DRAINING M.P.’S PURSES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 913, 5 March 1930, Page 7

DRAINING M.P.’S PURSES

PROTEST BY LEADER OF LABOUR PARTY KEEPING OUT OF DEBT If members of Parliament gave donations to every organisation of which they were made patron, vice-president, etc., some of them would soon find themselves in debt. Members of Parliament, says the Leader of the Labour Party, Air. H. B. Holland, owe it to their constituents, their family and themselves to keep as free from debt as possible. In a speech at Reefton on Saturday Mr. Holland referred to the numerous demands which were made on members of Parliament for donations. Several years ago at Cobden, he said, he had made a public statement concerning this problem, and he now wished to repeat what he then said. He would appreciate very highly the honour conferred on him by the various sports bodies and other organisations both within and beyond his own electorate when they made him patron, vice-president, etc., and he would at all times be more than willing to do everything in his power to further the interests of clean and legitimate sport, and to support every movement with an elevating purpose. He could not. however, undertake to make donations to each body which so honoured him. To do that would mean that he would have to go deeply into debt, for to make donations to all sports bodies and kindred organisations within the Duller electorate alone would mean an exceedingly heavy levy. It must be remembered that it was not possible to subscribe to some and not to others. He held that a member of Parliament owed it to his constituents. as much as - to his family and himself, to keep as free from debt as possible. Especially did the Labour member owe it to the Labour Movement not to become involved in debt. When they remembered that in constituencies' like Westland and Buller the net salary did not amount to anything like £5 a week, they could understand how difficult it was to avoid going into debt, even if there were no problems such as those of donations. Of course, cases of distress must always be responded to; and of these there were many—most of which were known only to the member of Parliament and the parties directly concerned.