STATE FINANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 January 1922, Page 5

STATE FINANCE.

IMPREST SUPPLY BILU » - NEARLY FOUR MILLIONS. - POLICY DEBATE IN HOUSE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. An Imprest Supply Bill (No. 4) was introduced 'in the House to-day. In reply to Mr. T. M. Wilford (Leader of the Opposition), Mr. Massey said all the money voted in the last Imprest Bill was not expended, but it carried them over the holidays. This money was required for the next five or six weeks and was asked for by the Treasury, because material contracted for had come to hand much quicker than anticipated, and so payments had to be made earlier than was expected. The amount being voted was £3,787,300.

On the motion to go into committee of supply Mr. J. McCombs (Lyttelton) and Dr. H. T. Thacker (Christchurch Ea-st) dealt with the wrongs of Canterbury, urging better railway facilities being given at Port Lyttelton. Dr. A. K. Newman (Wellington East) said the wrongs of Canterbury were as nothing to the wrongs of Wellington, and he then proceeded to enumerate local grievances. Auckland, he said, was the Benjamin o-f this Government; Auckland got all the good things. Mr. W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) complained. that all the public facilities had now become too small and out-of-date for Wanganui’s growing population. The Parapara Road was an especial necessity. He thought the Government not sympathetic in connection with the unemployed. Of the hydro-electric schemes in view Waikaremoana was the most promising.

THE UNEMPLOYED. Mr. D. G. Sullivan (Avon) said the Government owed it to the House and the country to make better provision for the employment of those in need of work, and retrenchment ought to be approached with regard to the fact that while unemployment is so rife In summer it will be worse during the coining winter. Sir John Luke (Wellington North) said the most important question facing the Government to-day was the loss of £4OOO daily on the working of the railways, and he asked the Minister to place before the House a -full statement of his proposals to overcome this loss. Mr. E. J. Howard (Christchurch South) urged the development of tractor services as feeders to the railways, thereby carrying goods much cheaper thali at present. A survey of the whole of (fiir traffic services was due, and more up to date methods were necessary. 1 Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington* Central) declared there was a staggering amount of unemployment in New Zealand. The Government claimed it had a. scheme to deal with unemployment, and ho asked the Premier to declare to the House and country what that scheme was. If the Government could organise a scheme to market the meat of the Dominion they should be able to organise the labor of the Dominion. It was the duty of the Government to find either work or suitable maintenance for everyone. Mr. H. E. Holland (Leader of the Labor Party) said the problem or unemployment could only be dealt with by organisation, and organisation of the highest order. GOOD PAY REFUSED. Mr. L. M. Isitt (Christchurch North) • said he favored every effort being made to find employment for all who wanted it, but the workers should be prepared to take less than standard wages to tide over difficult times such as these, especially when work was done by men who were not expert tradesmen, and consequently the services given were not of the value of the wages paid. He noted the case of a man who said he had no food in his house at Christmas time and was offered 14s a day for two months to do odd jobs about a garden. He was not an expert gardener, but he refused this offer, claiming 24s a day as the award rate. Mr. F. N. Bartram (Grey Lynn): “Good luck to him.”

Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) discussed the danger of permitting passenger steamers to carry large quantities of as deck cargo. This practice,® he contended, 'was a menace to human life. The development of the fishing industry was also urged. Mr. W. E. Parry (Auckland Central) criticised’ the immigration policy of the Government, characterising the inducements held out to people to come to New Zealand as a sharp practice on the part of the Government. It was a bungling policy, which the unemployment problem. Mr. S. G. Smith (Taranaki) urged the revision of the railway tariff as a means of increasing business. The House then went into committee of supply. RAILWAY COSTS. Mr. Wilford commented on what he called non-interest bearing public works expenditure, and which he said amounted to over £5,000,000 during the last seven years. He mentioned several works which he claimed were within this class, but one to which he directed special attention was the Waiuku railway, which he said cost £116,600 per mile, while railway construction in Canada was £lO,BOO per mile. He wanted to know why in these hard times every shilling was spent on the Waiuku railway, on which no train had yet run. Mr. Massey explained the history of the Waiuku line, stating it was not yet quite finished, although it had been opened. Its cost per mile was due to the fact that it was constructed during the war period, but notwithstanding its cost, he believed when daily trains were running it would be one of the best paying lines in the Dominion. Mr? G. Mitchell (Wellington South) regretted that the Premier had not brought down any legislation to relieve the present company taxation. He also complained that soldiers’ pensions were being taxed as “unearned” income; it was most unfair to tax the wounds a man received on the battlefield. The Minister for Public Works (Hon. J. G. Coates) defended the construction of the Waiuku railway on the grounds that it was necessary to complete the line in order to make previous expenditure profitable. He expected the electrification of the Otira tunnel to be completed by the end of this year. Mr. Wilford urged the electrification of the railway line from Marton to Wanganui, as otherwise it would always remain an expensive and difficult secUon to walk. He

trification of suburban railways. Mr. Massey, in reply, said he was of opinion that the Buller George railway should be completed. He was surprised ta find vast coal deposits awaiting development in that district. Mr. Holland: How much money are you putting on the Estimates? Mr. Massey: That is a matter for Cabinet. The BilJ was then put through all stages without further discussion.