WELLINGTON TOPICS. THE MEAT POOL

Hokitika Guardian, 20 January 1922, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE MEAT POOL

GOVERNMENT IN- EARNEST.

SPECIAL TO OU AUDI AN. WELLINGTON, Jan. 18 Persistent rumours to the effect that the Government was seeking an excuse for dropping the meat pool scheme having reached the ears of Mr W. D. Lysnar, that gentleman bluntly asked the Prime Minister in the House on Monday night if he would state definitely what were the intentions of the Government in regard to the matter, and Air Massey acceded to the request promptly. Thore was not the slightest foundation, he said, for the rumoms mentioned by the member for Gisborne. They must have been set in circulation, ' he thought, by people with whom the wish was father to the thought. The . tmviTicr rkiit its hand to the

Government uavmg put. ™ plough, had no intention of looking ( back” and was making all possible , speed in carrying the scheme to com- | pletion. The steps already taken, it might fairly lie claimed, had accomplished something. The prices of meat had improved, the freezing rates had ( been reduced and the charges for storage were down. The necessary legisla- ( tion, the Minister assured the House, j would he introduced during the current session and the financing would be ar- , ranged as soon as practicable. j "financing the scheme. ! This question of financing the scheme has been discussed very freely in the I 1 ■l. _ Inst)

City and the lobbies during tno last week or two. Mr -Massey lias not made it clear whether the cost of the pool and the risk of its failure are to be borne by the producers the scheme is intended to benefit, or are to be added to the. burdens of the State, hut his reticence oil this point has given many people the impression that the lon or suffering taxpayers are to bo involved <n the whole of the liability. The statements of some of his colleagues have been less guarded and have seemed to imply that while the producers will have control of the poo the credit of the State will be behuu their venture. If this really is the case the empowering legislation certain y will not get through Parliament without a strong protest against such ail arrangement. Every member of the House and of the Council, it is safe to pay is in favour of extending the fullest possible assistance to the producers in helping themselves, but beyond that many punctilious members are not prepared to go. • retrenchment proposals. The Government’s proposals for iotrenchinent in the Civil Service w hie i were disclosed by the Prime Munster in the House last night, had been indicated to some extent by previous statements from the Treasury Benches. Uoimhly, they provide for tho extinc-

tion of the cost of living bonus by three instalments, one taking effect as from January 1, a second from Apn , and a- third not earlier than July The basic wage is to be raised to £'HU , year and after that the reduction is to'proceed without any serious attempt • t graduation. In the case af officers etching over £320 and under £SOO iho reductions are to he £2O, *’ m H 0 a total of £ls, and in the case ct those receiving over £SOO and wider _5()0, £25, £ls, and £lO, a total ot £so.' Those receiving salaries between £BOO and £930 are to be reduced by 7 per cent, those between £9OO and £IOOO by 8 per cent and those over £IOOO bv 10 per cent. Mr Massey expects to' save by the first cut, £750.003 by the second and £650,000 bv the third. , reception in the house. The members of the House scarcely had time last night to grasp the full significance of the proposals and the criticism they offered was rather tentative than of a definite character. Mi Wilford, the leader of the Official Liberal Opposition commented upon the absence of any well ordered system of graduation and Air McCombs. denied there bad been any reduction in the cost of living, except in some of the food groups, but most of the other critics kept their remarks in reserve, to be delivered presumably during the second reading debate. Members and .Ministers salaries are to he reduced >n a larger ratio than those of the Civil ervants so that they will be ‘oil side’ from the first in expressing their views which are likely to he distinctly interesting. The Minister will move the second rending of the Bill to-morrow, and counting upon the silence of his own supporters, lie. hopes to get it through before the end of the week.