TYPHOID AT FLAX MILLS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1566, 9 October 1912, Page 8

TYPHOID AT FLAX MILLS.

WHO IS TO BLAME? ' A KEPOKT NOT ACTED UPON. Mr. J. ROBERTSON (Otaki) move<l. tho first reading of the Pure Water Supply to Flaxmills Bill, aiid in doing so ho referred to the recent outbreak- of typhoid at the flaxmills in, tho Manawatudistrict.' A report had been prepared some months ago by the" Chief Inspector of, the Labour Department on the living accommodation at flnxrnills in the Manawatn district, and one of tho points grossed in that report was that a better supply of good drinking water was an absolute necessity at most of the mills. He attributed the'outbreak of typhoid to the fact that. men drank water from rivers into which sewage from Pnlmevston and- from the mills was discharged. The report, which set forth the facts that these conditions existed, had been in the hands the Department sinco the present Government took office, and lie thought the Minister for Labour had been guilty of undue delay in bringing down legislation which would have tho effect of remedying them. Now, when an epidemic had broken out, something would probably be done, but the facts had been infchehands of the Minister-long ago. He did not" think the Prime Minister had given Labour "a square deal" in this matter. • What Mr. Laurenson Did, Mr. G. LAURENSON (Lyttelton) said he had,, in .response' to a deputation of flasmill workers, instructed the Department to have a report prepared by an officer. That report, from wnich he read extracts, disclosed a disgracefully insanitary state of affairs. He thereupon, gave instructions on May. 24 that a Bill should be prepared. Unfortunately, the then Government fell eight days after. the House met. and the Bill could "not bo passed. Tho new Government had not taken tho matter up, although it was.a case for urgent action. He hoped the Government would put a Bill through now without further delay. Mr. W. A. VEITCH (Wanganui) urged the Government. to do something more for Labour tlmn it had been doing hitherto, and in the meantime he asked (he Government to take up tho Bill introduced by the member for Otaki. Statement by the Premier. Tho Hon. "YV. F. MASSEY (Minister for Labour) said that some attempt was being mode to make political capital on ( t of the unfortunate state of affairs in the. neighbourhood of tho Maniiwrttu. The member, for Otaki had' commenced his remarks by saying.that the report referred to had been in l his possession since the Government took office. Every member of the House knew that these ret>orts were not in the possession of the Minister, but , of the Department. He had found by reference to the file that lie had read the report on August 20. Inst. At once ho asked the Secretary for Labour whether any legislation had been prepared. The .secretary informed him that a short .Bill 'lu«i heert prepared. He (Mr.,. Jlnssey) said,, he found Hie Bill very far' from perfect, and almost entirely useless. He gave instructions for a new Bill to lie prepared, and a new Bill was now in the Law-drafting Office. Members had 'ought-, to. make capital of the. fact that the interests of (laxmiil owners in the matter of'the diiposal of mill refuse hud been pinch more promDUv, dealt with by the

Government, and a Bill hud been brought down to conserve their interests. Bui if the Bill prepared by the Labour Department had been of any use it would have been'before the . Labour Bills Cuiuimttee weeks ago. In the Hill as it came before him Iheve was not the slightest reference lo water supply. He did not think, however, that tliis .was nece-sary in-the Bill, for he thought there was sufficient, legislation on Ihe ijtnliik-'Book to make it pj>sible for the Health Department lo insist upon a. sjtfod water supply. He did not wish to shirk his roponsibilily. Xo I urn- regretted morn than he did the unfortunate occurrence of typhoid in (lie Munawatu dWricl, and if he could have toi-e.-eon it, he would have previ-nled it. But what was the condition of things in .May liint:-' And who wu> .in office then, ami who had been in olliee for-the last -20 years? It had been made out (hat this was all the fault of the Government. This wan not a right thing, not a fair thing, not a manly thing—to make capital out of this when the party really responsible for it were really those in Opposition,. Further Opposition Criticism. ■ Mr. Laurcnson said that he. had■ dealt with the matter of flax'mill workers' accommodation with the utmost possible expedition. The Prime: Minister had been in office for four months, and .what had he done? Mr. G'. W. RUSSELL (Avon) said that the Premier had adopted a mock-heroic style to cover the difficulty in which he. found himself. The Prime Minister had himself said' that he received a report on the subject in July, and yet he had not done anything until September. Ha'.te had been shown by the Government in dealing with a matter that affected pro-, perty and capital, but it had b?3ii guilty of neglect in dealing with,amattsr affecting life and health. If the report which Ihe Prime Minister' wished to treat confidential were made public there would be a scandal throughout the country, and the Government would almost bo indicted for mansjo tighter. ' The' Prime Minister denied that the miestion 'of riparian rights- had been dealt 'with at once. 'A deputation had interviewed him on the subject on July 23. Mr. Rusiell: And you >t once cave instructions that.a Bill should be drafted. Mr. Massey: How do you know? 'Mr. Russell: T .can guess it. ..'. .. ' Mr.'Massey: The'lion', gentleman will never make . his living at guessing. He is.a very poor guesser.- Tlic Bill made its' first appearance this morning. What was the member for Avon doing for three months, as Minister for Public Heplth, with the state of things that existed in the Mannwatu? Mr.. L. M: ISITT (Chrislchurch North) said that' this constituted a very grave scandal, wonderfully illustrative of the spirit and temper of the Conservative party towards' Labour on the one hand and towards tho interest-of capital on the other. Government members: A very old tune! ■ Mr. Isitt said that almost criminal caralessness had been . shown. The House had a right to demand that the Govern-: ment should take up Mr. Rofcert'on's Bill. Mr. D. BUICK (Palmerston''North)said that although a ; representative .of the Flaxmill Workers'. "Union, had accompanied the Labour Department inspector when he -visited the flaxmills, the employers were not notified that the inspecion was to; be made. Later, they applied for a copy of the Departmental report; but did not get it. Who was then in Power? Mr. G. J. ANDERSON (Mataura) said that it was a most disgraceful thing thnt such conditions should have existed in the Manawatu as existed in .May last. Who was then in power? AVnat was <lone then by the party which was. now "talking to the gallery," and thinking, not of tin. people who suffered uncla , these conditions, but of the voters. The' thing was .too utterly ridiculous. Mr. W. C. BUCHANAN (Wairarapa) said that the Bill which had been introduced to dpal with the pollution. <. watercourses by flaxniills was intended tc prevent the stoppage of a-very important industry. The bill wus just as iniportaul to Labour as it was to Capitol. Labour would suffer quite,...as. muc.i as Capital if thi) Ihxmills .stopped working. Mr. H.. G. ELL (Christchurch South) said that uo ..purty.Jiad introduced so much Labour legislation as the party now in Opposition. He echoed the statement of Mr. Isitt that the House should demand that the Government take Up Mr. Robertson's Bill. The PIIIJLB MINISTER: Sl> Bill i= circulated. The Hon. E. H. RHODES (Minister, in charge of the Public Hcaith Department) soid that he had, so soon as he had discovered that anything, was wrong, directed an officer to make a report, and since then he had dispatched another officer to the district. Samples of the drinking water were now in the possession of the Government bacteriologist. It was necessary, to discover whejice the infection came before taking action at once to prevent a further spread of the disease. He re pudiated the suggestion that the Government had failed in their, duty.. If there had bsen any criminal neslect in this matter it was on the part of those members of the House who, knowing, the condition 1 of affairs had failed to draw' the attention of tho Government to it. He repudiated the suggestion made by the member for Christchurch North that the Government, which for this -purpose was the Health Department, made any discrimination Between fashionable suburbs and slum quarters incarrying out the Public Health Act. Knowledge Bottled Up. The Hon. F. M. B. EISHER (Minister for Marine) said tho inspector who had prepared the report for the Department had been accompanied in his tour of the mills by the member for Otaki. He (Mr. Fisher) read from the report a few extracts, and tho final clauso was: "The wonder to me is that these men escaped fever or typhoid." .Ono would have thought, he said, that without reference to the Minister, the head of the Labour Department would have drawn the attention of the/Health Department to this report. It was certainly the duty, of tho Minister for Labour, who received the report in May last, to refer it to the Minister for Public Health. Was it not absolutely criminal on the part of those members on the other sido of the House who' had knowledge of the contents of the report, to bottle up that knowledge? Mr. Nosworthy: And.let people die! Mr. Fisher: Why didn't your Minister for Labour tell-the Minister for Public Health immediately he got that report? Instead of .doing this, he added, the late Minister had decided to bring down a Bill, knowing that the House would not sif for two months, and that' the. Bill would probably not be law for. about five months. The men were to endure , five months of smell and death waiting for a. humane Minister to get his Bill through. If the Minister had taken prompt action the conditions could have been ended at once under the Public, Health Act. His own opinion was that if a report of this nature came into the hands of any official' of the Government, that official should at once inform the Public Health Department of it. The Government had, he explained, been working at the highest pressure since the beginning of tho session, and the Law-drafting Office, had also been at high pressure, so that it was idle to suggest that the Government could have introduced its Bill earlier. Trying to Do Too Much. - Mr. T. Jf. WILFORD. (Hntt) said he wished to dissociate himself entirely from' the remarks made by members of his side of the House that the present Government rushed to help capital to the disregard of human life. He believed the ■ Government members were humane men. Hβ thought the Minister had made only ono mistake, and that was to try to do too much. Too many Bills had been introduced, prepared at such haste, that they hud already had to be abandoned. Sir JOSEPH WAKD (Awai-ua) said ho would not have spoken but for the fact that something had been said about the party thnt had been .in' office during the last 21 years. He suggested that the hi quoque argument was a weak one always. The late Government had long a«o introduced "llib most drastic ' Public Health Act in the world, and he diallenucd any other party to put u;i Mich ii reiMiril as his pjrly had in tin , la>t •Jl years in measures in the interest-, of the' people.- With regard to the trouble under review tho proper .thins to do was to end it at once, and in order to do this the question -hould have, been approached carefully. He woijld retrain from blaming anybody for the position of thing? f» ,; they now existed. After fix , mover replied the I'ljH was roud \ first tone on we voices.