PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2770, 13 May 1916, Page 8

PARLIAMENT

A QUIET SITTING

THE ADDRESS IN REPLY NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION NO MEMBER WILL SECOND IT The House of Representatives met at 2.3U p.m. Mr. A. E. GLOVER (Auckland Central) gave notice uf the Auckland llarbour Board Empowering Bill. Mr. T. A. H. Ji'ifiliD (Nelson) gave notice of the City 01 Nelson Loans Conversion und Empowering Bill. ' Mr. J. V. IiROWiN (Napier) gavo notice of the Napier Harbour Board Empowering Bill. ilr. J, PAYNE (Grey Lyiitf) gave notice to ask the Minister of Customs to review the tariff on oil engines, with a view of increasing to 30 per ceiit. the duty cu all oil engines other tliau those of British manufacture. Three days' leave of absence was granted to Mr. It. M'Callum. ADDRESS IN REPLY MEMBER FOR HUIT SUPPORT FOR COMPULSION Mr. T. M. WILIfORD (Hutt) resumed the debate on the Atidress-in-Hepiy at 3 p.m. He otated that while the Prims Minister had said we were prepared to be with tho Old Land and the Empire to tne last man. and the last shilling, we had not yet touched the fringe oj our peace habits. Sacrifices had not yet bosn made, except by poor people, who had to pay high prices tor tho commodities. He ieit at a loss, he said, m diseasing national service while unaware of the kind of Bill tho Government intended to introduce. . The voluntary system hail failed for months. Ministers and other re-, sponsible .men had journeyed from end to end of the country,, threatening people that if they would not come voluntarily they would iater be compelled. Men who were obtained by threats or _by being shamed could not rightly be uu'leu volunteers. Were we prepared to sacrifice a national ideal for national salety? He thought the answer to that question must be "I'es." It was not correct to say .that any slacker's freedom 'would be assailed by compulsion. What would be assailed would bs his-liberty to escape from national' obligation, which was quite another thiug. The compulsory system was the only democratic system, possible. He hoped the Bill to come down would be a strong measure, the effort of strong men to cope with a serious situation. His dwh idea was that a measure should bo'lntrodiked making all fit men between 20 and 50 years of age liable for military service at home" or abroad, and that the Governo-r-iu-Council should .ba empowered to make regulations to carry this into effect, providing for such exemptions as might be necessary to carry 011 the work of the country and the production of tlio necessary supplies. He had no fear of discrimination between man and man, because ho had confidence in the power of public opinio#. He hoped that the Bill would ba a really oll'eetive measure; the product of a united Government, and not, like the measure of, the British. Qonernment, a sort of lail to Lord Derby's kite. He believed that the Bill to be passed by the House would be" a strong measure. Closely allied with the problem of compulsion was that of taxation of our war profits. He believed that there ought to be drastic taxation of all such profits. ■No man had any right to bargain -with, the State in ;war time. The-high-prices now obtainable were\the direct result of the devastation and bloodshed': and murder now''going on in other parts, of the world. These profits were being made out of the sacrifice and travail of our men who were limiting, and there must be no hesitation in them for the purposes- of the State. He believed the Government would not shirk the taxation of war . profits. He would have' liked to see the Government tako over our woollen factories, which were in fact munition factories. The factories could have teen purchased 011 Govern-, nient debentures at the rate of interest I nilotrcd 011 Government loans, the dividends would have been so cut down twothirds, and the wages of operatives could be increased. He spoke also of the Wellington''milk supply, declaring that the price, fid. per quart, was far too high. The Government should' have ptiit on night trains to run from Woodville oil the East and Palmerston on the West, to. increase the area from which milk for the City could be drawn. The peoplo of Wellington were at present paying a scarcity price for milk. .The .amount-; of milk required in a factory to make a pound of butter was 2 gallons and 1 pint. The pecplo of this City paid Is. (id. for a pound of butter, and -Is. 3d. for the milk required to malar it. He appealed to the -Prime Minister to ..suspend tlie Standing Orders.so as to make it possible for private members to move resolutions regarding the cost of living.

He gave all credit for the success of our training and mobilisation scheme to the camp commandants, the staff, til/' instructors, the sergeants, the transport officers, and the men themselves. No one man should be allowed to pat himself on the chest, and say, "All'my work." This work had all been done remarkably well, and, thank! goodness, it had b?en dona without, ihe interference of politicians. He believed, however, that although the war was being run, and ought; to l>b run, by the military, and not by the politicians, it would bs better if the civilian mind .were represented when the final decision was toi be lhade oil behalf of the Government. He declared that Mr. Allen, being "a colonel of volunteers," could not, and did not, edcrinately represent 1 he*! civilian mind, wherefore he should resign and mak'o way for some level-headed man of his owi. party. Mr. Wilford ' spoke, also, of banking, (fe said that the war had converlod him to a belief in a State bank. The war had shown that no backing but the State backing was any good in the' last resort. Forcinn 011 Compulsion. Mr. J. V. BIiOWX (Napier) condemned the Government for what he termed their niggardly administration of the Pensions Act, declaring that' this and other things had made compulsion necessary. The Government wern forcing oil compulsion. He would "vole for it, but lie was sorry that the need should exist. Referring to the subject of war profits and exploitation, he declared that merchants in Wellington had raised tho price of commodities, including whisky, before the prices were raised to them by the merchants and producers at Home. \He protested against tho treatment meted ont to rnturned soldiers especially in*thc matter of premature discharges. On Exploitation. Mr. W. A- YELTCII (Wanganui) said that, the National Government had failed on this great occasion. When the Xational Government was formed nil undertaking was given that divisions 111 Cabinet would bs avoided.. Ho presumed that this had worked out in this way: Unless decisions wereMinanininus nothing was done, and the result, was that very little was done. He deprecated the action of the National Government in adopting the ordinary party lactic?, hiding from private members all about the intentions of the Government. He did not believe in CT.fi saving "Nothing matters but tho war." AYe ought to look after our domestic polities, to ensure that the people were not harassed by _ exploitation nmi ill other ways. There' was no need for the neglect of our dome-tic. affairs. He lv-iinved I lie D:/-?ncs Minister had failed, had been ,"a wet blanket Minister." who would have damped the ardour of the people b'it"Vor the fact that it could not b? restrained. He intended to c!o everything possible to compel flic Nntinmil Government to attend to t'i«se intprwl problems. He attacked stronulv tho merchant organisations wh*."h bed eo.ol- - to exploit the people in this war time, iW-laring that their oppression wns too wicked to b<- borne. It was ille to

tali of cessation of hostilities while these combinations were riding oil the necks of tho people.-_ He'condemned the administration of tile Defence Department, especially in regard to the treatment of returned soldiers, and he insisted that the Defenco Minister had been a failure, that 'lie was not the limn for his job. He based lii.s condemnation 011 the allegation that tlie .Minister of Defence would take 110 notice of the suggestions made to him by public men all over the country, especially in regard to local camps. In his opinion, the Minister of Defence should resign his portfolio. He thought the Government should take steps to establish an Imperially -owned shipping service between Britain and the Dominions, in order to keep freights at a reasonable level. He expressed unqualified approval of compulsory service as the only fair and equitable method of distributing the national obligation to defend the country. Although, he did not think the ricii man had done nearly his share in the war. and while some cried for conscription of wealth he was not going to make Ilia support of the Compulsory Military Training Bill conditional upon any subli action being taken. However much he disagreed with the Government on domestic questions, ho would do his best to help the Government to put the Compulsion .Bill through. Difficulties of Conscription. •'Mr.'J. AKBTEY (Wattaki) said ho held strongly the opinion that we should set about at onco making provision for men returning from the war. By and by, we would have thousands coming back, mid wo ahculd begin at oTicoAo 'prepare for their coming, 111 order that iliej might bo placed in suitable employment immediately after their return. If this were not done these men 'would become n menace to us. Ho was totally opposed to conscription. Without an atom of compulsion five millions 0/ men ha 3 been raised, a record 6uch as no" other nation could <tvor fihoiv. Now, however, wo were fighting an unscrupulous and powerful foe, and lie was ifraid we would have to abandon some of our natiof.M ideals. Bs was afraid that we might not be able to win tlio war without coirvpnlsion, and that lie would reluctantly Tlayo 'to support tho Dill to oome berore the House. Ho was at some pains to point out the difficulties of the compulsory system. There must be selection, and there must be exemptions, and he thought this work ought to be done, not by the military, but by some civil authority. Especially difficult was the ease of. young men with farms, either leased or unpaid for. Sometiling ought to be done to 'make it possible for these men to enlist voluntarily.

Mr. Alien: How do you propose to get over th;it difficulty? ill*. Aiibtey: 1 am just dealing with it from this point of view now. lie went oil to say that some change would have to be made in the assessment of the quotas before compulsion'was introduced. It was impossible to get any more men from same'of the. country districts in the south. If theso districts were depleted any more, .tins production of the country would be locked up. lie thought the Government should hud out first where the young men were, ami assess the quotas'accordingly. He also contended Uiat the Government should offei inoro inducements to young men in the Civil Service to enlist. He did not-agree with the Minister of that railway men could not ba allowed to enlist because the trains .must run. it wis not at till necessary that, trains should run to sports and races, \M'C. These extra trains might very well be done away with, and the men required- to run tliem might be released for military nervine. ' Straight Talk. ' Captain J. ii. MINE (Stratford) said he hoped honourable members would .Uiink twice before impugning in the House 1 the loyalty of otricers in the A'ew Zealand' I'orces. He wished to say this oil behalf of himself and the other oiiicers in the forces. He deprecated strongly the readiness of meniters to give puuhcity to every rumour from whatever source it came. Let honourable members, visit the camps." Then, they would seo that tno men. were well treated, that every consideration was shown to them by the Defence Department. The health of the men was the Department's first consideration. Ho hoped honourable members, would tako thes'e few" words of" ad-, vice from one who was going away.

lie hoped the Compulsion Hill would be a geuerut measure, matins compulsion as «;ido as possible, and that there would ba 110 general ensy exemptions. The Jiill sliouid include all ahle-liodied iiieii in the country.

Afr.. Alassey: J t does. Air. Hinc said ho thought further that 110 able-bodied man should bo allowed to leavo New Zealand. . He hoped tho Government would "badge" every man in tho country, then it would be easy to find out who the shirkers were. Ho was glad to wo that the Government were making the wives and children independent o* tho Pensions Board, but he did >1101 seu tunc pensions by right could be given to other dependants.. Perhaps, also ths separation allowance to men should bo increased.

Jtle did not think the Government should have given way to the demi.uid.ot railwayman, and. Civil Servants for in. creased wages. Ho was amazed that they should do so. It was nil very: well to talk about the cost of living, but did not the cost of living iall just as heavily Upon the wives and children of those -who had gone to the front as upon theso "raiiwayineu. The railwayinen had disgraced themselves by holding a pistol to the head of the Ministers and demanding a shilling a' day extra. Kather they should have.agreed to take a shilling' ,a d;yv less, and givo.that shilling to the wives and children of those who had. gone. He disagreed with -mucin of the talk about conscription of wealth. What was first of all required was a proper registration of wealth, so that the Gow eminent might lax those who had wealth. To ask the ' Government to tax the. 'profits. made last.' year and ,thi- year sind next yea- was asking them to undertake n task impossible of achievement. He did not approve of the treatment; by the Government of returned soldiers." lie did not ask for hero worship for 'returned men; that was not wholesome, aud he did not believe in it. But ha did not believe in turning them loose to roam the streets. They had nothing to do, they were treated freely, and they were 111 danger of being- started on the down grade. He would like to'see them jiut in proper institutions, under military control, given light work, taught trades where necessary, and allowed their liberty only when tliey were fit to go back into civilian life again. It was all very well to talk-about land for soldiers, but it was not possible to make farmers out of all soldiers. The Men Who Como Back. •Jlv. TV. T. .TKNNINGS, spoke first of all of land aggregation, declaring that it was still going on extensively, lie condemned the administration of the "War Pensions Act, quoting caws in support of what he said. But 110 believed tile Government was going to make the Act better, and 110 would support, it. He hoped the Government would do all it could for the men when they came back, especially in the settlement of them on the land, and also that we should not close our door* to other soldiers of tho Umpire anxious to come and settle here. When Sir Rider Hagffar.l came to Mew Zealand he hoped Mr. Massov would confer with him, and take note oi his ideas, for Sir Aider Haggard was a deep and thorough student of land problems in many countries. A No-Confidence Motion! Mr. -T. PAYNE (Grey Lynn). moved a want-ol'-confulonce amendment to the -Address to be presented to His Excellcncy. Uis amendment roferred at . some length to alleged Germans in the • Forces, the failure of the Government to intern alien enemies, tho maladministration of the Defence Department, the cost, of'living, and a recommendation to His Excellency that his Ministers did.not possess the confidence of the House. AY hp n Mr. Payne resumed his seat, Mr. W. A. Veilch requested the permission of Hie House to make a statement. On this being granted, he said: I have been asked, on behalf of the Labour group, to na.v that tho amendment which has been moved by Ihe lum. member for Grey r.vnn lias tn-en moved entirely 011 his own renpo:i"ibi!ify, and f'n!: the Labour ki-ou'p luis not been consulted with regard to it. nor is it .our purpose to support the amendment " Seconders for the amendment were then en lied -for, lint. i-"ne offering, the ed- j inurnment of the debate was moved by I Mr. .T. M'Oombs,- aud the House rose at lo.au p.m. |