POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 34, 4 November 1919, Page 6

POLITICAL NOTES

I HOME SERVICE MEN S AND THE i. I GRATUITY p-l id l( ' Sir Jpseph Ward aslcod in Die Rouse le of Representalives yesterday morning if l '- the Minister of Defence had considered '<' llm desirability of paying gratuities to s - home-service l men. Many of theff. men !'- liad made considerable sacrifices, and his i" own idea was that they should receive a if gratuity, say 25 or 50 per cent, of what "- wan paid to the foreign-service men. ly Sir James Allen made a definite reply, .n "1 have very carefully considered the c- suggestion," he said, "and I regret that le 1 must make a clear and definite statement, that the country cannot afford to L .t pay any gratuities otto than the graH ] tuitie.s it is now paying. No gratuity i,. can be paid to home-service men." ',! LAND PURCHASE BOARDS. [is Replying to a question in the House, the Prime Minister said that tho n,w ,(] land purchase boards would lie sot up j e as quickly as possible. Ho did not think ei) that there would bo any delav at all. j. The new Land Acli would lie in operalt lion within a few days. f s THE COST OF LIVING. le During the time that Parliament 'had es been fitting, said .Mr. J. M'Combs (Lytct lelton) in tho House of Representatives, in tilie cost of living had continued to adjr vance. The British Government had rero duced the cost of living. What did the II New Zealand Government intend to do? I The Prime Minister replied that Par- , liament had agreed to tho most drastic anti-profitecririg law ever adopted by , any country. That law would come into _ operation within tho next few days, and * 'he had no doubt that it would nave a *' good effect. He bad been in England, ; L j and he could say that if profiteering had ,l 1 been as rampant here as it had been in 10 England there would, huve been a rovos" lution in the Dominion. i) THE OPUNAKE RAILWAY. : - In the House of Representatives je.9- ] - terday, Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (Egmont) lp mentioned the Opunnke railway, which 0. was struck off tho authorised list in the i. House last week. Had not a promise 1. been given by the Minister that the lino I', would be authorised this session? If no o promise had been made, would the Min?l ister of Public Works place on record ■s that this lino was absolutely necessary d to connect up the railway system' of io Taranaki, and recommend that the anil thorisalion should be made at the earli;l est possible moment? d Mr. Massey said there had been an n error in connection.with this line. It was i. before Cabinet. It .was not finally, deii cided upon by Cabinet, and yet it fou'id [. its way into the Authorisation Bill in 0 error. That was the reason for it being <, struck out. In all probability it would ,i come before Cabinet again before the n end of the session. 1 RACING PERMITS. d Tho distribution of racing permits was 0 the subject of a question put to the ,e Minister of Internal Affairs in the House of Representatives by Mr. Isitt (Christchurch North), who asked if the Government would give consideration to the just claims of country clubs to a larger share of the permits. ' The Hon. J. B. Hine said lie realised that the distribution of permits was unfair. It had been intimated to tlie , chairman of the Racing Conference that l- the permits would have to bo distributed a on a fairer basis.next year. ,i MUNICIPAL SUPERANNUATION, e "Will the Government; make provision n for allowing the Wellington City Council ■- and other local bodies to pay superannuation allowance or retiring allowance from u the district fund to old employees?" ask- ,, ed Mr. J. P. Luke (Wellington North) in f the House. •_ Mr. Massey replied that the' suggestion should bo made to the Minister in , charge of the "Washing Up" Bill. Tho Bill had grown to enormous dimensions ! ' already, but the amendment suggested by ' Mr. Luko appealed to him. Possibly it f could be inserted. |j A TRIP TO SAMOA. 1 The Prinie Minister stated in the House, t , in answer to a question, that lie thought it would be a very good thing for members of the new Parliament to make a visit to '} Samoa. Tho trip might possibly be - arranged next year. \ "Parliament had e undertaken great . responsibilities at ' Samoa, and its monitors ought to havo " personal knowledge, of the group. f A MATTER OF PHRASING. a Mr. Sykes (Masterton) asked in- the * nonse yesterday what was the position '" regarding tho ifasterton-Wnipulnirau , e line. A vote had been promised for this s line, but it was not on the. Estimates. s Sir William Eraser: The line is not ■': fiuthorised. I cannot put a vote on tho J 1 Estimates for a line that is not au- '■ thorised. e Mr. Sykes: "Von promised to authorise 'i it," Ho read an extract from a letter ! '- stating that tho Minister of Public Works u had promised to authorise the line. Sir William Eraser said that he had ;. promised to take the matter into eony federation when the Estimates were being 1( framed. That was a ohraso that ho had if adopted from his predecessors in office. ,t It was not a promise to authorise a line H a vote for if, though people n had a habit of interpreting it that way. A member: You had better change tho phrase. 9 Sir William Eraser: Tt is a good P phrase. '" THE RAILWAYMEN. \" Mr. Smith (Taranaki) asked in the i House of Representatives yesterday if tho l| Prime Minister was yet in a position ij to make a statement regarding tho re- •_ quest that had been put forward for a a bonus for tho ,Second Division railway--1 men. The Minister had uromised to make a stalenient before the session ended. ] Mr. Massey replied that.he would keep .. his promise. The matter was not vet c sufficiently advanced to be placed beB fore tho House. THE TAINUI INQUIRY. "The findings of tho Court of Inquiry regarding the loss of the Tainni make very bad reading indeed," said Mr. J. Craigie in the House of lienresc.nli'.livea yesterday. Mr. Craigie if tho Government intended to take steps lo ensure that seamen should not again be , sent out to face almost certain death, , and to prevent vessels being sent, to ', sea in an unseaworthy condition. ; The Minister of Marine (Hon. W. H. Homos) said that the report had j not yet reached him, and he had ascer- , tained that it had not reached the Afnrino Department. A new man was toing ~ sent to Lytlclton, and would be there I this week, so that the staff would be , increased sufficiently to carry out any t duties laid down fur it. When he re- . ceived the report he would refer it to , the Crown Law Officers in order to see if tho present regulations covered the . points that were raised. Every eudeat vour would be made to put the regu- . lotions into an effective form, and to i prevent any similar disasters occurring .in the future. He would ascertain if . tho regulations required to be altered . or if prosecutions were required to to . I taken against shipowners.