PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 October 1921, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RURAL MAIL SERVICE. IMPROVING THE SYSTEM. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The House of Representatives met a(j 2.30 p.m. Replying to Mr. A. D. McLeod (Wairarapa), the Postmaster-General said it was intended next January to introduce new regulations affecting the rural mail services of the Dominion. At present these mail services had got somewhat out of hand and it was desi; ad to bring about a more uniform system, without passing on any more of the cost to the people. THE SHEARERS’ AWARD. Replying to Mr. W. S. Glenn (Rangitikei), the Hon. G. J. Anderson said that if the shearers’ award made by the Arbitration Court was being flouted he would see that the law was carried out. ' ALLEGED CEMENT TRUST. In reply Mr. T. M. Wilford (leader of the Opposition), the Hon. E. P. Lee said he had no objection to setting up a committee or commission to investigate the charges made yesterday by the hon. member for ’Stratford in , connecwith the alleged cement trust. He, • however, would like to wait for the return of Mr. Massey, with whom he desired to confer as to the scope and personnel of the commission. RECIPROCITY TREATY. Replying to Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central), the Hon. G. J. Anderson said that as soon as the Commonwealth Parliament passed a legislation approving of the reciprocity treaty arranged some years ago between the Hon. Andrew Fisher, then premier of Australia, and the 'Hon. F. M. B. Fisher, then New Zealand Minister of Customs, that treaty could be brought into operation, but not till then. The remainder of the afternoon sitting was taken up with a discussion upon departmental reports.

THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

THE DEBATE CONTINUED. When the House resumed in the evening the debate on the Address-in-Reply was continued. The first speaker was Mr. D. Jones (Kaiapoi), who said the Government was not guilty of the charge of want of foresight laid at their door by the Leader of the Opposition, who said they lacked sight because the expenditure had increased. For the first three years of the Reform Government the public expenditure rose 12.6 per cent.; during the four years of the National Government, of which the Leader of the Opposition was a member, the expenditure rose 90 per cent., but for the next year of the Reform Government it receded to 18 per cent. He defended the immigration policy of the Government, who were bringing people from a cold and hungry country to a land of plenty. This was a humanitarian policy, and not one of cheap labor, as was af sed by the Labor Party. , The policy of the Government/in dealing wkh soldief settlers was the country’s policy, dictated to Parliament at the last election. Those soldier settlers who were on dairy land were a great asset to the country, because they were producing that which would help us through the present slump. This dairy land was high-priced hand, and was the cheapest land in the end. The soldier settlers with whom we were going to have trouble were the men on Crown lands, for which we paid nothing, because it was sheep country, and the price of sheep had so fallen that a soldier’s capital disappears in the night. Those who spoke glibly about what the soldier settler was going to cost the country should also remember wb&t the soldier settler produced, and to what extent he thereby benefited the country. He. defended the importation of coal, because the miners had 1 for years kept the country on its last shovelful of coal, and while the miners could do that they had the country by the throat. If the Government had not imported coal then we should have had a strike and disorganisation on a scale unprecedented, because what the miners wanted was to get into a position where they could declare war upon the people. Dr. H. T. Thacker (Christchurch East) laid excessive expenditure at the door of the late. Minister of Defence, who, he said, was heedless of expense, taking motorcars to travel about rather than use the ordinary means of travel, for which the country paid. All that Minister considered was “my officers”, and his officers’ friends. Gross extravagance was shown in connection with transports and hospital ships, in connection with which the squander policy was practiced, while troops were kept in duplicate to please the great general of our forces. So the squander lust went on. Coal was bought, sold and shifted in the most expensive way. Civil servants were shifted from one town to another, irrespective of co§t, while big salaries were being made bigger every day What should be done was to cut increases in all salaries over £350 a year by half, and by this means large sums of tmoney could be retrieved. He criticised the handling of our meat in Londbn, and denounced the banks as the greatest parasites in the country. Personally, he desired to give his best services to the country, but he felt that the country no longer had any use for the Reform Government.

At 9.30 p.m. Mr. A. D. McLeod (Wairarapa) moved the adjournment of the debate, and at that hour the House rose till 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.