“SPARKS AND ASHES”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 759, 4 September 1929, Page 6

“SPARKS AND ASHES”

UNITEDS’ PROMISE OF £70,000,000 DEBATE ON BUDGET Press Associatio7i PARLIAMENT BLDGS, Tues. “The workers of New Zealand were misled by the promise of £70,000,000,” said Mr. A. M. Samuel (Thames) in the House today, continuing the debate on the Budget. “The workers found they had been looking at a sun of burnished gold. They were dazzled and blinded by its glare, but now that their eyesight has been recovered, they find that the gold was nothing but a mirage. It was a p3’roteehnic display of brilliancy, ending in sparks and ashes.” Mr. Samuel insisted that the increase in the primage duty would be passed on by the importer to the retailer and by the latter to the consumer, and in each case it would be added to. He urged an increase in the duty on foreign motor-cars and cinematograph films as a means of raising additional revenue. He stated these two items alone could provide another £400,000. In Australia the tax on American films was threepence a foot, while in New Zealand it was only a penny a foot, and he could not see why it should not be raised to twopence a foot. Mr. Samuel alleged that the public works of the country were being converted into relief works, and lie asserted men in the Public Works, Lands, and Post and Telegraph Departments were being dismissed and placed on other works. He advocated a policy of roading and metalling in conjunction with land settlement as a means of solving‘the unemployment problem. BENEFITS OF REFORM Mr. H. Holland said the farmers of North Canterbury had urged him to use all the means in his power to oppose what they described as the “iniquitous” land taxation proposals. Mr. Holland went on to analyse the Budget, which he said bore wonderful testimony to the benefits of the Reform administration. He expressed regret that no provision had been made for reducing the defence vote. He was sure many members would agree with him that in this respect the country was not getting value for its money. A good system of physical training would be much more satisfactory.

Mr. Holland referred to superannuation, and suggested that members of the police force did not fare well under the present scheme. The duties of the average policeman were arduous, and it might reasonably be urged that members of the force should be entitled to superannuation after 35 instead of 40 years’ service. “A new Bill has been partly drafted already,” interjected the Minister of Justice, the Hon. T. M. Wilford. Mr. P. Eraser (Wellington Central) reviewed the references to London loan transactions, and stated that so far as he could ascertain there was absolutely nothing on the file or in the circumstances which showed that Sir Joseph Ward had been compelled to act as he had. He had had freedom of choice, and he had acted wisely. Any other incoming Finance Minister would have followed the same course. He would not have dared to have rejected the, advice of those most intimately in touch with the London money market. It was undoubtedly the state of the money market—and nobody in the House of Representatives or in New Zealand could control the money market in London—that had compelled him to select the course he had adopted. COUNTRY WAITING

Mr. Eraser said that, having raised the money as he had promised, Sir Joseph Ward was now expected to carry out the rest of his promises. There was no excuse for his not doing so. He would not be blamed for not achieving everything at once, but the country was looking for some signs of progress. He asked the Prime Minister to reconsider the increase in the primage tax. The Labour Party would help the Government to put the land taxation through, and it hoped the Prime Minister would meet it in regard to the primage duty, and that at least he would modify it to the extent of removing it from the necessities of life.

Mr. W. H. Field (Otaki) suggested that the completion of the South Island Main Trunk railway might very well be delayed until the finances of the Dominion were in a more satisfactory state, and he complimented the Prime Minister on his decision to have the route of the Midland line thoroughly resurveyed, in view of the recent earthquake. He hoped the RotoruaTaupo railway had not been permanently abandoned. He had great faith in the pumice land, and he thought the Government might look more favourably on the proposition when the financial outlook was brighter. He agreed that, in view of the present transport conditions, serious consideration should be given to the question whether it was advisable to construct any more railways. Mr. Field expressed the hope that the taxation proposals would be remodelled. At any rate, they should be substantially amended. They would have a serious effect in cases not only of heavily mortgaged land, but also where land was heavily overvalued. The debate will be continued tomorrow.