PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 301, 14 September 1920, Page 6

PARLIAMENT AT WORK

THE FIRST MONDAY SITTING

SHORT EVENING'S PROCEEDINGS

I .The .firsii Monday sitting of the Hons eof Kepresentatives during the present ' i'session.was held last night, and proved brief and uneventful. After a few qu.es- •: J : tions without notico lmd been asked and answered, the Prime Minister gave raeml. 'Cb'ers an opportunity to discuss Ministers' printed answers to questions. But the ■ House was not in a talkative mood and did not use the two hours thus placed at

I its disposal, even when Ministers made some remarks by way of example. Several ' papers '.were laid on the table, but still the House would not talk. Then Mr. ! Sassey called for reports of select com mittees, but no reports were forthcoming, '~ and the House rose before 9 p.m.

i LAND AND INCOME TAX, C FREE-OFINCOME TAX BONDS • HARBOUR BOARDS STILL EXEMPT I - Two questions regarding the Land and ! Income Tax Amendment Bill .were put ' to the Prime Minister in the House last ■■ - evening. Mr. Mnssey repeated his as- ; surance that the clauses of the Bill were ! " not intended to interfere with free-of- •' * income tax war loan debentures. ' Mr. A. S. Malcolm (Clutha) eaid that | as harbour boards could not be regarded : as trading 1 concerns, and as the Govern- . ment saved annually a large sum through the exemption o£ Government steamers ' from harbour dues, he hoped that the Bill was not intended to withdraw the ' exemption from income tax at present eni joyed by harbour boards. IMr. Massey replied that it was not : . intended to tax harbour boards. If there , " was any doubt upon'the point under the clauses of the new Land and Income lax : Bill he would be glad to make the lni." tentions of the Government perfectly : :, v clear when the Bill reached the commiti .'. tee stage. Mr. E. Newman (Manawatu) asked it /• the income tax officers, in computing the ■ . tax payable by a taxpayer who held war bonds issued free-of income tax, would ! consider the income from these war bonds i in the assessment of graduated tax. He believed that an effort was being made to depress the market for these stocks, and it was very important that the country ■ should realise that the holders of war J honds would not suffer in any way under ■ the new taxation. , . , The Prime Minister replied that he uacl 1 not heard of any depression of the I, stocks. He had made it perfectly glear to the Land and Income Tax '<■ ment, to the Parliamentary Finance Committee, and to the law draftsman thai : complete good faith was to be kept by i the Government as far as the holders of v free-of-income tax bonds wore concerned. If : anything more was necessary in order to i make this clear, he would be glad to do ' • it at a later stage of the Bill. •Mr*. Newman: The question Teferspar- ' tieularly to the graduations of the income : ' Mr. Massey: I am speaking of the < s graduations. I knftw perfectly well what - > the honourable gentleman refers 10. . y . . DEFENCE EQUIPMENT j . - SALES TO FARMERS SUGGESTED, tf •A suggestion that the Defence Depart- ' ment should sell to fanners some of the ; limber-wagons and harness recently received from Britain was made by Mr. J'. A. Nash'-(Palmerston North). "As soon as all the military equipment ! has hrrived," replied Sir -Heaton Rhodes, | i "it- is proposed' to issue trainingl equip- ; ' ment lo military units throughout the i j-country, and retain in mobilisation stores " the necessary reserves for mobilisation. , After providing for the requirements of «'the"Defence Department surplus motor ' vehicles will be 'handpd over to other v : . State.. Departments. A proportion ' of horse-transport vehicles will lie retained for the use of the Defence Department, „ A limited number wilt be retained in store for mobilisation, and the remainder will. be offered for sale. It is hoped to place a number of general service wagons ! for disposal by sale at an early date. !■! Limber-wagons will not be available for the public nor would they be suitable. Mr. Nash pressed the point further. , He said that the Defence Department was holding a very large quantity of vehicles !_ and harness, which could be used with 'great advantage by the farmers. | "-The'Minister of Defence assured Ihe 1 •.;. member that all stores not required for : , mobilisation purposes would bo sold. The ' -military harness would not be suitable . for use on the farmsj v v Mr. Nash: It is wonderful what the ' ■■ farmers can do withi it. I ,- '• I DISCHARGED SOLDIERS' SETTLEMENT | * MEN RETURNED FROM GREAT WAR I : _ HAVE FIRST CALL. \ Mr. J. Craigie (Timaru) last night sug- ! , Rested in the House tjiat the benefits of i the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement A«t ' should be extended to South African war ■ veterans. The suggestion was support- - ed by Mr. T. E. Y. Seddon (Westland) ! and hy Mr. G. Mitchell (Wellington . South), both of whom thought that the •Finance Committee should look into the ' matter. \ ■ Thp Minister in Charge of Soldier Set- ' 'tlement (Hon. D. H. Guthrie) replied that until the soldiers who had foiieht ! , in thte Great War had been provided ' ' for the Department could not take up ' ; "tlm proposal. There were probably some 1 4000 more of the men he referred to who would yet pass through the hands of thg Department:. After they had been settled on the land, the question of extend' ing the "benefits of the Act to South: African war veterans would be considered. TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK | THE PRESERVATION OF NAMES. ! A report that alterations had been ; made in the names of places in the To. 1 ntrariroi National Park was mentioned ni the House by Mr. W. T. Jennings (Wai- ! tomo). This valuable park, with th<3 mountain "RuapoWu said Air. Y n " was a gift by tlic Hon. T.© « I ' Tukino's father for the benefit of the citizens of the Dominion.' and to altei or add European name® to cliffs, crags, glaciers, craters, steam-holes, etc., which ■Ind been known for generations by Maori names would be a breach of faith to Tukino and the Taupo Natives. The Hon. "W. Nosworthy Teplied thai . the Department was not responsible fol alterations made in any privately-prepar-ed mao. No official tmnction had been given to iany change of names from tno original Mnori names, and any proposal ; to this effect would, 'be very carefully : considered before being consented to. I The area ceded to the Crown by the Na--1 ' fives for the park was fi-500 acres, whereas ' ' the area brought under the Tongariro >• National Park Act wan 62,000 acre 6. and : ' it was intended to shortly increase't. WOOL SALES INDUCEMENTS jO FOREIGN ' : Wr G Hunter (Waipawa) asked in the ' Honse of Representatives if the Govern • ment would take such steps as might be ! expedient to advertise the coming een- , son's local wool sales in America and • jiipan, and to offer every inducement to buyers from both these countries to attr lid these sales. ~, ~ The Prime Minister replied that the 'Government intended to dojjts' , assist in every way the marketing of th , , coming season's clip to the heßt advan- , >lase, and the matter of how do : ' this was nt present under discussion. Full '' consideration was being given to the ques- ' tion of advertising in Amenca. Japan, , and ether outside countries, and of otter- • ing inducements to buyers from over- | sens to attend sales ii| New Zealand.

BADLY-FED CHILDREN A COMPLAINT ABOUT IMMIGRANT SHIPS. A protest against the treatment accorded children on immigrant ships was made in the House of Representatives recently by Mr. A. M'Nicol (I'ahiatua), who stated that the children did not receive propei- food. The oilicial reply was to the effect that the matter had received attention, and that parents ot' young children requiring special food were nd'vised to take supplies with them for the voyage. , Mr. M'Nicol mentioned this mattor again in the House Inst night. He said that lio was not satisfied with tho reply, which seemed to have come from the shipping company. He had been informed by an immigrant, who took a very reasonable view of the position, that the treatment given the children on one ship had left great room for improvement. Children of from four to ton years of ago had been given the same food as adults during a large part of tho voyage, with the result that they lost weight New Zealand needed tho British children, and the grievance ought to have the attention of the Government. Ho thought that every immigrant ship ought to carry a Government officer, who could receive complaints and adjust grievances,' The Hon. W. Nosworthy replied that the difficulties were very great. Many of tlie children came via Australia, and were sent by the Imperial Overseas Committee in London. .The New Zealand Government was making every effort to secure tJio comfort of the children, and ho was in communication with the Imperial authorities on the subject. NORTHERN COAL TROUBLE ' MB, MASSEY EXPLAINS POSITION OP THE GOVERNMENT. The northern coal trouble was referred to in a question asked of the Prime Minister in the House last night. Mr. E. Parry (Auckland Central) asked Mr. Massev whether ho would convene a conference between the miners and the mineownerj with the object of bringing about a settlement of the dispute. Mr. Massey said he knew that tho position developing in the northern mines was a very serious one. He had, however, received no communication from his Department on the subject, and he was not perfectly clear as to what tho dispute -was about. He had had no opportunity yet of endeavouring to effect a settlement, but if Mr. Parry would get into communication with the' miners or the mine-owners he would bo glad to see what could be done. There seemed to be some misapprehension on the part of the miners. They appeared to think that they had a dispute with the Railway Department. There was no dispute with the Railway Department. The train arrangements made to suit the West' Coast miners had been made with the Railway Department by the Mines "Jepartment as representing the Government, and had been made moreover, at the expense of the Mines Department. The Government was not concerned in the northern dispute except as far as the general public was interested in the output of coal. .The Government was not the owners of-the mines, and it was for the miners and the mine-owners to settle their differences between themselves.' The sooner they did it the better pleased he would be. STANDING ORDERS AND FREEDOM OF DISCUSSION NEW MEMBER'S COMPLAINT. It was obvious during th: discussion o; the Education estimates last week that at least two members—Mr. G. Witty (Riecarton) and Mr. W. D. Lysnar (Gisborue)—considered they had ' grievances. Mr. Witty's protest against the arrangement that members should speak once and that the estimates in question should bo passed in one rote, lias already been recorded at seme length. Mr. Lysnar found himself debarred from raising the question of teachers' salaries, and other questions inspired by communications from his constituents. The sequel was tho following question, which Mr. Lysnar asked cf the Prime Minister Irist night: "Will the Prime Minister take . immediate steps to see that the Standing Orders are altered so as to enable members to discuss any items in the estimates notwithstanding the fact that it requires legislation to alter the item under consideration, or that it raises a policy question which requires legislation? 1 ' Mr Massey said that he was not able to give a definito Teply to the question. Earlier in the session a Standing Orders Committee had Tjeen set up, and it had held at least one meeting. He was doubtful whether the House would have time this session to give effect to the recommendations of the committee, but he suggested that Mr. Lysnar get into touch with its phairman and endeavour to have his suggestion considered. SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS j ONE EDUCATION BOARD FOR. THE WHOLE OF NEW ZEALAND. The appointment of one board to administer all branches of education, ineluding kindergarten, primary, technical, and high school education, is suggested by Mr. W. D. Lysnnr (Gisborne) in a question of which he has given notice in the House. Mr Lysnar proposes that the board shall be elected, and that Ihe members shall give the whole of their time to its work. The board shall represent the different sections of the community through a system of election' similar lo that used for the election of the National Council. Mr. Lysnar <lesires that the new board, if appointed, shall havo executive powers. He floes not suggest the abolition of school committees. SCHOOLTEACHERS' SALARIES Mr. W. D. Lysnar (Gisborne) last night gave notice of the following question:— "Will the Minister of Education have the question of adjusting the whole of tho salaries of the teaching staff gone into and as far as passible altered so as. lo start teachers at -£200, and allow them to go up to .£BOO, instead of starting at ,£IW and going up to ,£525, including a house allowance of .£SO; and will he have the necessary legislation passed this session!- 1 " Mr. A, Harris (Waitemata) is asking f'l' Mi'i'i'-iT of Education whother he has received from the newly-formed Auckland Primary School Teachers' Association an application for registration. Mr. Harris states in n note to his question that 05 per cent, of tho Auckland teachers favoured the formation of the association, while tho other 5 per cent, opposed it. RAILWAY CHARGE ON HEMP In reply to a question asked by Mr. J. A. Nash (Palmerelon), tho U'rimo Minister stated last night that at pro6ont ho could not'reduce the railway charge on hemp. "The question of the charge on hemp was fully considered in connection with the recent revision of the rates," said Mr; Massey. "I quite appreciate tho case put up, but regret that at present t enngot make any redaction.'

SURPLUS WOOL PROFITS

SCHEME OF DISTRIBUTION

WIHER EXPLANATION BY MR. MASSEY

Mr. E. Newman (Manawatu)) asked the Prime Minister if he anticipated that further funds would be available for dis T tribution as surplus wool profits over I'lie same three clips—namely, 1910-17, 191718, 1318-19—on which surplus profits, nmounting to were now about to be paid; and if it was expected that further sums would be received lb be distributed to growers of the 1919-20 clip only. "It is intended (hat all 6\ims of money becoming available as surplus profit* on New Zealand wool sold to the Impcr.al Government shall bo distributed to growers who have sold their clips under the scheme of purchase, and shall bo divided amongst thorn in proportion to the aggregate amount paid to each by way of purchaso under tie scheme," replied Mr. Massey. "The sum of ,£1,619,000 already recoilved will be paid to growers of t!he 1916-17, 1917-18, and 1918-19 clips as an instalment of the amount which will finally become due on account of the share of profits derived from the sale of tho wool by the Impeiial Government. It is anticipated that a- further sum of a substantial nature will become available as the share of profits to March 31, 1920. This sum when credited will be distributed amongst growers of the 191017 1917-18, 1918-19, and 1919-20 clips m such amounts as will ensure than when the distribution has been completed each grower "hall hnvo received an amount proportionate to the total purchase money paid to him under t!he scheme It is nldo anticipated that when the balance of New Zealand wool held by the Imperial Government is disposed of a further sum will become available for on the basis outlined above."