CEMENT CONTROVERSY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1921, Page 2

CEMENT CONTROVERSY.

SPEECH BY MR. S. G. SMITH, M.P. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Oct. 5. “The attitude of the Minister of Industries and Commerce in regard to the charges made by Mr. Masters against the cement companies is altogether wrong,” said Mr. S. G. Smith (Taranaki) in the House of Representatives. “The clear duty of the Government, in view of the serious nature of the charges, was not to appoint a Minister to act in defence of the trust. It will be some satisfaction to trusts and combines operating in New Zealand to know that if ever anything is said in this House in regard to their operations they are almost sure to have the support of the Minister in charge of the Board of Trade in this House. We saw the Minister of Justice standing in his place, unfair ‘ though it was, laboring in defence of the combination made by the cement companies in New Zealand.” Hon. C. J. Parr: “He was attacked.” Mr. Smith: “He was not attacked by the member for Taranaki, and there was no need for the Minister in charge of the Board of Trade to suggest, most unfairly, that I had some connection with the cement business in Taranaki, and had used my position as a member to get cement into Taranaki for distribution by the firm erf which Mr. Masters is a member. That was the inference. I can remember many cases in which, in order to save men from serious difficulty owing to shortage of cement, I made appeal to the Minister in charge of the Board of Trade to increase the quota of cement for my district. He did it as well as he was able to. When he increased the quota he showed either that the allocation made for my district was wrong or that the representations made by myself had some effect. But to suggest that I used my position in order to secure an unfair allocation of cement for Taranaki, or for the member for Stratford, is a grossly untruthful and inaccurate statement to make.”