_The Evening Post_, 20 July 1923:
MUD HUTS
AND SLAB WHARES
INTERLUDE IN THE HOUSE
For expressing his opinion that there was not enough self-reliance among the people of New Zealand generally, and that they wanted to set out on their married careers by living at too high a rate, Mr. G. #Witty (Riccarton) found himself in trouble at the hands of Mr. P. #Fraser (Wellington Central) last night.
… Mr. Witty was prompted to observe that the people of to-day should not spend so much money on picture shows and luxuries. They should get down to bedrock, and provide homes for themselves. Mr. Witty harkened back to the living conditions of the pioneers and the settlers of years ago to make a comparison detrimental to the thrifty inclinations of the young people of to-day. “It is all very well to start in an eight or nine-roomed house,” he said. “Most of us have started much lower down than that. In the early days, people were content with a mud cottage, or a two-roomed cottage…”
Mr. Fraser sarcastically congratulated Mr. Witty “on living up to his recent reputation.” “He has not only crossed over to the Tory benches … but he has out-toried the Tories.”…
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19230720.2.137
Witty in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Witty
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