THE HOUSE

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22043, 16 August 1941, Page 6

THE HOUSE

Estimates Considered Profits Of Freezing Companies (P.A.) WELLINGTON, August 15. The necessity for the conservation of paper was emphasised when the House met at 10.30 a.m. to-day for consideration of the Estimates. The vote under consideration was that of the Printing and Stationery Department for £357,530 and Opposition members suggested that a saving could be effected by cutting down the number of copies of Hansard and the Gazette which were distributed free. Mr C. G. E. Harker (National, Waipawa) said that while every paper in New Zealand had been reduced in size, the "Listener" had not been cut down, and he was of the opinion that this could be done with advantage. The Minister in charge of the Department, the Hon. P. C. Webb, said that the Department was using every effort to conserve paper. The vote was passed. Nathan Incident The Nathan incident, which occurred in Wellington during the last municipal elections, when several union secretaries were stated to have visited Mr H. L. Nathan’s mice and threatened him, was ventilated when the Police vote of £667,900 was under consideration. Opposition members urged that the Police Department should institute an immediate prosecutoin against the individuals concerned. The Acting Minister in charge of the Police, Mr Webb, said there was not a particle of evidence to justify the police taking action. It was quite open for Mr Nathan, through his solicitors, to take action at any time should he desire to have the whole case ventilated in Court. He invited the legal members of the Opposition to go through the evidence and said he was sure they would be satisfied no action could be taken by the police. The vote was passed, as was the Valuation Department vote of £40,000, the Lands and Survey vote of £404,800, the Land for Settlement vote of £449,900, the Dairy Industry Account vote of £30,517 and the Meat Industry Account vote of £38,536. Altogether during the day the House passed seven classes of estimates to a total value of £1,981,183. . Freezing Companies’ Profits When the Meat Industry Account was under revie—, the Hon. Adam Hamilton referred to the results of an audit of the accounts of freezing works which disclosed that an abnormal profit had been made during one year, and he urged that steps should be taken to safeguard producers in future. The Acting Prime Minister, the Hon. W. Nash, in reply, said the Government had taken the matter in hand, but he considered there was a case for a reexamination of freezing company charges to determine whether the work did was in accord with the price they charged. The Minister of Agriculture, the Hon J. G. Barclay, referred to the large portion of freezing companies’ income which came from by-products and the difficulty of assessing such income at the beginning of the season They had brought in nearly a million pounds last year, he said. The House rose at 5.30 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday.