WIDE RANGE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21088, 14 July 1938, Page 6

WIDE RANGE

Questions in the House

MINISTERIAL REPLIES By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, July 13. In the House to-day, the bulk of the afternoon was devoted to consideration of Ministerial replies to questions asked by members during the session. Answering a question by Mr H. G. S. Kyle as to whether the Government was in favour of taking over the Bank of New Zealand, the Prime Minister replied that the Government had not considered the matter.

Replying to a question by Mr A. T. Anderton whether he would consider providing protection under the Fair Rents Act to flat dwellers. Mr Savage stated that the Government would be pleased to take the matter into consideration when the question of an amendment to the Fair Rents Act was under examination.

Milk for Country School Children The question of supplying milk to country school children was a subject dealt with by the Minister of Education. the Hon. P. Fraser, who stated that funds were available to provide a ration of milk for all countrj’ children, and the full development of the milk in schools scheme was not being retarded by the question of finance. The principal difficulty, however, was to secure a safe milk supply properly pasteurised and drawn from registered dairy farms for children attending the more remote country schools. The Minister added that in the case of such remote schools preparations had been made for a supply of milk in the form of malted milk powder which would be prepared at the school and issued in liquid form, equivalent to a half-pint of fresh milk per child. The scheme was already in operation in some schools and would be further extended in August.

Clothing Trade The Minister of Industries and Commerce. the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, in reply to a question by Mr R. A. Wright whether the Minister was aware that • some clothing manufacturers were compelled, owing to the high cost of production, to reduce the number of their staffs considerably, stated that the position in the clothing industry was at present under investigation by the Government. Mr Sullivan added that a considerable conflict of opinion had been expressed by various sections of the industry with regard to its economic position, and in view of this the industry had been asked some three months ago to submit a case to the Government. It was only last week that the representations of cer-

tain sections of the industry were put forward. Mr Sullivan also stated that adequate steps had already been taken by the Government to restrict importations from foreign and certain Empire countries, but insufficient time had elapsed for the benefit of this action to be fully appreciated.

Ability to Pay A published statement attributed to Mr Justice Hunter, president of the Second Court of Arbitration, to the effect that the Court was not concerned in the matter of the industry’s ability to pay the rates of wages provided for in the Court’s awards which was the subject of a recent question by Mr S. G. Holland, drew a reply from the Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, to the effect that his attention had been drawn to the statement as published In the newspapers. He had perused the official copy of the Court's memorandum to the clothing trade employees’ award and nowhere in that memorandum was it stated i hat the Court intended to depart from its constant practice of hearing evidence and taking into consideration as a factor in the making of awards the question of the ability of the Industry to pay the wages prescribed. If the Court had so intended it would no doubt have indicated its intention in plain language. It followed, therefore, that there was no necessity to introduce legislation directing the Court to take into consideration the ability of each industry to pay the rates of wages provided for in awards.

Difficult Matter Replying to a question by Mr W. J. Polson asking whether his attention had been drawn to a statement by Mr E. De Rothschild, who asked the Prime Minister why Japanese were allowed to photograph harbours and anything they pleased unmolested, the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, said the matter of placing restrictions on persons taking photographs, etc., was a very difficult one. To be effective such restrictions would have to be general, and no one whether of British or foreign nationality should be permitted to photograph strategical points. Its enforcement would require increased military 7 and police forces. There was provision under the Defence Act, added the Minister, under which any person entering upon or loitering in the vicinity of defence works without authority or who had sketching, drawing, photographing or printing materials in his possession with the intention of committing an offence against the Defence Act was liable to imprisonment or fine on summary conviction by a Magistrate. It was con-

sidered that any person acting suspiciously would come under the observation of the police and action would be taken accordingly and. further, that the co-operation of the police and defence foices afforded adequate safeguards. Hours of Nurses “The issues raised by the Hon. Member will continue to receive consideration and he can rest assured that the Health Department will watch the situation carefully with a view to ensuring that the working hours of nurses are reasonable and that patients will not suffer from lack of nursing attention,” stated the Minister cf Health, the Hon. P. Fraser, replying to a question by Mr Holland, who asked whether the Minister had noted the alarm concerning the effects of the recently gazetted hours of work regulations in private hospitals and the danger of private maternity hospitals having to close down because of tbe difficulty in securing a sufficient number of trained nurses. Use the Classified Advertisement Columns of the “Herald.”