PARLIAMENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18627, 24 July 1930, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 3y Tcler”*”*'h—AsroWELLINGTON, July 23. The. Le°T.lative Council met at 2.30 p.m. to-day. l eave of Absence. Fourteen clays’ leave of absence was ! granted to the Hon. J. Barr, and the Hon. G. Smith was appointed acting Chairman of Committees. Resuming the Acldress-in-Reply dej bate, the Hon. W. H. Mclntyre said I the abolition of the party system was a very high ideal, but they had yet to see someone come forward with a practical scheme. He hoped the House of Representatives would give the Prime Minister an opportunity of attending the Imperial Conference, as it was most important at the present juncture that New Zealand should be represented. He did not favour entire I abolition of the Defence Forces of the ! Dominion, just because there was temj porary financial depression. Mr I Mclntyre said he favoured an increase ! in the beer duty, which could not very well be passed on to the public. He favoured increases in the salaries of members of Parliament, and suggested that the matter should be referred to the Arbitration Court. The Hon. M. Fagan said that although the views he would express would be those of the working classes, they would not be advanced in any hostile spirit. Too many accidents were occurring on the public works of the Dominion, and it was time something was done to improve present methods of handling explosives. There should be greater safeguards for miners in the employ of the State. He favoured an annual X-ray examination of all miners in order to minimise the effects of miners’ pthsisis. If he had his own way, all imports of coal from Australia would be stopped, as he considered New Zealand could produce all the coal she required. The Deputy-Leader, the Hon. R. A. Masters, briefly thanked members of the Council for the courtesy which had 1 been extended to him, a"\d after the ’ Hon. D. Buddo had briefly icplied, the 1 motion was adopted. I The Council adjourned at 5 p.m., until 30th. July. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House of Representatives met at 2.30 this afternoon. The Borer. Mr W. E. Barnard (Napier) asked the Minister of Customs whether the Government would take immediate steps to prohibit any further importation of borer-infested or borer-affect-ed timber. It was reported, he said, that an appreciable quantity of Pacific Coast timber landed on 20th. July, at Napier, ex the Waihemo, was very badly affected by borer; further, that 70 per cent, of our forest and timber insects have been introduced from abroad. Grave concern was felt for our remaining indigenous forests and huge areas of plantations if no measures are taken to check the unrestricted introduction of further injurious wood and forest pests. The Minister (Hon. G. W. Forbes) said he had received from Mr Barnard a sample of wood affected by the borer, and he had sent it to the i Forestry Department for a report. As : soon as he had received the report, he 1 would be able to decide what action to take. No doubt it would be necessary to take some steps if it was shown that the borer was present in the wood.

State Forestry Camp. Complaints were made by Mr G. C. Black (Motueka), and Mr E. F. Healey (Wairau), against conditions at the Golden Downs State Forestry Plantation. The Minister in charge of the | Forestry Department (Hon. E. A. j Ransom) said the camp had recently been inspected by a representative of the Health Department, who had reported that conditions were satisfactory. The complaints had evidently been made by men who were not used to country life, or were not adapted to it. Unemployment. Mr J. S. Fletcher asked what the Government intended to do to meet the immediate unemployment situation. The Hon. E. A. Ransom assured the House that the Cabinet Unemployment Committee had the position well in hand. Arrangements were being made in all the principal centres to place men in employment; not that they were able to offer employment to all who were out of work, but urgent cases were being dealt with very generously. Arrangements were being made for placing men in land development, and in some cases men were being drafted to this class of work, while provision was also being made for other drafts later on. Careful surveys were being made before the men were being placed. Mr Fletcher: “How many unemployed are on the pay roll at present?” Mr Ransom: “I think about 4000. There are more men employed in relief works now than for many years past. State Colliery. In reply to Mr W. L. Martin (Raglan), the Minister of Mines (Hon. A. J. Murdoch) stated that it had been agreed to lease the MacDonald State coal mine to the Glen Afton Collieries Company, provision being made that the coal requirements of the Auckland Power Board and the Public Works Department, when a steam plant is installed, should be met. Trade With Canada. In a statement to the House on the Canadian-New Zealand tariff negotiations, the Prime Minister stated that the Canadian Government recently gave the New Zealand Government notice that the concession granted on our butter was to be withdrawn on 13th. October next. The effect of this action would be that the duty, which is now one cent per lb., will be increased to four cents per lb. The two Governments had been discussing the matter, and had now arranged that a conference between representatives of both countries should take place as soon as possible. The New Zealand Government had been endeavouring to induce the Canadian Government not to impose the increased duty until a tariff agreement can be made and implemented by legislation here. Owing to the Canadian general elections, which are about to take place, it had not been possible satisfactorily to settle this point. It was, however, in the Prime Minister’s opinion, very important that the negotiations between the two Governments should be commenced at an early date. “I have accordingly arranged that Dr. G. Craig, Comptroller of Customs, should leave for Canada on the 12th. proximo, to enter upon discussions with appropriate authorities at Ottawa, and to carry the matter as far as possible before the Imperial Conference. The Comptroller of Customs will then proceed to London, to assist in the Imperial Conference when tariff and allied economic matters are being discussed. Rent Bill. The Rent Restriction Bill (Hon. G. S. Smith) was introduced and read a first time.

Unemployment Bill. Continuing the debate on the second reading of the Unemployment Bill. Rev. c. Carr (Timaru) stressed the need for stimulating manufacturing and sawmilling industries. He thought the proposals for vocational training were excellent, and hoped they would be applied to railway workers who had been dismissed. In conclusion, he referred to the ruthless displacement of men by machinery, and he trusted that the men out of work would be considered as valuable to the State as the machine which had displaced them.

Mr J. T. Hogan (Rangitikei) said the stimulation given to immigration by past Governments, shipping companies, and High Commissioners, had had a detrimental effect on unemployment. Immigrants had been misled by false promises, and altogether, 225.000 people had been assisted to New Zealand. out of a total population of a million and a quarter. Mr Hogan complimented the present Government on at last doing something to meet the unemployment problem. He criticised the system of subsidising local bodies in the matter of relief works, and said it had simply added to the local body indebtedness. He favoured a land development programme to absorb unemployed, and said he hoped what the Government had done in the past in that respect would be nothing compared with its plans for the future. Mr Hogan advocated a £ for £ Government contribution to the fund raised by the unemployment levy. That would enable a large fund to be available to meet any future serious position such as the present. Mr A. W. Hall (Hauraki) said the fact that the Government had introduced an unemployment insurance scheme amounted to a confession that it was incapable to deal with the situation, while its proposals to set up a Permanent Board indicated that it considered the trouble was incurable. He did not think this view could be justified in a young country like New Zealand. He urged that the main function of the Unemployment Board should not be to provide sustenance, but to find remedies for any economic difficulties arising. Mr W. E. Parry (Auckland) said that personally he accepted the principle of the Bill, but he was seriously opposed to details, some of which he considered were humiliating to men out of work. He could not understand why women had been excluded from the scheme, because women were becoming more and more established in industry. Surely it would not be the duty of the Board to find work for men. but to ignore the requirements and rights of women altogether. If the Bill were allowed to pass without some provision for employment of women, there would be a vigorous protest from one end of the country to the other. Mr Parry took strong exception to the flat rate of 30/- for contributions to the unemployment funds. It could not be justified for one moment. Taxation should be sought from people who possessed ability to pay, and who would eventually receive the major share of the proceeds of additional employment provided. Mr R. W. Hawke (Kaiapoi) said he felt the classification of men for relief works had been faulty in the past. He presumed that the Unemployment Board would be responsible for a sounder system of classification. The Bill was an honest attempt to grapple with a very serious matter. While it would not be agreed that it could meet every situation, it. was undoubtedly the foundation of a scheme that could be amended and improved in future, as circumstances warranted.

j Mr H. T. Armstrong (Christchurch) said it had to be admitted that there might be some few individuals in our midst who would prefer to exist on a meagre sustenance allowance, rather than to work. Provision had to be made for thousands of others who genuinely wanted employment, and who could not get it. Mr Armstrong urged the Government to fix conditions on the basis of one-third from the workers, one-third from employers and one-third from the Government. He submitted that it was a one-sided arrangement to ask workers to contribute so much, and to give them so little say in the administration of the fund. Mr A. Hamilton (Wallace) disagreed with the contention that immigration was responsible for unemployment. He considered it would be a benefit to the country to encourage a desirable type j of immigrant, many of whom he be- j lieved were desirous of coming to New Zealand to-day. Mr Hamilton ex-1 pressed the opinion that some of the j conditions and restrictions imposed | by trade unionism might be blamed | for failure to provide work in some ' cases. The House adjourned at 5.30 p.m. The House resumed at 7.30. Mr A. Hamilton, continuing, said it would never be possible to persuade people to go back to the land in any great numbers until the farmers' standard of living had been raised. The man on the land had to compete j in the open markets, and the present prices which he was receiving for his 1 goods were such that his standard of ] living generally was the lowest in New Zealand. Mr W. E. Barnard (Napier) said Mr Hamilton apparently considered the Labour Party the principal cause of unemployment. He had apparently closed his eyes to the banking and other financial institutions for instance. Mr Barnard said he welcomed the Bill as an attempt to deal with employment in. a systematic manner. The country had been a very long time | in discovering the ineffectiveness of relief works. It had been shown that it cost £6 per week to employ a man on relief works in New .Zealand, anc in Britain the cost had been slightly higher still This was too expensive. He submitted that the Government ■ had been too timid in framing the I Bill. It did not embody the principle ■ of calling on industry to bear the burden of its own depression. Mr R. A. Wright (Wellington) con- \ tended that employers had introduced ! machinery in many instances because of labour troubles. They had merely sought relief from circumstances in which strikes were frequent. He said he was opposed to anything in the nature of a sustenance clause in the Bill, because it would destroy the spirit of independence in the working man. He could not agree that in a country such as New Zealand it would be absolutely impossible for a man to get work. Mr D. G. Sullivan (Avon) asked whether there was anything more likely to sap the independence of a ! worker than inability to get work. He i had seen men deteriorate under these \ conditions, men who at the outset had j revolted against going to charitable aid boards for assistance, and had ultimately reached a state where they went regularly for help without any hesitation at all.

Mr W. J. Poison (Stratford) expressed the opinion that the Bill embodied more satisfactory proposals than the report of the Unemployment Committee, because those who received the greatest benefit paid their fair share. It was easier to step forward than to step back, and it would be possible to amend the Bill later, if it was found necessary to go as far as the Unemployment Committee’s report recommended. The success of the scheme would depend largely on the administration of the Board. Mr W. D. Stewart (Dunedin) said it should be settled as a matter of Government policy whether the sustenance allowance was to be a matter of right, or whether it was to be

subject to the discretion of the Board. 1 If the latter was the case, it was little | better than the present system of I charitable aid. He remarked that it I appeared that if, when the Bill was jin Committee, it was not moulded to suit the wishes of the Labour Party, the Government would have to say: “Goodnight nurse.” It would have to meet the views of the Labour Party, or of the Reform Party. Referring to the Board, he said the Minister had stated it would be non-political. Mr Stewart suggested that the Government might be hoping that the Board would revert to the policy of the Reform Party, and that it would be a buffer between the Government and that policy. Referring to the flat rate of contributions, Mr Stewart said that members were considerably in the dark as to how this might be affected by the Budget. Unless the Budget contained something that would have the effect of distributing the burden on a more equitable basis, there would be some justification for Labour members’ objection.

Replying to an interjection. Mr Stewart said he had insufficient time to deal with the whole problem of the census of unemployment, but he believed that at the back of the situation was inability of the worlds’ gold to keep up with production of wealth, thereby hindering exchange. Another difficulty was a tendency among nations to create high tariff walls, thereby retarding distribution. Mr W. L. Martin (Raglan) said he was disappointed with the Bill as a measure for the purpose of curing unemployment. He had been hoping that something would be produced in legislation to make the country take fresh courage and look forward to the dawn of a brighten day. The country was looking for a more determined effort to grapple with the problem. The proposal to place a poll tax on the male population to raise funds to aid unemployment was a most unscientific way of meeting the situation. No attempt had been made to get down to the root causes. The responsibility was merely being shifted from one set of shoulders to another. Mr G. C. Munns (Roskill) voiced approval of the provisions of the Bill, stating that it was the duty of the House to adopt effective legislation as soon as possible. Mr A. M. Samuel (Thames) said the Bill seemed to have been made a weapon for an attack on the Reform Party. The Bill should be considered on its merits for the purpose for which it was introduced. Mr E. J. Howard (Christchurch) said there was no obligation on the Labour Party to keep the present Government in office. If it did not “deliver the goods,” it would follow the same course as the Reform Party. He looked on the Bill as a means of opening up discussion on the subject, and it had achieved that object. He trusted that it would be liberally amended in Committee. The debate was interrupted by the adjournment, and the House rose at midnight, till 2.30 to-morrow.