POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 32, 1 November 1919, Page 7

POLITICAL NOTES

PRICE OF BACON. The I'rimo Minister was asked yesterday to direct the attention of tho Board of Trade to the wholesale price of bacon. Mr. A'ash, who asked Hie question, said that tho prices at which bacon manufacturers bad to buy pigs did not leave them a margin of profit when they hnd to sell bacon at the gazetted price of is. 2wd. per lb. ft was absolutely uccessary that something should be done. He suggested that the retail price was still high enough to allow of a. higher price being »6ked by the manufacturer without an increase of price to the consumer. Tie said that the present prices operated heavily against tho smaller bacon factories.

Mr. Massey said that there seemed to lie a strong difference of opinion among tile proprietors of bacon factories in different parts of New Zealand. The owners of one factory had fold him that they had lost X3OOO last year, and the owners of » big factory said that they wore making a satisfactory profit. His difficulty in approaching such a question was that lie did not wish to increase'the cost of livine, and at.jthesnme time ho wanted t" see people ma'king a reasonable profit. Tie promised to draw the attention of the Board of Trade to tho mailer. DEAR FRUIT. A question abmt the price of oranges frntn ||i» f*ooV Islands was asked of the Primo Minister by T)r. Thncker yesterday in (be House of Representatives. He said fhat 111" price of oranges in the Islands was about 13s, 4d. a case, out of which (lie traders paid .to the growers I C . fid. or 2s. a case. That fruit was retailed in New Zealand at 3d. or 4d. each, and this worked out at 50s. or Gfls. a case. Tie snegpsted (bat the Board of Trade might make inquiries about the profits made on this fruit, which was a desirable article of diet of the New Zeala"d peoule.

.j- All-. Massey said that the Board of Trade was at the present time very busy, havinrr more work on hand than it could do. As kooii as opportunity offered he. would get the Ixiard to look into tho ones! inn raised by tho honourable member. GRATUITIES. A statement about tho extension of tho gratuity heccfits to cover more generously the cases of sick and wounded men who havo spent the larger portion of I heir recovering period in hospitals in fhis country was made to the liouso of TicpresenlativM yesterday by Sir James Allen.

Sir James Allen said that lie had undeitfakou to reconsider theso cases. Ho Jiad had some of the cases examined, and he had endeavoured lo make a general thlp to cover those cases which seemed lo bo most deserving of consideration. He had decided that those men who had returned to Now Zealand sick or wounded, and who had spent six months or more in a hosnital in New Zealand, should be entitled to a minimum payment as for two years' service, instead of eighteen months, a? previously announced. With regard to other men who had been in hosnital in New Zealand, it was yen- difficult to determine a sound principle. Some men came into hospital for _ a week, went out. and camo hack .igain for a period. Somo were in hospital for a short- period for minor troubles. The proposal he had made seemed to him to 'be the best possible solution. WEST COAST RESERVES. In the House of Representatives yesterday M.r. S. G. Smith complained of delays which often occurred in granting the freehold to applicants in respect of West Coast settlement reserves! Ho asked the Prime Minister to make arrangements for obviating such delays in future. Mr. Massey said that probably such undue delays as had occurred, wore duo to tho scarcity of surveyors. All the professional staff of the Department was occupied in dealing with land for soldier settlement, and this work was much more urgent than tho valuing of those reserves on the West Coast. NO MONEY TO SPARE.

A Tequest that the Government should make provision on tho Supplementary Estimates for the payment of pound for pound subsidies to progress and development leagues was made io tho Prime Minister in tho House by Mr. M'C'ombs. Mr. Massey said that ho could not give an affirmative reply to the request. Money was most urgently required in many directions, and for purposes much more important than that referred to by the honourable member. PRICE OF TWEEDS. In the Legislative Council yesterday, tho Hon. J. 'J'. Paul gave notice of the following question: Whether, in view of the abnormally high price of Now Zca-land-mado tweeds, tho Government will request tho Board of Trade to procure information on the following points:—l. Tho statement, of tho Hon. G. H. Wise. Assistant-Minister of Defenco for tho Commonwealth of Australia, niado in the Houso of lloprcsentatives, that tho Commonwealth Government' woollen mills are manufacturing all-wool tweeds «t 4s. 4d. per yard, and that the Defence Department is supplying, these tweeds at 4s. Od. per yard to the factories which contract for tho supply of suits for returned soldiers. -2. Tho statement of tho Hon. Mr. Wise that all-wool suits are mado up from these tweeds and supplied to returned soldiers at prices ranging from 2.53. 6d. to 325. 3. The statement of tho Hon. Mr. Wise that the Commonwealth Government woollen mills will shortly manufacture cloth for civilian use. And whether the Government will request the, Board of Trade to report on the reasons why prices of New Zealand-made tweeds are so much in excess of the above-quoted prices ?

UREWERA LANDS. The desire expressed by tho Natives of tho Urewern Country, and announced last April lo grant to the Maori Soldiers' Fund Council three thousand acres of land, rent free, for a term of -1 years as their contribution to the Maori Soldicrs'_ Fund, has been pi\en legislative sanction by the Native "Washing-up" Rill circulated yesterday. If the proposal is approved by a meeting of tho assembled owners either for the donation of the three thousand acres already indicated or any other area the Native Land Board, under whose jurisdiction it falls, is to be empowered to grant a lease of tho land in terms of the proposal.

TELLERS IN ERROR. Earlv on Friday morning, when Iha Land Laws Amendment Bill was under consideration in the House oi" Representatives, tho Minister of Lands moved a section intended to make the anti-aggre-gation clauses non-retrospective. The original proposal was that the clauses should ooerate from tho date of the passing of the Land Act, WIS. The House eventually divided on the Minister's amendment, which was declared defeated bv 2-3 votes to 22.

The Speaker lolil the TTunsi* yesterday afternoon flint a re-e.vtmjna'lioii of the division lists hud revealed a mistake in the count. The actual voting had been £' tn 21?. The Hill luul now gone to the Legislative Council, ami he suggested that the disputed clause might he inserted there in ortser that the House might have further opiicirtunilv for considering the point. The tellers responsible for th« mistake had been Messrs. lee and Anderson. Air. j.oc i.Oamaru) complained that tellers did their, work under most difficult conditions owing to the neglect: of members to enter the division lobbies and nrosent themselves before the tellers in regular fashion. Air. .Andorson: What 1 wish to say is that wo dk not count I hem up correctly (Laughter.) Stone will.be taken to bring the matter before Hi" House again for decision. MOUNT COOK HERMITAGE. Air. .1. I'raigie (Timaru) asked I lie Minister in ''liaigc id' tl:e Tourist l.lopa.ninijnl; yesterday Id provide increased accommodation at. .Mount Cook ll.ermitfage. lie said I hat. Mount I'ook was one of the, grandest and most wonderful to•• ri =■ t resorts in Hie world, but peopln were prevented from going there by I ho lack of ,'iiieiiuatn accommodation. The pre-e pnsitinn iva-s tliiil Inuri-ts were beiic turned away I rum the Hermitage, lie understood llial private enterprise was reaily ir» provide the additional accommodation required if the Government would hive encourage men L The lion. .AV, Nosivortljy replied-that

tho question of increased accommodation ftt tlia Mount Cook Hermitage was being <liscusse<l between the Tourist Department and the Public Works Department. Tho matter was receiving' attention, lie behoved that there would be sullieicnt temporary accommodation lor this summer. Ho knew that much oxl.ru accommodation was required, but it had been impossible during tho war to find mflney, men or material, tie was aware that private enterprise wis willing to provide accommodation, bull it wsi? not the intention of the Government to let private enterprise into the tourist; business. Tho Government would do whati was necessary in dm) course. TELEPHONE LINES. A new clause inserted in the Cost and Telegraph Bill yesterday by the liouso of Representatives providss that, no person shall erect, construct, establish, or maintain any electric lino of communion-' lion by telegraph or telephone witlioi:! license issued by the Department. Kegulations may bo issued prescribing the conditions of licenses and the fees to be paid. The clause does not apply to lines already in .existence. ABOUT A MEAT COMPANY. Jfr. J. V. Brown (Napier) asked in iho House of Representatives yesterday for information regarding Messrs. Vesty Brothers, who bad acquired Messrs. Nelson Brothers' freezing works in Hawke's Bay. He understood, he said, that tho Yesty Brothers wore Englishmen who bad taken the headquarters of their firm to Now York during tho war. and had become naturalised in America. Mr. Massey saijl ho had heard a trreal; deal about tho firm, but be could not give definite information. The firm had transferred its headquarters to .America in t.ha early stages of tlm war with tho object, it was stated, of escaping Britain's heavy war taxation. Tin* firm might not have benefited much by 'ho move, since the American taxation became even heavier than the Briiish. Mr. Brown said he did not think much of Englishmen who fried to evade paying their share of the nation's taxation. Mr. Massey said he feared a good many people tried to escape taxation. Ho had not heard of any member'of Iho firm being naturalised in America. WIDOWS' PENSIONS. The promise given by the Prime Minister to deal with widow,;' pensions during tho session was mentioned in flip Houso yesterday by Mr. Eraser (Wellington Central), who asked when a Bill was going to be introduced. Mr. Massey replied that the Bill was almost ready and would go before Cabinet without delay. It yas a. Finance Bill dealing with various important matters.