PARLIAMENTARY POINTS.

Otaki Mail, 13 August 1923, Page 4

PARLIAMENTARY POINTS.

In thi# outpoat ol the Empire, with an area oi .some sixteen thousand square muea more than Great Britain, .we have, at the present time approximately; 1,300,000 people as against 45,000,000 in the Motherland.—-Mi- Harris.

Some time ago Mr Dan McGill was one oi' the first-ciaes engine drivers m New Zealand, ana he invented a device ior the automatic cioaing oi gates. It was a good proposition and was considered sale, i understand ttiat the Railway Department would not take up any scheme. whether hydraulic, electrical or mechanical, which would do away with the human element. They would insist, as. i understood it, tnat the gates be manipulated by some person, and not by any mechanical process,. 1 merely mention this in order that the Minis- ' ter may see his way to have inquiry than© into it, sand ascertain whether there is any merit in the patent.. Personally 1 think it ought to have j some consideration. It; the high-level 1 crossings are too expensive and it the mechanical appliances fqr the control of the gates cannot be agreed to, then 1 think mote powerful bells should be installed at all crossings. The small tinkling bell which we have at the. present time at some crossings is not nearly loud enough, when you consider that the traffic passing over the crossings to-day is mostly motor traffic and not the slow dray as previously.—sir J. 'P. Luke. , ; The damage was. done by buying! land' at boom prices, and there is no * use crying over spilt milk—the land! ia there and the men are on it, Not* only did the .Government show. itscourage in buying land in the way I it did, and at the price, it did, j but even experienced larmers in the | same way bought land at the peak 1 puce, and. it is not necessary now to ' say what should have been done. We I have to lace tbe position, and the tax-1 payers must face the loss and make up lor whatever has been done amiss. You might call it a mistake or a wrong policy, but the fact remains that we have soldier seittlers on lands that were bought at prices that are ‘ to-day 35 per cent, more than their j vjalue, and these settlers have to be • assisted now, or else the public will j w r aht to know; the reason why.—Hon. j Mr Buddo. , | There is, for instance, intense cul-l tivation, greater production and as- | distance to our industries, and the , manufacture of more of our wool in • this country. We are sending too. much Of it away, and when the house- , wife says it costs 10s per pound for knitting wool wo begin to wonder | why we sold fleece wool at Is per pound. This is a matter worth thinking out. —Hon. D. Buddo. j Fertilisers are now landed in this * country at about half what they cost in the War period. Settlers have toldg me over and over again that the' j Nauru purchase was the best bargain j , the Government ever made. Ido not | «jav that Nauru phosphates are suit- , able for all soils, but when I was in l the Tail ran ga electorate I saw marvellous results which have followed upon the application to those phosphates. —Hon. Mr Massey. . * The Railway Department is now nrovidlrig good houses for Its workmen It has erected' what I think is a splendid sawmill and factory, I do not profess to bej an expert, tout I had the opportunity of visiting this mill only a- few weeks ago, in company with Mr Young, the member for the district. It is working now to a certain extent. It 1b a magnificent mill, —in fact I do not think there is another mill in New Zealand like it. I am informed it will turn out one. house per day, and the whole of the . timber for the roof, the! floors, etc., is i cut to the exact lengths, and all the parts are easily assembled on the site of the house and can at once be put together, rendering it unnecessary to use the saw.—Hon. Mr. Massey.