Mr. Hornsby Speaks Plainly.

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3163, 15 August 1917, Page 6

Mr. Hornsby Speaks Plainly.

Mr. ,T. T. M. HORN 93 Y" (Wairarapa), referring to the speech of candid criticism made by llr. Forbes a few evenings before, said that he had been given to understand that this gentlemen had been warned that his temerity might lose liini his seat. Now, the . House should have an understanding about this matter. Was tho Budget open to criticism, or werti the proposals in it to be immutablo? If the House was to give the Government carte blanche, then tho members might as well go home. The great plank in the platform of the National Government was reduction in. the cost of living. It was no answer to the general demand that the cost of living should be reduced to say that the cost was higher in Australia than in New Zealand. Most of the money made, out of the very high prices of food was made by profiteers in this country and in Eng-. land. Tho price ofb read was too high; it should not be more than 35d. per twopound loaf. What was the Board of Trade doing? An hoiv. member: It is asleep.

Mr. Horiijsby: "It is asleep and snoring." He added' that the owners of the butter in store would sell it all at a shilling a pound. Mr. Massey: The Government will take it to-morrow. ; Mr. Hornsby: Very well. I will see that that bargain is closed. Mr. Massey: Good butter? Mr. Horn'sby: The best butter in bulk, Mr. Massey: I have made this bargain, and I expect you to carry it out. Mr. Hornsby: J will undertake to tee that it is carried out. Mr. Hornsby went on to speak of the operations of the Meat Trust; saying that he did not believe it was iiupossiblo for Parliament to deal with the trust. Proceeding, Mr. Hornsby discussed the present state of' the 'House, and its .relation to the Government. This robbery of the people could not longer bo tolerated. lie had been in favour of lengthening the life of Parliament because ho .then thought that the soldiers should have a full and articulato vofce in t'no choice of a new Parliament. But rather than allow tho present ungodly state of things to go on. lie would say, "Let us have an election this year,' and let us, every man of us. give a pledge that thero shall be an election when the men come home." . Mr. Parr: What would be the good of an election? The National Government would go to the country! Mr. Hornsby said that ho would still favour giving the people some sort of opportunity of giving their voice. .There was a great deal of evil abroad m he land, and tho people were suffering by it. He had drawn the attention of the House tho other day to tho fact (as Le alleged) that tho gas strike was being continued because of the opposition of one man, a receiver of fat dividends. The strike was settled now, but this man should, be prosecuted, for lie waa guilty of seditious action if anyone was. He would Jiavo favoured an increase of 7s. Gd. a. week in the okl-ago pension. Nothing less than this would be sufficient, and he would urge the Government to spring the extra 2s. Od. a week. He would vote again for a war tonus to Civil Servants, but there would be trouble in the House if any more bonuses were paid to men in receipt of high salaries. He deprecated very strongly tho payments made to these officers last vear. Tie would opposo duty on tea. He would liko to see the Government raise more rovenue by increasing the dunes on beer, wine, and spirits, and on hignpriced wearing apparel.

Many Suggestions. : Mr. G. AVITTY (Kiccarton) said that he regarded tho Budget as a very courageous and far-seeing effort to meet the financial needs of the Dominion in a period of exceptional difficulty. Tho land tax on tho big estates should have been larger in order to compel subdivision in the interests of returned soldiers and other settlers. He would bo very glad if the schemo of taxation could reach tho land speculator, who held and sold laud for purely speculative purposes, and made his profit without performing any useful service to the Dominion. Tho area of Crown land still remaining in tho hands of the Government, some 4,000,000 acres, should be set aside as a permanent endowment for the dependants of the men who had died at the front. The Government should purchase 1,000,000 acres of Native land and retain it as an endowment for tho Maoris who had fought in the war and for landless Natives generally. The iuconio tax, liko the laud tax, stopped too soon in its gradations. A man who had an incomo of <£10.000 a year should pay moro tuan 7s. Gd. in the pound to the State. The, amusement tax was beginning at tho wrong end. It weighed heaviest on the low-priced tickets. Racing was already heavily taxed, and he did not see why it should bear increased burdens until other avenues of taxation, including tea shops, had been exploited. The preparations made for the returned soldiers were not adequate. No effort had yet been made t) establish industries to absorb the men when they came back. The Government had failed sadly to deal with the cost ot living question. The slaughter of ewo lambs ought to be prohibited, since the flocks had been very seriously depleted by excessive killing. The Government; i had failed to control the prices of meat, 'butter, and cheese, and had allowed the best of tho produce to be exported while the people of New Zealand paid heavily for the poorest qualities. He 'protested against the action of tho Minister of Internal Affairs in spending JG'32B on an entertainment at Hanmer in connection with the jpening of the Soldiers' Hospital there. The Minister had invited his own friends, and tho expenditure was sheer waste. r 'lie name of every firm receiving contracts from the Munitions Department sluuld i:e published. Hon. A. M. Myers: Everything in my Department is own to inspection Iv any member of the House. Mr. Witty: The public-is entitled to know. Mr.'Myers: Tt is in the public interest that wri act. Defence Matters. Mr. Witty said there had l»en waste in connection with war expenditure. The Defence Department was spending money unnecessarily in some directions, and. at the same time was stinting tho'soldiers and their dependants. Every one of the exempted First Division' men should be re-examined. When was tho Minuter going to organise the mcdieall unfit men in order to release fit men?

Sir Allen: Five hundred of ihem aro going into camp next month. Mr. Witty said he thought the men who had been rejected oil account cf Hat fee.t: should lie put into .the mounted rifles." The proposal to send the nmoteen-year-old boys' ha<l been a lover to send the married men into camp. Mr. Mnsscv: Who sugee.sted it? Mr. Witty': 11, was a feeler. Mr. Mnssev: There was no feeler. It was never suggested. Mr. Wiilv: Then why has it not been denied? Sir .Tames .Allen: We are amused.

Mr. Wit.lx added that the war bums should not be given to high-salaried Civil Servants. Tho dfhate was adjourned on the motion of Mr. F. Mnnder (Marsden), und the House rose at. 11 p.m.