THE HOUSE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 34, 4 November 1919, Page 8

THE HOUSE

The Houso of Representatives me. at 11.30 a.m. Amendments to the Police Force Amendment Bill were introduced by Governor's .Message. The Rt. Hon. W. V. MASSEY (Minister in- charge of the Police) said that the proposal was to add one clause lo the Bill, to provide for the case of members of the Police Force who resigned from the force in order to enlist in the Army, and who might wish en discharge from the Army to rejoin the police The clause provided thai if such a man were reappointed to the forco within six roenfchs at'ter oiseliarge from Hie Army lie should lie deemed to have had leave of absence for the period, on condition that he pay in to the Superannuation. Fund the amount withdrawn on resignation, and other moneys to cover tho ireriod of leave of absence. The amendment was added to the Bill. .Amendments to the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement- Bill were introduced and added to the Bill. hours~oT shops: The Industrial Conciliation and Arliitrnt.'.on Amendment Bill was introduced and read a first time. The Rt. Hon. W. P. MASSEY (Minister of Labour) said that the Bill contained' onlv one clause, giving the Arbitration Court power to fix hours for the olosi w of shops. Sir Joseph Ward: To shorten the hours? ■ x l "Mr. Massey: Probably to shorten them. The law at present fixes fifty-two hours which has been found to be too long in cases. It is thought hotter to allow tho Arbitration Court to fix hours than to make a hnrd-aml-fnst amendment. ELECTRIC POWER BOARDS. SIR WILLTAM FRASRR moved the second reading of the Electric Power Boards Amendment Bill, saying that its | purpose i ns to rectify small omissions in the original Bill SIR JOSEPH WARD (Leader of tho Opposition) said that there was a doubt as to whether a local body had power to make provision for discount on a loan laiscd. The point, was of somo importance. Ho asked that the Bill bo not finally passed until the AttorneyGeneral had been consulted on the ! point. In reply to a question. Sir William Frn.=er said that when the power was available at Mangahao ,it> would lw distributed among tho districts fairlv. He could not say how much power would be available for Wanganni and how much for Palmorston, but his own idea was that no injustice, should be done to any of the smaller towns. A considerable amount of power, some 24.000 or 28.000 horse-power, would bo develooed at Mangahao. Mr Wilford': Wellington will take all that. Sir William Fraser said most cmi>hntirn.lly that this would not bo _so. His view was that the. country districts had an equal right with the cities to this power. An hon. member: Afore nght._ The Mill was read a second time, put through committee, read a third timo and pnssed. PRISONS BILL. The Hon. J. G. COATES (Minister of Justice) moved the second reading of the Prisons Amendment Bill, explaining very briefly what was proposed in the Bill. He said that one clause gave power .to the Government to appoint women inspectors of prisons, but be had no present intention of doing so.' Tho Bill was read a second' time, and later passed all stages. ARCHITECTS BILL. Tho New Zealand Institute of Architects Amendment Bill (Mr. Massey) was read a second time. ' Mr. T. iM. WILFORD (Hutt) asked that some similar provision should bo made for young solicitors. Mr. R. M'CALLUM (Wwran) said that tho benefits of such an Act ns this should be given only to men who went under fire, and not to men who did clerical duty morcf-v. Mt. J. P. LUKE (Wellington North) urged that other young professional men | undergoing training, a.s, for instance, engineers, should have provision made for them. . • , , Mr. A. HARRIS (flartaiwhO asked whether the Bill covered the caso of New Zrnlnnders in the Navy. The PRIME MINISTER said ho was advised that legislation to deal with tho point raised by -Mr. Wilford was in preparation He did not know whether it, would be possible to deal with the cose this session, but general legislation would be prepared and proceeded with. The Bill was pnssed without amendment. POLICE FORCE. Tho Polico Forco Amendment Bill (Mr. Massev) was committed. Mr.' Voitch sought to introduce a series of amendments providing for classification with right of anneal in the Pof.ice Force as in other branches of-the Public Service. The amendments were ruled out as being tantamount to appropriation clciises. . . The Bill was iread a third time and passed. NEW BILLS. The Finance Bill was introduced by Governor's Alc3snge at 7.30 p.m. Tho Railways Authorisation Bill was returned to tho House with amendment by the Governor-General. The amendment was the reiiichision in tho schedule of tlie-Opnnakc railway. ■ The amendment was added to tho Bill. New Bills were not yet printed ready for circulation, and the House went back to business interrupted during the afternoon—consideration of (reports of Select Committees. AMENDMENT, ACCEPTED. The House agreed to amendments made bv tho Legislative Council in the Shearers' Accommodation Bill, and the Native Land (Washing-up) BilL THE FINANCE BILL. STR JAMES ALLEN (Miuister of Finnncej moved tho second reading of the Finance Bill, and explained VI clause by ° SIit'JOSEPH WARD (Leader of tho Opposition) approves: of the proposal to increase the Reserve Fund securities to. OOO.OOQ. Ho believed it would bo a wise step In the future to inoreaso tho amount "to i 3,000,000, or even 45,000,000. The possession ot these giTT-edged securities, available for use as security or margin in London- iiflded enormbcsly 10. tiie financial strenefh of the Dominion. The removal of tte prohibition of the export of gold was also wise. Tho war. |-,y~ cansrng enormous ls-sues o! paper money, had chansrefi the treatment i» rrold. Tho Government would havo to do something to stabilise rates of exchange. The present rates wero a most serioiw handicap on traders, and were undoubtedly a factor in raising tho cost of living. The heads of the great financial institutions, which were making tremendous profits, coufd help the traders and the producers in this respect. High rales of exchange'had been accepted durin" the war without complaint, but there was a strong fceliitg in the commercial ' community now that too much was being taken for services rendered by the financial institutions. Ho would like to know what the Government intended to ido with the extra .-£'i r iO,(H!O for public works. This sum had been included in the Bill without explanation, and he tlioiijht the Government should explain. Sir James AClcn: II; is not for railways. Mr. Nosworlhv: Flying machines. Mr. Vcilch: Bail. Sir Joseph Ward objected to the amendment- of clause 2S of the Finance Act, 1015, by modifying the surtax on enemy goods. The original Bill lnd nut n definite surtax of; 50 per cent, on German goods. The Government was modifying the tax to a sum "not exceeding 50 per cent." That made, it easier for German goods to enter New Zealand. Mr. Massev said 50 per cent.' was p- • hibitive. A smaller duty might be pun.tive. The change was made in view of the possibility that Nrw Zealand would want some goods from Germany—potash, for example. Sir Joseph Ward said lie doubled if •

the increase of the widows' pension to 7s. Od. per wm-k per Miild was adequate The Courts j-.'.luwed 10s. a. week for a child. Mr Massev-. This little amendment is costing us iIOO.OOO. Mr. H. G. ELL (Christchurch South) nsiii'd' lor an assurance that the amoun, of the increased widows' pension would not be absorbed by reductions in charitable aid allowances. The Hon. 3. A. HANAN (tnvercargill) suggested that the widows' psn.s'on should be large enough to relieve mothers from all necessity of leaving the home and going oik to work. The Widows' Pension. Mr. J. A. NASH (l'almersluu) asked that all widows should e placed on the same footing as epidemic widows. The Hon. W. JI. HURRIES said the present cost of widows' pensions was .£112,000, the number of children con- ' corned being over 7000. The amendment proposed in the Bill would increase the cost to about .£200,000. The payment of 7s. 6d. a week was a big increase, and it might be increased next year, when a general amendment of the pension system was taken in hand. These were anomalies that required alteration. One widow had been receiving about £8 a week owing to the fact that she had secured several pensions of different kinds. Mr. P. FEASER (Wellington Central) • said the increase proposed was a verj • small step iu the right direction. The ■ widows' pension was ttill inadequate. '■ A widow with several children could not live even on the increased allowance. 1 She had to appeal to the Hospital and v Charitable Aid Board, so that the com- . niunity had eventually to find the monev - if the widow and children were not lo starve. 1 Mr. G. J. ANDERSON. (Mataura) also 1 argued that, the allowance proposed was not enough to meet actual living expenses. Air. It. POLAND (Ohinemuri) com plained of the inadequacy of pensions ! to miners sull'iring from pneumoconiosis and their families. 1 Mr. J. M'COMBS (Lyttelton) demanded. 1 increases in widows' pensions up to the scale provided for epidemic widows, olid ' .advocated the obtaining of the money bv ' a levy on increased "community-created" ' la-.-l v.iliir*. 1 Messrs. P.emple and Holland urged the ' pavment of higher pensions to miners 1 suffering from phthisis nnd also to widows. 1 Air. J. P. LUKE (Wellington North) said that as a lad he had been brought up among miners, and lie had seen the ■ ravages of industrial diseases among 1 these workers. So he was glad to note ' that, the Government had increased the benefits to sufferers from pneumoconiosis. ' Ho also urged that widows should (be 1 given pensions in their own right as ; well as in the right of their children. Production Essential. i SIR JAMES ALLEN, in reply, said that the 'financial position was such that . there is as a grave reponsibility. upon every member of Parliament, and every ■ candidate for election to Parliament, on . account of the financial position of the ; country. If expenditure under the Bill i was to be increased lihcn Parliament should this scission face the question, and provide increased .taxation. And the ii>- : creases would bo on the heavy war taxai tion, whicli had already boon a considerable burden on the people. It was very well to talk lightly of increasing taxation, hut tho load was heavy already, and the Finance Minister of a few years hence might have tho gravest, difh- '■ unity in raising the moneys. He would advise the Labour meinliers , to tell their friends that the policy , of go-slow was ruinous,, and this policy, , while it had not been perhaps encouraged by any member'of Parliament, had been encouraged by leaders of tho men. Mr. Eraser: Name one of them. Sir James Allen snid that certainly leaders had encouraged the policy, and if members of Parliament had not encouraged it, let them nt the hustings publicly declare their opposition to it Nothing could save this country but increased production. The Minister spoke again quite sternly about teachings that any good could come of decreasing production. The Minisler was interrupted noisily and often, nnd advised to "talk like that to tho coal miners." and to "bring the coal owners to their, senses." Sir JamesvAllen: I don't object to interjections generally, but I do think this is most rude. Mr. Speaker asked that interjections should cease, and that the good order observed in the debate up till that time should be continued. The Bill was rend a second time, and committed forthwith. The Bill was passed. THE AGRIMOTOR ♦ r EFFECT ON FARM LABOUR, A. new class of farm worker is being developed by the introduction of mechani-cally-controlled implements on the land. The cuiostion has been frequently diseusseo' informally by members of the Royal Agricultural Society. No doubt the extended use of machinery has resulted in a better class of men being omnloved on tho land. There are many phases of work on the farm which cannot be done even now with machinery, hut. association with the newer class of labour, the mechanically-trained man, have developed the aspirations and ambitions of the younger men to seek for themselves better conditions of labour, even Ihoush their work is still manual, nnd also to train and befit themselves for ' the more moo'ern methods of work. Mr. 11. Lovell, a secretary of the Agri- • ciiltur.il Workers' Union,'endorses tho ; view that the agricultural labourer of to-dav is a much better class of man i 'than the labourer of, say, ten years ago. The development in the lue of machin- • ery on the land is to a very large extent responsible for this change. But the change does not cease at the workmani shin of the man on the farm. In his social life it has effected a change. AVherens in the past he was content to stay in the village, or, on the other hand, was so ambitious that he left it entire- , lv for the town, now he purchases a bi- '. cvclc. with which he could obtain the i 'social pleasures of the town and continuo his duty on the farm. This is due to improvement in the rate of wage, but dcvelonjnent in the mind of the man cnukv be attributed to some extent to the larser use of machinery. The past de- \ cade has witnessed a great change, but the next will sec a still greater alteration, i .——™™ -