PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 56, 30 November 1921, Page 6

PARLIAMENT AT WORK

MORE TARIFF AMENDMENTS

DEBATE ON THE BILL OPENED

DEATH OF A MAORI MEMBER

' Soon after the House of Representatives met yesterday afternoon, the Prime Minister announced the death of Mr. W. Uru, member for the Southern Maori district. The House adjourned at once until the evening. The Legislative Council held a short sitting in the afternoon, and adjourned until next week, in order to allow time for the consideration of the tariff by the House. Resolutions making further amendments in the tariff were introduced In the House of Representatives in the evening, and were adopted after brief debate. They remove the duty from petrol, reduce the preferential duty on motor-cars and tires, and make other amendments In the earlier resolutions. The Prime Minister then moved the second reading of the Tariff Bill. He read portions of the report of tho Tariff Commission, and outlined the policy upon which the new tariff was based. Considerable debate followed. Some exception was taken to the wide powers proposed to be conferred upon the Government for the readjustment of the tariff. A statement regarding tho work of the session was made by Mr. Massey, who indicated the legislation still to be taken in hand.

WORK OF THE SESSION

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE

AM) THE V/CRK THAT LIES AHEAD

The Prime Minister last night briefly reviewed the work that had been done so far during the session, and indicated some of the work that lay-ahead. I Sixteen Bills at least had been passed, said Mr. Massey, giving the Raines, as followßanking Amendment, Cook Islands Amendment, Hunter Gift Bill, Imiprest Supply Bills Nos. 1 and 2, Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration ;Amendment, Land Tax Amendment, xil.aw Practitioners’’ Amendment, Local 'Bodies Loans Amendment, Orchard Tax (Amendment, Patents, Designs, _ and (Trademarks Bill, 1 Rabbit Nuisance 'Amendment, Samoa Bill, Treaties of Peace Extension Bill.

1 The following Bills were before eelect committees: —Animals Protection, Aneao Amendment, Factories Amendment, Law of Libel Further Amendment, Local. Bodies’ Finance, Moratorium, Native Trustee Amendment, Motor Vehicles.

The following Bills were on the order paper: Death Duties Amendment, Forests Bill, Land Agents, Maintenance Orders, Education Amendment, Customs Amendment.

There were seventeen local Bills waiting to be dealt with, but they did not take very long as a rule. The day of private members’ Bills was gone for the present session. In addition to the Bills he had mentioned, the following measures were waiting to be dealt with: —State Advances’ Amendment, .Stamp Duties Amendment, Savings Bank Act Amendment (which referred only to -what were ..called private savings banks), Land and Income Tax Annual Bill (introducing perhaps one or two amendments in the existing law),. Aid to Public Works and Land Settlement (which would bo really a loan Bill, authorising the Government to raise money to carry on public works for development purposes), Expiring Laws Continuance, Finance (one of tho. most important measures of the session, because it would provide the necessary legislation for effecting economies and retrenchment), Harbours Act Amendment (which would be short, and probably not particularly important), Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Bill, Wash-ing-Un Bills (Native and European), Land Amendment, Life Insurance Amendment (dealing with deposits by companies), Shops and Offices Ariiend<nent, Housing Act Amendment. “There are about fifty other Bills,” said Mr. Massey, “but there i_s not the slightest chance of their being dealt with during tho present session. It would not be possible even to get them nil drafted. Hou. members have asked me my opinion about finishing before Christmas. It is impossible to express a definite opinion. I will just say that tho matter is in the h»nds of members themselves. We can have twenty full days by taking in one Saturday. So far' ns I can judge, there will be no difficulty about that, but if members are going to finish in twenty full days, the House requires to apply itself stoadily all through. I am not going to ask the House to go in for legislation by exhaustion or anything of that sort, and I am not going to ask tho House to sit all night unless there happens to be something in the way of obstruction, which I hardly think is likely. If there is obstruction, wo will have to resort to the old practice. I am not averse from finishing before Christmas, but we want tho work done well and thoroughly, and it is all a matter of application. "I forgot to mention that besides the Bills I have mentioned there is the Tariff Bill, which is undrr consideration, and with which wo have made good progress up to the present. The heavy part of the Bill is, of course, yet to come. There are also the Estimates—tho Consolidated Estimates and tho Public Works Estimates.” Mr. H. E. Holland: Is there an Ar- ’ bitration Bill? . . Mr. Massey: An Arbitration Bill is on the stocks. It is only a short one.

PAYMENT OF PENSIONS

'ALTERATION OF DECEMBER DATE ADVOCATED.

Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) vesterday asked the Minister in charge if pensions (Hon. G. J. Anderson) whether he would make all pensions due in December payable on December 21 instead of on December 23, so that pensioners might have tho benefit of their pensions during the holiday season. The Minister replied that the date December 23 was fixed by statute, and that there was little possibility of putting through an amendment making ths alteration suggested. He did not think that this year any hardship would be inflicted by payment on the usual date. The only difficulty he foresaw would probably occur when Christmas Day tell on a Monday or a Tuesday.

PREFERENCE TO UNIONISTS

A QUESTION THAT WAS NOT ANSWERED. 'Ts it the intention of the Government to introduce legislation this session dealing with preference to umonW S ?” asked Mr. J. A. Young (Waikato) in the House of Representatives yester ' dav afternoon. , The question was addressed to the tion was left unanswered.

DEPRECIATED CURRENCIES i

OPERATION OF THE SPECIAL

DUTIES

INJUSTICE TO FRANCE SUGGESTED

Sir John Luke (Wellington North) suggested in the House of Ropresentatives that the Government should amend the tariff proposals in the interests of France and Italy. He said that, the new tariff prejudiced French and Italian silk piece goods by imposing penalty duties on account of the depreciated currencies of the two countries. The effect, of this treatment was to give an advantage - to Japanese and Swiss eilk goods. Swiss silks came chiefly from Zurich, where the trade was almost entirely in the hands of the Germans. The Minister of Customs (the lion. W. Downie Stewart) replied that the tariff did provide for tho imposition of special duties on goods sent to New Zealand by countries having depreciated currencies. But the Customs Department had been making investigation concerning the currency of Franco since the original resolutions were brought down. The opinion of the Customs experts here was that countries like France and Belgium probably did not get any advantage from their depreciated cuirencies, < since the currencies had be“.i stabilised at the new level. It was only when currencies were violently fluctuating that speculators got an advantage. The Department had been given power in the amending resolutions to suspend the operation of the depreciated currency clause in respect of any country where no benefit was being received by the exporters of that country, and this amendment had been intended particularly to apply France and Belgium. If Italy was in the same position, with a depreciated currency t’hat had been stabilised, he would consider that case also. The Minister added that the Customs Department was consulting the British Board of Trade by cable on the point.

SHOPS AND OFFICES

AMENDING AND CONSOLIDATING BILL

STATUTORY MINIMUM WAGE

The Shops and. Offices Amendment Bill, introduced by Vice-Regal Message yesterday is very largely a consolidation of the existing legislation. A large number of verbal amendments, ’ and a number of new machinery clauses are included. In addition there are several fresh provisions. More latitude in the way of late nights in Easter week is to be given in future It is provided that where a shop is closed for the whole of Good Friday, Easier Saturday, and Easter “oiiday, and the assistants are not employed on these days, the shopkkeeper may keep his shop open, and employ assistants until nine o’clock on the evenings of the Wednesday and Thursday immediately preceding ’ Good Friday.

Another clause provides a statutory minimum wage for shop assistants. It is laid down that the minimum rates Tor assistants shall be not less than ten shillings a week, with annual increments of five shillings a week until thirty shillings a week is reached, after which the wage shall be not less than thirty shillings. The fixing of th" statutory half-holi-day in the case of a borough or town district amalgamating with a combined iTTstrict is arranged. It is provided that in the case of such an amalgamation the statutory closing day of the combined district shall, until altered in accordance. with the law, shall apply to tho whole of that combined district, thus operating in tho newly joined area, A certain extension is made to the cases in which a Magistrate may, in accordance with the amendment of the March session this year, permit a shop to bo kept open after the evening closing time fixed by the Act of last year. The Magistrate may make an order in this direction, in addition to tho cases where .only the owner and his family are employed, and give the eanio concessions to a shop employing one assistant, if he is satisfied that owing to illhealth or other disability tho, owner or his family! cannot conduct lhe business.

MINISTERS AND TARIFF BILL

WHO IS DOING THE WORK?

"In a matter of this sort I am quite content to understudy the Primo Minister," said tho Minister of Customs last night, commenting upon a suggestion that he was not taking the part ho should have taken in piloting through the tariff legislation. The more assistance that could bo had from one with the Prime Minister’s (experience, tho better the prospects of producing a good workable tariff," he added. "The Minister of Customs is doing the whole of tho work and doing it very well; 1 am standing behind him,” was all that Mr. Massey had to say on the subject. OFFICIAL SECRETS BILL

Tho Statutes Revision Committee of the Legislative Council yesterday reported that it had no amendments to propose in the Official Secrets Bill, which prescribes penalties for spying and similar offences. The Council put the Bill through all stages without discussion.

Mr. ,T. A. Nash (Palmerston) has given notice in tho House of Representatives to introduce tho Palmerston North Borough Loans Consolidation Bill.