WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 November 1921, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE BUDGET DEBATE.’ MR. WILFORD*S NO CONFIDENCE MOTION. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Nov. 14. The leader of the Opposition made a very excellent speech when introducing his motion, one of t,he best he has delivered for a very long time, but he could have said all he had to bay without making this futile at- | tack upon the Government’s impreg- ; nabie position. One of the effects of the Liberal demonstration has been to restrain members of the Reform Party from assuming the role of candid friend towards the Government. A well disciplined army does not do that sort of thing when in sight of the enemy. But enough has been said and done in the House during the last week or two to satisfy any close observer that the rank and file of the dominant party, with another general election in sight, are much less ready to efface themselves and their opinions than they were when fresh from the constituencies. It was this tendency that made Mr. Massey disinclined to press for the acceptance of the Racing Commission's recommendations and that will make him amenable to reason when the tariff proposals are under discussion.

ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES. The Prime Minister was able to announce in the House on Friday night that the Boundaries Commission had completed its labors in adjusting the boundaries of the parliamentary electorates to the population revealed by the last census and that the maps and figures in connection with the work would be made available as speedily as possible. Mr. Massey was able to state forthwith that the commission, proceeding on the figures, had decided to extinguish the Bruce electorate and to constitute a new electorate in the Waikato district. This means that the South Island will lose one seat and the North Island gain one, a net gain to the latter of two votes in the House. The change is less sweeping than that of seven years ago, due, it is understood, partly to a smaller relative increase in the population of the North and partly to the larger margin given the commissioners in applying the quota. Mr. Edie is accepting the extinction of his electorate quite philosophically, but some other South Island members whose boundaries have been very materially altered are not so unperturbed.

SAVINGS. In the House on Friday, Mr. C. E. Statham wanted to know why, if the Government was going to save the millions it had promised, the estimates for the year on which the country had embarked should be £1,800,000 more than the estimates for the preceding year. Mr. Massey’s reply was to the effect that it Parliament agreed to the economies he had proposed the Government would not require the whole of the sixteen millions for which he was asking authority. “If I get the legislation ,through I require for the economies I have in view,” he added, by way of emphasis, “then the whole of the £1,800,000 will not be required, nor anything like it.” There are members on both sides of the House not satisfied with this reply. They point out that'' it would have been quite easy to obtain the authority of the House for all reasonable savings before preparing the estimates and suggest that the tendency of voting the Government millions more than it requires will be to encourage extravagance and waste. To criticism o* this kind Mr. Massey replies that he has committed himself to the savings he has indicated and that the voting of the sums set out in the estimates is not going to alter his determination. His critics, however, still are protesting, and doubtless more will be heard of the matter when the estimates come up for discussion. PURE SEED. It looks as if the weed infested North Island were not to receive much assistance from the Minister of Agriculture in its attempts to clean its pastures and its crops. Mr. W. T. Jennings, the member for Waitomo, during his recent visit to England gathered a great deal of useful information concerning the production and distribution of seeds, and in the House on Friday night he offered to place this information at the disposal of the Agriculture and Stock Committee. Mr. Nosworthy was obliged for the offer, but said there was a good deal of difference of opinion on the subject between the seed merchants and the ■farmers, and until this was settled it was difficult for him to proceed with legislation. It might not he possible to do anything this session, but he would give the matter his personal attention. Meanwhile weeds are multiplying everywhere.