PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 September 1917, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night; The Council resumed tlii3 afternoon, lmt adjourned until the Imprest Supply Bill wwareteived from lower Bouse. HOUSE O,F REPRESENTATIVES . met {yt£.3fi -■. . j J ... POSITION A r J?. KAIKQURA- I' f gS 1 J Replying >to'Mr. Forbes, the PrjSiujqj'* Wiiched hito f<£ garilihg the seridus position whidii arisen at' liaikoura, 'civing 1 16 the Stfppago of <coastal steamers. 'The HineMoa was now uifdergoihg repairs, wlifch would lie finished tb'-iriotiw, wh|tt|ifc was proposed to Hespatch her enl a special trip to lvaikoiua ;with stotfps|' IIIPHBST IT An Imprest Supply'flJiil, appropriating £1,040.300 for the payment of salaries, etc., was introduced by Govethsr's message. Sir J, Ward'-said there »wa,s no difference between this, Bill and Other Imprest Bills session, except an item of £3OOO lindcr the State Forest Department for 'the purchase of the Balmoral estate in Canterbury.i LABOR TROUBLES. •* Mr. Vnoitch - charged the Premier'with deliberate neglect of the Labor Department, with the result that unions which had been militant and resorted to strikes weic now in a more favorable position than those who played the constitutional game. The consequence was that labor no longer regarded it as a national institution, but as a, political combine. Sir Joseph Ward: Oh! Nonsense! Who says that!

Mr. Veitch: I .say so. Mr. Massey: But you don't count., Mr. Veitch, continuing, said lie might not count for much in Parliament, but the opinions lie was expressing counted for a great deal in the country, us tho Government would find out if tliey were prepared to'face the'music. The policy of the Premier had been to discipline labor, not to protect it. The Prime.Minister knew nothing of the workers, nor was he concerned with them, and'was evidently leaving the whole administration to the head of the department, who. might be a very good man, bub lie had to administer the department down to the conservatism of the Premier,, who, he (Mr. Veitch) ..thought, would' often not go as far as the department had gone. He then proceeded to quote specific instances of alleged neglect on the part of the Premier to attend t<j departmental afl'airs. Tho Premier, in reply, said the hon. gentleman was evidently hard put to find fault with his administration of the' Labor Department. Never was labor in such a satisfactory position, and never were wages higher in the history of the Dominion, notwithstanding the inroads made upon labor by the effects of the war. He proceeded to reply in detail to the specific eases of neglect referred to 'by Mr. Veitch, concluding by characterising the complaints as paltry in thi extreme, and stating- they should' J)ot have been made at such a time as tljig, seeing that most of the complaints arose when he (Mr. Massey) was out of the Dominion. On the subject of strikes, lie contended it was criminal for men to go on strike when the Empire was fighting for existence. Labor was not in so satisfactory a position in any country in she world as in New Zealand at the present time.' There had beep strikes here this year, but what were they compared with the strike in Australia? The Government would fearlessly administer the law, and both employers and [employees would have to take consequences if they broke the law. Personally, he preferred to see all labor disputes to .be settled without the • dssist&noe of our courts, which, by the way, were so highly thought of that the Premier of Queensland hud asked him to allow the president of our Arbitration Court to adjudicate on the dispute in that State 'be-, .twoen tho Railway Commissioners and certain rail.way servants. Ho was going to agree to that request, and he regarded it as a great compliment to New Zealand that such a request should be made, seeing that Australia had one of the most famous labor judges (Judge Higgins) in the world. He deprecated, such speeches a* that delivered by Mr, Veitch. which was calculated to stir up strife at a time when our whole efforts should be co-ordinated in tho endeavor to do our part to win the war tjl OTHER MATTERS. Mr. Witty drew attention to the court-martial held at Trentham, at' which all the olficcrs concerned ill.the [prosecution were, men with German [names. He contended that only Englishmen should try an Englishman. Sir James Allen defended the officers concerned. Three of them, though hav. ing German names, were undoubtedly British in spirit and patriotism. ■ Mr, Anderson discussed the system adopted for commandeering sheepskins. _ Mr. Talbot complained that the statistics regarding the wheat supply were often disleading, Mr. Buddo wanted ,to know how far publio conveniences were to be suspended during war time. Mr. Hornsby .called attention to the position of nurses in public hospitalThe discussion was proceeding when the House rose at 5.30.

On the House resuming at 7.30, Jtfr, Hindmarsh complained of the attitude of the Government to labor, such attitude being calculated to cause unnecessary irritation. Mr. Herdman defended the Government, contending that the'conduct of tho police department towards labor agitators was justified, for, if not looked after, they would bring Kew Zealand to the same deplorable .pass of things as in Australia. Mr. Webb laid the blame for' the strikes at the door of the capitalistic class, who ground the work, rs under the heel of avarice. He personally did not agrfce with strikes as a general policy, jbut there were occasions on which strikes-, were justified. At 11,5 the report from the committee was agreed to, and Mr. Veitch begun another debate on tho second reading, returning to his charges against the Premier in connection with tho Labor Department. The iPi-omier said Tie had been care- | fully reading evidence given before the Cost of Living Committee, and, so far,.i had not been able to see anything in it which, would help to solve the difficulty which undoubtedly exists, On .the sub- ] iect 6f workers' dwpllimrs, he announced

that the Act had been so successfu) that before the »,jieasion closed he was' going to ask the 'House to extend the operac tions of the Act to returned spldiers in the-same way as-it had been made to . apply to mjral dwellings'. At 12.35< sun. the Bill was put through the remaining stages/and the House rose! ''