THE ESTIMATES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1536, 4 September 1912, Page 8

THE ESTIMATES.

INTENTIONS OF THE OPPOSITION. ' THE NEW LEADER.- .' : The Hon. W.F. MASSEY (Prime Minister) .moved that the House go into Committee on the Estimates. ■■ • '■ . ' Mr. G.- WITTY (Eicearton) said that members on his side of the House did not propos3 to discuss the* motion. They were not goiug to block the Estimates by captious criticisji. Sir, Masscy thanked "the Leader of the other side of,the Hous3 M -for his consideration. . (Laughter.)

Members' Correspondence. . .Mr. G..LAUEENSON- (Lyttelton) -suggested that members should be -given some assistance. in. dealing .with, their , voluminous correspondence.. Members now had to spend so much time upon' their correspondence .that it would be in the' interests of. the country if shorthandwriters and typists, were appointed to assist them. The Hon. F. M. B. FISHER premised to look into the matter. If anything coiild be done it would be done. Mr. A. E. GLOVER (Auckland Central) said that official letters and telegrams cost him a pound a week during tho.recess. Ho suggested, that letters, and. telegrams to Ministers tin public business should be transmitted free. The MINISTEE noted the suggestion, but stated that it was a matter "for the Postmaster-General. The Parliamentary Library. Mr. A. H. HINDMAESH (Wellington South) advocated the admission of the public at all times to the upper portions of the library. At present its use was restricted to a few people who did not make the best use of it. Mr. Davey: What about your own public library ? ■ Mr. Hindmarsh said that.when people came to Parliament they acquired a sense of proprietorship and regarded the place as a sort of club. He had heard one member complaining of the quality of the whisky and a member of-the Upper House waxing., indignant because some stranger had played tennis in the Parliamentary court?... ■'■'■ The Hon. F. M. B. FISHEE said that tho question was met very largely by tho present recess privilege.' The experiment .was tried on one occasion of throwing, the library open and, irreparable damage was done by the mutilation of some of the most valuable books in the library within twenty-four hours after it had been thrown open.

Hansard: More Copies Wanted. Messrs. WITTY and' other members asked that twenty-five additional copies of Hansard should be supplied to each member of the House. At present each member gets 75 copies. ■ The Hon. F. M. B. FISHER said that tbo concession would cost ..£5lO. Several members challenged this estimate of cost and the Minister promised that he would get the Government Printer to revise his figure's.

The Hon.-R.M'KENZIE (Motueka) said that Hansard ought to be supplied free to anyone who asked for it. ■ Ho had been informed during the late recess that he'was entitled to 95 copies of Hansard. As soon as the Reform Government came into office with its parsimonious policy it cut him down by twenty conies.. Mr. E. NEWMAN (Rangitikei) m- K ed that each member should- be given 100 conies of Hansard. Mr. ,7. COLVIN (Buller) moved to reduce an item by -£V, as an indication that members should be supplied with one hundred copies of Hansard, but consented to withdraw his motion on the Minister promising to give the proposal favourable consideration. Mr. C. K. WILSON (Taumarunui) said that country people in particular should be given every facility for obtaining Hansard. In his own district he could easily dispose of. 10(10 copies. Mr. J. H. BEAD.N'EY (Auckland West) protested against tho time of the House being Wasted in such a discussion. Mr. D. BUICK (Palmerston North) said ■ thai if lialf-a-crown were charged for every copy of Hansard, it would be better read. ' ' .

Several"•■members objected to the arrangement under which Ministers' receive 100 copies of Hausard while private members get 75.

Mr. A. E. GLOVER (Auckland Central) said that he had been, called' upon to pay £\3 for Hansards in excess of the number to he was entitled. Class I, Legislative Departments, .£30,195, was passed without omendmont.

Graduated Income Tax. On the item, Land and Income Tax Department, .C2G.218, Mr. G.' WITTY (Ricearron) asked when the Government proposed Co introduce their Bill for graduated income tax, and would thb Minister stale what the gradations would he? He thought the graduated tax should not cease at ,£2OOO a year a-s at present. The noii. J. ALLEN (Minister for Finance) said that the Government did not intend this year to make any alteration in the graduated income tax.- Next year tho. Government would introduce their proposals. Claw 11, Department of Finance, •£5-1,301, was passed without amendment.

Members' Telegrams. On the class, Post and Telegraph Deportment. Ji1.004.6-24. Mr. A.E. GLOVER- (Auckland Central) urged that members should be allowed to send telegrams to Ministers on public business without charge. At present, the to.-t of telegrams was a heavy burden on member. l . Sir JOSEPH WARD (Tivhnia) wml lie hop;d th« hoi. gentK'man. woiild not agree to Hie rcintvorlncticn of i.h? frankins; .lyftem. : l'ejwra.ms miKht. W: ittnvai to'.bs.sent to Ministers ."collects but the

franking system had before led to all sorts of abuses.

Mr. A. E. GLOVER (Auckland Central) moved that an item of an officer's salary, be reduced by £1 as an indication that members should be allowed to send telegarms to Ministers free of charge. The Hon. K. 11. KIIODES (PcstmcisterGeneral) said that members could send telegrann to Ministers collect. This was denied by other meir.liors, who said thai the acceptance of a collect telegram was at the discretion of the Minister, ami that the instruction to telegraph olhcsrs was not to accept collect, telegrams to Ministers. Various members claimed that they were under a hardship in having to spend a great.deal of money on telegrams, especially in having to pay for the retransmission of telegrams steit on , , to them when, their addresses were changed on their tours through their electorate. Mr. Glover made an offer to pay t EI a week to be allowed to frank telegrams. The Honorarium,

Mr. J. A. HANAX (Invercargill) Eaid that it seemed to him that members' honorarium should bo increased. It had been stated that the expenses incurred for the dispatch of telegrams were so heavy that it was unreasonable to expect members to pay it out of their honorarium. It would be fairer to put a vote on the Estimates of a sum yearly to be paid to memI.ers for the?? expenses, or to allow collect telegrams. But :f members wero to bo allowed to send collect telegrams, there should l>o a limit us.to the number of words.

The Hon. E. H. MODES (Postmostor-G-cueral) said tint of all the proposals submitfol he preferred to vecrmmend to Cabinet that a direct grant he made to members to meet this expenditure on account of telegrams.' The, franking.system had been abuse! in the past, and even in the' modified form in which it was allowed now it was abused a little Mr. G. "JAUKE-N'SON (Lyttelton) enlarged upon the unhappy lot of the member of Parliament, whose honorarium was depleted by election costs, subscriptions, postages, aud the like.. He thought an allowance shojld be made to members, ,ind he mentioned that in Australia members were allo r-:d ,£3O per j - car. On the suggsiti )n cf the Prime Minister, Mr. Glov'ar withdrew l'is amendment.

Country Telephones. On the item, "Maintenance of telegraph and telephone lines, ,£54,100," a number of country members, mostly on the Government side of the. House, asked the Postmaster-General to review the heavy rates ruling for telephone service's in the country districts. They pointed out that hardships in .districts-vhere,.communica-tion was not easy, and-the hardships suffered by settlers in backblock districts would, be greatly reduced. , The Hon. B. H. EHODES (PostmasterGeneral) said'that the present'charge to subscribers of 3d. for every message, from within a-radius of 25 miles, over a main trunk line did not-pay the Department. A suggestion, had been made that local bodies be allowed to erect their own -telephones. Ho had already promised to" go into the matter, and he hoped to be.able to introduce legislation on the subject. An hon. member: This session?. . Mr. Rhodes: That is for .the Prime Minister to decide. The Department now proposed to ask the settler to pay twothirds of the cost of construction, and to guarantee only half the loss on. any particular line. ■ ■• ■ Mr. G. W. EUSSELL (Avon) suggested that fences.be used for carrying the telephone wire. Mr, H. G. ELL (Christchurch South) defended:the Department generally. .He argued that the;charges were very low, bearing comparison with those ruling in other-places.- ,: ■ ■■ > -• •Mr. E. NEWMAN (Eaugitikei) urged that bush poles should be used for-the construction of lines in.bush districts. .; Ths Hou.-.E. H. EHODES'said that in this country, where there was a deal, of wet weather, it was impracticable .to utilise the top wires of fences for telephones. He stated a,lso that_ for continuing services in bush districts bush poles, were being used. Where there was no bush, telescopic iron poles were used in places not easily accessible. . Mr W. C. BUCHANAN (Wairarapa) thought that most of the heavy cost of erecting lines was due to the expensive methods' followed by the, Department. He thought Hie work lnighMxs dono by con"mV G. RUSSELL (Avon) wanted to know what would become of the telephone girls when the automatic telephones were established. ', ■'..-. Mr Buick: Let them get married as quickly as possible. (Laughter.) The Hon. R, H. EHODES said that it would take some years to<stablish automatic exchanges if tho Government decided to adopt the scheine, and that in the meantime the young women in the exchanges wouid, be employed m other branches, of the Post and Telegraph■ serGeneral complaint was'made against the high charge of £2 per mile for maintenance for- lines. ■ ■~,,,,, The Hon. It H, RHODES said that the .£2 per mile was loss than the actual cost to tho Department. ' It had to cover dc- ■ preciatidn as well as octual maintenance. Sir JOSEPH' WAED (Awarua) supported the Postmaster-General in the statement that .£2 per mile per year was not an excessive, one, and that it could not be safely reduced. '

Telegraph Boys. Mr. G. W. RUSSELL (Avon) said he v.as satisfied that the Government would never get the best class of boys as telegraph messengers and retain, them in the service unless the-salaries were materially increased. Very often a boy; after one or two years as-a messenger, did get adequate reward when he was taken into the offic-3 as a clerk. The wages paid were not so good as lads of the'same attainments could get in a bank. Class 111, Post and Telegraph Department, =£1,05i,62-i, was passed without amendment.