END OF THE SESSION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 177, 16 April 1918, Page 6

END OF THE SESSION

FINANCING THE WAR ORGANISATION OF INDUSTRIES The Legislative Council met at 10 a.m. yesterday. . THE FINANCE BILL. Tho third rending of the Finatfce Bill was moved by Sir Francis Bell. The' Hon. J. BARR made a. protest against a Bill of such great importance being pushed through Parliament without adequate opportunity being offered for consideration, and discussion, und

proceeded to express disapproval o£ the "free-of-income-tax" .provision..- lhe orinciple of financial .-compulsion should I have' been applied from the outset, but the Government had not a firm enough 1 backbone to handle this mutter proI P Sir Francis Bell: You eee, it has two I backbones. . ' Mr. Barr: I would not care if it bad I twenty backbones if one of them was ! stiff. But tfiey seem to be all gristle, i Sir Francis Bell: Bo you find thet with me? ' I Mr. Barr: Ah, 1.0. The non. genU<> i man has another way of gaining mo ■ points. Mr. Barr added that tho Go;- '< eminent should lead and not bo led. ll : i must be in possession of much inform"' i tion that could not be given to the ranfc i and file. Eeferring to national service, I he said there should be a coniinittea 01 j workers and employers to deal with th£ j matter in each province. A joint tnI bunal with an official head should adi just wages. He had no fear that the ■ clause ■ would operate unfairly. _ There ! were several non-essential industries, one i of them beju? the licensed trade. This |. trade was absorbing several thousand I able-bodied men.

i Sir Francis Bell:- Horse-racing. I Mr.- Burr: Yes, horse-racing. The building trade was non-essential at the present time, and under proper conditions the men engaged in that industry could i undertake essential work on farms or I elsewhere. He did not doubt their ability to protect themselves against exploitation. j ■ The Moratorium. j The Hon. 0. SAMUEL said ho agreed J with the widening of the scope of the i moratorium lav:. Three years ago it had J been believed that the close of the war. i would come speedily, and it had been I considered sate to allow borrowers to ! contract themselves out of the moratorI iiim. But the war continued, and it was necessary to extend the moratorium to those contracts in order to prevent many peoplo being ruined. The Hon. W. EAENSHAW opposed the' exemption of war bond interest from income tax. This ''ountry in the future would be groaning under taxation from which enormous sums of money would be. exempt. It would have been much better to have paid a fair standard interest and maintained the right to tax wealth. Mr. Earnshaw disapproved of the attitude taken up by Labour members of the House in opposition to the national service liuise. The Government could not take over all the industries that might require to be controlled, and the effective disposition of labour need not prove either difficult or oppressive He was sure the Government would do the fair thing by Labour .nnd that the workers would be loyal. SIR FRANCIS HELL said it had been demonstrated by the by-elections held eince the last general election that no candidate had a hope but a supporter of the National Government—except in a Labour seat. National service was not the conscription of labour, but the conscription of everybody. It mas true that the clause affected the great body of labour, but it also concerned every man and woman in tho community. The Bill was read a third time and passed. At 11.20 p.m. the Council adjourned until the ringing of the bell.