POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 12, 9 October 1919, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES

SUPERANNUATION OF MEMBERS IDEA. SYMPATHETICALLY RECEIVED Many times over many years the question has been raised in Parliament as to whether or not pensions or superannuation shou'ld be paid to members of thi!. Legislature who after Ion;; service may ,ind themselves in declining years in a <J(»\Cition approaching poverty. HitherId' uio'idea has been scouted by Government .and even by the House, but npjw ""''•' there lias come .about a change in 'f - "wpo:nt. In the House yestc-rdny sevpW members spoke of tho claims these men had on the : ,r country, after, say, twenty years of service as representatives of the people in Parliament. Without mentioning names, members spoko of cases within their knowledge of men not now in the House, and also some of them spoke of the ha r<l plight of members of the present House who have to live mi their at- present quite inadequate honorarium. • Mr. Massey, replying on this question, sc(:l that the question was one that had been thought about and discussed for many'years. Ho agreed that the time had arrived when the matter should be token in hand by the Government and Purliament. with the object, of placing matters on a more satisfactory footing than at present. All of them would know the member!; of whom they had all been thinkflijr. They knew of men who had been in the House for twenty years ami upwards, who, wisely or uiiwiso'y, had. given the whole* of their time to the work, and who now found themselves in their declining year.--; in very etm.iter.ed circumstances. "That," said Mr. Mflfsey, "is not creditable to us. and it certainly should not be allowed to go on. T am not in a position at present to put forward a definite scheme, but I do think that a superannuation scheme should be arranged by wh'ch a man after serving twenty years should be able to look forward to a sufficient sum per annum to keep'him. arid his wife, if he has one, in decent comfort. That is not paying very much. I don't know whether it wifl h" possible to do ft this session, but I lake ihi responsibil ! tv of saying on my own be-half, nnd on behalf of the Government, that the nwtter will be tf.ken in hand at the earliest -possible moment, and we ask the assistance of honourable members :.n arranging ft scheme satisfactory not only to onrwCvpe, I<ut to the peonle more immpdintely o.ffocred." Mr. M.isscv said that the question arose as a matter of course no to whether the scheme should bn contributory, and fhey all Icne-w that if the Echeme was to be contributory the w-w-t honorarium of £?M a year would not in many <-nse« b? sufficient. There were men in th» House at present who liri'l to liv on tfi» honorarium they re-po-'vflH. r , "! Hp did nofVnow how they did it. Tl'we n" ,,1 would hnve nothing wherewith to conHhuto to any RnpTinlntaKnn schema. Tlwv all knew that the fniosb'nii Taisfd was one tWt ought to be attended fe> without delay.

ROCK PAINTINGS. Tho rock paintinjs found in various parts of New Zealand, Wuding Canterbury, were Mentioned "i 'he House by Mr. 0. .T. Talbot (Te.rouki). who asked what the Government was doing to preserve these interesting record*. A sum nf J3150 had been voted for the purpose Inst year, but only .-fill had been spent. Mr. Ta r .ibot reminded the House that some ttaio ago an American visitor had succeeded in removing portions of tho rivy'- TV"itin<rs altogether. The Minister if Internal Affairs (Hon. J. B. Hino) reulied'tliat- the matter had not been .'ost <?isht of. Every care would I* taken by tho Government to preserve the rock prntinss for future generations. A. MISTAKEN" VOTE. The Hon. To Hen Hen Tukino yesterday asked permission of the Hon. the Speaker of the Legislative Council to correct a mistak.o that he (Mr. Tukino) had made on the previous' day. when voting upon the question "that the Council doth insist upon its amendments" (to the Women's-■ Parliamentary Eights Bill). Mr. Tukino's voto had been cast with the noee. "When I saw the Hon. Mr. Earnshaw voting with the ayes," said, the hon. member, "it dawned upon me that I had mado a mistake. (Laughter.)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS. The suggestion that- a Department of Scientific Affairs, with a Minister of Scientific Affairs at its head, should be formed, was contained in a motion that appeared on tho Order Paper of the Legislative Council yesterday in the name of tho,Hon. G. M. Thomson. Under the impression that the hon. gentleman was moving the motion, whil6 as a matter of fact he was asking permission to postpone it, Sir Francis Bell said that ho did not wish the Council to pass a motion practically directing that a now Bill should be brought down that at the present time the Government had no intention of promoting. There were already no fewer than oi Departments of State, with only nine Ministers to administer them, and it would be too much to ask that the present burdens should be increased. Mr. Thomson explained that what ho was suggesting was not tho establishment of "something new, but a rearrangement of what already existed. He postponed his motion till Tuesday next.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE, The Hon. J. T.-Paul gave notice in tho Upper House yesterday to ask "whether the Government received an invitation to arrange for the representation of Now Zealand at the International LabouJ Conference in connection with the League of Nations, which will be held in Washington on October 29; and, if so, why steps have not been taken to comply wibh the • request to' be reprneented ?" C'JR LONDON AGENCY. "Is it a fact that Sir William Fraser is going to take the High Commissionership and to keep it warm' for a little time for some other Minister?" asked Mr, Witty in tho House yesterday., The Minister of Internal Affairs, replying, said that the present' High Commissioner's term had a few months to run, and the question of appointing a suecessor had not yet been discussed by Hie Government, members of which were fully occupied with other very pressing work. He replied also to suggestions that a staff of New Zealanders ehquld be provided for some of the positions in the High Commissioner's office. Ho believed that trie change would be welcomed by the present staff. , who would bo allowed to return to New Zealand, and that other New Zealanders -would benefit by a term of service in London, and that the Commissioner would gain advantage by having a New Zealand staff.

SUB JUDICE. A question, was asked in the House yesterday about tho loss of the Tainui ~v 'lire. 11, wad' urged that in view of the evidence that tho cause of the fii'e was leaking benzine, tho Minister should seo that the regulations on this matter were more strictly enforced. Mr. Herries said that it was not usual to answer a, question of tho kind when a case wae still sub judice. It was still possible that evidence would bo adduced wiTlc*. would contradict that already given. He preferred not to givo a reply until the marine inquiry was concluded, and hb assured the House that the inquiry would be a thorough one. NOT JUSTIFIEU. In the House of Eepresontntives on Tueafay night while Mr. P. Frascr was speiridng Air. Massey interjected a remark to the effect that Mr. Fraser was ono ot those members who had wished to havu hie salary raised. Mr. Nos : worthy then added: "And lie wanted it made retrospective, too." Mr. Eraser made no reply at the time, but ho referred to the incident yesterday in tho TlOusv, saying that ho had not heard the remark His previous evening. He said that ho had never at any time publicly or privately expressed the opinion that if the salaries of members of Parliament were raised the increases should be mado retrqspeofivo. Mr. Nosworthy said that Mr. Praser Lad Spoken of tho matter to Rim, and lie (Mr. Nos-worthy) wished to say now that liifl remarks were not justified. He hod had the idea at the time that Mr. Fraser wae ono'of those mom-

bors present at a meeting held at tha close oi' last session nt which retrospective increases of salaries were discussed. "I have much pleasure," lie eajd, "in withdrawing the remark. 1 regret that 1 made it."

RURAL MAIL SERVICES. The policy of the Post and Telegraph Deportment with regard to rural mail services was the subject of a brief statement made by the Postmaster-General (Him. J. G. Coates). If the direct loss was only a email one the Department would bear it. But if the los'3 was substantial it had to be liorne by the suttlers concerned if they wished the services continued. The extension of the automatic system was going to make possible an improvement of tho country services. The present cost of telephones was very'high indeed, and it would not bo sound policy to buy the instruments in large quantities, especially as the completion of the automatic systems ■ was going to release many telephones presently. The carriage of mails by motor had been a success, and he intended to inquire into this question.

AFFLICTED SOLDIERS. Sir. Joseph Ward (Awarua) gave notice yesterday to ask the Minister of Defence wheiher'he will consider the advisability of placing all returned soldier patients now in tne mental hospitals of the Dominion in separate institutions where special attention can be given to them, and where they will not have to mix, as they do at present, with ni! classes of mentally insane? Sir 'Joseph Ward added that at the present lime thero must bo close on a hundred returned soldiers in various mental hospitals in Nov. , Zealand, and there was said to bo absoutcly no classification. The.-ie men, many of them shell-shock coses, v.cre mixed with the worst criminal lunate, and it militated greatly against their recovery. The Minister of Defence vbir James Allen) remarked that the statements were not justified.

GRATUITY CLAIMS. Mr. E. Semplo (Wellington South) has given notice to ask the Minister of Defence whether, seeing that homo service men aTe not entitled to the gratuity allowance passed by the House tor return ed soldiers, it is the intention of the Minister to ask the House this session to grant theso men additional allowance.for services rendered? He states t.iiat many of these men volunteered and gave up good positions, but. failed to pass the medical test, their services being retained by the Defence Department for homo service. Others were taken from good positions by ballot, and the cured loss to them has been very considerable. Men w»o went to England and broke down in Sling Camp, and who returned home, received all the benefits granw.l to returned soldiers, and rightly so, but it was claimed that the men who rendered indispensable home service suouUl receive similar treatment.

• KEHITAH! HOT SPRINGS. Replying to a question asked last r.iglit by Mr. W. H. Field (Otaki), the Jliiiister in Charge of the Tourist Department (the Hon. W. Nosworthy) said that a certain amount of money was gonis to 1)8 voted for the purchase of the Kehitahi hot springs, and an area ol native land, both to be added to tue Tongariro National Park. He could not. however, recommend the erection ot any buildings there at the present time.