PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2840, 3 August 1916, Page 6

PARLIAMENT

COST OF LIVING BOARD OF TRADE AND ITS WORK MEMBERS' APPROVAL THE COUNCIL AND WAR REGULATIONS. The legislative Council mot at 2.30 p.m. yesterday. Tho following Bills wera received from His Excellency the Governor, duly signed: —Land and Income Tax Act, Imprest > Supply Act Ko. 2, Auckland Harbour Board Empowering Act, AVanganui Borough Council Street Access Empowering Act, and the City of Nelson Loans Conversion Empowering Amondment Act. "WASHING-UP" BILL. The "Washing-Up" Bill was received from the Lower House. SIR FRANCIS 'BELL stated' that by reason of being pressed for timo, it was proposed to insert one or two amendments, which, were urgently required to public statutes, later on. The Hon. E, MOOEE said be proposed to movo a new clause permitting hospital and charitable aid boards to tale money on deposit from year to year in the same way as was permitted to other local ■ bodies. He.urged, also, that the same power should be given to harbour boards. - ■ The Bill was read a second time. The Hill was considered in Committee, and leave given to sit again after tha original clauses had been agreed to. CENSORING FILMS. The Cinematograph Film Censorship ,- Bill was received from the Lower House. SIR FRANCIS BELL moved the second ' reading of the Bill, which was asked for, he said,, by a large number of citizens. • The Hon. J. BARR said he approved of the measure in the interests of the children. , ' The Bill was read a second timo on the voices, Hud the committal stage set down for 10-tlay. . . WAR REGULATIONS BILL. SECOND BEADING- DEBAT2. The War Regulations Bill was received from the Lower House. Snt l'lt-ANCIS BELL, in moving the' second reading, expressed the hops that no amendments would be necessary. A disagreement with, "another place" would possibly lead to tho loss of a measure which contained provisions which were of a useful nature. Tho fact that it might be thought not to go fur enough—and in this view he agreed— should not be made an occasion at present for an attempt to extend its scope. He was against such steps as would at this stage of the session call for a conference with "another place.". He was satisfied that no amendment could be successfully made, and any attempt would possibly lead to the'loss of powers which he desired the Government to possess.From his own personal view, ho would at another time have been glad to joiu in an attempt to secure an extension of some measures in the Bill, but not under the present circumstances. He was tho last to say they-should be dictated to by "another place," but this Bill gave powers to last only for the duration of the war, and in terms which were calculated to enable provisions to be made to impose re' 6trictions which were, rightly or wrongly, demanded by the public. He appealed to members to suppress their own views R.t this stage and support the Government. With the other provisions of tho Bill members were familiar. . The Hon. J. BARR asked that lh« Council should maintain a view independent of the wishes of tho Government. He protested against.the Council beiug "impressed" by the desires of the Cabinet—this robbed the Council of its powers of iudependent criticism. The Hon. G. CARSON joined in protesting against the Council being asked not to amend the Bill. There was just as much, a demand for'liquor reform as there was for. tho Military Service Bill. He never felt tho advantages of party Government so much as at present, when tho National Government was_ failing to concedo what tho people desired. Venereal Disease. The Hon. DR. COLLINS approved of the rccont speech of tho Minister, of Public Health upon the subject of venereal disease, ana said that the medical profession ' would support the' Minister in his efforts to reduce and elimiuate these- diseases. The necessity for reform had first been brought up in Dunodin twenty years ago by the medical profession, and Government, aid sought. In recent years the Australasian Medical Congress considered the subject, and passed resolutions in support of venereal disease being made notifiable, and agenoral educational campaign being instituted as a means.of prevention. The disease of syphilis was not indicated in the Tear Book, but some time ago the medical men instituted a system of confidential notification amongst themselves. Replies were received from 301 practitioners, who notified 1911 cases in two years. Of the centres, Auckland City notified 615 cases and the country 13S; Wellington City 412, country 23; Christchurch City 252, country 24; Dunedin 44, country 14; making the totals 1323 in tho city and 2G5 outside the city. This showed that the disease was most prevalent in seaside towns. The disease was chiefly .imported into New Zealand from outside sources, notably Sydney, which was in direct communication with tho East and the, Pacific. It was necessary to know the sources of the disease in order to adequately copi> with it. When tho 301 doctors notified 1941 cases, there were 090 practitioners on the roll, so that if all had notified the cases they were attending the number would probably have been more than double. As regards gonorrhoea, the largo institutions in Melbourne treated about three cases to one of syphilis. The figures for .six months amongst the New Zealand soldiers were much higher. In order to deal with the thing adequately: a first step should be to publish statistics in tho Year Book of .those dying from these diseases. The medical certificates of death should also be altered to show where syphilis or gonorrhoea had been either tho primary or secondary causes of death. In this case this certificate could be sent confidentially from the medical man to the registrar. This was the only wav to discover the real extent of the disease. Careful statistics should also be made in the public hospitals. In Melbourne; a medical man held two sets of 100 cases each of post-mortem examinations, and about one-third were affected by syphilis. The extent of tha disease was undoubted, and to deal adequately with it the gloves had to bo taken off. The effects of. gonorrhoea were also very terrible. It was estimated that ifl per cent, of the operations performed upon the genital organs of women were duo to gonorrhoea, that 20 per cent, of the cases of blindness were due to it, and that 50 per cent, of the women who suffered from it were afterwards sterile. •V great deal'of the disease was sea-borue, and therefore it would be necessary to give special attention to the vessels arriving in our ports. Tho Hon. J. G. W. AITKEN said thero was a demand on the part of tha public for legislation dealing with drink which should have been met, Thore was no guarantee that the regulations dealing with anti-"shouting" would ever bo issued, or, if issued, that they would bo effective. Tho electors should have been given the opportunity of expressing their will by a referendum. He hoped that tho auti-"shouting" regulations would be issued speedily, and enforced rigorously. Tho Hon. T. MACGIBBON said that economy should be practised in war time, and therefore ho regretted the Bill did not go further than it did. There was a tendency to be too hospitable to the soldiers, and it was well that this. well-meant but injudicious hospitality should be restricted. "Shouting" was ahabit which was a relic of the gold-dig-ging days, and it was time it was suppressed. Ho supported Stale control a$

.> ; —— tho best solution of the liquor problem. ; Tho Hon. W. EARNSHAW said he '■ bad hoped that the National Government would havo beon free from tho •"hypnotism" of "the trade," but ho feared that tho majority of tho Cabinet Jvere under the iutluenco of "tho trade," just as other Governments had beon in tho past Ho did not believe that the Government intended to enforce "antishouting," his reason being the framing of tho clause itself. As a man of tbe world lie predicted that It would bo impossible to enforce nnti-"shoutiug" evcu ■ if it were desired. SIR FRANCIS BELL, in reply, tnid ho admitted the right and power <?f the Council to amend the Bill, but he merely : offered tho advice that neither sido should endeavour to alter this Bill, for it might imperil giving power to the Government which it was desirable it should have. This was tho only time , In four years that he had ever done this, and he only did it now because of tho exceptional circumstances of tho . ■ case. The Bill was road a second time on tho voices. In Committee on tho Bill, The Hon. W. Earnshaw moved the dolotlon oT.tho words "or any" in clause 3, with a viow to making it obligatory (and not permissive) for tho Government to make regulations upon anti-"shouting," etc. Sir Francis Bell pointed out that tho end aimed at would not be achieved, and the amendment was rejected on the voices. Tho Hon. G. Carson, moved & new clause, to the Bill, to have the effect of closing hotels at nine o'clock, instead of fen o'clock. The Hon. W. Enrnshaw supported the proposal. A conference should at; least be held on tho matter with "another place." - ; Sir Francis Bell said that he was absolutely oonvinced that this clause could not be oarried in "anothor place." , Mr. Earnshaw. It was lost only by one. Sir Francis Bell: But the position has changed since then. The hon. member does not know how much it has chang- ■ W.• , f The Hon. G. Carson said that, "win or lose," ho would move his clause. The new clause was defeated by 12 votes to six, the division list being as follows :— -, Ayes (6).—Aitken, Earnshaw, Mac Gib• bon, Fisher, Carson, M'Gregor. : Noes (12).—Bell, GeoTge, Baldey, Moore, Hardy, Collins, Morgan, Harris. Thompson. Mnginnity, Wigram, Simpson. ■ The Bill was reported without aniend- / menf and read a third time on the voices. The Cbnncil adjourned at 9.6, 1 ) p.m. . THE HOUSE The House of Representatives met at 2.80 p.m. Tho Bigbt Hon. W. F. MASSEY gave notice of his intention to introduce the Methodist. Charitable Education and Charitable Trust Bill. Ho said that ha had examined the' Bill, and it soemed to be purely formal. .He believed that the. Bill would prove to be non-contentious; i otherwise he would not have asked Parliament to deal with it at this period l . of the session. \ , Mr. A. H. HINDMARSH (Wellington " ' South) asked) the.Minister of Native Af- ' fairs whether he'would take; steps to '.'• tea that native coal-bearing lands along • v the Stratfofd-Ongarue railway wero not acquired by private individuals. '" The Hon. W. H. HERRIES said that he was not aware" that, there were any coal-bearing areas along tho line. If the honourable member would supply him with, the names of the. blocks he would consult the Lands' Department as to whether a proclamation should bo put on the lands to prevent their alienation. " ' RETURNED,SOLDIERS' PRIVILEGES. . Mr. Wrf. FIELD (Otaki) asked the 1 Minister of Defence whether he would consider the question of entering into some reciprocal arrangements with the Commonwealth Government whereby Australian soldiers visiting New Zealand will be entitled to tho same railway concessions that arb 'extended to Dominion soldiers, whilst similar concessions would be granted to New Zealand soldiers visiting Australia. The Hon. J. ALLEN said that he was now in communication on the subject ..with tho Australian Government. What-, 'ever concessions were granted by' the Commonwealth Government would also be granted by the New Zealand Government. . ' CABLEGRAMS ABOUT WOUNDED SOLDIERS. Mr. T. K. SIDEY asked the Minister of Defence whether he would make a statement in regard to the method in vogue in England for answering cablegrams sent by relatives in the Dominion asking for information regarding wounded soldiors. He mentioned v a case in which the parents of a wounded soldier had sent three free cablegrams, at intervals covering a period of seven weeks, .without receiving' any satisfactory information. The Hon. J. ALLEN said that he was going into the matter, and he hoped to have it placed on a proper footing. He admitted that tho reports received from England were very mcagro in comparison with those that'had been received from Egypt. Ho pointed out that no particulars wero sent in regard to minor casualties. _ Tho casualties themselves were mentioned, but no details wero . given. When no particulars wero given relatives might rest assured that the wound was only a slight one, and that the soldier would be all right in a few days. ~,'.. COST OF LIVING THE BOARD OF TRADE EFFECT OF ITS WORK The Right Hon. W. F. MASSEY (Primo Minister) presented a report on tho work of the Board of Trade. The report (whioh Mr. Massey read) stated that tha board's work had resulted in tho following monetary saving to tho public:— Sugar, (estimated), .£300,000; coal (Auckland), £3000; bread (Thames), .82000; coal (New Plymouth), £1500; bread (New Plymouth), £2500. In addition the repprt stated the opinion had been, freely expressed that' tho appointment of the board had had • a 'steadying effect • 'on prices generally. Amongst other details the board stated that it had received a oomplaint by Wellington City Council and others that tho price of milk was unreasonable in Wellington. The board is • entering on tho inquiry this week. Govornmcnt Not to Blame. There seemed to bo an impression, said Mr. Massey, that tho Government was responsible for the high cost of living. A great deal of the agitation was political, and ho took no account of it. Tho high cost of living was duo to tho war, and thoso who attacked tho Government under-estimated ■ the difficulties of interfering with tho ordinary courso of trade. Indeed he was sorry to admit that much of the increase in the cost of living was unavoidable. The Board of Trade had. dono much useful work, but ho did not claim that it had boen pcr- . feet. One of the results of its work was that New Zealand people could buy sugar cheaper than, any other people in the world. He quoted from Australian statistics to show that, according to official figures, the increase in tho prico of commodities there from July, 1911, to March, 1916, was 31.0 per cent. The New Zealand statistics for May last showed that tho increaso in the Dominion at that timo . was 17.5? per cent., or almost exactly half the percentage in Australia. Mr. Nosworthy: And they havo , a Labour Government there I Mr. Massey:,'We can do better than tlio Labour Government hero. During tho past two months thero practically had been uo increase in tho cost of living in New Zealand, but thero had been further marked increase'; in Australia during that time. The Government in Now Zenlaud had adopted tho policy .of encouraging production in our own country as far as possible. It had done all that was possible to keep down tho rates of freights, and by the appointment of tho Board of Trade and in other ways it had dono a great deal to prevent tho people being exploited. Justified its Existence. When tho Board of Trade was appointed tho members wore strangers to him, and ho was somewhat doubtful as to the Tesult of the experiment, but he , iras no longer doubtful, as the Board bad'

justified its appointment by tho exceed--1 ingly good woTk that it was doing. Mr. C. H. Poole: It should havo boon appointed a year earlier. Mr. Massoy said that before tho Board was appointed thoro was another Board, nut of exactly tho same official status, which did very good work. This was tho Board of which Mr.. Justico Stringer was chairman, and it had done particularly good work. Dr. Thaoker: Tell us about tho meat ring in Wellington. . Mr. Massey: I do not know anything about such a ring, but I am quito willing to refer'the question of the cost of meat in Wellington or any other matter to tho : Board of Trade. Tie Government had also done much good by prohibiting tho export of wheat and flour, and by remitting the duties on those articles for a time. It was sometimes said the Government was not doing enough to assist tho people who had a difficulty in making both ends meet, but it was a fact that in no country in the world were so many of the necessaries of life admitted free of duty as in New Zealand. The exemption from income tax was also biigher than in any other country in the Empire. The legislation in regard to rents, now before the House, would also do. a great deal to.reduce the cost of living. Complaints, n;ere made about the higher, prices of butter and cheese, but this was due to the great demand in Great Britain. Had it not been, however, for the restriction placed upon the export of butter during the past three months tho price in New Zealand would havo been oven higher. About Freights. In speaking of .the inability of tho Government to control freights, Mr. Massey said that whilst lie was not a State Socialist he believed the time would come when there would be a State-owned line of 20-knot steamers running between the Dominion and Great Britain. In some cases freights had advanced no. less than -a thousand per cent. Tie cost of production had also gone up considerably, and this remark applied to New Zealand as well, as other countries. Everything that the farmer required to use had gone up in price since; the war started. Somo farmers had made large profits, but their expenses had also gone up to a great extent. "'-.''" ' . An Amendment.; Mr. T. M. WILFORD (Hutt) said.that tho discussion could have no practical effect. The Government alone could initiate measures to actually do anything to reduce the cost of living. Although he was a critic of the National Government ho admitted that the Board of Trade, so far as sugar was concerned, had justified its existence. No i argument that. could be used that night could do much good. As to the statistics of the percentages of comparative increases in the cost of living in Australia and New Zealand he 6aid that there were different mothods of arriving atporcentages and very little value could be placed upon the figures quoted. He hoped that the Government would have an inquiry into the meat prices in Wellington. He did not think that the Prime deal in Canadian wheat Bad been productive of much good. The ■ Government had been slow to move in this as in other matters. • Mr. J. VIGOR BROWN (Napier) said that whilst the cost of coal in Auckland had been reduced by 2s. a ton, it had advanced 2s. a ton in Napier. If the Government would adopt the daylight saving scheme it would assist in reducing the cost of living. He agreed that good work had been done in regard to sugar. '•..-. A member: What about the brewers? Jlr. Brown.- I have always been in favour of taxing the brewers. I am going to move: "That this House views with disp easure the fact that the Government has not introduced any legis. latum that will reduce the cost of liv-. No Practical Suggestions. .SIR JOSEPH WARD said that ho had had a number 'of conversations with to tho ques™^;f t0 "> t&e House, and in almost every case tho only practical suggestion that could he made for reducing tie cost ot living was action in regard to rents. ™i y revolutionary and impracticable KM? hud , h % e l "WMted W cheap_J3L»?f CMt ° f * ' viDK ' but " TOS impossible to carry them out. The theories 1 ,-n£r •'■ w er * su «fff eE ted could not.bo put nto effect, and to bring them forward was only deluding the Government. What .was regulating the value, of all our produots was the price that could be obtain, ed for them in the Old Country. If the Government were to attempt to artii C l a V eep dOTO J the P™° of meat or bv 7 S£i! r commodlt y i", New Zealand tending to bnnb down the rate of wa-es fS Sl °A?? H T resolution to the effect that meat should be sold at sixpence a pound, and that tho f.o.b. price tor export was eightpence a pound. The Government would riot be entitled to take meat from the producer at sixpenco ' a pound unless .it paid him tho extra toH P °tW P ?i. mn \. The y »«o ■ often bouth Wales, but, in one item alone-Bugnv-a Tery i arge nmoMt was saved in the Dominion to consumers as compared with the price in tho .State that was held up to -them as an example. The Board of Trade was doin" very good work. In referring to the question of rents in Wellington, he said thero wero thousands more people com., ing to Wellington now, than in the prewar days, and this was undoubtedly causing the rise in rents. He then referred to the, criticism that had been passed on the action of tho Government in proposing to pay the war bonus to the' Civil Servants. ■ To show what this meant he said that of a. total of 5990 Public Servants (not, including railway servants), thcro-wero not more than' 015 whose salaries were over .6315 a, year, and nqt more than' 4700 who received more than „2CO. The average salary of thoso who would receive the bonus was M 67, or a fraction over £3 a week. Many of these men wero married men' with families, and they had complained that they had a difficulty in making ends meet.Dr. THACKER (Christchur'ch East) offered some "practical suggestions" for tho reduction of tho cost of living in little things. A Political Cry, Mr. W. NOSWORTHY (Ashburton) said he supported 'the-statements of tho Miuister of Finance. Ho recognised that the cost of living was raised in the House as a political party question. Tho increase in tho cost of living was wholly due to the war, and tho Government was powerless to prevent it. He, deprecated tho kcoping of a protective duty on boots to keep'un tho booi, industry here. In spito of the protection the people had to buy imported, boots, and pay high prices for them. If tho duties were taken off, the boot bills of families could be reduced by 50 per cent. He asked what the Government intended to do to assist the wheat-grower of New Zealand. Australia could produce wheat more cheaply than New Zealand, but we could not depend upon them for our food supplies. The industry required some protection, aud ho wanted to know what the Government proposed to do in tins connection. What would tho Labour members suggest upon the point, since they claimed to.bo practical men? The wheatgrowers had had such a disastrous timo that there was- nothing liko so much wheat being planted this year as had been the case in the past. There remained only three weeks in which spring wheat could be sown, and iUiehoved tho Government to let these men know what their intentions wero. Ho suggested to the Prime Minister that it would he a fair thing to impose the same duty against Australian Hour coming into Now Zealand as was imposed by Australia upon New Zealand wheat and flour, namely, „2 10s. per toil. Unless tho industry were protected, one of our national . assets would bo disadvantageous!}- affected. It would be a foolish policy for any . Government to sacrifico tho New Zealand farmer to tho Australian wheatgrower. Mr. J. T. M.. HORNSBY (Waira.rapa) said that the man who attempted to corner the food supply of tho people was worse than a jobber. The Government should devoto special attention to investi- . gating the high prico of bread. He considered that tho middleman was receiv- ( ing unduo profits, especially in relation to flour and bread. In regard to buttor | and cheese, it was not. the producers who wero making the large profits. In tho case of buttor tho Government had interfered and prohibited the export of butter * until the needs of tho people wore satisfied, and this showed that Government action in tho matter could'bo made efii- i cacious. (Left Sitting.)