Notes From Parliament.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18581, 2 October 1928, Page 8

Notes From Parliament.

CAN FIND SOLUTION FOR UNEMPLOYMENT, SAYS LABOUR MAN. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, October 1. “The Government should investigate the problem and find a solution,” declared Mr M’Keen in the House, speaking of unemployment. “ What solution do you suggest?” inquired the Minister of Finance (the lion Downie Stewart). Mr M’Keen: My solution, and the solution/of those on these benches, is for the electors to turn the Government out and put the Labour Party into power. (Laughter.) I can assure } r ou that they will not equivocate about a solution of the problem. Mr Coates: You will have to look out for yourself. Mr M’Keen: Give us the opportunity and we will handle the problem. Mr Dickie: Have Labour Governments in other countries done anything to solve unemployment? Mr M’Keen: Solve your own, and once you have done so you can turn around and advise other Governments how to solve theirs. (Laughter.) Wc want the Government to make an earnest attempt to investigate the problem and provide a solution for us. The Reform Donkey. Twitting the Opposition with never being satisfied with anything the Government did the Minister of Education, the Hon R. A. Wright, said that it reminded him of the old fable of the old man and his ass who tried to please ever3 r one, and ended by pleasing no one, and he lost his donkey into the bargain. Mr Veitch: We are the old man. Mr Armstrong: The Reform Party will lose their donkey this election. (Loud laughter.) Mr Wright: The Reform Party wiii come back stronger than’ever. Mr Coates (joining in the joke) : And the donkey with ’em. Mr Wright: Yes, the people of New Zealand do not believe in changing donkeys in mid stream. (Renewed laughter.)

A Minister’s Admission. “ There is no golden rule and no golden path to the solution of this problem of unemployment,” declared the Minister of Lands (the Hon A. D. M’Leod) in answering Labasir criticism. He professed great sympathy with the unemployed, but made much of the fact that New Zealand’s proportion of unemployed was less than that of any other democratically governed country in the Empire. “ I say that everything that can reasonably be done has been done by the Government,” was his concluding statement—quite a surprising admission for a Minister to make in election year. Mr M’Keen (Wellington South): Then you admit you are a failure? A Minister on Piecework. Defending co-operative and piecework systems, the Minister of Education was racing along on top gear in great style when brought up by a sudden interjection. Declaring that he had worked on the piecework plan, Mr Wright stated: “ I was never happier thaq when I was paid on that principle. There were no pannikin bosses, and as long as I did my work I got paid for what I did. Mr Fraser (Wellington Central): Aren't you lucky you are not paid on that principle now? When the laughter subsided Mr Wright pcplied that if he were paid on the piecework plan he would earn more money to-day than ever he did. South Island Railways. Everyone who looked at the railway construction system in the South Island Would see the necessity of closing up the gaps, stated the Prime Minister at the end of the Public Works debate. The Midland and Buller lines must first be connected with the main line system.

Mr Girling: The South Island Main Trunk. The Prime Minister: I am not talking about the South Island Main Trunk. Mr Girling: I know you are not. (Laughter.) Mr Coates: We will consider that next. “Not Open to All and Sundry.” , Unemployment and the necessity for more Government work to relieve it was a theme revived by Labour members when the Public Works Statement was being discussed in the House today. “There is another side to this question of throwing open public works to all and sundry.” declared the Hon K. S. Williams, Minister of Public Works, in reply. He said that a definite programme of regular public works was laid down over a period of years. To carry this out a considerable nun* ber of men followed up these works, and he and other members of the Government felt it their duty to protect* the livelihood of these regular workers; therefore, he had been careful, as Minister of Public Works, not to flood standard works with men who for some reason or other required temporary employment. It would not be fair to allow regular works to be flooded in a wholesale manner and the regular men ousted.

Mr H. E. Holland: We do not suggest that. . The Minister: The demand is always made to put these men on public works, but it is impossible to find profitable occupation for everybody on public works.

Railways. Among the few Labour member* who did not confine their remarks on the Public Works Statement almost wholly to\ the unemployed question, Mr Armstrong (Christchurch East) was one who took the Government to task concerning its railway construction policy. The Government, he said, had announced that it was intended to concentrate on’ the construction of the Gisbome-Napier line as far as Wairoa. Where the line would go after that no one seemed to know. Considering that this line had been in process of construction for a great number of years, it was high time that a decision had been made. The Government did not seem to know whether they were going or coming. As far as the South Island was concerned, there was apparently but one line to be constructed. The Reefton-Westport line was just as important as the Napier-Gisborne, and it would open up much better country and give a much better prospect of returning a profit. Mr Bitchener: Oh, you know the member for Gisborne is not in the House.

Mr Armstrong said the Department had apparently just made the discovery that there were rich coal mines in the Buller district, but he ventured to say that if the railways construction policy was not speeded up all the timber and coal deposits at Buller would be well worked out by the time the line got there.

Petrol Tax for Cities. That the large centres did not get their fair share of the petrol tax was a statement made by Mr Armstrong (Christchurch East) in the House today. The cities provided the lion's share of revenue from the motor spirits tax, but the city people got little relief as a result of their contributions.

He thought some roads through cities and boroughs should be declared main highways, or, failing that, a much larger share of tax should be given the large centres. Christchurch was far from satisfied with the treatment received. City people would be more satisfied if a larger share of their contributions were spent on the roads which they used.

The Minister of Lands: Do you say the country people get too much? A Reform member: He won’t say that. Mr Armstrong: I have not said that, but I say that 60 per cent for the larger centres would be more fair than eight per cent. I don’t think the present proportion is a fair deal, when one considers the amount city motorists pay in relation to the roads they use.