THE HOUSE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 12, 5 September 1919, Page 8

THE HOUSE

ADDHESS-IN-MPLY DEBATE. Tlie House of Representatives met at 7.30 p.m. After formal business tho Address-iu-Replj debato was op;:iied. ' Mr. .1. A. NASH (Palmerston North) moved the Address-in-Keply. He thanked the Prime Minister for his 'courtesy and the members oi the House for a .friendly reception. He had approved of tho formation of tho National Government'in order that the efforts of public men might be concentrated on the war. The-war had been completed successfully, and' the League of Nations, in his opinion, .would go a long way towards* establishing a permanent peace. The end of the war had brought the end of the National Government, and tho inevitable consequenco seemed to bo parly strife. He' felt thut this development was not in tho interests of tho Dominion. Mr. Massey had done very good work during the war, and had represented New Zealand worthily on groffi: ocensious on the other side of the world. Sir .Joseph Ward also hud served the country well. Ministers had been blamed for the accumulation of produco in New Zealand, but lie felt they had done the right thing, indeed tlio only practical thing, in selling the. product) to the Imperial Government. They had mad« a mistake in not taking full control of produce right from tho beginning of the war. Profiteering Rampant. Thero was no doubt at all that pro-' fitooring had been rampant in Now Zealand during tho war. Tho cost of living had been lower in Now Zealand than in somo other countries,. but this fact did not disguise the operations of the profiteer!?, He had been surprised that no prosecutions had taken placo through tho Board of Trade. Tho Hon. W. D. S. MncDonivld seemed to havo dono his best, but the board had not proved an effectivo instrument for checking exploitation. Somo reform was now promised, and he hoped that a term of Imprisonment waS sioing to be included in tho penalties "for profiteering. Referring to Defincoi matters, Mr. I Nash said that Sir James Allen had come | through a great, ordeal with flying col-1 ours. Two years ago lie was the most unpopular ...man in. New Zealand; to-day I his work had vindicated itself, and he was one of the most popular of men. < He felt that a .ffi.OOU.dOO loan was required for housing. Tlio recommendations of, tho Industries Committee ou,?ht to bo given effect, and the Government should subsidise loctl bodies in order to secure,the speedy erection, of at least 5000 houses on town-planning lines. Ho urged tlio Government to face the housing problem during tho present, session. Tho country could not reasonably expect tho miners to worJc contentedly under present housing conditions. His own

idea was that the proper solution of tho coal problem was the nationalisation of tho coal mines. ' Returned Soldiers, There was need for quicker action in dealing with the needs of tho returned soldiers. Much dissatisfaction could bo removed by separating the farm scheme from the housing scheme. The ballots had not been sufficiently frequent. Somo men had waited a long time for sections and naturally they were impatient. Tho limit of the State" advances should be raised. Tho question of gratuities ought to lie settled quickly. The amount of the gratuity should bo not less thau 10s. a week. The total payment would bo large, but New Zealand could afford to pay it cheerfully. Mr. ash suggested that a modal should.bo provided for tho next-of-kin of the men who had fallen. The Government ought to tackle tho question of land aggregation, and adopt a bold system of laud tettlement. Thero should lie laud for every man who wished to hecomo a producer. A better understanding between Capital and Labour was. necessary. He hoped to see a fair wage provided for every worker. Profitsharing was a system that had great possibilities. Superannuation should bo nifido compulsory in all industries whero labour waa employed. He asked when the Government was going to nationalise the Wollington-Lyttelton ferry service, and provide colliers for tho coastal transport of coal. Tho time had arrived for n policy of State shipping. Military training was necessary, and camps were required, but tho period. of continuous • training need not lie four months, deferring to education, Mr. Nash said that educational matter's had been neglected for several/years. The schools were being starved, the teaching profession was one of tho worst paid in. tho Dominion, and it was' not surprising that te. : >crs were turning to other aim better-paid occupations. Tho Education vote should be raised to at least <£3,(100,000. There was no more imnortant work for the State than tho education of the young people. Somo of the existing school buildings were absolutely insanitary. He believed in the abolition of .education boards, which had become mere glorified school committees. They should disappear, and be replaced by elected urban school committees and a central hoard of education. Ifc was his intention as a member to do his best to look after tho' interests of tho school children and the teachers.

Critical Year* Ahead. ■ Mr. A. HARRIS (Waileniata) congratulated, the Prime Minister and the Leader of tho Ormosition on their able representation of New Zealand at the Peace Conference*. Ho also congratulated tho now Ministers, and expressed his pleasure at seems two distinguished returned soldiere in the Ministry. Referring to .the acouisition of Samoa, ho suggested that the Government should arrange after the eeneral election for members of Parliament to visit the islands and get firsthand knowledge of the situation there. Critical vea'rs lay ahead of New Zealand. The nroWcm of reconstruction would recmire the attention of the best, brains'of tho Dominion. An immediate nroblam was the coal supply. The coal miners to-dav wero deliberately "going slow." with the object of making it difficult to maintain tho ordinary activities of tho country. Mr. R. Scruple (Wellington South): Stick to the truth. Mr. Harris said the coal miners professed-' to believe that the nationalisation of coal mines would overcome the prosent' difficulties, but the fact was that the miners at the State mines wero going oven slower than tho minors in pnvate mines. Ho quoted figures to show that tho miners were reducing their output. i Praiso of Repatriation Schemes. Mr. Harris praised tho Repatriation Department for its work. The amount of unemployment among the returned soldiers had been steadily decreased, and the country should understand that magnificent -work wa& being done. The Department was a. credit to tho Ministerial Repatriation Board. Only 17 men in all .Now Zealand, or one-fourth of 1 per cent, of the returned mon, wero receiving sustenance' allowance on account of their inability to find employment. That was a very fine record, showing that New Zealand's soldiers wero being rapidly absorbed- into industry. An increasingly large number of soldiers had .accepted technical and vocational training in various branches. Mr. Harris described the repatriation system in detail .and assured tho House that splendid results woro being obtained. Ho gave praise to tho local repatriation committees, which had been largely responsible for tho success of tho scheme. Ho suggested, in connection -with the purc'hase of land for soldiers, that tho Valuation Department did not work as rjuickly as was desirable. The result of tho Government going into the market as a big buyer of land- hadjorced values higher and higher. He did not say that the Government had been paying too much for land, but the land tor 6oldier settlement had ftrtainly been bought at high prices. He thought some scheme might 1)6 devised to prevent prices of land being forced up by reason of • the Government purchases. One of his suggestions was that the Government might, in order to get lands at less than boom prices, take land at, say, ten per cent. alioTo tho valuation for taxing purposes. He was not in fa,vour of putting inexperienced mon on unimproved lands, and lie therefore "approved of Hie Government policy of' buying improved lands for soldier settlement, The debate was adjourned at 10.10 p.m. and the House rose forthwith.