. ,

848.

VIeT 0 RiA.

SECOND SESSION 1921 .

VOL. CL rIll.

(Compri8ing the period from September 6 to November 15, 1921.)

MELHotJ.l{.N~~: ALBERT .1. MULLETT, GOVERN!vlENT PRINl'.lM{.

1922.

Aorrs OF PARLIAMENrr .PASSED IN SJiJOOND SESSION 1 H~~l. 12 GEORGE V.

No. of A('L

ADl\IINIS'l'RATION AND PROBATE ACT: To amend Part VI. of the A(ll/~inistra,tion lOul P"obate Act 1915 3154

AORICULTURAL EDUCATION ACT: To amend the Surplu8 Revenue Act 1919 and the Agricultural Education Act 1919

ApPROPRIATION ACT: To apply a sum out of the Consolidated Revenue to the service of the year ending on the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and twenty-two and to a,ppropriate the supplies granted in this and the last preceding Session of Parliament

IhrJLARAT ,V' ATER., COMMISSIONERS Am': Relating to the ejection of certain commissioners of the Ballarat Water Commission

BETTING TAX ACT (No.1): To alter the stamp duties chargeable upon betting tickets nnder the ~tamps Acts

BE'l'TING TAX ACT (No.2): To amend and continue the Betting 'fax Act 1921 BOILERS INSPECTION ACT: To amend the Boilers Inspection Acts with l'flspect to fees CorJ.\C TO ALVIE RAILWAY CONSTRUOTION ACT: To authorize the construction bV the State of

a line of railway from Colac to Alvie . ('mlS0LIDATED REVENUE ACT (No.1): To apply out of the Consolidated B.evenue the sum of

One million two hundred and eighty-six thousand two hundred and fifty-three pounds to the service of the year One thousand nine hundred and twenty-one and One thousand nine hundred and twenty-two ..

('ONSOLIDATED REVENUE ACT (No.2): To apply out of the Consolidated Revenue the sum of Five hundred and eleven thousand nine hundred and eighty-three pounds t,o the service of the year One thousand nine hundred and twenty and One thousand nillP hundred and twenty-one

(!ONSOLIDATED REVENUE ACT (No.3): To apply out of the Consolidated H.evenue tho Sllm of Nine hundred and one thollsand seven hundred and twenty-two pounds to the service of the year One thousand nine hundred and twenty-one and One thousand nine hundred and twenty-two

CONSOLIDA'l'ED ItEVENU]~ ACT (No.4): To apply out of the Consolidated Revenue the SUIll of Two millions one hundred and seventy-four thousand eight hundred and seventy-two poundR to the servicf' of the year One thousand nine hundred and twenty-one and One thousand ninp. hundred and twenty-two ..

(~O()NGULMERANG CEMETERY A.c'l': To provide for the exchange of a portion of certain land in the parish of Coongulmeran~ temporarily reserved from sale aI'\ a site for p, cemetery for certam other land in the said parish and for other purposes ..

('OlTNTRY ROADS ACT (No.1): To provide for the raising of money for the purposes of making certain permanent works under the Country Roads Acts and to amend the said Acts

UOUNTRY ROADS AOT (No.2): To amend section 38 of the Gonntl'Y Roads Act 1915 .. DISCHARGED SOLDIERS SETTLEMENT AOT: To amend the Discharged SoldierR Settlement Acts ..

DOG ACT: To amend the Do~ Act 1915 I~LEC'rRICITY SUPPLY LOAN ACT: To authorize the raising of money for the purposes of works and

undertakings of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria and to sanction the issue and application of such money for the said purposes

!j'nUJARMS ACT: To amend the law relating to firearms and other weapons and for other purpoR@s

GJ

lV ACTS OF PARLIAMENT PASSED IN SECOND SESSION 1921-continued.

No. of Act. LAND ACT: To amend the law relating to the sale and occupation of Crown lands and for

other purposes . 3166 LAND TAX AOT: To declare the rate of land tax for the year ending the thirty-first day of Decem-

ber, One thousand nine hundred and twenty-two and to amend the Land Tax Acts LANDS COMPENSATION ACT: To amend sections twenty-five and thirty-four of the Lands Com-

pensation Act 1915 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELEOTIONS ACT: Relating to elections for the Legislative Council LICENSING MAGISTRATES AOT: Relating to the office of licensing magistrate LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT: To amend the Local Government Acts .. LUNACY ACT: To amend the law with respect to the property and estates of lunatics .. MARRIAGE (V ALJDATION) ACT: To validate certain marriages in fact which were celebrated by

certain ministers of religion whose names were not registered in the office of the Government Statist as ministers who might celebrate marriages ..

MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS ACT: To amend the Melbourne and Metro-politan Board of Works Acts

MILDURA IRRIGATION T~usl'S ACT: To amend the Mildura Irrigation Trusts Acts MINES ACT: To amend the law relating to mines

MUNICIPAL ENDOWMENT ACT: Relating to municipal endowment PORT FAIRY TO YAMBUK AND WON VVRON TO 'VOODSIDE RAILWAYS CONSTRUCTION ACT: To

authorize the construction by the State of lines of railway for developmental purposes from Port Fairy to Yambuk and from Won Wron to Woodside and for other purposes

POUNDS ACT: To amend the Pounds Act 1915 .. PUBLIC SERVICE ACT: To declare the effect of section 18 of the Public Service Act 1901 RAILWAY LOAN ,ApPLICATION ACT: To sanQtion the issue and application of certain ·sums of

money available under Loan Acts for railways and for other purposes .

RAILWAYS ADVANCES (STORES SUSPENSE ACOOUNT) ACT: To authorize the temporary application out of The Public Account of certain moneys for the purposes of the Railways Stores Suspense Account .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . ...

RAILWAYS CLASSIFICATION BOARD AOT: To amend section 9 of the Railways Classification Board Act 1919

RED CLIFFS TO MILLEWA NORTH RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION ACT: To authorize the construction by the State of a line of railway from Red Cliffs to Millewa North

RETURNED SAILORS AND SOLDIERS IMPERIAL LEAGUE OF AUSTRALIA ACT: To confer certain powers on the trustees for the time being under a deed of trust under which certain land is held upon trust for the members of a body unincorporate known as the Victorian Bril-nch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia

SMEATON LAND ACT: To revoke the permanent reservation of certain lands in the Parish of Smeaton as a site for public park and to authorize the permanent reservation of portion thereof as a site for a public park ..

STATE ELECTRICITY COMMISSION AOT: To amend the State Electricity Commission Acts STNI.'E SAVINGS BANK ACT: Relating to loans to companies for purposes set out in the Fruit

Acts and the Primary Products Advances Acts . . . . . . . . . . . SURPLUS REVENUE ACT: Relating to the surplus x:.evenue of the financial year ended on the

thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and twenty-one . . . . . . TRANSFER OF LAND ACT: To amend the Transfer of Land Acts ..,

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT LOAN ACT: To authorize the raising of money for irrigation works and water supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VICTORIAN HOTEL (GrsBORNE) LICENCE AOT: To provide for the renewal of a certain victualler's licence in. pursuance of a certificate gra.nted by the licensing court for the licensing district of Gisborne

VW'roRIAN LOAN Ac'!' (No.1): To authorize the raising of money for irrigation works and water supply works and for drainage and flood protection works in country districts and for works under the River Murray Waters Acts

VIOTORIAN LOA.N AOT (No.2): To authorize the raising of money for public works and other purposes

VIOTORIAN WHEAT-GROWERS CORPORATION ACT: To provide for the constitution of a bony corporate to be called the Victorian Wheat-growers Corporation and for other purposes ..

3156

3141 3139 3128 316~ 3142

3127

3138 3162 3155 3148

3152 3144 3173

3151

3125

3159

3174·

3158

3175 3171

3145

3146

3168

3124

3131

3123

3150

3134

WATER SUPPLY LOANS ApPLICATION ACT: To sanction the issue and application of certain sums of money available under Loan Acts for irrigation works, water supply works, drainage, and flood protection works in country districts and for wo*s under the River Murray Waters Acts and for other purposes : : : • , : . . , , • , , , 3126

list of JJlentbrr.s af fJarlhllutnt.

SEIOON':D SElSSXON' 1921.

rj E GIS LA T 1 VEe 0 lJ ~ C I I,.

XA.IIF.. PIW\·INC~:. NAME. PaOVINCK.

Aua.ltIf1oTl, 'V. A. South-Eastern. DiElney, .J. H. .. Mel bourne \Vest. . \ikillan, ,r. l:.l-. :Melbourne 'Vest. Edgar. W. H . :East Yarm. Allgliss, W. C. Southern. Goudie, G. L. ... North· West':lrn. .\nst.in, A. A. South-'Vestel·n. Harris, Dr. J. R. . .. North-Easterll. Ri\illieu, W.L. Northern. Jones, :T. P ?felbonrne East. Beckett, \\'. J. Melbourne i\ orth. "Keck, Herbert Bendigo. Be,:{gs, Theodore .. Nelson. Kendell, William North-Eastern. Bell, Alexnnder \Vellington. Kiernan. E. L. .., Melbourne North. Brawn, F. W. 'Yellington. Manifold, Sir· W. S. ... Westerll. Rrowll, .T. n. ... Nelson. McNamara, D. L . Melbollrnt' East. Chandler, A. K gfluth·Eastp\'ll. Merritt, .r. K.. li]atit Yal'l'a. Olal'ke, F. G. Northern. Payne, T. H. Melbourne South. (~lltrke, W. J '. H.. Southern. Richardson, H. F .... Routh·Westel'll. Coh

LEG I S LA T I V E ASS E ~1 B fJ Y.

N AMI':. DIS1'Rlc'r.

Allan, ,Tohn Rodney.

Alli~on, David ... Bonmg. Angu8, Henry ... (.}unbower.

Argyle, Dr. S. S. . .. Toorak. Bailey, H. H. . .. Port Fairy. Baird, MajOl' Matthew Ballarat 'VeRt. Barnes, Samuel ... 'Valhalla. Beardmore, Henry ... Henambl'l1.

BillsolJ, A. A. . .. \.)vens. Hillson .• J. W. . . Fitzroy. Huurchiel'. Colonel ... Goulbnrn Valley.

M. W .. J.,C.J\:fG., D.S.O

Bowser, .rohn Wangaratta. BI"()wn\,ill. William .. Geelong. Caill, .f(·)hn ...

Uamel'oJl, A. Jo'.

CarliMle .• T. .1 .... Olongh, L. ,I. Uottel', K .J .. Deany, .T. O.

.... Tika .Jika.

... DalhouMie. . Ben alIa.

. Bcndig() ~:aRt.

... l-tichmolld.

.. , 'Varrnambnol. Downward, A lfl"f.d ... ;\fol'uimrton.

Dunstan, A. A. ... Eaglehawk. .Il~gg!eston, F. W. . .. St. Kilda.

li'1veral'd, 'V. H. Evelyn. Fa.rthillg, A. A. . .. Ea,st :Melbourne. lfetherRton, Dr. R. H .. T. Prahran.

~AME.

Lawson, H. H. "'. Lemmon, .Iohn

Lind, A. E.

DIS'I·RIC'!'.

... Uastlmllai1le amI ... WillilllllStoWII.

... Gippsland EaRt.

Livingston, Thoma" ... GippRlaild South. )Iackey, Sir John K: .. GippslandWeHt. :\1ackl'ell, li~ .J. ... Upper (iolllbll\'ll. :Y1:cDonald .J ames

McGregor, Rohert

.\'IcLachlan, .J. W.

l' oj \\'I'tl't h. ... BaJlamt I'~a!-lt; .

... Gipp"bllll NOl'th. NIcLend, Donald l)a.\'lt'kf(H'tl.

:\[cPhersoll, 'V.:\1. .. llawtilf)J'lI. :\iOl'ley, Edward ... Bn,l'wun. Murphy, ,T. L .,. Pot'L :\J:ellJtHII"IIP.

Old, F. 'K ... Swan Hill. o III an, D. K Peacock, Sir A .• 1. Pennington, .T. 'V .

... Hampdell.

... Allandale .

. .. Karn, Kara.

Pl'eniiergast, G. i\I ... Korth Melbnlll"llE". I{obertflon, A. R. Bulla .

Rogers, Alexandf'r ... ~Ielbolll'lw .

Ryan, 'l'homaR

Rlatm', \Villi:1.Il1

~llIith, I);t\ id .

~llo\\'hal1. O. I{

Solly, \-{ .. H.

. .. R,,>lfllllioll.

.. IlnnnnR.

Beutlig'o \\' pst..

. .. Brightoll. . .. Carltoll.

ThllllH18, W. K ... (}lBIlAlg-.

:\1.ddol1 .

Frost, George Gordon, ,John

Maryboroug-h.

'Varanga. 'rolltcher, R. F. . .. Stawell alld Am\"M.

UrePllwllf)tl,R W .... Horoondara.

'irovt's, Frank Hogn.lI, R. .T.

Dan·'enong.

... 'Varrenheip. HnglleR, Arthul', M. C. (iren ville. Jl'wf'l1, .T. R. ... BrunRwick.

TnnneclifIe, 1'h IIlas ... Collingwood. \V:tllaee, A. K. . .. Albert Park.

• 'Va,rde, K C. . .. Flemingtoll . Weaver,1. :1. Webber, G. C.

Wettellhall, M. Eo

Konmg. Abbotsford.

. .. LOWftll.

SPEAKE},: THE Ho:\. SlR JOHN -:\OIAClO;Y.

CIUIIDlA:>: OF (;Oll1MITT11:}~S: THK }lo:\,. A. A. BTI,J,s,o:\.

i!t:bt ~obtrnor. Iris Ex~ellency Colonel The· Right Honorable OEORliE EDWARI) JOHX MOWBRAY, EARl, OF'

STRADHROKE, K.C.M.G., C.B., C.v.O., C.RE., Aide-rie.Camp Lo His Majesty the King'.

Gtbt I.iitlttnant-~Obtrnor. His Excellency Sir WILLIAM HILL IRVIXl'J, K.C;M.G., Chief .Justice of Victoria.

t![:fJt eabintt.

Pt'emiet', .Minister of Agriculturfl, and Minister .o.f.} r H ., '\ L Water Hupply Tn!: HON. . H. iV. AWSON, M.L.A.

Treasurer W. M. MCPHERSON, M.L.A.

.\ttorncy-(~eneral and ~olicitor·Gel1eral { :'II inist er of Public I.nstruction. Minister of Labour, }

~J.il1ister of Forests, and a Vice- President of the Hoard of Land a.nd Works ... ... ...

COlllwissioner of Public "Vorks, and a, Vice· President l of the Board of Land and vVorks ... ... J

Minister f'f l{ailways, Minister of Mines, and a Vice· , President of the Board of Luud and Works .. , J

Pt'csidcnt of the Board of Land and 'Yorks an.d. } Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey

Chief Secretary a.nd Minister of Public Health

Ministers without Office

ARTHUR ROBINSON, C. M. G., M.L.U.

:-;IR ALEXANDER PEAOOOK, K.C.M.O., M.L. A.

F. G. CLARKE, M.L.C.

~AMUl'~]~ BARNIi:S, M. L.A.

D. S. OAIAN, M.L.A.

MATTHEW BAIRD, M.L.A.

*JOHN MCWHAE, M.L.C. HENRY ANGUS, M.L.A. J. W. PENNINGTON, M.L.A.

• Resignation as Miuister accepted, November 22, 1921.

VICTORIA.

P AHLIAMEN1'ARY

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

T'llesday, September 6, 1921.

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT BY COMl\:IISSION.

The' Twenty-seventh Victorian Parlia-ment was. opened this day by commis-sion. The CommissIOner a,ppointed hy His Ex.cellency the Governor for the pur-pose wa,'.; His Honour Mr. Justic'e Cussen.

The, PRESIDENT tool~ the' chair at five minutes past eleven o'clock a.m.

The CLERK read the following:-

PROCLA1VIATION By His Excellency Colonel the Right Hon-

orahle George Edwa,rd John Mow-hr.ay, Earl of Stradbroke, K.C.M.G., C.B., C.V.O., C.B.E., Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty the King; Governor of the State of Victoria and its De-pendencies in the Commonwealth of Australia" &c., &c., &c.

I, the, Governor of the State of Vic-toria, in the Commonwealth of Australia" do by this my Proclamation fix Tuesday, the Sixth day of September, 1921, as the time for the commencement and holding of the next Session of the Parliament of Victoria, for the despatch of business, a,t the hour of Eleven o'clock in the forenoon, in the State Parliament Houses, situate in the Carlton Gardens, in the City of lVlelbourne: And the Honorable the Memberrs O'f the Legislative Council and the Memberrs of the Legislative" As-sembly are ·he,reby required to givel their attendance at the said time and place accordingly.

Given Ullder my hand and the seal of the State of Victoria aforesaid, at Melbourne, this thirty-first day of

Second Session 1921.-[1]

August, in the year of our Lord One thou-' sand nine hundred and twenty-one, and in the twelfth year of the reign of His Majesty. King George V.

STRADBROKE. By His Excelloo.cy's Command,

H. S. W. LAWSON. GOD SAVE 'l'HE KING!

The Oommissioner immediately after-wards entered the chamber, and directed that the attendance of the memhers of the Legislative Assembly should be requested.

The memhers of the Assemhly ha,ving appeared at the bar, .

Mr. JUSTICE CUSSEN said-Hon-orable gentlemen of the Legislative Council and gentlemen olf :the Legislative Assembly, His Excellency the Governor, not thinking fit to be present in person, has be,en pleased to cause Lette,rs Patent to issue under :the Seal of the State, constituting me his Oommissioner to do in his name .all tha,t is necessary to' he per-formed in this Parliament. This will more fully appear from' the Letters Patent which will now be read by the Olerk.

The Letters Patent authorizing the CO'mmissioner to open Pa.rliament ha,ving been re.ad hy the, Clerk,

Mr. JUSTICE CUSSEN said-Honor-able gentlemen of the Legisla,tive Coun-cil and gentlemen of the Legislative As-sembly, I ha,ve it in command from His Excellency to l,elt you know tha,t on .a future date His Excellency will delclare to you in person in this plac~ the causes of his calling this Pa,rliament together. Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly, as it is necessary beforel yO'll proceed to the despatclh O'f business tha,t a Speaker of the Legislative Assembly be chosen, His Ex-cellency requests that you, in your cham-ber, will proceed to the choice of a proper person to be Speaker.

2 Opening of Parliament [ASSEMBLY.] by Commission.

The members of the Legislative As-sembly retired from the chamber, and the Commissioner then withdrew.

The PRESIDENT then read the prayer.

ADJOURNMENT. The HQn. A. ROBINSON (Attorney-

General).-I mQve--That the House, at its rising, adjourn until

two o'clock to-morrow.

The mGtiQn was agreed tOI. The Horuse adjourned at seventeen

minute~ past eleven o'clock, un.til two o'clock next day.

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. Tuesday, September 0, 19rzl.

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT BY COMMISSION.

.prQceedings commenced at eleven o'clock a.m. by the Clerk reading His Excellency the GGvernor's Proclamation cQnvoking Parliament.

The Usher of the Legislative Council appeared at the ba.r and intimated that the Cormmissione.r a.ppointed by the GOIVernor to open Parliament (His Honour Mr. Justice Cussen) reque,sted the attend-ance of members of the Legisla,tive As-sembly in the chamber of the Legislative Council to hear the Corrnmis~ion read.

Honorahle members, a,ccompanied by the chie,! officers of the House, proceeded' a,t Qnce to the chambetI" of the Legislative Council.

On the return of memhe,rs tQ the cham-ber of the Legislative As~embly, the Com-missiQner was introduced, and took his seat.

The commission ( da.ted September 5, 1921), a,ppointing Mr. Justice eUSSell to administer the oath of allegiance to, mem-bers of the Legislative Assembly was then read.

Mr. Justice Cussen said-Gentlemen of the Legislative, Assembly, I am given to understand that, owing to the shodness of time since the elections, some of the writs ha,ve not been returned I think, thea-efore, tha,t I shall be fulfill~ ing the spirit of His Excellency's com-mand if, in complying with what I under-stand to be the desire of hono[fahle mem-bers, I attend again at 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. I shan be in attend-

&nce a,t 10 0' dock to-morTOW morning to hear the returns to the writs and to ad-minister the oa,th to hono1rable members.

The Commissioner then left the cham-ber.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Wednesday~ September, 7,1921.

The PRESIDENT took the chair at two 0' clock p.m.

STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

The Usher announced the approach of His Excellency the Governor, and im-mediately afterwards His Excellency en-tered the chamber attended by his suite.

The members of the Legislative As-sembly having been 8ummoned,

His EXCELLENCY addressed the following speech to both Houses of Par-liament:-

MR. PRESIDENT AND HONORABLE GENTLE-MEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL:

MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY:

I avail myself of the earliest oppor-tunity of obtaining your advice and assistance after the recent gen~ral election of members of the Legislative Assembly.

!£R. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY:

The firElt subject for your conside~ation will be the provision of Supply for the mon th of September.

Supplementary Estimates for the last financial year will also be submitted to you.

,The Estimates for the current financial year will be laid before you in due course.

MR. PRESIDENT AND HONORABLE GENTLE-MEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL:

MR. SPEAKER AND GENTJ"EMEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY:

Other matters of public importance will be brought ~orward for your considera-tion.

Chairman of [7 SEPTEMBER) 1921.] Committees. 3

I trust that your deliberations may, under Divine Providence, advance the welfare of the people ()f Victoria.

Copies of the Speech were handed by the Governor's, private secretary to the President and the Speaker.

His Excellency and suite then with-drew, and the members of the Legislative Assembly also left the chamber.'

The PRESIDENT again took the chair a,t thirte·en minutes to five o'clock p.m., and read the prayer.

LANDS COMPENSATION BILL. The Hon. A. ROBINSON (Attorney-

General) .-In order to protect the un-doubted privileges of ,this House, I move for leave to introduce a Bill to amend sections 25 and 34 of the Lands Compen-sation Act.

The motion was agreed to. The Bill was then brought in, and read

a £rst time.

ELECTIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS COMMITTEE.

The PRESIDENT laid on the table his warrant appointing the Hons. W. L. Baillieu, A. Bell, J. D. Brown, W. P. Crockett, .W. Kendell, E. L. Kiernan, and E. J. White as the Committee of Elections a.nd Qualifications.

CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES. The Hon. A. ROBINSON (Attorney-

General) .-By leave, I move--That the Hon. James Drysdale Brown be

Chairman of Committees of the Council.

It gives me great pleasure to submit this motion ,to honorable members, and I am sure it will be received by them with equal pleasure. As honorable members are aware, Mr. Brown has filled the posi-tion of Chairman of Committees for some time past, not only with credit to himself, but with honour to Ithe Council. Prior to being appointed Chairman he acted as Tempocary Chairman. He has alwaJs given honorable members the fullest as-sistance, and I am sure they recognise that in Mr. Brown we have a most effici~t, trustworthy, and capable Chair-man. .

The Hon. W. L. BAILLIEU.-I have much pleasure in seconding the motion, and indorsing the remarks of the Leader of the House. As in the past, Mr. Brown will, I am sure, discharge. the duties

of Chairman to the eutITe satisfaction of honorable membetn:!.

The motion was agreed ,to. The Hon. J. D. BROWN.-I desire to

express my gratitude to the Attorney-General and the unofficial Leader >()If the HQluse for the kind references which they made ~ myseJf w:hen morving and S6COOld-ing my a.ppointment as Chairman olf CQIIIl-mittees. My thanks are aJsOl due to my colleagues in this House for their' kind-ness in electing me' to the position, and I can assure them that I will dOl my best to perform the duties in a satisfa,ctory manner.

RAILWAYS STANDING COMMITTEE.

The Hon. A. ROBINSON (Attorney-General).-By lelave, I move-

That the following members of this House be appointed to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, namely, the Hon!. William Kendell and Horace Francis Richard-son. For some time past Mr. Kendell and Mr. Richardson have been our represe,nta.tiv€6 on the Committee. They have visited various parts of the State, and they have given Parliament and the country gene .. rally the advice and counsell which their experience and .ability have made of such great value. I ,think I can say, without fear of being accused of undue flattery, that these gentlemeu are sound r·elpresen-tativ€S of this House, and that their ser-vices on the Commit.tee axe of value Ito the whole community.

The Hon. W. L. BAILLIEU.-In s~onding the motion I have pleasure in supporting the remarks of the Leader of the House as to the genera,l fitness of Mr. Kendell and Mr. Richardson to represent the Council on the Railways Standing Committee, which does most uselful work· for the community.

The mot jon was agreed to. The Hon. H. F. RICHARDSON.-I

should like to take the opportunity of thanking the Attorney-General and !the unofficial Leader of the House for the kind way in which they su bmitted the motion, and also honora.ble members gene-rally fOT re-electing me to the Railways Standing Committee. I shall endeavour to fill the position to the best of my ahility, recognising, as I do:, the respon-sibility that falls on my shoulders as a member of the Committee. At the pre-sent time the difficulty with which the

•

4: Death of the [COUNCIL.] Bon. A. Hicks.

Committe'e is fa.ced is the increased CQst of railway construct,ion. Many proposed lines are referred to Ithe Committee, but it is an utter impQssibility toO recommend their const.ruction, largely owing to' the increased CQst. Lines which a few years ago would have cost £4,000 a mile, nQW coot £8,000 a mile, beeause Qf the in-creased cost Qif material and labour. I recognise ,the importance Q1f railway CQn-structiQn, and I realize that if the State is to improve and elxtend its usefulness we must open up the count,ry. At a very early da,te, if mQney is available, and a, stable GQvernment is in PQwe.r, I hQpe that the Committee will be able tQ reCQm-mend lines which will Qpen up soone Qf. the unoc'oupied PQrtions Qf the State,. AnyhQw, I recognise the impQrtance of a PQsition Qn the CQmmilttele, and I shall eU-QeIB.vQiur to fill it to the sa,tisfaction Qf honorable memberrs.

The Han. W. KENDELL.-I also beg to thank the Leader Qf the House and the unofficial Leade,r for the kind manner' in which thely respectively moved and seconded the motion. I canno.t add anything tQi what Mr. Richardson has said about the desira-bility of cQnstructing further railways. The chief trouble at present is the very high cost. There' are many places that deserve to have railways, but we are de-barred from recomm6nding them by the

. high cost. We are, however, endea,vour-ing to devisel SQime scheme toO enable us tQi reach these pla.cas a,t a, very much lowe,r expenditure. The peo.ple there, must not expect railway lines like those in the old& dist,ricts. If we can provide for these districts, it will be a good thing ~oll" them, and fQir the whole State.

DEATH OF THE HON. A. HICKS. The Han. A. ROBINSON (AttQrney-

Gem.elral).--;I mOlVe, by le,a,ve-That this House desires to place on record

its deep sense of the loss it has sustained through the death of the Hon. Alfred Hicks, an Honorary Minister of the Crown and one of the members for the Bendigo Province.

It is with foolings: of verry deep SOll"rOlW that I move the motion. Mr. Hicks was a member of this House for the last. seven teen yeiars, and I think I am eocpres-sing the views of all honorable members when I sa,y tha,t he was -one who was esteemed by ea,ch and ev6f"j one Qf us. He was a. gentleman who exerted a. mQilli-fying influence UPO'n O'ccasiO'ns when pas-sions ran high and deo,a,te t,ended to be

a,crimoniQius. Those qualities were elX-bibited not only in this House, but when differences of opinipn a,rose in any Com-mittoo 0'£ which he was a member. He did good service to the Sta,te as a mem-ber O'f the Railways Stand~ng OO'mmittee. He was appain ted an Honorary Minister in May Qif last year, and he,ld that posi-tion until his death yesterday. All his colleagues a.re deeply grie,ved a,t his death. .It seems tQ be o.nly a few weeks sincel he took leave of us a't the Cabinet table, and stated that his doctQr had informed him tha,t, with a cQimplete rest, he might look fQirward to many more years Qif life. Un-fQrtuna.tely tha,t forecast was nQt fulfilled, and our esteemed colleague gradllally fa,ded a,wa.y until yesterda~ he passed into another WQrld. I deeply regret the de,a.th Qif one with whom I wa,s assQciated in the HQiuse and in the Cabinet. Everry hon-o.ra,ble member will agree with me that it is a, bloi\v to us. I feel that I am ex-pressing honorable members' views in moving tha,t we pla,oe on reco.rd our sense of the 1000 weI ha,ve 8ustain€Jd by his un-timely dea.th. _

The Hon. VV. L. BAILLIEU.-I deeply deplore the event that makes it necessary for me to secOIIld the motion. I think honQrable members will feel in-debted to the Leader of the House for the very appropria,te terms in which he has placed the mQtion before the HQuse . r think r am right in saying that the late hO'nO'rable gentleman was a lO'veable and likeable man. He always made friends, and was frank with all, not only in this House, but Qiut Qf it. He was a man whO' took intense interest in all that related to the affairs Qif the State, and particularly to' thO'se that cO'ncerned his own part of the Sta,te. His dea,th is in-deed a, sad blOlw to all of us, for hel was a man in the prime of .life. His father is still a very hale rna'll, vigO'rO'us mentally and physically, and takes a, foremost part in all that rela,tes to. his torwn. Tha,t brings home to UBI the sad:p.ess of the occa- -siQn. It may be some consola,tion to the late honQrable gentleman's people to knolW that we feel as we do rega.rding him. I 'Was always struck by the frankness Qf the late hono'l"ahle gent.leman, and I feel that all honorable melIllbe['s de'eply regret that he has passed a,wa,y.

The Hon. W. H. EDGAR.-I should like t,a add a few wo['ds to the remarks made by the prece.ding speakerr'S. I wish tQ express my feelings cQncerning one who

Death of the [7 SEPTEMBER} 1921.] Hon. A. Hicks. [)

was a very intimate friend of minel, and whOlse dela.th is particularly sad, because he had won by hard work and industry sufficient tOl enahle hiIlli tD devDte the whole of his time to public work. He entered with sincerity intD everything tha.t was far the advancement of the people. When I visited him. a,bout five weeks agD it was apparent tha,t he was nearing his end. He bore his weakness with cDurage. He faced what he knew to bel a,pproaching death with a fortitude and resignation worthy OIf the life he had led. He saId to me, " If it is GOld's will, I am prepared to submit, and to pass to another world." His dea.th leaves a ga.p in the HOIuse. He was a. man who won friends by his sterling character, and I am sure that his life 'will have an in-fIuence for the better on those who were acquainted with him. His death teaches us that while we have time and oppor-tlillity we should dOl our part nDbly as he did his.

The HDn. J. H. DIS'NEY.-I shDuld like to indorse what has been said by pre-ViDUS speakers. It came as a, very great shock tOl me when I heard that Mr. Hicks had passed a,way. During his illness, I VvTote to him, and received a very cheier-ful reply about a fortnight agD.· He said in the letter tha,t, from the la.t.est advice he had had, it was quite possible that he might live far many ye'ars. I was therefDre greatly shOlcked by the news of his death. I feel it very deeply, because I came intD preltty close contact with him, and tOOlk a. great liking tD him. I found him to be straightforward and honest, and alwa.ys ready tOl' dOl a gOlod turn ra,ther than a bad Dne. I had some busi~ ness transactions with him, and fDUna him very E'.traight. During the short time I have been a member Df this House ma,ny members have passed away. These things CDme hDme tOl us, especially when our colleagues are taken away very sud-denly. '

The PRESIDENT.-In putting the motion, I wish to sa.y that I have seldom CDme across a man WhD SOl impressed me with his straightfDrwardness and geniality as did the lat,e Mr. Hicks. I do not think he had any enemies, and indeed no Qne could be an enemy OIf his. I ha.ve had noth-ing but kindly feeling fDr him from the time I first met him, and tha.t was seven-teen years agD. We cannot but deplore his death. As a member, he was a,lways anxious to further the interests of his con-

stituents, and I think the,y must ha.ve re-garded him as a· verry useful member, just as we found him to be, and esteemed him in this eharobe·r. I was not shocked when I heard of his delath, because I had learned previDusly that he was gradually fa.ding away. If he had re-mained alive, but only as an invalid, I think it wDuld ha,ve been a. grootelr mis-fortune than to have passed atway to where there is no pain and suffering. I dOl not regard a sudden de'ath as always a. mis-fDrtune.

The motion was carried in silence by hOlnorahle members standing in their plaoes.

The Hon. A. ROBINSON (Attorney-General) .-1 mDVe,-

That this House out of respect for the memory of the late Hon. Alfi'ed Hicks do now adjouriJ. until half-past five o'clock this day.

The mDtion was agreed to, and the House adjourned a,t a quaJ:'te,r past five o'clock until half past five o'clock p.m.

GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

The PRESIDENT.-I ha.ve to infOlrm hDnDrahle membeJ:'s that His ExoeUency the Governor attended the HOIuse this day, and made a Speech, o£ which, for grea·tar acour.acy, I have Dbtained at CDpy. r do nOlt think it will be necessa.ry tD read the Speech, as honorable members have been furnished with cDpies of it.

The HDn. W. KENDELL moved-That a Committee be appointed to prepare

an address to His Excellency the Governor in reply to His Excellency's opening Speech, such Committee to consist of the Hons. W. Kendell, G. M. Davis, H. I. Cohen, D. L. McNamara, J. K. Merritt, J. Sternberg, and E. J. White.

The motion was agreed tD. The Committee retired, and oh their

return, brDught, up the fOlllowing Address-in-Reply:-MAY IT PLEASE YOpR EXCELLENCY-

We, the Legislative Council of Victoria, in Parliament assembled, beg to express our loyalty to our Most Gracious Sovereign, and to thank your Excellency for the gracious Speech which you have beeIi ,pleased to address to Parliament.

The HDn. W. KENDELL moved the adoption Df the Address-in-Reply.· He said-I regret. very much that .certain de-lay has occurred in the conduct Qf the business of the State, fOlr which de,lay this House, at any rate, 'was not resPQnsible.

6 Governor's Speech: [COUNCIL.] AddrFJSs-in-heply.

The whole trouble appears to have oc-curred over a very small item, and it occurred at a most inopportune time. If ever there was a time wh~n we required stable government in Victoria we require it now. There are various reasons why we should have stable government, more particularly at the present time. It is most. important frOilIl the aspect of our financial credit. During ,the whole of the pe,riod when the wOorld was in a, state of turmoil through the war, the credit of this State stood higher than the credit of any OIther State in the Commonwealth. In fact, I do not know that there was any other portion of the British Dominions whose credit stood higher than ours did during that time. It still stands high, and remembering· that we have some £25,000,000 in lOians falling due within a very few ye,ars, we must realize that every 1 per cent. tha,t we can save on the re-newal 0'£ thOose lOoans will mean the saving of a,t least £250,000 in inter,est. 'Vith all the pOossibilities before us, it behoves us to look beyond a small thing like a Wheat Pool. It is strange that a little matter such as the question of whether' thelre shall or shall not be a Wheat Pool may pos-sibly disturb the credit Oof Australia. I notice Rome of t,he membe'rs of the Farmers Union smiling. I .am ndt gOoing to say one word that would be calculated t.o wi den any breach between the variOous partie~. \Ve 'know that an eleCtion contest be,tween twOo parties always results in t,here be,ing a certain amount of feeling for a short timel. In the recent elections there were three paTties conoe'rned, and, naturally, feeling has be,en created. I do no,t want to say one word tha,t would be calculat,ed tOo accentuate that feeling or to widen a,ny br,each. I wOould rathe'r make what might be tenned a healing speech, because,. afte,r all, we know th3lt one par-ticular lit,tle interest must be subordinated tOo the great interests and the commOon-we,al of the people. I am in hopes yet that honorable members of anOotherr pla,ce, who have returned from a fairly strenuous campaign in which fhe honOours were fairly .even, although slightly in favour of the GOove,rnment, will allOow wise' coun-sels t.o pre'v.ail, and that some means will be adopted whereby we can ha,ve, stable government--govelrnmeTht that will make for the progress, proEperity and t.he ltahility of the Stat,e of VictOoria. Parties have be;en at one anothe,r's ,thrOiats in con: ne·xion with the question as to whether

Hon. W. Kendell.

there should be a, compulsory Wheat Pool or not! WeU, it is a small matter. As a wheat-grower fOor some forty-five years~ possibly I might he permitted to say a few words with regard to the marketing of whelat. We know very well that the Pool was first conceived and brOought into operation a.fter the waT stavted, and after the Commonwela.lth Government and the Imperial GOovelrnment had commandeered the, whole of the shipping. As a result of t,heir actiOon very li.ttle shipping was avail-able to ,take prOoduce away from Aus-tralia. In the faoo of that, nothing but a POoOol would have sufficed, because the farmers had just eme,rged frorm a bad sea-son. The 1914 crOop was an absolute failure, and, as a result; the fa.rmers subsequently were not in a position financially to hold their whelat for a numhelf of yea.rs with-out something in the sha.pe of an advance. The Pool was inaugura,ted, and it prOoved a sucC€ss under the COonditions existing. At thGl,t time the wheat could not be got away, and even then, we shOould have be'en lef,t in a. velry difficult position had it nOot be.en for thel generosity of the Imperial Gove'fnment, which advanced us £2U,000,()00 in cash for wheat which 'we still he,ld Oon their behalf. The Imperial Goverriment werel extremely kind tOo us in that resp€'ct. vVe, got the wheat away as fast as we could, but we had to hold it for a considelfable time. During the timer when the mice and the. weevils were so bad, we held in VictOoria. about 80,000,000 bushels of whelat. The Government has been blamed v€lry severe,ly on the hustings for not building silos to, save that wheat from the mice and the weevils. • I was some-what interested in the matterr, having hat} €;Ixperience, and I went into the figures. The Gove,rnment called for tenders fOor the erection of silOos, and Oon the basis Oof the lowest tender received, it would have cost about £7,000,000 to build silos to hold the 80,000,000 bushels of whea.t. The interest chargel alOone would have been about £360,000 a ye'ar. What would have hap-pened when we went back to the 20,000,000 bushel a,vera-ge, and normal cOonditions ~ It would be ridiculOous to say tha,t'it was possible or prudent for the Go-ve'rnment to have built silOos for wheat that had to he held over for about three years. What I lIave said disposes of that argument. We have to name the various pOolitical parities to distinguish Oone from another, but I am not going tOo refer to any particular party in te.rms Oof disparage-

Governor's Speech: [7 SEPTEMBER~ 1921.] Address-in-Reply. 7

ment. We have the Labour pa.rty, the Farmers Union party, and the Nationalist pa.rty. The Fanners Union party and the Labour p:a.rty have evidently for some time been indulging in a mild flirtation. I do not know if it will end, like a great many other flirtations, in a breach of pro-mise action or in the Divorce Oourt.

The Hon. D. L. McNAMARA.-The,re seems to be a co-respondent in the case, if all we hear is true.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-Lt is a jDb to get at the truth, because one hears about twenty different stories when pass-ing alDng the corridDr. Until quite re-cently, the Labour party was not rega.rded as the greatest friend tha.t the farmers had in the world. During the e,l,ection cam-paign I nDticed that the Leade[' Df that party blamed the Government very s'everely for not buying an immense quan-tity of wheat at 4s. 9d. a bushel in 1918, in order tOo feed the people. Ultimately, that wheat relalized an immense amount more than 4s. 9d. pe,r bushel fDr the Pool. Was the Leade'r of the Labour party blaming the Government in the interests of the grDwe'rs of the wheat, or in the in-t&ests of the consumers ~ The facts speak for themselves. It was a good thing for the producers of that wheat tha,t the GOIVernment did not buy it, be-cause it realized more than 4s. 9d. per bushel later on.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-Can the growe'r always hold for the tOoP price ~

The HDn. W. KENDELL.-I do not say that he c:an alwa,ys h,

8 Governor's Speech: [COUNCIL.] Address-in-Reply.

naturally feels that he should have the right to market his produce as he likes.

The HDn. W. P. ORocKETT.-And as the majority of the producers like.

The HDn. W. KENDELL.-The wheat-growers only form a small per-centage of the, people who get their living from the land. Not a third of those who get their living from the lan~ are whea.t-growers. yet the Farmers Union party

. say that because 15,000 pe.ople voted for a, compulsory Pool, it must be agreed to, irrespective of .what the rest of the 860,000 electors think. HOow-ever, they only said that wh!'\n th€IY were feeling annDyed. They have thDught it Dver since, and I am satisfied that bet-ter feelings will prevail, and that they will recDgnise that the GDvernment has gone as far as it possibly can. The Go-vernment has a respDnsibility to' the whole Df the 860,000 electors.

The Han. W. P. CRocKETT.-What has that tOo dOl with the sale of wheat. ~ The,y dOl nOot produce it.

The HOin. W. KENDELL.-If there were nOi othe,rs but thooe who produce wheat, what wDuld be the use of grDwing it at all ~ Sur€,ly you want some one to eat it.

The Han. W. P. CRDCKETT.-It is our produce, and we should be able to say how it should be Bold.

The Han. W. KENDELL.-I r€alize that it, will be pretty hard tOi cOonvince the honOorable mem her, becausle he has been bitten by this PDDl bug. HDwever, ~he honorable m€mber and I will not get mto an !l.,rgument.

The Hon. W. P. CnocKETT.-Then do not say things that are not correct.

The Hon:W. KENDELL.-If the ho;torable memb€,r accuses mel of saying tlllngs tha.t a·re not correct, I shan be down am hjm.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-YOU said I had be.en bitten by the PooL

The Han. VV. KENDELL.-Bitten by the Pool bug-the microbe. It is only abOout six weeks sinc€ the Oopening of the last Parliament. At that time the a,dop-tion of the Address-in-Reply was mOiVed by Mr. COohen, a.pd seconded by Mr. Adamson, bOot.h of whom made excellent and exhaustive sp€e.ches. The openIng speech then is evidently intended to' appl y t.o the business 0.£ the cOoming ses-sion, because t.he GovernOor's Spe€ch de-livered this afternoon was a ve,ry shari, Qne. Thereforel, I dOo Dot think it would

be wise fOol' me to take up the time of the House with an extensive address. If a hOostile inte,rjectiOon is hurled at me, I generally try to give as good as I get and it is not ca.lculate,d to imprOove th; general feeling of the Ho:use when we be-gin tOo fire interjections at· each other. My friend, Mr: Crockett, is a good-t.empered and good-natured man usually, but he might get a little warm, and I would get wann also .

The Hon. \V. P. CnocKETT.-Is there nothing but the Whea.t Pool to be talked Oof in this country '1

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-There is; but it. is the vVheat Pool which has caused all this pother. It. reminds me Oof TOony \Veller, who said tha,t nothing but "a alleybi" WOould do in a brea.ch of promise case. The whole thing has been merely amusing. \Ve generally looked Oon the farmer as a hard-headed man-as a man who thought very carefully befDre he acted. A great change must have cOome over the farmers since I was a.ctively amongst t.hem if the,y dOl not do tha,t now.

The Ron. VV. P. CROCKETT.-Don't you think a change has coone over yOoU ~

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-Yes, I am Oolder.

The HDn. J. H. DISNEY.-YOU dO' not grDw wheat.

The HDn. W. KENDELL.-I am in-terested in grDwing wheat; but I do nDt grow it because, when Dne arrives at my age and my waistline, Dne dDes nDt care for growing wheat.

The Hon. W. P. CnocKETT.-Wheat-grDwing dDes nDt make you like that.

The HDn. W. KENDELL. - It came on gra.dually; and I will remind Mr. CrDckett that I gDt it withDut the Wheat PODL

The HOon. J. H. DISNEY.-You have not proved to us ye,t that the Whe,at Pool would be a failure.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-If the honorahle, member wishes bha,t I will pro-ceed a,t olIlce to do it. H€re is the posi-tion. South Australia, says tha,t she will nOot have a PaOlI. It is no use having a compulsOory POOoI here if South Australia will nDt have Dne. Mr. CrDckett says that the' grOowers established a. POool in Victoria, for fruit. But they were five 'ye,a.n31 before they got the whole of the peo'ple in.

The Han. W. G. ANGLIss.-Was tha.t voluntary ~

Governor's Speech: [7 SEPTEMBER .. 1921.] Address-in-Reply. 9

The' Hon. \V. KENDELL.-Yes, of course. I say tha,t the growers could do the very same with the,ir wheat. If the Pool js a good thing, no wheat-grower will kee'p outside of it.

The Han. W. P. CnocKETT.-There is alway~ the selfish man to contend with.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-Of course, the a"ttitude of the Farmers Union has proclaimed them to be the most unselfish me'll in this world. I happen to know that the class or standard of our wheat is not as good to-day when it reaches the overseas market as it used to be years ago, beca,use the Pool has be,en taking in wheat tha,t should ha va been docked and re-jected. -

The Hon. W. P. CRocKETT.-That is a matter of management.

Th·('. Hon. \V. KENDELL.-Yesj but it is likely to creep in to a great extent if you are going to have a Pool controlled by the farmers alone. I have heard Qof (;a~e~ (Jof \vhich I think I can bring proof ''''here a man comes along with a load of wheat, and the receiving agent, who is the -employee of a co-operative concern says, " This wheat is inferior, a good deal be-low f .a.q., and I must dock it." " Oh, no. j I am a shareholde!r in a eerlain co-operative. concern, and you must take' this

. in," is the reply. Nat.urally, the agent

. thinks that he may looe his job if he does not take it, and the result is t.hat a, great -deal of inferior wheat has found its way into the Pool, and we are losing the .-grea t prestige of our wheat in Qoverseas n;tarkets.

The HOll. W. P. CROCKET'l'.-You are not saying a word against the Pool. You ·are merely decrying the management.

The Han. W. KENDELL.-The Pool was all right. under certain conditions. N ow that those conditions' have gQne, I 'say that it is time we went in again for a frele market. If the farmers through ,co-operatiQlIl decide to take advantage of the splendid offer which the Government -has made, and handle the whole of the wheat with a hacking Qf 3s. a bushel, I 'say good luck to them, and there is no one will wish them more success than I ,do.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-We would snap it, only we know it is an impossibility.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-I do not ·think it is. It 8eems to me at any rate . worth trying.

The Han. J. H. DrsNEy.-They will get bett& terms, if they only hang out a little longer.

The Han. W. KENDEL.L.-Possibly they. would, if the honorable member were ll1 power. I do not stand here hold-ing a brief for the Government, but I will say, after au experience of three years, during two years of which I was very closely associated with Mr. Lawson, that

. he is a gentleman for whom I have the greatest admiration. He may occasiQnally err in judgment the same as anyone else, but he. is a· straight, clean man. That is my experienoe of the present Premier, and I think you will go very far hefore you will improve on him as a leader. That was my experienoe of him, and I am bound tel say it, althQugh I am perfectly independent of the GOIVernment.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-We admit that, but we say that he is not the only. clean man.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-You will have to look about a good deal before you get a man of his ability with his clean, straightforward character and his strength to carry through, because the office of Pre-mier is not an office for a weakling, espe-cially to-day. It is not a position for a man of no experience. The filling of that office is a very important matter in the interests of the country, and I hope that if Mr. Lawson is displaced some man will be selected worthy to fill the office. There is another'matter in connexion with which the Government have been blamed. I feel interested in it because I was look-ing after the Department when I wa~ a Minister in the Bowser-Lawson Govern-ment, and that is the matter of the wheat silos. We called for tenders, and the prices were abnormally high. We were inclined to put up silos that would hold 10,000,000 bushels, and the Common-wealth Government were going to. loan the money for the purpose. but the tenders were sa high that the 10,OOO,OOO-bushels scheme would have absorbed nearly twice as much money as the Common-wealth Government were prepared to lend us. We then invited tenders for smaller silos, and the lo'\vest quotation was 17ld. a bushel, and that was exclusive of ma.-chinery. There was simply to be an ele-va,tor and an engine for each nest of silos. With the figures before us for the cost of similar silos in America, namely, 8d. or

10 Governor's Speech: [COUNCIL.) A ddress-in-Reply.

9d. a bushel, we were staggered. After a time we decided to have a ·shot at it even at this high price until a dispute oc-curred as to the sites for the terminal silos. We decided to wait a while to see if something like normal prices would again obtain for the cost of the material required. I am in favour of silos that would hold 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 bushels, equal to about one year's supply for local consumption. The ,Commonwealth Go-vernment made a certain amount of money available by loan to the New South Wales Government for the con-struction of silos. The New South Wales Government were unfortunately too late. The first silo was filled from a stack that was already affected by damp-ness and mice, and it was a failure. The wheat had to be taken out of it again. The following year they had several silos

. available, but then their crop was a failure. Up to the present their silos have not been of much advantage. They are going to ship some wheat in bulk, and I am interested to see how it will turn out. We do not need to have silos sufficient to hold the whole of our grain. We need silos for only 8,000,000 or 10,000,000 bushels. I am watching the experiments in New South Wales with regard to the shipping of wheat in bulk. We know that the wheat can be handled successfully in bulk on land, but it re-mains to be ·proved whether it can be shipped in bulk across the ocean. And now as to the political crisis, I may say that I went up the corridor about three-quarters of an hour ago, when I was told that the breach had been healed, but a few minutes ago I was told that clouds WE're appearing again upon the horizon.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-YOU must be very anxious.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-The m-formation was volunteered to me. I went out to see if the members of the Farmers Union were all alive. We know that various works and Bills have to be attended to that were promised in the Go-vernor's Speech in July last. We know that the Government ha..ve refrained from doing any administrative work of an im-portant character. They d.o not want to lay themselves open to the charge that they did any administrative acts whilst their position was in doubt. They

cannot do any important work until their position is made stable. That is all to their credit. They might have appointed a new Agent-General, but they did not do so. They have acted honorably. Until the parties in another House de-cide what they are going to do the Go-vernment are acting wisely in refusing to do any important work. We need money, and we have to renew big loans. Mr. Baillieu knows very well that the money lender is more likely to lend money at a low rate to a good man than to a bad man. Our position is fraught with danger. No doubt if the Country party get in they will feel their way, but I am afraid that they are going to put others in who will not felel their way. I have been told that a certain party has offered not to do certain things. I was told in the city yesterday by a man closely in touch with the Farmers Union that cer-tain things would not be done by a certain party as administrative acts, and' that they would not introduce certain Bills, as they wished to remain on the Treasury bench. I have heard of limpets, but I cannot conceive of any party saying, " We will not carry out our policy, we will simply remain quiescent. We will do anything as long as you keep us on the" Treasury 'bench."

The Hon. J. H. DISNEY.-Do you be-lieve that? The Labour party would not depart from their platform.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-Members of the Labour party in this House may have different ideas frOom their confreres in another House. I k-now where the Labour party is, but I do not like it. U n-til recently I did not know where the Farmers Union were.

The· Hon. G. lYI. DAVIS.-I have the honour to' Second the adoption of the Ad-dress-in-Reply, ,and I wish to congratulate the Ministry on its return to full power. Ministers "have been going through a serious crisis as far as their positions are concelrned, but I am pleased to know that they have stuck to their guns, and have refused to give in on the principle of com-pulsion in connexion with a Whea.t PooL I conside·r that the people of VictO'ria re-corded a verdict strongly in favour of the present Government, and as there is a ,gorea.t deal Oof useful and progressive legis-lation in its programme which was an-nounced at thel opeuing of Ithe last Pa.rlia-

Governor's Speech: [7 SEPTEMBER, 1921.] Address~in-ReplY. 11

ment, I hope that the F'a,rmers' party will have the good sense now to assist in keep-ing the Lawson Ministry in office. in thl-: present crisis I trust that the members of that party will not allow themselves to be the dupes of others. Looking at the results of the recent -election, it is hardly conceivable that l'esidents of the city who are COll-.sumers, and who voted with a view to the continuance of the Wheat Pool, did 'SO with the object of keeping up the price of wheat and bread. It is also incon-ceivable that supporters of the Farmers Union voted in favour of a Wheat Pool which would bring down the priee of bread. It naturally follows that their ob-je1clt was to maintain a good price for their wheat. The, aims and 'objeets of the Farmers Union and those of the Labour party are diametrically opposed. In my opinion, they are as far apart as the poles. I cannot for a moment conceive that those two parties have much in com-mon. The na,tionalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange is a principle which is anathema to the great body of the faJ.'ming community of this country, and would never be supported by them if they knew the real facts of the case. Fancy ,the sturdy, energetic, se1£-rehant farmer being controlled by a bureaucracy such as there would have to be with the nationalization of the means 'Of production, distribution, and exchange. 'That would be something- which would do -a,way with the enterprise, energy, am-bition, and incentive that make our farm-ing population the great and independent body which it is. To my mind, such bol-·stering up by the Government of the gre.at industries of this country is totally op-posed to ,the best inte,re.sts of our race. As I said, it is impossible to believe that city electors who voted to obtain a Wheat Pool did so with the' same ob-jeCt in vieJW as members of the F'armers Union, As we have not b:een ahle to as--certain exactly what kind of Wheat Pool the farmers' require, or the Labour party require, we are in the dark as to what the Bill to which they could both agree would be like. I think they would be up against it in framing a Bill which would represent the dive'rgent opinions of the two parties which voted against the pre-' 'sent Government. In my opinion, it was the dUlty of the Gove,rnment to meet Par-liam,ent after the recent elections. I am 'please,d that. they did the correct thing,

and have given the F'armers Union an opportunity of further conside,ring the matter. I am sure that the sympathi~ and interests of the faJ.'me'rs, and, indeed, country inte,rests generally, are repre-sented by .the present Ministry. FOIl' the life of me, I cannot see why the :b-'armers Union should not faU in behind the Go-vernment, and I trust that they will do so. There has been a great deal of mis-conception as to the reasons for a Wheat Pool and ,the conse'quences of such a PDOL It is said that if a. Wheat PDol such as the farmers have asked for. is in opera-tion, it will do away with the middlemen. They think it will do away with them. rhey did not dOl away with the middlemen during the currency of the Wheat Pools. The farmers paid as much under the P.ools to the middlemen as thoy paid pre-VIOusly to private firms to conduct the business for them.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-It is the multiplicit.y of middlemen ,that we want to get rid of.

The Han. G. M. DA VIS.-The more men we have engaged in the distribution of a great asse1t like Qur whea,t the better wi~l be the prospects Qof getting high prIces for ,the farmers. These wheat firms ha,:e been built up during the last gene-ratIon Qor two, and they have exploited foreign markets. They have accumulated a good de,a.! of capital, not by rQobbing the farmer, but by charging- a small profit o~ a large turnover. This small profit gives

. them a reasonably good income. This is a matter that farmers should give con-sideration to. The wheat firms exploit oversea.s markets, and the laJ.'ge turnover enables them to do the work for the farmer at a, sman profit. They do the work far better than it is dOone by the Wheat Pools. There is another important ma,tte,r in this connexion. Under the pooling system no distinction is made be-tween the whea,t of the intelligent farmer whQ has spent the whole of his life learn-ing- tQ farm to the best advantage, and who grows the finest whe,at. and ~he' in-ferior wheat of the careless farmer. That moons sacrificing the intelligent man who has spent years improving the wheat and it brings him down to the level of the lowest farme,r.

The Hon. J. H. DrsNEY.-Would not the wheat be g-raded 1

The Hon. G. M. DA VIS.-That is al-mo::;t impossible. I havel had Beme' e,x-periencp.. I am cue of the; largest

12 Governor's Speech : [COUNCIL.]· Address-in-Reply.

wheat-growers in Gippsland, and last yea.r I had a.bout 1,300 bags. The man who. re-ceived the whe!a,t has SQime knowledge of wheat., and he passed it as f.a..q., hut therel was some docka.ge made on Qne lOiad. There are many sub-agents supposed to be able to .. pasEI wheat who know very little about it. I heard Mr. K'endell say that the quality ,of the whea.t e1xported under the POQls cannot be cDmpared with the quality' of that exported before the pool-ing system came intOi existence. Why handicap the man WhD has enterprise and ambition by putting him on the level of those w hOI grDw inferiDr w heat ~ That is suffici€lIlt to condemn the pooHng system straight away.

The Hon. D. L. McNAMARA.-DD YDU say that that man. passed a lot of your whea,t that was not f.a..q. 1

The Hon. G. M. DA VIS.-I do not, think there was beUer whe,at grown. I said that sDmething was dOicked off one load. We know perfectly well that the men employed to pass the wheat and the sub-agents for the various companies get benefits from the mDnDpoly of the Pool, and tha.t some of them dOl not know any-thing ahDut whe1at, or know ve1ry little'. A great deal of wheat went into the Pools without ,any testing.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-YoU are mer1e,}y condemning the management. ,

The RDn. G. M. DA VIS.-Everything depends on the management. It is impos-sible for the a.dministratDrs under the pooling system to ha.ve the same facilities fer gett.ing rid of the whe1a,t as firms that have been estahlished for fifty Dr siXity ye1ars. It is Dnly by a lDng period of ex-pe,rience, by knDwledge, and direct per-sDnal interest, that these firms have been able to get the best prices fDr our wheat. The same thing a,pplie,s to other cereals. I was speaking tQ .a man yesterday who told me of ba,rley that he was offering 4s. 4d. a bushel for. There are men whQ specialize in particula,r lines, and 'they a,re sent Qut to find markets for the grain shipped on behalf of the farmers.. This man went for a long trip about eighteen months agol, and sold 140,000 bags OIf barley. It was shipped to Antwelrp, and was taken on his recommendation. He secured a. good price, and this sale largelly cleared the marke,t here. He informed me that the buyelrs were SOl satisfied with the barley that he believes they will take the whDle product next year. There· is

some propeorly in the barley that is parti-cularly suitahle for the milling dop.e there. That is the kind Df business brought ahout by private enterprise, and we should 'encDurage it. The men who administer the, Wheat Pools here will not get the best results. The talk about the huge prQfits marle by the middlem·en is only a bogey. My experience of wheat-growing is that the price I take for wheat in the bags out of the paddock, delivered on the trucks, is almost always the best price obtainable for any particular year. It sometimes happens that a shortage occurs in other parts of the world, and prices go up, and I have possibly lost in that way. As a general rule, however, the man who can sell out of the paddock is the best off. The middleman-the bogey raised by' the Far-mers Union party-does not always make the profits he is alleged to make. In one particular .year I sold 900 bags of barley at 3s. 3d. a bushel. Some of my neigh-bours, whO' were also barley-growers, did not sell. One particular friend of mine held barley, and within a fortnight barley fell 1s. a bushel. My friend kept his barley till the following year, and then sold at 2s. 2d. a bushel. He believed a rise would come, but it did not come. This shows that the huge profits supposed to be made by middlemen do not always ma,teralize, and it must be remembered that they have to take risks.

The Hon. J. H. DISNEY.-YOU must have been in the" know" that year.

The Hon. G. M. DAVIS.-No. I simply decided to sell.

The Hon. W. C. ANGLIss.-It was good judgment.

The Hon. G. M. DA VIS.-Possibly that accounts for it. These things have to be carefully considered by the farmers in connexion with the benefits they ima-gine they are going to get out of the con-tinuance of the Wheat Pool. Where there is a large surplus of wheat to export, the price of the exportable wheat cannot be kept up 1d. per bushel. Under the Wheat Pool system the price of wheat can be kept up only to the local consumer. It cannot be done as far as the outside world is concerned. We should always keep

. sight of the fact that Australia grows only 4 per cent. of the world's wheat. We have' a co-operative fruit company that· does remarkably well and keeps the price

Governor's Speech: [7 SEPTEMBER, 1921.] Address-in-Reply.. 13

of certain commodities at a high ieve!. I wish that company every success. But I would point out that when we have larger areas under fruit, and there is a great quantity of fruit available for ex-port, lower prices will have to be taken.

The Hon. W. P. CROCKETT.-We have been exporting for ten years.

The HOll. G. M. DA VIS.-But there has been no competition. When our soldier settlement is complete and various water schemes have been completed, we shall have a large surplus of fruit avail-able for export. There can be no mono-poly in regard to wheat. We must ex-port our surplus grain. Whether there is a Wheat Pool or not, it will be neces-sary to take the world's export parity for the surplus wheat. Are not the men who have been engaged in the work of distri-bution all their lives better qualified to handle the wheat than a newlY-jlppointed Board, which is restricted in many direc-tions ? Who are likely to find the best markets and to distribute the wheat in the speediest way? In any case, com-mission has to be paid. A Wheat Pool cannot be administered for nothing. Markets cannot be found for nothing. It is ridiculous to talk as though that were not the case. Moreover~ we should not take away the individual right that the man who grows wheat has to do what he likes with it. To do that is to create a bad precedent. We want to encourage the growing of wheat, and we want our wheat-growers to grow the best quality wheat.

The Hon. W. P. CRocKETT.-And you let the speculator exploit them.

The Hon. G. M. DA VIS.-The specu-lator can take a minimum of profit per bushel 'and still make a large sum. The position is similar to that of a boot manu-facturer in a big way and a boot manu-facturer who has only a few lasts. The difficulty is to find the avenue of distri-bution so essential in connexion with getting good prices for our products. The most able men from this point of view are those who have had many years' experi-ence in the work of distribution. I can-not for the life of me see what benefits the Farmers Union party ·expect from the continuance of the Wheat Pool. I am really surprised that they should seek to wreck such a Government as we have had

in power during the last few years. I hope better counsels will prevail.

The Hon. J. H. DISNEY.-Was not the Government in favour, only last Decem-ber, of a continuance of the Wheat Pool?

The Hon. G. M. DAVIS.-Last year the War Precautions Act was still in existence.

The. Hon. J. H. DlsNEY.-The Lawson Goy;ernment advocated the continuance of the Wheat Pool last December and their masters have told them sinc~ that they want the Pool to be abolished.

The Hon. G. M. DA VIS.-The Go-vernD?-ent are their own masters; they are not dICta ted to by anybody.

The Hon. W. KENDELL.-There was an immense carry-over last year.

The Hon. G. M. DA VIS.---JThere is another matter that I wish to refer to. Mr. Kendell touched upon it. I mean the serious financial position weare ap-proaching. We have within the next three years loans of upwards of £26,000,000 falling due. We all know that Victoria has an excellent name in the big financial centres. There are big benefits to be derived from converting that money under the present stable Go-vernment. There would be an immense saving to the people of this country. That is a point that needs to be clearly under-stood. I am just as much of a farmer, and represent the farming interests as t.ruly, as any man in this Chambetr OT anywhere else. By the end of 1923 loans amounting to £26,360,333 will have to be converted, and I do trust, in the interests of the whole community, that the present Government will be retained in office for that as well as other reasons. The pre-sent Government represent the com-munity as a whole. The other parties are sectional in their character. A coalitio!Il of the Lahorur party and the FaJ.'me'l's Union. party co,uld nQit be said to represent the entire community, but only sections. In my opinion, thel GOIVern-ment should represent the whole com-munity a:q.d not a section. There is another very important matter in connexion. with the proposal fOIl' a, Whe'at Pool, and that is, as has alre,ady been mentioned, that there ·is no prob-ability, indeed, in my opinion, no possi-bility, even if the present Ministry were turned out and a Bill providing for a Wheat Pool were passed by some other

14 Gouernor's Speech : [COUNCIL.] Address-in-Reply.

Ministry that came into power, of the and marketinO' of wheat, provided that such organizations °are capable of giving efficient.

measure passing this House. servicE;). The Hon. D. L. McNAMARA.-Is that \Vhe~e you have co-opelration of that kind

a threat ~ introduoed in connexion with the receiv-. The Hon. G. M. DAVIS.-I am only ing and marketing of whe,a,t there are

stating what is ~n ~hvious f.a,~t, in my v€lry. s~riou~ risks indeed in regard ,to ~he opinion and I thmk ill the opmlOn of the admllllstrahOon, because of the openmg honorable member also. • that is left for all kinds of practices that

I r"T J II DIsNEY.-That re- are not always in the best interests of the '1' lei :lon. . -. wheat-growers, or of the community mains to be seen. ·either. In taking delivery of wheat, as was

The HOon. G. M. DAVIS.-Even the pointed out by one honOorable member, votelrs in favour of the Whea.t Pool only oe,rtain tactics ma,y be adopted in con-proposed to have it until 1922, so that nexion with the putting Oof wheat into the they only desir.ed it tOo e~ist for a. short Pool. Then~1 might be something that we time, yet in order tOo obtain. thel Whea,t cannot quite see in co?nexion even with Pool £;r that limited pelriod it is proposed that. In conne1xion with the pressure that to upset the present Government, and to is being brought to bear upon honorable deprive the Sta.te of the ben~~ts that I members in regard to the continua,tion of believe we are at present rooelvmg un~er the Whe

Oonsolidat,ed Revenue [7 SEPTEMBER, 1921.] . Bill (No.1). 15

The Hon. G. M. DA VIS.-If the people of this country had taken up the matte-r seriously, 1 am convinced that the Government wQluld have had a much greater victory. The voting in the dif-ferent electorates certainly shows that this House still retains. the confidence that has been placed in it hitherto. I have much pleasure in seconding the motion before the House.

The Han. J. H. DISNEY.-I am not going to allow the motion for the adop-tion of the Address-in-Reply to go through without speaking upon it. I therefore move-

That the debate be now adjourned. The motion was agreed to. The deb.ate was adjourned until the

next day of meeting.

CONSOLIDATED REVENUE BILL (No.1).

This Bill was received from the Legis-lative Assembly, and, on the motion of the Hon. A. ROBINSON (Attorney-General), was read a first time.

The Hon. A. ROBINSON (Attorney-General) moved the second reading of the Bill. He said-I desire to remind honQlr-a.ble members tha,t the Supply already granted by Parliament was for two months Gf the financial year-July and

Land Tax Department of £1,1'48. The vote for the State Rivers and Wa.ter Sup-ply Commission eiXoe,eds the September yote of last year by £12,773. This extra. expenditure is necessary to insure t.he con-tinuance of pumping operations at various stations; and to secure large reserves of firewood. The only other item to which I need call special attention is that of £164,504 in connexion with the we,rking expenses of the Railway Department. Last year a. cOinsiderable proportion of the increased wages which had to be paid as the result of.the a,ward of the Railways Classification 'Board came out of a special appropriation. This ye,ar the money must come out of the ordinary revenue,

The Han. W. L. BAILLIEU .-Ill supporting the motion, I merely wish to say that, having regard to the explana-tory 3ta,tements of the L€,ader of the House, I doubt if anv member will be pr€pared to serjously discuss the items in the schedule.

The motion was agreed to. The Bill was then read a second time,

, and passed through its r~maining stages. . The House. adjo.urll€d a.t twenty-nine

minutes to nine o'clock p.m., until Tues-day, September 13.

. August. It is now necessary to obtain LECISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Supply for the present month in order to T • pay the, salaries and working expenses of the various working De,partments. There are nOi new items included in the amount

. vVednesday~ September 7~ 1921.

forr which I am asking. The estimated requirement for the month-£1,286,253 Mr. JUSTICE OUSSEN entered the cham--is based upon the. a.ctual expenditure ber at ten minutes past ten o'clock a.m .• of last ye,ar. There are votes-the prin- and took his seat.

SWEARING OF MEMBERS. . . A commission, dated September 7, 1921

(in lieu of and superseding the commission dated September 5, 1921), appointing Mr. !J ustice Oussen to administer the oa.t.h of allegiance to members of the Legislative Assembly, was read by the Clerk of the Parliaments.

cipal of which I shall enumerate-in which nrovi:;ion has to be made in this Supply ~ Bill, which makes the amuunt more than one-twelfth of the expenditure of last year. I mention these facts so that the.re may be no confusion in the minds of honorable membf,rs regarding the amount asked for: The poHce vote ex-eeeds that. of last ye,a,r by £1,122, which is priucipa,lly account.ed for by increments and filling of positions vacant last year. The OLERK announced that he had re-The: education vote is increased by £3,J.44 ceived sixty-two writs is~ued by His Ex-duel to increments in salaries to the cellency the Governor for the election of t€,lache,rs. Owing to no new land ta..'{ re- members to serve in the Legislati:ve As-turns havi:rlg been looged, more check sembly for the several electoral dISt.rIcts valuations will be necessary, and this in- . of the State, with the names of the mem-volv€S an additional appropriation for the bers elected duly indor~ed thereon.

16 Swearing of Members. [ASSEMBLY.] Election of Speaker.

The ni.em~ers present were then sworn in as follows:-Abbotsford Albert Park .. Ballarat East Ballarat West Barwon Benalla. Benambra Bendigo East .. Bendigo West .. Boroondara Borung Brighton Brunswick Bulla Carlton Castle1l1aine and Maldon Collingwood Dandcnong Daylesford Dundas Eaglehawk East Melbourne Essendon Evelyn Fitzroy Flemington Geelong Gippsland West Glenelg Goulburn Valley Grenville Gunbower Hampden Jika Jika Kara Kara Korong Lowail Maryborough .. Melbourne Mornington .. North .Melbourne Ovens PQlwarth

"Port Fairy Port Melbourne ~Prahran Richmond Rodney St. Kilda Stawell and Ararat Swan Hill Toorak Upper Goulburn Wangaratta ., Waranga Warrenheip .. "\Va.l'rnambool Williamstown

G. C. Webber. A. K. Wallace. Robert McGregor. Matthew B!;tird. Edward Morley. J. J. Carlisle. Henry Beardmore. L. J. Clough. David Smith. E. W. Greenvv·ood. David Allison. O. It." Snowball. J. R. Jewell. A. R. Robertson. R. H. Solly. H. S. W. Lawson. Thomas Tunneclifi'e. Frank Groves. Donald McLeod. 'Villiam Slater. A. A. Dunstan. A. A. Farthing. Thomas Ryan. W. H. Everard. J. W. Eillson. K C. Warde. William Brownbill. ,T. E. Mackey. W. E. Thomas. M. W. J.13our

Election of Speaker. [7 SEPTEMBER, 1921.] Estimates. 17

Sir JOHN MACKEY.-Fellow-mem-bel'S, I have much pleasure in submitting myself to your judgment.

There being no other nomination, Sir John lvIackey was then conducted by his

I should like as many honorable 'members a~ possible to accompany the Speaker.

The SPEAKER then left the chair, and resumed it at two o'clock p',m.

proposer and seconder to the chair. PRESENTATION OF THE The SPEAKER.-Fellow-members, I SPEltKER TO THE GOVERNOR.

thank you most sincerely for the ,dis- The SPEAKER.-I have to report to tinguished honour you have again con- the House that this day, accompanied by ferred upon me in appointing me to this several honorable members, I presented high office. 1 do trust that 1 shall be able myself to His Excellency the Gover-throughout my term to act in accordance with the high traditions that must be ob- nor in the Library of State Parliament

House as the choice of this Assembly, and served by one in this position. that His Excellency was pleased to address

~1r. Ll~ .. WSON (Premier) .-1 desire to me in the following terms:-offer you, ~{r. Speaker, on behalf of hon- MR. SPEAKER,-orable members, our hearty congratula- I have much pleasure in congratulating you tions upon your appointment. We have upon your election for the third time to the complete faith in your ability to disch.arge ' ()1iice of Speaker. I feel sure that you will the duties of Speaker with fairness and continue to uphold the dignity and dischargt . . l' I h th t the important duties of your office with the Impartla Ity. ave to assure you a ability and tact which you have always shown all parties will cordially co-operate with in the past. you in the maintenance of the hjgh tradi-tions of the Chair and of this House.

Mr. PRENDERGASrr.-I desire to assure you, ~{r .. Sp~aker, t~at OU.I' .exp?ri-ence in the past Justlfies us. In antIClpatmg that we shall receive fair treatment in connexion with any business before .the Chair.

:Mr. ALLAN.-I should like to add my good wishes. I am quite sati~fied that the Speaker has a House. that he .will ~xpericnce no very great dIfficulty In gm.d-ing. This is partly because we have a dIS-tinct respect for Sir John Mackey as a man, and partly because we feel that he will be fair to us in all our debates. If at any time he should be seemingly harsh, we shall know perfectly well that he is only carrying out the duties that devolve upon him as Speaker.

The SPEAKER.-I thank the leaders of the three parties for their e::ceeding kindness in their remarks regardmg my-self. I have no fear of the House itself at all. Any fear I may have is for my-self. Honorable members w.ill realize that thiEl, position is not an easy. one, ar;d I hope that, should I nO.t gIve satIs-faction at all times they WIll have some consideration for' the difficulties. I thank you all very much. ,

lvIr. LAWSON (Premier).-I have to inform the House that His Excellency the Governor will receive the Speaker in the Library at fifteen minutes to two o'clock.

STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

The Usher of the Legislative Council brought a message from His Excellency the Governor requesting the attendance of honorable members in the chamber of the Legislative Council.

The members present, headed by the Speaker, proceeded to the Council cham-ber.

BusineS8 was afterwards suspended until twenty-five minutes, tOo five Oo'clock p.m., when' the SPEAKER again took the chair.

COl\IMISS ION TO SvVEAR , MEMBERS.

The SPEAKER informed the House that h-e had re'ceived. frOom His ExceUency the Governor a commission authorizing him to administer the oath of allegiance to such members as had not alre'ady taken a.nd subscribed the same in the present Parliament.

Sir Alexander Peacock (Allandale) , 1vIr. J. W. McLachlan (Gippsland North), and Mr. A. F. Cameron (Dalhousie) were then sworn in.

ESTIMATES. Mr. LA \VSON (Premie'r) presented a

message from His Excellency the Go-vernor, transmitting an estima,te oJ ex-penditure for the month of September, 1921, and recommending an appropriation

18 O~mmittees of Supply and [ASSEMBLY.] Ways and Means.

from th~ Consolidated Revenue a.ccord-ingly~

POUNDS BILL.

Yr. LAWiSON (Premier).-In accord-ance with the usual practice, and in order to preserve the privileges of the House, I move for leave to introduce a Bill to amend the Pounds Act.

The motion was agreed to, and the Bill wag read a first time.

COYMtTTEES OF SUPPLY AND WAYS AND MEANS.

Mr. LAWSON (Premier).-I have nOVir to submit to honorable members three formal motions for the purpose of enabling Supply to be dealt with to-night. We do not intend to go into Committee· just now, but the motions I am about to propose will enable a Supply Bill to be submitted later in the sitting. In ex-

. planation of the present position, I may say this to honorable members: The Go-vernment fixed the opening of Parliament as early as possible after the return of the writs. As a matter of fact, it fixed it a daJ too soon, because all the writs had not been returned when Parliament was to have met. The reason for selecting the earliest possible day ·was that Supply. ran out on the last day of August, and it is absolutely essential that further Sup-ply should be obtained at once, in order to meet the mid-monthly payments. It may be that the present Government will get that Supply for itself, or it may be that some other Government will have the spending of the money; but, whatever Go-vernment is in power, a Supp1y Bill must be passed immediately by Parliament. Therefore, I will take the responsibility later of asking the Leader of the Opposi-tion, after the motion for the adoption of the Address-in-Reply has been moved and seconded, to move the adjournment of the debate. Then I propose to ask the House to go into Committee, and I hope speedily to pass the month's Supply Bill.

1fr. SOLLY.~Why not ask for two months' Supply?

Mr. LA WSON.-Because we do' not feel justified in asking for more than one month's Supply. Further than that, it ifol. expected that when a month's Supply has been exhausted, it will be poss:Vble for whatever Treasurer is in office to deliver the Budget speech.

.Mr. BAILEy.-Apparently, you expect a new Treasurer.

lir. LA WSON.-I am not expecting anything at present; I am merely look-ing at remote possibilities. .

Mr. W ARDE.-(' Remote possibilities;" with emphasis on the word "remote."

Mr. LA WSON.-I am ready for any con tingency.

Mr. SOLLY.-Have you not Estimates prepared for two months?

l1:r. LA WSON.-N 0, only for one month. The previous Parliament granted two months' Supply, which ran out on the 31st August. I propose merely ask-ing Supply for the month of September. It is necessary that the several formal motions be agreed to.

The following motions were then agreed to:-

That the Standing Orders be suspended, so as to allow the Committees of Supply and Ways and Means to be appointed forthwith .

That this House will this day resolve itself into a Committee to consider of the Supply to Ue granted to His Majesty.

That this House will this day resolve itself into a Committee to consider of the ways and means for raising the Supply to be granted to His Majesty.

GOVERNOR'S SPEECH. ADDRESS-IN -REPLY.

The SPEAKER.-I have to report that members. of this House this day attended the Legislative Council chamber, when His Excellency the Governor was pleased to make a speech to both Houses of Parliament, of which, for greater accuracy, I have obtained a copy. As the Speech was printed, and copies are in the hands of honorable members, it will not be necessary for me to read it.

Mr. I.JIVINGSTON.-I suppose this 1S the briefest Speech that has ever been given to this House. It is, as far as my recollection goes, and it would ,be rather poli tical manceuvring to make a speech out of what the Governor has given us to-day. I do not intend to try, but I IT'lOVe-

That the following Address-in-Reply to the Speech of His Exoellency the Governor to both Hou:3cS of Parliament be agreed to by this House:-MA Y IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY:

We, the Legislative Assembly of Victoria in Parliament assembled, beg to express our loyalty to our Most Gracious Sovereign, and to thank Your Excellency. 50r the gracious

Governor's Speech: [7 SEPTEMBER, 1921.] Add·ress-in-RepZy. 19

Speech tha~ you have been pleased to address to Parii;lment.

When we left this House a little time ago, we did so under rather difficult cir-cumEtances, not very satisfactory to either the Government, the Opposition, Ol~ those sitting in the Corner; and now we seem to be as we ,vere. How we are going to get out of the political tangle, perhaps time will show. Honorable mem-bers will see that there is nothing in the Governor's Speech with reference to the policy of the Government. That policy was given to Parliament in the Speech which the Governor delivered to honor-able members last July. The policy which was then submitted did not fit in exactly with the ideas of some of the members; but I should like to refresh the memory of honorable members of this House as to what the Government really intended to do if it had had the opportunity. I am exceedingly sorry to say it did not have that opportunity. In that Speech, the Government indicated a policy for the development of country districts in the settlement of Crown land, and for the opening up of country industries. I understand that the policy then enun-ciated will be the policy of the present

• Government for this session. One of the proposals of the Government was the in-troduction of a Bill to provide for the occupation of Crown lands. I do not want to occupy the attention of honor-able members for long, 'but I should like to mention one or two facts in connexion with that policy, which I hope will be carried out. A Bill was prepared for the occupation of Crown lands, and part of the plan was to deal with lands in Gipps-land. I am satisfied that those honorable members who know anything of the pre-sent position of Gippsland would be ex-ceedingly sympathetic so far' as that part of the State is concerned in relation to the Bill. I know of one area of 40,000 acres of first class land which would be-come Crown. land through the operation of the Oloser Settlement Board. This area would provide homes for a number of returned soldiers, civilians, or immi-grants. It was also proposed to introduce a Bill to extend the operations of the Fruit Act. I should like to point out to those honorable members living in the North-east that when I was AEsistant Minister of Agriculture I received a 'num-

bel' of deputations from that part of the State asking that they should be allowed to erect canning factories under the provi-sions of the law as it stood. Unfortu-nately, the Government had no money at tbat particular time for that purpose, but they intended to make provision for it under thi8 Bill. I may remind the hon-o1':1ble member for Hodney that a very gra\'e picture was presented in regard to his own district, and I was told that unless some provision was made for the erection of canning factories, fruit-growers would not even go to the trouble of pruning their trees, and they would not be able to do anything in the marketing of irnit, which would rot on the ground. That is a very serious and disastrous state of affairs. The district represented by the honorable member for Hodney asked for no less than £30,000 for a can-ning factory, but a political bombshell came along, and the Government were not ill a position to make the provision that at the time they desired to make for ad-yances to countr,y industries. Another Bill that was promised was a Cattle Com-pensation Bill. Through the unfortunate political turmoil and the resultant dead-lock it was impossible to pass that mea-sure, which the whole country desires to have passed. Country members know very well that when pleura breaks ont in a district the results are exceedingly dis-astrous. I know of cases in which set-tlers have lost the whole of their herds through pleuro, and they received no com-pensation whatever. When I was a mem-ber of the Government, deputations not only from the north and the sonth, but from the whole State, waited upon me to ask that that measure should be intro-duced.

Mr. CLOUGH.-Why did the Govern-ment not meet the ,House earlier this year?

Mr. LIVINGSTON.-I am not the Governmen t.

Mr ... CLouGH.-But you are blaming the dissolution for the non-passage of that Bill.

Mr. LIVINGSTON.-Certainly. It is a deplorahlel state of affairs that men in country districts who lose the whole of their dairy cattle through pleura should receive no compensation. The Bill I have referred to provides for compensa-tion. It is really an insurance Bill, and

20 Governor's Speech: [ASSEMBLY. ] Address-in-Reply.

the whole of the cattle people of the .state are in fl1v·our of it. I may s~y that one of the most important deputations that waited Ilpon me regarding the matter was from the Farmers Union. The' Bill should have been passed years ago, but it was blocked by representatives of cattle men in the northern part of this State. At that tima they said that it should only apply to the dairying industry. But later on they saw the error of their ways, and joined with cattle-owners in the rest of the State in asking that the Bill should be passed. The Bill was framed, and I am exceedingly sorry that it was not passed. Quite a number of dairymen have been ruined owing to the want of such a measur'3, RO I would ask honorable mem-bers sitting in this (the