TOO SLOW.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 201, 23 August 1905, Page 3

TOO SLOW.

I'M ' jiBLIAMENTAfiY DAWDLING. I 1 THE PREMIER WANTS MORE .1 ' WORK DONE. ■■■-, ■ ■ 3!- - - 3 _> "Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) : I wf * WELLINGTON, Tuesday. • The Ol- Age Pensions Act is the only ' government measure of any importance -idea 'has been passed through all it, jkge. in the House up to date this There are several matters which "j the beginning of the session were j looted on as nv n ent 'y requiring legisla-Ijti-ii. The first of these was the Shops jj_ Offices Act. which a section of thcjhopkeeping community cried so loudly r*uired amendments. The Premier jjced an amending bill before the >ki_e at l ' le I>c opportunity, and, afigra b lt ' e ' jr no opposition, it was read g second time. Progress was then hi . m while voluminous evidence «as taken jy the Labour Bills Committee. When tjse bill again came before members as 4 whole in committee it was evident that _ere was great diversity c; opinion, jacked by considerable stu,.bo__ntss oa either side. Progress was conseenently slow, and work on the bill Initio, be temporarily given over. That is t_e position now. The bill is half way {jrrough committee. Even assuming {nat it has a smooth passage until it is jead a third time in the House, then? j« a fair probability of trouble with the legislative Council. This is a measure s__ch those acquainted with Parliamenfrry procedure thought would be composed within a week or two of Parliauasat meeting. There are other important policy bills that have little more tfcan embarked on their sea of trouble, gneh as the Teachers' Superannuation. Workers' Homes, Sale of Foods and Drugs, Trade Monopolies, Electoral Second Ballot, etc., while there are believed to he some yet to be launched. This afternoon the Premier called a brief halt, and asked the House to itraighten up its -»-«.-k. and look round, tad see what - little distance it hau gome in a ,o_np_,raitv-_y long time. ''We lave been eiahi weeks in session,"' he •id. Mr. Massey: And nothing done. The Premier said that, if not all. then I some members seemed to desire to take up the time of the House in talk. The general elections must take place by December sth, and Parliament must be over by then. If mernbersTooked at the Order Paper they would see tbe large amount of business set down. It was not only lgislative business, but the ad-minis-raton of the colony that requred attention. Only five clauses of the Estimates had been passed and if the House went through them at the present ra_e of one clause in a night, it looked as if the next proposal the Government would have to bring in would be one to extend the period of Parliamentary sittings^— that was if they wished to get through the work on the Order Paper. It was possible, he might be tcld, that talking and debate were what they were there for, but he thought it was something more than that. There were many important bills on the paper respecting- administration, and, while he did not to curtail debate. he suggested that sometimes there was too much repetition on the part of members. What one- member had voiced was sometimes reiterated by five or six members. Two-thirds of the members who had spoken this session had been speaking not to the House but to their constituents. They were eieefcmeering. Mr. Hardy: They are all Government supporters. The Premier hu_aoro_tsly indicated that he could not help having a raajoriI ty behind him. and went on to state ti.at j there had been ft-w late sittings so far. but 1_? was satisfied the House woul have to come to that. Mr. Massey: No late sittings. The Premier: Very well, there is certain work that must go through *l:is session, and we mean to get that work tkrough: if we c-iut opt it through, and members won't restrain themselves, unfortunately, we shall have to sit la c; and whether we sit late or rarlv some of these bills must go through. I canBet promise to give time from Government bills to certain bills of private members, although I admit the importance of some of these measures. Every mo-cent we can get is required to get the bills through. The Premier went 0 71 . to hint at certain private members bills that could be sacrificed. He evidently had Sir William Steward's Legislative Council Reiorm Bill in view, when he said that a change of opinion had come over th'? House regarding the Council hist session. Mr. Bedford's motion that ns: nrrther appointments to th? Council b? made had been carried by 16. but Mr. Herd_nan'"s proposal in the same direction this year had been negatived by two, and he believed with a fuller House the majority would have been greater. Mr. Massey: No: it would have been the other way. _ The Premier said that both Sir William Steward and Mr. EI! had brough. the matter forward, but it was a question that should be brought forward by the Government. A Member: Why don't you do it, then? The Premier a-L:d how it was possible to do it v, lien other more urgent fcismess required ;o be done. They had not the time then, referring to the question out of which the discussion had sprung, his own notice of motion. "That after last Wednrsday Government business take precedsn.-e on Wednesdays/ he said, "I think the time won't be very long before we take Thursdays as well *s Wednesday;." Hitherto. Wednesdays iave been devoted to private members' bills, and Thursdays to local bills. Tooay the House gave Wednesday to the .Government. At a later of the afternoon, Mr. f^ asse y. in speaking on the second readof the Electoral Bill, said that it was *n example of the wasted time of Par"amerrL Last session the House had spent a lot of time on it. and gone into - eonnnittee, and then it had been dropE;' _»d- ---—