PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1917, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE CdU/CIL. By Telegrarih,—Press Association Wellington, Last Night. The Legislative Coipul continued the consideration of the (Juries Act .Amendment Bill debate, wbioh was, airUicr adijfourned after Hon'. 0. Samuel delivered a speech lasting two hours. ,'

HOUSE OF REPRESENf ATIVS^ Tho HoUs'e mot at 2,30. STATE BUTCHERS' SHOPS. Replying to Mr. Wright, the Premier stated that if it was desired by any eommunity that Government butchers' shops be opened in its midst, application should be made by the local authority tc the Government or Board of Trade. When the application came forward, the Government would be willing to do in any centre as it had done in Auckland. A QUESTION OF' EXPENDITURE. . Mr. Witty asked for a return of the expenditure of £328 2s 8d spent in connection with the opening .of tho Queer. Mary Hospital for returned soldiers at Hanmer. Hon. Q. W. Russell gave particnlars "t the expenditure, and, in the course of the statement, declared that while his acministration of the Public Health De* pertinent may sometimes have been open to question, never had lie heard any criticism of his administration of aifa'irs in connection with returned sohliers. He justified the expenditure in every particular, on, the ground that it was made to enable those who subscribed to the capital to see for themselves what provision l«id been made for the comfort of soldiers. ■ WAR LOAN DEBENTURES. Replying to Mr. Harris, Sir Jo.<eph Ward said it was not possible to enable friendly societies to take up more, than £SOO in war loan debentures at live per cent. While the object was a most worthy one, the' concession could not be, granted to friendly societies without including other similar societies, which made the proposal impracticable. BUDGET DEBATE. The debate on the Budget was resumed by Mr. Wright, who thought that large companies composed of small shareholders should be treated more geno'ronsly than large companies not so constituted. Sir Joseph Ward intimated that proposals were being formulated to meet such eases. Continuing, Mr. Wright denounced the' leniency shown towards the brewing trade. He favored six o'clock closing, and complained of the assistance given by the - • -md telegraph, department to bookmi who, though prohibited by u/mrisMng lik« bay ■*ree.

Sir .Tofcu'TTwllay said tie Budget was characterised bv 'boldness, clearness and forethought, and was probably as satisfactory a production as could oe expected. He enumerated the; order in which modern economists agreed that the wealthy should be brought under tribute to the State, and basing his agreements on this order he contended the Government was not collecting nearly sufficient taxation from lsrnd, while indirect taxation was contributing far more than a fair share, which was quite contrary to all recognised; canons of taxation. Both lan.l and inheritance shoiild be subjected to heavier taxation. War conditions had enormously increased the values of land, as proved by the increased prices o!' products. graduated land tax had never been' effectively used in this country. If strenuously imposed there would be no longer any difficulty in buying land for soldiers. Ho contended we: should do as Denmark did, whore krge estates were divided into thousands of separate holdings, as the result of a vigorous use of the graduated tax, and the inheritance tax should be imposed more drastically. Ho favored a differentiation between earned and unearned income. The taxation on companies' dividends was, in some nvpects, unfair to small shareholders. The tax on motor cars was favored, and the abolition of the profits tax regretted. It should be amended and not abolished, for it was essentially just in principle. What he wanted to get at was the additional value put upon products by war conditions. Imports on increased values would bring in at least two millions. Not sufficient had been done by the Government 'to reduce the cost of living. Flour went down, but bread did not. It was well known that about thirty .millers had grown rapidly wealthy since the, Board of Trade had been appointed. Merchants "had imposed a tax of £400,000 on the people by unfairly raising the prrces, and unless the Cost of Living Committee set ;>'.rp by the House was fortified by powers given by the Regulation of-Trade and Commerce Act it would be impossible to i get m, the hidden springs of trade. The methods of the merchants were so subtcr- ' rajiean that by no other means could;! ' facts be discovered.

The- House rose at 5.30 p.m. After the-dhmeradjottrnment Mr. Isitt •continued the debate, elaborating arguments against waste and extravagance, particularly concerning the drink traffic and racing abolition, which he claimed woald save two millions per annum. Ho moved an amendment in the dirction that, increased 1 ■duties be imposed on beer and spirits. Mr. Craigie seconded, the amendment. Mr. Massey said he did not wish, to ■influence members, but asked them to remember there was a proposal in the Budget to increase these duties. He asked members to wait till the Bill camo down, when they could give effect to their wishes. The carrying of the amendment would place the Minister of Finance in a difficult position, and he hoped that would be avoided. \ The amendment was declared by the Speaker to be'loßt on the voices. PRIME MINISTER IN REPLY. Mr. Massey declared it impossible to eliminate waste from the public services in War time. It ought'to be eradicated, but, so far, not a, single specifie instance had been quoted by critics of the Government.' He defended the Government against the' charges of disunion, and declared there was one point on ■ which the Cabinet was absolutely united, and that was the aim of the war. Ho combated Sir J. Findlay's views on taxation, which, he said, went in the direction of the single tax. Ho was quite willing that the man on the land shorita pay hiß fair share, but no more. Those Who clamored for heavier buidens upon jibe lgnft seldom took into account all

the charges upon the land, and profs*' sional meii did not always know witat< practical man's difficulties were. Ho <soc«' bated Sir J. Pindlay'B declaration in ft*' vor of differentiation between earned cad unearned income, luid. then proceedej to defend the action of th National Cabfejoj in its efforts to reduce the cost of ttrfcffl in conneetiou with which he claimed B&t Sir J. Findlay's statement was toutccur rate. The Coat 0/ Living Committer ap« pointed ,-y the House was the most etWOest committee ho had ever aat on, and He was coniident they woold be aife to make recommendations which the Gov* • ernmeut would bo able to accent. 36 favored a polic -if development after the war, and ■•> policy of Wnigrailfflß. This was the only way to rcEove fhe people of. the enonnous burden of taxation -wiiich they most last* as the ioBuit of war ei-Lpenditare, and in this connection the policy of aggregation stopped. The polisy "of the Gwernment web to Aeep the country prospcrow? so as to enable it to do its share in fire wbb Ministers wove not much affected fcy the criticism to which the Budget lad' been subjected, because, they were on* lident of doing their duty all too tima.'' The Government had to do many nn»' ' popular thinks in cutting down «* rlic services snch as railwnja and pub* works. They ateo bad tD tacrew» ' taxation, but the position has to to faced, and the country hag got to do ita , fluty. Cost of Irving most rise during iha, war; no country in the world escaped, The Board of Trade had not done everything expected of it, but had undoubted- : ly clone, a .great deal of good work in th? direction of keeping dowfc the cost- <rf living. He justified the ■bonus to tb» Eivil service, and then proceeded to eni> • \ werate the achievements of the Rational Cabinet up to the passing of conscription, which he greauy regretted had &A hcen' passed a year earlier. Speaking <§ the laud,, he contended that not risen, nor would they rise, becanao (he heavy burdens it would hare to bear would keep it down. He defended the method of raising the war loan, aad appealed to the patriotism of the people, ta . put their savings into the lojui, no matter ho>. small the contribution. Kvery* one could do something ( to help the men, at the front, and the men daring tt» dangera of the North Sea. Mr. E. P. Ice advocated a fiubstaalra] Increase in the beer duty. There, was , no doubt there was a great deal of dis« content against General Godley, and Mr. ftiir was entitled to bring the matter before the House to ascertain WBother it was in the'be3t interests of'the army that this state of affairs should con;. tinue. He advocated a pensiona appeal , board. • - Die House rose at 11.5 pins