to Mr. M. J. Sat age when the House of Representatives met this 'morning, the Prime Minister (the Hon. ,G. W. Forbes) stated that the Nurses and Midwives’ Registration Amendment Bill would be referred to the House on Tuesday next, and if it was the feeling of the House it would be referred io the Health Committee. Mr. W. E. Barnard asked the Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe) whether there was any truth in the allegations made by. Mr. F. Waite that the Minister had failed to keep his promise that he world consult territorial officers before any changes were . made in.rthe defence system. Mr. Cobbe replied that he had informed territorial officers that serious consideration would be given before any changes were made; and that he would consult Major-General Young and obtain the opinion of experts. He had done this, and had later consulted sixofficers, one of whom was a prominent Wellington... territorial officer. lie had not broken his promise, in any way. The following Bills were introduced and read a first time: —Hawke’s Bay County Empowering Bill (Mr. H. M. Campbell); ' Elections and Polls Amendment Bill No. 2 (Mr. J. McCombs). : ' The financial debate was resumed by Mr. F. Langstpne, who asserted that rationalisation of finance was as important as rationalisation of industry. He criticised the .financial transactions of - the Bank of New Zealand in relation to its advances’ for city buildings wjren everyone was complaining of lack of money for important developmental purposes. • ■ ’ OBJECTION TO DUTIES. • Mr. Langstone, expressed disapproval' of; the Customs increases and declared tfiit it was unsound and unscientific to impose Customs duties for the purpose - of i raising revenue. The increases would be passed on to the consumer, to a greater degree, and the cost of living would be raised substantially. If the Government ■ desired to give protection to. New Zealand industries it should d® so iin a direct and courageous manner, but it? was wrong to tax goods that couldnot be produced in New Zealand. Ho described it as mean and paltry to obtain revenue by means of a tax on working people’s amusements. The Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle, said it devolved upon all sections of the House to sink party feeling in times of difficulty, and he considered that the Leader of the Opposition had been inconsistent in stating that he desired to co-operate with the Government, only to follow, sudh assurances with? a non-confidence : motion. . The Minister attributed the present financial situation substantially to the difficulties created by unemployment, and this had been largely caused by the Reform Government’s immigration policy. Mr. K. S. Williams: How many registered unemployed were there when you took office? Mr. de la Perrelle: I have not the figures here. Mr. Williams: ~I can tell you; there were 1835. How many are there now ? Mr. de la Perrelle, continuing, said it was not fair to blame the Government for conditions that were caused by world-wide depression. SUSPENSION OF TRAINING. Referring to defence Mr. de la Perrelle said at a time such as the present he could not see how anyone could object to the suspension of expenditure ; for one year. - The increased petrol tax would be ol great benefit to the backblocks settler, and sure.y t.hey were entitled to., good roads. While the critics of the Government had mentionthe burden that the petrol tax would place on farmers, none had drawn at-, tention to the fact that the petrol-used for farm machinery was not subject to the tax. Mr. de la Perrelle said he believed the people of New Zealand generally would enclqrse the Prime Minister’s method of spreading the burden of increased taxation. They regarded it as a straight-forward Budget. Mr. H. M. Campbell said that unless there was some reasonable curtailment of wasteful expenditure he believed taxation would be further increased next year. Dealing with the defence curtailments he said that if he were satisfied tho change was to be for only one year ho would not have any serious objection. lie did not think, however, that thia’ would be the case. It would appear that the step'had been dictated by tho-Labour Party. - He asked the Government whether it intended to continue the guarantee to frujjt-growers, declaring that it was a very important factor in tjie life of a valuable industry, Mr. Campbell advocated placing seasonal workers on small holdings as a means of solving the problem of unemployment. ; RAILWAYS INVESTIGATION. j Wellington, Last Night. Mr. W. J. Jordan said ho considered better service by the railways could be ensured if a committee of railway worKers were set «up to consider the position. Tho time had arrived when the, government could abolish first-class carriages on 'suburban lines. No one ever used them. There were no first class carriages on trams and the ferry vices. It seemed that the department was not out to make the service popular. The Government was doing its best in setting up committees but he disagreed with tho personnel of the Railway Commission. He complained that tho various select committees of the House were not consulted often enough on matters that came within their scope. It appeared- that the House, and even Ministers themselves, did not have as much say in the Government services as tho departmental heads. - Mr. Jordan expressed himself as strongly in favour of a voluntary de- , ■fe'tmo force. He 'stated : that the vol- * tintary systeifv 'hhd -1 never '.been"given a fair ; triVrin NeW Zealand. ’When' it had

been in existence before it had been starved, but he believed it should be encouraged. Mr. H. G. Dickie (Patea) cited the fact that . New Zealand cheese had to be exported in crates made of imported timber as evidence that the timber industry in the Dominion required overhauling. Referring to State advances he said he had been looking forward to a tapering off in loans to workers. The housing shortage had largely been overcome and a loan to a settier was of far more advantage to the country than one to a worker, though he confessed he wanted to see all the workers housedDealing with the Budget economies Mr. Dickie said the Government had not mentioned the big bonus it had taken from tho producers. Provision had been made in last year’s estimates for money for the pork- bonus, but just after* the close of the session it had been announced that it was being withdrawn. It was useless for a Government spending millions on railway lines ,to talk of economy. A tremendous saving in interest alone could be made by . effecting curtailment in that direction. Mr. D. G. Sullivan denied that housing requirements had been met.. While there were empty houses in some places they' were too large and expensive for the workers. The need for State ad.vance3 for this purpose had not passed. Ho defended the completion of the South Island main trunk railway on the ground that the province of Marlborough had not yet been fully developed and would not be until it was served by railways. Railways had rendered enbrmbus developmental service to the Dominion.' When the line was put through it was not merely a question of whether it was going to pay interest on capital expenditure and operating costs. If that view had been held by the pioneers New Zealand wou.d still have been a backblocks country.

Mr. Sullivan opposed the imposition of the new tax on amusements and other taxes that would reach a section of the community that could ill afford to bear them. He asserted that as soon as a time of depression arrived the worker was asked to become a shareholder and bear a part of the burden, but when prosperous times came he-was never invited to share in increased prices and; dividends. ■ Mr. C. H. Clinkard criticised the action of the Independents in voting against the Government the previous evening. He asked whether they would have voted the same way had they thought the Government would have been defeated and the Reform Party return"d to the Treasury benches. He particularly took exception- to the attitude of Mr. Fletcher and insisted that the fairest -course for the member for Grey Lynn to have taken would have been to follow the lead of Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Fletcher had been elected to the House as a member of the United Party and if he intended to vote against tho party on a no-confidcnco issue he should first have sought tho endorsement of his electors for his changed attitude.

Referring to Arapuni Mr. Clinkard «aid he had always been of opinion that tho work np V ., r ] iave been undertaken because of tho nature < tho country. . , Tho House rose at 5.30 p.m. till 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.