WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLII, Issue 9373, 31 October 1921, Page 3

WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

SPASMS OF GOOD WORK

THE RACING POSITION.

BUDGET COMING THIS WEEK.

(Special! to the "Guardian.")

WELLINGTON, October 29. The week which has just concliKl-vI has seen Parliament nerving itself 'or events to come rather than dealing with matters of the highest importance. For instance the total isatov question has now been deferred 1o next week. It will need to con*© up fairly early, however, if jl is not to clash with the financial statement. As the budget will be accompanied by the new tariff proposals it will be seen that the ground must be cleared before two documents of that importance are laid before the House. Angry passions may easily be arou:>»>J when the racing permits question is the topic, and a calm and open ii.md is needed for the consideration of the tariff and the financial statement.

A further conference of members upon the totalisator question held early m the week did not indicate much progress towards a basis of agreement. The fact that the Prime Minister was asked to allow a straight out vote on the report and the order-in-council shows that all the suggest* ed machinery for arriving at a settlement is liable to be scrapped. ■ The plan for a simple enabling Bill and a discussion of the report clause by clause bone the seeds of possible staccess so far as an increase of permits was> concerned. As was stated, it tended to unite all racing men m the hope that once the total was adjusted the allocation could be arranged afterwards. With the bare report and order-in-council as the issue, this tposition cannot obtain, and a combination, of a very different kins is foreshadowed. Diverse Forces Uniting. The malcontents broadly speaking consist of those who are opposed to any increase m permits, and those who represent districts where clubs are to have their programmes curtailed or are m danger of going out of existance altogether. A combTbination between these two elements is how almost inevitable, and it is freely stated that they can secure a majority m the House. Should a motion adverse to the report go through it will mean that all the work of the Commission stands for nothing .and that m ±he absence of fresh legislation the position will remain exactly as it was before the question was opened. No hint of any new move m that cage has yet been given. But since numbers of country clubs have seen the chance of improving their .position, and as the Commission made substantial recommendations as to improvements which appeal to the public, it is difficult to see how some action can be ! avoided. Meantime certain aspects of the position are not without their humourous side. Certain members who do not as a rule act m concert have been thrown into one another's arms by the situation. For instance, Mr Isitt dislikes the report because he does not approve of further racing permits, while Mr Vigor Brown is exercised m his mind because the Napier Park Racing Club is liable to lose its permit. So these two, who do not usually act m concert, find themselves stable mates, to use the. most appropriate term m connection with the issue. The matter will probably be debated on Tuesday, certainly not later than dayHouse Settles Down to Work. While the 'issues on which most attention is being focussed have been deferred, a certain amount of useful work was accomplished during the week. In fact, at moments the House has been m a great working mood. Take Tuesday as a case m point. In the afternoon, the annual report of the Minister for Education came .down. This is usually the signal for an animated debate. The discrfssion on it cannot be called work m the true sense of the word, since the only -question before the House is that the report shall lie on the table and be nrinted. This week, however, members allowed the report to go on the table without a word, and proceeded tranquilly to the orders of j the day. Two Bills were read a third time and passed, and two others — Local Bodies Finance and the consolidating Factories Bill — passed their second reading, the whole constituting a good day's work. The local bodies' measure provoked a certain amount of discussion, embodying as it did the principle that living within their income should be incumbent upon^ all these authorities. Even so the general tone of the House was fairly favourable, and nothing m the nature of determined opposition was offered. The Factories Bill, being very largely a consolidating measure, could not contain anything of a very contentious nature. In addition, it was being sent to a committee, so that it slipped easily enough through the House, » Wednesday saw the Samoa Bill return from the Native Affairs Committee, pass its third reading, and go into the statute law of the Dominion practically without a word. This was unusual. The mere mention of the word Samoa has usually been sufficient to make certain sections of the House sit Up and take notice. But not on this occasion. Just to show that it was not really trying to be consistent, the House displayed a different temper when the amendment to the Arbitration Act appeared. This is purely a machinery measure, aimed at adjusting the position brought about by the recent resignation of one of the assessors. It bore no reference to the events leading up to the resignation. Yet the whole question of the shearers' award was opened up from the outset, and was debated with considerable vivacity, the discussion being carried on to a fairly late hour. Samoa m the Limelight. If the Samoa Bill had gone through

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easily, the same did not happen m the case of a comparatively harmless little measure which drifted ,ii from the Legislative Council m the shape of the Treaties of Peace nxtension ffiill. The purport of it was to extend the povvers under which A T ew Zealand administers Western Samoa. Perhaps because the measure must go through before the end of the montE, the Minister claimed urgency for it, and asked that it should go through all stages, the usual Samoan topics were opened up and the debate raged round Chinese labour and the rhinocerous beetle for quite a considerable time. This occurred on Thursday, and perhaps may be accounted for m part . by the members haying had a half holiday m order to attend the opening of the Local Industries Exhibition. They appeared refreshed and invigorated by their respite, and attacked the debate with considerable animation. Though a division was forced over the second reading of the Bill as a test on the question of indentured labour, there was no serious attempt to hold up the measure, which passed into law after the House had stayed on the job for half an hour after midnight. The Education Amendment. A Bill with a certain amount of sting m it is now under way m the .Education Amendment. It is neither long nor elaborate. But the new provisions for the registration and inspection of private schools are certain to offend the susceptibilities of certain of the denominational establishments, while there is room for plenty of difference of opinion on the matter of requiring all teachers to take the oath of allegiance. That opens up a question upon which a section of the House holds very decided .views, and a certain amount of attention is sure to be devoted to the clauses. The second reading debate was taken yesterday, when a line could be obtained on the way the House would regard the measure. [ The Budget is practically certain to appear at the end of next week, and present indications point to Thursday being the probable day. The Prime Minister stated yesterday that it was then being printed, and that the distribution of copies for release to the newspapers would probably begin to-day. It will be ready for introduction and publication by Wednesday m all probability, but it may be necessary to give another 24 hours to be quite certain. When that measure and the tariff are seriously before the House there will be plenty of work to keep everybody out of mischief for some time to come. After that a legislative, programme of some magnitude has been foreshadowed, so that the coming weeks will see the legislators called upon to bend themselves seriously to their task.