HARD TASK DONE

Taranaki Daily News, 27 April 1931, Page 9

HARD TASK DONE

MEMBERS FACING FACTS

CUTTING SOCIAL SERVICE' FINANCE BILL’S PASSAGE ONE MEASURE REMAINING HOUSE WILL SIT TO-DAY By Telegtaph.—Press Association. Wellington, April 24. When dawn broke this morning there seemed little hope of bringing the emergency session' of the House of Repiesentatives to an end before Anzac Day. The discussion on Finance Bill (bi o. 2) in committee, which had occupied practically all the previous evening, continued steadily throughout the early hours of the morning, and had not been completed when the House adjourned at 8.10 a.m. till 2.30 p.m. . , Considerable opposition was raised to the clause relating to royalties, etc., on opossum skins, members urging that acclimatisation societies should not be deprived of this source of revenue, lhe clause was passed by 30 votes to 26. In the course of a reply to a brief debate on the clause dealing with the regulations respecting the import and export of coined silver, Mr. G. W. Forbes said that travellers and others entering or leaving the country with a few odd shilling’s in silver would not be affected by the regulations. He added that it was not the intention of the Government to mint its oiVn silver coinage. A division was forced oh the clause which causes th&: National Provident Fund to bear its-own expenses and reduces the subsidy'to the fund from onefourth to one-fifth of the total contribution. The clause was passed by 36 votes to 16. >

REDUCTION OF BABY BONUS.

The most strenuous opposition was raised to the clause effecting a reduction from £6 to £4 in the National Provident Fund maternity bonus. The Leader of the Labour Party condemned the proposal ahd invited the Prime Minister, to justify the rf l duCt *°° of 33 1-3 per cent. He added that the clause would affect the poorer section of the community,, who were already sulleiing from the result of wage reductions. Mr. J. A. Nash (Palmerston North) appealed to the Government to reconsider the clause, and subsequently moved 'for the restoration of the bonus <.o the former figure. The acting-Chairman of Committees ruled that he could not allow the amendment, as it 'involved an appropriation. The ruling Was disputed ahd, on the Speaker being summoned, he declared that the amendment was m order. . When the discussion was resumed in committee the Prime Minister said that the amount that”had been contributed from the Consolidated Fund; last year for maternity bonuses was £43,aW. lh social services of the country had been increasing expenditure by leaps and bounds and, unless a halt was called, there would be a complete breakdown,. On a division being taken the amendment washdefeated by 27 votes* to 22. The division list was; — ' For the amendment (22).—Armstrong Barnard, Black I ,‘.Chapman, Eraser, Harris, H. E., Holland,..Jordan, Kyle, Lan stone, McKeen, -Marti*, Mason, J. A. Nash, W.-Nash; O’Brien, Parry Savage, Sullivan, Williams, Wright, Young. Against 4 the amendment (2/ )•—-y* more, Bitchener, Bodkin Clinkard, Cobbe, It Perrelle, Donald, I‘ielU, Forbes, 4 Hamilton,' Hawke, Healy, ' Holland, .lull, Lye, Lysnar, McDonald, nara, Munns, Ngata, Ransom, Stallworthy, Taverner, Veitch, Waite, Ward.

“AN EXHIBITION OF TORYISM.” ’

Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central) expressed surprise at tlie speeches of members of the Government and declared that the House had never witnessed a neater exhibition of Toryism. Ihe Government had gone back, not only on the whole record of its predecessors, but also on the whole of the social legislation of the Reform Party, as well as forecasting a general attack on the social services of the Dominion. Mr Forbes said that he placed the country’s security before upholding what he had done in the past Arryone who had any regard for the future of the country 7 should view the reduction in a reasonable light. He .was /o vote for an extension of social services so long as the country could afford it, but their whole future depended on prudent finance. , The division was then taken on the clause itself, which passed by 30 votes tO '£he Labour members challenged the clause reducing the limit on which payments under the Family Allowance Act ,are made from £4 to £3 12s. l ie clause was retained by 29 votes to —. ECONOMIES in ■EDUCATION. When the section of the Bill dealing with education J-was before the House Mr Atmore, gavp members an assurance that married women teachers who were lhe'family breadwinners would llot suir “ as the result of the provisions of the Revlyin" to the- request tliat teachers in co ’ e pondenee schools should be given the same status as other teachers, the \ inilter said that he would he prepared io maS a definite statement reading correspondence teachers , durin tJ l . lo dinar/session. He mentioned that the r conditions in some r^ cct .\Xrs For ent from those of other teachers.. instance, they did not have the task of maintaining diseiplme. Howetu. Xm takfall the.facte into «-*••• Mr. P. Fraser divided the House on the proposal to abolish national scholarships .Jkicction was to the Diet unit ji „ proposed 'to. devote tile fn I termerly expended on these S c »ta.l. P the new bursaries proposed by B Mr. Atmore said that the reason why tlie Whole amount was not bein o o ed in the form of bursaries was ‘StolSd i"TSishi r , Um MM 0 aßowanX 11 The same number of needy cases would be provided Replying to Mr. R. A. Wright Mr. Atmore sMd that the bursaries would be awarded on the recommendation of the ’ C g X? was Passed by 27 votes to H. < BUILDING SCHOOLS AT NAPIER. Amendments to Finance Bill No. 2 were introduced by Governor-General Is message on the House resuming at -.3 P 'The Prime Minister explained (hat

they gave effect to the consolidation of the control of secondary schools in the Napier and Nelson districts. The amendments were adopted. When consideration of the Bill was resumed in committee Mr. W. L. Barnard (Napier) referring to the amend-, ment relating to the Napier district, said it was important that immediate action should be taken because in connection with the rebuilding the Alinistei would have to decide whether there should be one new building or two. He looked forward to the day when a combine.! organisation would take its place in the forefront of the Dominion’s educational system. There was a brief debate on the clause which states that a trustee shall not be liable for a breach of trust by reason only of his continuing to hold an investment which has ceased to be an authorised investment. Mr. W. D. Stewart, Mr. Barnard and others submitted that it would have been advisable for further consideration to have been given to the technical aspect of the clause. Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour Party, said it was a pity the clause had been included in the I'inance Bill instead of in'some measure which would have been considered by the Statutes Revision Committee. . .' Other members stated that in view ot the present economic situation it was important the clause should go through during the present session because it crave °a trustee discretionary power to hold over the realisation of securities under mortgage. The clause was adopted with a minor amendment introduced by Governor-Gen-eral’s message. COMMITTEE’S LONG TASK ENDS. The Bill with amendments was reported to the House at 3.45 p.m. Speaking on the third reading Mr. J. O’Brien (Westland) asked the Prime Minister to place on record the undertaking he had given in committee in connection with the subsidy to the Gicjmoutli Harbour Board. He said the Prime Minister had agreed if it could be shown that the loss of £3OOO of subsidy would seriously interfere w “h the working-of the harbour uiid was likely to cripple the port and the coal industiy on the coast he would put an amount on the supplementary estimates to make good this loss. ' ' The Prime Minister said he had no desire to deal harshly with, the Harbour Board, and if it could be shown it was absolutely necessary to give additional help the matter would be dealt with by the means ordinarily adopted in meeting the requirements of local authorities. It was not possible at the present time to undertake to maintain a rigid subsidy of £15,000 to the board. Replying to an interjection from Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Forbes said if the Harbour Board was able to represent to the Government that extra assistance was ueeessai-y it would be provided for in the supplementary estimates. .Reviewing the debate on the Bill Ml. Forbes said members had had an unpleasant task before them, because they were confronted by the necessity to reduce social services. The House had shown that it was prepared to lace tlie hard facts in the light of the country s financial position. . .-n,,.,,; The Bill was read a third time without division and passed. . On the motion of the Irimc Miiustc the House adjourned at 4.0 p.m. till --30 p.m. on Monday. . P Replying to Mr. Stewart, Mr. oFrbes said tlie only business still reqmring attention was the Hawkes Bay Earthquake Bill.