DEBATE EXTENDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 July 1938, Page 6

DEBATE EXTENDS

MORE ADDRESS=IN=REPLY SPEECHES TWO MINISTERS TAKE PART. ROADING AND UNEMPLOYMENT. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. With the exception of speeches by one member of the Opposition and an Independent, all of yesterday’s contributions to the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of Representatives were made from the Government benches. Two Ministers took part in the debate, the Minister of Public Works, the Hon R. Semple, and the. Minister of Labour, the Hon H. T. Armstrong. The sole Opposition speaker was Mr K. J. Holyoake (Motueka). Forty-seven members have spoken since the commencement of the debate last week, and it now seems likely that the discussion will extend into next week. Steps taken by the Public Works Department to improve the roading system were defended by Mr Semple, who denied charges of extravagance in the expenditure of money on public works. Mr Armstrong discussed .the unemployment figures. He said they were shown month by month in exactly the same way as they were given when the Opposition was In power. The consumption of staple foodstuffs during the depression years was referred to by Mr Holyoake. He said that, although Labour members talked about poverty amid plenty, the use of food-stuffs during the slump reached peak levels. The Opposition no-confi-dence amendment, said Mr Holyoake, defined the Socialistic objectives of the Government. The Leader of the Oppo- " sition had given in it a faithful interpretation of public feeling.