DISPUTED ACCOUNT WITH THE ADMIRALTY
WHO IS CONDUCTING OUR NEGOTIATIONS? While the Defence EisJimjitcA were midor discussion yesterday Mr. T. M. Willord (Ilutt) asked tho Minister a question about, -ft.'disputed account betivwn tlie British- Admiralty and 1 lie NeiV Zealand Government. "It lms been reported to me," said Mr. Wilford, "Unit tliero is a huge mini in disputo between the Admiralty and this country in regard to war Bcrvicos." Mr, Mnssoy: It is not a huge sum,
Mr. Wilfc Is it under half ft million ?
Mr. Masse.v replied that he would not wv it was. He could not remember the exact figures; Tho Bum wns, however, less than a million. Mr Wilford explained that ilhe. point upon wliich he wished to obtain intbrmafion was the Teason for sending one Captain Kilrkwood as "a sort of plenipotentiary" ifo settle the dispute w\tli the. Admiralty. Could the Minister ray who Captain Kirkwootl was, and wlint wero tlio officer's qnnlifications for undertaking; tlie mission? He understood that Captain Kirkwood had not ser'voil nfc the front. The Mihister replied that Cnntnin Kirkwood was a temporary officer, whose salary was paid out of the war espouses Account. Tho question raised by Mr. Wilford might bo discussed when war expenses were before liho Hoiiso. i Tho chairman of committee ruled that for the moment the question wns out of order. . and tho matter temporarily lapsed. CUSTOMS DUTIES - MR. WILFORD'S AMENDMENT. The ilouso of Representatives reached tho Customs estimates shortly before midnight. Mr. Wilford (Hntt) moved that the vote of .£110,678 should he reduced by .£10,001) as an indication that taxation should be taken off tho Customs and placed on large estates, large incomes and death duties. Answering a question from tho Labour benches, tho Minister of Cufltonm said that his Department,, in stopping the importion of certain literature, had merely carried out the instructions of the Defence Department under a war regulation that was being repealed by legislation now before the House. Tho amendment was rejected by 31 votes to 16. Tho Labour members voted with Mr. Wilford. Tho Customs vote was passed without further discussion, TO AN~ABSURDITY SOLDIER AND. CIVILIAN. Sworn 1 members in discussion of the Defence Estimates appeared to view with suspicion the Minister of Defence because ho happens to ho a colonel in the Territorial Army, Mr. W. Downio Stowi art had some comment to make on this view. : He agreed, he said, with tho general principle of the British practice of having civilian heads of the Army and of the Navy, but he could see no objection to tho present Minister on the score that he was an officer,, because he had never made military work more than a hobbv. On the same line of reasoning as tb'jit taken by some honourable members. Mr. Massey might bo considered unfitted to bo Minister o£ Agriculture because he .was a farmer. Was a man to be debarred from being Minister of Justice because he was a lawyer? If a man was to be debarred from Cabinet, rank' because he had. training in: - the business he might have to do as Minister, then most members of Parliament would have a poor chanco of being n Minister, and under a system of universal training no man who jfwl been throughl tho training would have a chanco of being Minister of Defence. If the principle were to 'be adoptea in its extreme construction there would bo no-thing-to do but'to ask the member for Buller to be Minister of Defence! THE TRAiNING SHIP CAPTAIN HOOPER'S MISSION. ■Tlie..Minister of Marine (Sir William Homes) Stated iri the House early this niornih? that Captain Hooper, who went to England' to. select a new traimnst ship for New Zealand, bad not succeeded in iindin? a suitable ship- One of the vessels offered by the Admiralty had seemed suitable, but inquiry had shown thot the cost.-of necessary reflthntr would be very heavy indeed. Captain Hooper was now coming back, and inquiries wort to bo made as to the.cost of refitting Ao Amokura. It was still possible that a ship would be secured from tho Admiral tf. ■Captain Hooper would bo able to artviso I "tho Government. "A SCANDAiIrfjDSTICE" ? -, Reference to a Polics Court enso in Wangaiiiii was made in the.House- yesterday by Mr. L. M.. Isitt. He said that he had read in a Wellington newspaper ~,..account of an assault ease at Wmiganm", in which a drunken man had brutally assaulted an inoffensive shopkeeper, knocked him down and kicked, him and dieted injuries, the. marks of which tho unfortunate man would bear all his life The Magistrate or the justices hearing the case had sentenced the offoe erto two months' imprisonment. H wished to ask whether the Minister o T,Xe would have the case inquired Sta -Ettherthe c*» had been ,iro*rMW reported, and there were mitignlf„g Circumstances no nentioned, or H pcntence was a scandal on nistice. in* Minister of Justice (Mr. Lee) said, he had noted the paragraph in ones ion. bit he had no more information than tor contained in the news paragraph. He would have inquiries made.
The Hon. J. MacGregor yesterday gave notice in the, Council of the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Bill.
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Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 287, 28 August 1920, Page 8
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866DISPUTED ACCOUNT WITH THE ADMIRALTY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 287, 28 August 1920, Page 8
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