WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 March 1932, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY. WASTED TIME.-. , (Special Correspondent,.), WELLINGTON, Marpji 10. With three weeks of the emergency session of Parliament occupied in sheer talk neither of the two parties concerned, Coalition and Labour, is to be congratulated upon the National services it sb far has (V rendered t. this on post of the Empire. Perhap a Coalition Government, constituted as the present one is, could not be fairly expected to have a programme for a session so far advanced as would hive been the programme of a Puri} Government under the direction of a Seddon or a' Massey, an Atkinson ca Ballance'. It would he unfair, however, to place all the blame for the wasted time of the last three weeks upon the shoulders of the members of the Labour Opposition, who, after , their threats during the election campaign, have done little more than expound the perils besetting this much harassed country. It is suc> plaints as those poured forth by Mr H. Atmore, the Member for Nelson and at one time Minister of Education in the Ward and Forbes Governments that are to be deplored. MANY SUGGESTIONS. The talking during the concluding hours of the Address-in-Reply/ debate was distinctly above the aveWige.' of such contributions, even the fervid appeal of Mr T. Makitinara, the mu nest representative of the Southern Maori constituency arresting, serious’ attention. Empty churches, Mr Makitinara, emphasised, meant ” empty cupboards and until humanity returned to prayer years of plenty would not follow ‘ years of dearth. Other speakers followed with more materjal warnings and with no les i emphasis. Mr H. M. Campbell, the Member for Hawkes Bay, who by this time should be at least in close communion with the Government, protested against the slow pace at whii h Mr Forbes and his colleagues were moving. “We are now in the third week of the session,” he reminded the Prime Minister the other day, “and we have put through one small measure—the closure. Let us get along instead of wasting weeks and weeks hanging about this place at the cost of the country.” And Mr Campbell is a kindly critic that does not exaggerate facts. THE RIGHT THING. Mr A. M. Samuel, ■ the. Coalition Member for Thames having, endorsed Mr Campbell’s view in regard to the heed for expedition in adjusting the affairs of the country -,turned to the cost of .living, in a practical ryay. “The right thing , for the Government to do,” he said/“is to see^tha,t, reduction .dm i wages is.- accompanied:- by a correspondijig .reduction in the cost of livng. Interest, insurances, and other fixed charges must all come down. There is bound to be objection in some quarters to legislation of this kind, but the. Government, must take its courage in troth hands and endeavour to bridge the gap between lessened wages rand the : cost of living, which remained the Mr Samuel’s demand for a substantial reduction in the cost of living met with general approval from the floor of the House and no doubt would have -been warmly applauded by the galleries had such a demonstration been permitted in the holy of holies below.

SUPERFLUOUS TALK. The Hon. J. A. Young, the Minister of Health seized the opportunity afforded by the waning talk to reply to Mr Atmore’s speech of the previous evening, in whch the Member for Nelson had east imputations of one kind and another upon a wholestring of opponents. Mr Young insisted that it was not true that all the members of the Cabinet were farmers. The personnel of the Cabinet was evenly balanced, which was necessary in the best interests of the community generally. The Government, he assured Mr Atmore as politely as might be, j;e cognised that the welfare of the country was dependent upon the economic prosperity of the man on the land, and no matter what, was said about the cities they could not exist without the country. Of course all this was obvious and quite in order; but it also might have been said the country' could not exist without the cities. In any case a platitude of ths kind would have been more appropriately addressed to n popular audience than to a body of senators.