PARLIAMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 21 October 1930, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

> NEARING THE END. In the House of Representatives yes- : terday railway matters were put aside until to-day in order to allow discussion on the report of the Returned Soldiers’ Rehabilitation Commission and the Disabled Soldiers’ Civil Re-estab-lishment Bill. The Acting-Prime Min- ' ister, Hon. E. A. Ransom, explained that he had changed his intentions with a view to arranging what work was left so as to bring the session to an end by next Thursday, a hope to which . he gave expression last week. That the end is near was shown by the appearance late last night by Gov-ernor-General’s message of the Finance Bill, a formidable measure containing 61 clauses, and the Supplementary Estimates. It is usually not long after these items are introduced that Parliak ment is prorogued, and they show that Byhe Government is doing everything Hppbssible to “shut up shop” as soon as it can rush through the rest of the

business. A glance at the number of Bills yet ' practically untouched gives the impression that haste will be needed if Mr Ransom’s latest forecast concerning the end of the session is to prove 'correct. The Rehabilitation Commission’s re'port was talked out in the afternoon, so that a motion by the Leader of the Opposition, Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, that it should be referred to the Govern- ■ ment for favourable consideration, -was not put. Desirous of getting rid of the Bill in the evening, the Government secured urgency on it and also upon the Waimakariri River Improvement Amendment Bill, a measure seeking to give Christehurch power to develop its electrical supply from the river. A surprise was sprung on the House , shortly before, midnight py the introduction of the-Finance Bill and the - Supplementary Estimates- and an . amendment to the Nurses and Midwives Registration Bill providing merely for the addition of an extra nurses’ representative on the registration board. One of the interesting proof the Finance Bill is the appointment of an Under-Secretary 1 of Defence to control the administrative side of the forces and effect qo-ordina- ■ tion of the various arms. In addition, Mr Ransom read a report by Sir Otto Niemeyer upon the functions of Treasury, with reference to the keeping of public accounts. PUBLICS ACCOUNTS. The avoidance of too great a number of' minor separate accounts, which he considered defeated the aim of public accounting, and the bringing under the notice of Parliament of such services as ,pensions, highways expenditure and subsidies, instead, of providing these by special appropriation as at present, is recommended by Sir Otto Niemeyer, whose report upon the functions of Treasury with reference to the method of keeping public accounts was read to the House of Representatives last evening by the Acting-Prime ‘ Minister, Hon. E. A. Ransom. SUPPLEMENTARY VOTES. A sum of £120,000 is provided under the electric supply account heading in the supplementary estimates, tabled in the House last evening, on account of the Arapuni hydro-electric scheme. A .sum of £50,000 is provided as additional pro-vision in connection with the Lake Coleridge scheme. Other interesting items in the supplementary estimates are as follow: — A sum of £IO,OOO for the reconstruction of the Ward and Blue bath-houses at Rotorua.' This vote, forecasted several days ago, is a transfer of a sum previously voted for work on the Ro-torua-Taupo road. In connection with the representation of New Zealand at the Imperial Conference, a grant of £ISOO is made to the Prime Minister and a grant of £.600 to officers accompanying him. For the funeral expenses of Sir Joseph Ward, who was accorded, a State funeral, a sum of £650 is provided. Numerous grants not made as was g customary in the main estimates have --■f been reinstated. These include £IOO each for the branches of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children at Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch; £IOO for the 80-yal BLumane , Society; and £l5O for the Royal Life Saving Society. In the supplementar yhealth vote grants in aid have been made as foli . low: —Mothers’ Help Division, Welling•ton, £150; St. .(John Ambulance Association, £200; Women’s National Reserve, £150;; additional for mainten-

ance of Karitane hospitals, £1250; additional as subsidies toward salaries of Plunket nurses, £5050. In the agricultural vote £IOOO is provided as an additional guarantee on the export of eggs,- and £4500 to be similarly guaranteed on the export of fruit. Included in the unauthorised expenditure account for the year appear the following:—£800 as compassionate allowance to the widow of the late clerk of'Parliament; £725 to Mr It. E. Hayes, late secretary to the Treasury, in lieu of accumulated leave; £SOO to Sir Thomas Wilford, to cover expenses while proceeding to England; £IOOO for for purchase of motor-car for High Commissioner; £SOO to Sir James New Zealand; £476 to eovetr remuneration and travelling expenses of commission which inquired into cases of hardship arising from the imposition of special land tax. ,