POLITICAL NEWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18354, 27 August 1929, Page 10

POLITICAL NEWS.

SIDELIGHTS ON PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. That Tartan Vest. It was made clear by Mr D. McDougall (Mataura), in the course of his Budget speech, said that he stood for a protective policy to enable every boy and girl to obtain a fair living. He also pleaded for the encouragement of New Zealand’s secondary industries. Mr H. T. Armstrong (Labour member for Christchurch East): Is that tartan vest made of Kaiapoi? Mr McDougall chuckled in appreciation of the tilt at the variegated waistcoast he habitually wears. He explained that his rule was to buy New Zealand goods whenever he could, and in other cases to buy British wares. He could not understand those who purciisscd American motor-cars when the United States levied a duty of sevenpence a pound on New Zealand butter. “The Yankee will put up his tariff wall against you,’’ he warned. “He will put up his gun against you, too.” Mr Speaker told Mr McDougall he must not make references like that, and the member apologised Reading His Speech. In the course of his Budget speech the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy (Minister of Health), referred to the accumulation of the main highways funds. He said the policy was a wrong one when thousands of unemployed were in the country. Mr Samuel: Is that the Highways Board Statement you are reading now. Mr H. S. S. Kyle (Riccarton): Next page! The Minister said that fortunately there had been some humour in the debate. “It is getting very dry now,” interjected a member. The Minister: The first little joke—- “ Was you,” chimed in Mr Samuel. “ . . was when the Reform Party told the House how to balance the Budget,” continued the Minister. “The second little joke Mr Samuel: It i§ no joke to read a speech. The Minister said the Reform Party had refused to reduce taxation, and j were now saying that a reduction was long overdue. Mr Samuel: Is that a mis-statement? Mr R. Semple < Wellington East): Did you dot your “i’s” and cross your “t’s”? The country, the Minister proceeded, was looking for a clear outlook. ! "And. who printed that?” asked Mr , Samuel. A call of “Order! Order!” came from Mr S. G. Smith (Taranaki). “Never Started.” The Reform Party, said the Minister of Health (Mr Stallworthy), in his speed: on the Financial Statement, ! had drifted so long without, a policy that they no longer knew what a programme was. A ridiculous party attack had been made, not against the Bduget, but against the Ministers of the Crown and the members of the Government. Mr Harris: Why don’t you put your policy into operation? The Minister: The member for Waitemata says our programme has broken down Mr Harris: It never started! The Minister: The first instalment of the £70,000,000 loan has been effected. Mr Harris: *You haven’t got a penny of it. The Minister said that it was only reasonable for any leader of a party to assume that if he was returned to power he would be given three years in which to put his policy into operation. Mr R. A. Wright (Wellington Suburbs) . Yes, if he has a majority. The Minister: How can he tell before the elections whether he has a majority or not? A Reform Member: You know. The Minister said it was altogether unfair that the Prime Minister should be attacked so viciously, as he had been by Reform members. Mr Langstone : He is used to it. Mr Samuel (to the Minister): You attacked him in the past. The Minister contended that the resourcefulness of the Prime Minister would enable him to fulfil all his promises. Mr Samuel: No one attacked the Prime Minister more viciously than you did. The Gilded Pill. “I think the Prime Minister is to be complimented on the way in which he has gilded the pill for the public to swallow,” said Mr A. E. Ansell (Chalmers), in the House of Representatives, when referring to the Government’s taxation proposals with particular reference to the doubled primage duty. Mr Ansell said the Prime Minister reminded him of a dentist who told u small boy, nervously appearing for his first extracation, that “It’s all right, I won’t hurt you.” The boy knew otherwise after the forceps had been used. Probably the Prime Minister was following the same lines “And pulling your wisdom tooth,” interjected a member. Indisputable Moral Claim. “I have made inquiries,” said Mr Ansell (member for Chalmers), in the course of his Budget speech, “but I cannot find any place in the world where the State has absolutely repud- : iated responsibility for its main high- : ways. The Government is doing a wrong thing in disregarding its responsibility in connection with the expenditure necessary for the construction and maintenance of the main roads ' of this country.” The Act made it ; clear Mr Ansell contended, that the ' money had to be paid, yet the Govern- i ment said there was no reason that it should be. There was a legal claim for i it; indisputably there was a moral I claim. No Government should shelter | behind a legal quibble to get out of a moral obligation. The Government I was employing a code of ethics that would not be tolerated in any business community in New Zealand. Rights of Counties. The statement had been made by the Prime Minister that the resources of the Main Highways Revenue Fund were more than ample to meet cur- j rent requirements, but Mr Ansell sara J he would like Sir Joseph Ward to indicate the fount of that information, :

since the Minister of Public Works had said there was not sufficient money in the fund. Notwithstanding that the Prime Minister took away £200,000 and £35,000, and also proposed to charge interest on construction money on which he claimed no interest.was being paid. “I have been unable to find out just what this refers to,” added Mr Ansell, “because the £300,000 a year that was to be applied for construction, the board is paying interest and sinking fund on. I am at a loss to understand why the Prime Minister can make such a statement that the funds of the revenue account are more than ample. In making that statement the Prime Minister is denying the counties of New Zealand the right, that their subsidies should be increased. When the Act first came into operation, the counties received a subsidy of £1 for £2, but when it was found that the number of motor cars exceeded all expectations, it was raised to a £ for £ basis. Then, as taxation increased, it was brought up to £1 10s, and later on to £2 for £l.” As the taxation of motorists increased and greater use was made of the roads the counties were entitled to claim greater subsidies in the future than in the past; yet the Prime Minister had stated that the funds were more than ample to meet current requirements, and so denied the counties the right to have that further increase in subsidy. State Newspaper. The member for Westland (Mr O’Brien) in his Budget speech, referred to what he described as the unfair methods employed by the newspapers in reporting the debates in the House. He thought that a State newspaper would come sooner or later, despite the derisiop with which the suggestion had been received by the Press of the country. There was no doubt that the newspapers had the “wind up. ’ (Laughter.) A State newspaper would report the debates in Parliament not fully but carefully. Mr W. J. Poison (Independent, Stratford): “No one would read it.” Mr O’Brien: “I guarantee that a State newspaper would have a circulation equal to nothing—(loud laughter) —equal to nothing else in the Dominion, I mean, Mr Speaker. I am an Irishman, and have to speak twice.” That Divine Call. During a brief interlude in the Budget debate, the Minister of Health (Mr Stallworthy), said he did not intend to follow Mr Jones in his Biblical excursions. A member: I wouldn’t if I were you. Mr Speaker: I am afraid the Minister is referring to a past debate. “But he has a message to deliver, sir,” said Mr F. Waite (Clutha). The Minister said he did not see that there should be a standard of conduct outside the House different from that inside. Mr Jones had quoted the Scriptures and had sneered at a man who professed faith in them. Surely that was incbnsistency of the most contemptible kind. Mr Speaker called upon the Minister to withdraw the remark, which he did. Proceeding, the Minister said he was astonished at Mr Jones —a lay' preacher in the. Methodist Church—being unable to find nothing more in the “story of oseph” than bluff. He was sad that Mr Jones had quoted the Bible when discussing the Budget. “It reminds me,” said Mr Stall worthy, “of the story of the devil—” Mr Samuel: You are all right now. Another Reform member: You haven’t got a message from him, have you? Mr Samuel (to the Minister): I wouldn’t mix it if I were you. Mr Stallworthy: I would advise members to read the twelfth chapter of the second book of Samuel. “Is that where the calls come f-tfm?” asked Mr J. A. Nash (Palmerston). Mr Stall worthy: Let me read the first chapter. “When does the collection come round?” inquired Mr J. McCombs (Lyt- , telton), wearily. A few remarks on David prompted Mr Samuel to inquire: “What is this story about Samuel?” The Minister of Defence (the Hon. T. M. Wilford): Oh, he got left. , “Not yet,“ observed Mr Samuel. The Happy South. In the Budget debate Mr A. M. Samuel (Reform member for Thames), made an interjection. “I cannot hear the honourable gentleman,” said Mr McDougall (United member for Mataura), “I wish he would make it a little plainer, or, if he cannot, would he be kind enough to blow his nose and whistle it.” The claim was made by Mr McDougall that 15 out of every 17 bankruptcies that occurred related to the North Island. “When I was up in Taranaki two or three years ago every second man I met was an official assignee or a bailiff,” he declared. “In the south we-have no bailiffs and very few policemen, and everything goes along very smoothly.” Some attention was next devoted by the speaker to Mr Hamilton and Mr D. Jones (Reform member for MidCanterbury). Mr McDougall suggested the two gentlemen should take a stroll down to the wharves: “If they happened to walk over the end that would be a riddance to New Zealand,” he added. “Probably that is not Parliamentary, Mr Speaker, and if it isn’t 1 withdraw it.” (Laughter.) Mr Jones: We can both swim.