POLITICAL' NOTES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 19, 17 October 1919, Page 6

POLITICAL' NOTES

THE MEAT TRUST

GOVERNMENT WRONGLY ACCUSED

A statement made by the LiberalLabour candidate for tne Itaglan seat was rclerred to in the House yesterday by Mr. l'earce. The candidate, Mr. Campbell Johnstone, was reported to have made the tallowing statement ''The trusts have been operating in Now Zealand tor some time, and have received assistance and accommodation from tho hank that the Government was interested in to the extent of i "t tho Government refused to believe it, and even tried to conceal the lact. mil all the time one linn, that of Armour, was openly trading under ils own name, 'i'licy nan sold manures at exorbitant prices, and were on me road to securing control of this country, as they had dnia> in And the worst feature of the position was that owing to tho weak-kneed policy of tho Government, m> steps had been taken to stop it. The laMcr had, in tact, assisted tue trusts iu in it nt-lariotw schemes." Mr. l'c-arco asked whether it was not a fact that Parliament had last session, passed an Act giving power to the Government to require a license lrum every linn oxpuiuiig meat, and to reiuse u licence to any firm for goon reasonF Was it tint a fact that a 'license hud been refused }<> Armour and Co.? lie suggested thai tho statement made thai the (jovernmcui, l-aii assisted the trusts in ttieir litlanuSa o.ticiues was a "deliberate falsehood.'" Mr. Massey said tnat last session Parliament had agreed to legislation r.oved by the Government tor ue purpose of which was to make it dttfieult or even impossible for tne trust to carry on Inisilieia in New Zealand, livery ixporler of frozen meat had to obtain a liceiihv. Th° statement that the Bank of jNcw Zealand had advanced two millions to the trust bjte its own condemnation. The sla,inettts of the eantlid.ue were a M'ting of falsehoods. Ho could characterise them m no other way. Mr. brown: They have been trading here for years tinder other names. Mr. Massey: But we have tried to mako it) impossible for them to tra<;e. Wo have refused them a license. 'Mr. Brown: 1 told you throe yea's ago that they were irading here, and you denied it. Mr. Massey: I did nothing of the sort, because I knew all about what was going on. 1 tell the House now that there will be revelations about tho Meat Trust within Olio course of the next' few weeks. Sir Joseph Ward deprecated the introduction into the House of the statement made |jv candidates at the hustings. He was afraid that if this line of action was to be followed he would Havo tc introduce some such matter from his sido of the House. He admitted Hint tho statements made acre not in accordance with fact. Mr. l'earce: The portion I took exception to was the statement that the Government assisted the trusts in ll" , r schemes. I think when a direct accusation is made against the Government of the country thill tho proper thine lo do is to bring it up in the House. That is my opinion, whatever .the (pinion of the Leader of the Opposition may be.

AMERICAN RATE OF EXCHANGE. The rate of exchange between all British countries and Anicrica is vory much to the (head vantage of the "British Vi'sicier at present. .owing to the very erpnt d«pj j.e'ation of the pound. Mr. Wilkinson mentioned an aspect of this trouble in Hoii.se of Representatives yesterday. Ha n«ked whether the Government had definitely decided to take into account tho r?te of exchange when assessing llio value of Roods for Customs duty. Tho practice at present was to add ten per cent, lo the invoice cost in order to assess the amount of Customs ifcty payable. and he urged that if in addition account was to, be taken o£ the rate of exchange the prices of tho O oods would he raised to the New Zealand <isor, and Iho result would be a further increase in the Cost of linn;;. Mr. Ferries (Minister of Customs) said that the Department intended to do this, but as the result,of representations ninda it was not proposed to apply the rulfl to shipments already ordered or on tho «ea. The Order-in-Co'.incil would not coin© into operation until February 1. Tim reason for taking ' account of Ilia rate of exchange was that unless this were done the preference given in tho tnriff to English goods would be-of no effect. Owing to the depreciation of the Euglish pound the American exporter would have an enormous'advantage, and this had certainly never been intended bv the House when the preference scheme was adopted. Our policy had always been to give preference to English goods. M". Wilkinson: There are many lines which you must purchase from America.

STATE FIRE PROFITS. Long ago, when tho 'State lire office whs established, it was promised that when the ofuce did make piohts they would be distributed as bonuses among tho people insuring in the office. Jlr. Craigie asked the Minister in charge of the oUice in the House yesterday when the bonuses were going to bo paid. Mr. Hine, replying, said that provision bad been made in the Act ior tho distribution of the profits as bonuses, ihe calculation io permit of the pay went ot tonuses would be a difficult one, and an increase in the stuff would be necessary to do the work. It was impossible to do it at present. LAND FOR SOLDIERS. Speaking in tho Legislative Council yesterday upon. th& sccond rtjficlinj? ot tlio .Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Amendment Bill, Sir Walter Buchanan referred to the results of a Government appeal to landowners lot assistance 111 the settlement of soldiers. ~ "In my district (Wairarapa), ho said, "I know a groat many cases in which tho. appeal was responded to. 1 am pleased to say that there, quite apart from land altogether, thousands of pounds were given, largely by landowners, to held tho returned soldiers. I kno wof my own knowledge of the valuo of land in the district where 1 have lived for so many years, that the Government jias purchased land from large owners— and there are not very, many loreo owners in the Wairarapa now—jit a pries, considerably below what woiilil Ka% o been awarded in any Court of Arbitration. A WELLINGTON BILL. The Wellington City Empowering Bill, introduced by Mr. P. Fraser oclling on Central) was passed l>v the House of t\eSentilivM yesterday. It the Wclliiijlon' Citv Council power to acquire, construct, and maintain eliort-c.uts provid'ji,' direct access from 6treet to street f.ir foot passengers.

COST OF ELECTIONS. The jrross cost of a Parliamentary election varies according to the number of polling places appointed, the cost of clerical assistance due to energotic enrol liner of electors by organising parties, and tho cost ot' printing the electoral rolls. All things being equal, it is generallr considered that rural elections are a. little more expensive than urban, but it is known that sorno of (lie. recent urban elections have cost more than rural elections. The extra cost due to the number of candidates is infinitesimal. Tli<) average cost of nil election is .£3OO. The recent by-elections at Grey co6t £315. at Palmerston North .£270; Taranaki. JL*2B9 ,■ Wellington Central, .S2SG ; Wellington North, ,£322; Wellington South. JC24O i Pahiatnn, £255. The information given above' was furnished in a return asked for by Mr. 11. A. Wright.