Mr. Speaker ...

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 747, 21 August 1929, Page 1

Mr. Speaker ...

Session Queries and Asides

(The SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. Refreshed by a week-end’s rest, members of Parliament came back like giants to affairs of State today. They started off with a few bright words about the reporting of Parliamentary speeches by the newspapers, claiming that undue bias was shown. The Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. H. E. Holland, set the ball rolling, and the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, to whom his question was addressed, followed gladly. Members. however, have the unfortunate habit of, gauging the worth of their speeches in terms of the length of type displayed in the paper. Cost of Finance A return covering the financial arrangements of the Government since the year 1914 was sought this afternoon by Mr. F. Langstone (Waimarino), who asked for a statement of the number of loans raised by the Government from 1914 to 1929, inclusive. with the payments made to the Bank of England in connection therewith, the amount of payments made to A. and J. Scrimgeour separately for each loan raised, the cost of composition and stamp duties and the cost of advertising prospectuses, and the amount of loan moneys raised by the Government in New Zealand during the same time, and the cost of raising the amounts. Privy Council A statement of the Government’s attitude toward the cabled proposal to allow any Dominion Government to abolish the right of appeal to the Privy Council should it so desire was sought by Mr. W. E. Barnard (Napier) from the Prime Minister, the Right Hen. Sir Joseph Ward. * • * A Hampered Industry? Mr. E. J. Howard (Christchurch South) gave notice to ask the Commissioner of State Forests, the Hon. W. B. Taverner, if it were true that his department had placed obstacles in the way of the Wood Pulp and Paper Syndicate, an'd had prevented that body from developing the industry. Coal from Britain The possibility of the New Zealand Government making a move toward importing British coals was referred to by Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour Party, in a question to the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Ward. He asked the Prime Minister if he had seen a statement that the Government was making inquiries regarding the price of British coals. Would the Prime Minister taka steps to ensure that New Zealand coal mines were worked to full capacity, so as to ensure that all coals required in New Zealand were mined here? The Prime Minister replied that tha inquiry was made in Great Britain some time ago on behalf of the Railway Department as a preliminary to a situation that was likely to present itself in a country outside New Zealand. The Government desired that all coals required for the railway and other departments should be obtained in New Zealand. * » . Where Is He? A neat description of Mr. W. J. Poison, M.P. for Stratford, and also president of the Farmers’ Union, was applied in the House of Representatives tonight by Mr. H. S. S. Kile (Riccarton), in the course of his Budget speech. Mr. Kyle said that he could only describe Mr. Poison as a political Esau, who had sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Leave the farmers of the Dominion to deal with him, said Mr. Kyle. Mr. Poison had left the House high and dry. As to his attitude on the wheat question, he did not know whether he was sitting on the fence, whether he had jumped into the wheat field, or whether he had fallen into a ditch. Workshop Reorganisation The total cost of the reorganisation of the railway workshops, including the equipment, was £2.279,459, according to a return laid on the table c* the House of Representatives today in answer to the request of Mr. T. W. McDonald (Wairarapa). The cost for each workshop was: Otahuhu £586,554, Hutt £777,912, Addington £387,419, Hillside £495,305, East Town £32.189. During the past five years, according to a return tabled in the House today. 35 public servants retired on superannuation at between £SOO and £7OO a year, eleven between £7OO and £I,OOO, and three at over £I,OOO. The return was made at the request of Mr. H. S. S. Kyle (Riccarton). Slot Telephones If one cares to reduce £34.843 to pence, one may gain roughly an idea of how many slot telephone calls were put through during the last year. A little more calculation such as multiplying the number of pence by roughly five gives the time in minutes expended on pennyworths of talk. Slot telephones in use in New Zealand at March 31 last numbered 612, states a return laid on the table of the House today at the request of Mr. E. J. Howard (Christchurch South). Income from the machines for the last financial year was £34,843.