POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 301, 16 September 1919, Page 6

POLITICAL NOTES

WAR GRATUITIES "AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO-DAY Tho Government camo to its final contusions about the scalo of gratuities to he offered to soldiers of the Expeditionary Force yesterday. It has evidently been agreed that nothing is to ho said about the mattor -until a statemont is "'faade 1 to tho'House This statement is to >■ be-made 'this afternoon. It iB understood • that amount of money that tlio Gov- " eminent has decided to spond is about five millions sterling. This should indicate that the rate is to ho something bettor thai'a shilling a day, but no pro.dictions can bo made, because it is not ".ftnoivn: whether the Government intends to propose that payment shall bo by a flat Uate" or whether thero shall be a varying, scale according to rank. Tho goii'jerftl'.impression'is that the payment will ' be .on a flat Tate. , COMING BUSINESS. ■i.Ths business for the House to-dav will be the adjourned debaio on tho Board of Trade:"Bill. Tho debate should bu concluded at the sitting, but there aro still a mrmbor of members who wish to speak on the cost-of-living problem, and \the discussion of tho Bill may be a long one; Tho .Prime Minister has promised that .Wednesday will be devoted" to tlio ,'a'djotrrned'. debate, on the report of tho Industries Committee. Beyond this thero seem,to be no definite plans. A Government Bill on tho OrdoT Paper which will lend itself to pre-election talk by members iB tho Bill to give women the righ't to sit in Parliament, but that Bill has.not yet been circulated. It is just possible that the Budgot will come down on Friday, but tho probabilities aro that it- will not appear until next week. HIDES AND BOOTS.

The Board of Tradeßill is intended to provide means by which the board may get over ffuohi difficulties as have been placed in its way in the long negotiations that havo boen going on for a. year

or 60 about tho manufacture and sale of standardised boots. Unfortunately, tho Bill does not settle the standardised boots question, because it is all governed by the prico of hides, and the Government does not seem to be disposed to let the hides' position Tomain as it is for verv much longer. It is argued that while there is no restriction on the prico of boots there is but little reason for restricting the price of hides, especially when the middleman is tho only person who.has a cloar right to make profit;. . If the Government will let up the price of hides to tho market,rate, new standards may havo'to be fixed for the re- , tall prices of Government-guaranteed boots. All these aro questions which will have to be settled in. the course of the next day or two. ' ■ TOWN-PLANNING LEGISLATION. The/official conference called by tho ' Government to consider town planning v aid noraing appointed a small committee to watch legislative matters conriected with the subjects of the conference. This j'oom'mittee interviewed the Hon. J. B. Hine, Minister of Internal Affairs, to request that a comprehensive report; on . the conference prepared by the honorary organiser, Mr. Hurst Seager, should be printed and published, and also that tho new Minister should take up the Hon. G. W. Russell's Housing and Town-plan-ning Bill as amended by the conference. It was,pointed out bv tho deputation, which was introduced bv Mr. C, J. Parr, chairman of tho Legislative Committee of the conference, that all the interests concerned in local government were well represented at tho conference, and a measure on the lines favoured by the delegates would have a good chance of acceptance by the House of Representa-' ■ tives. The ."Minister readily undertook ' to publish the confoTenco report, as ho , considers it contained a great deal of valuable information on housing and town planning*. He could not wtlertako " to introduce a Bill on the subjesw this ''.session, • but'- indicated that an amend- ■ ine'nt of the Municipal Corporations Act was being brought "down, and that this might, give, an opportunity of dealing with a few of.the most,pressing reforms desired by the conference.