PEEP OF DAWN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 262, 5 November 1931, Page 9

PEEP OF DAWN.

FINDS PARLIAMENT SITTING.

CUSTOMS bill discussion.

DISPATCH FOR ESTIMATES

(By Telegraph.— Parliamentary Reporter.)

WELLINGTON, this day.

Dawn peeped through the windows of Parliament House this morning to discover members still puzzling their way through the Customs -Bill, the second reading of which started at 5.30 last night. The sitting provided little evidence of the much talked of desiie to bring the session to a close. Once the question of wheat duties was raised discussion started and was sustained wfth almost Address-in-Reply formality and leisure,., other subjects finding a place after 2.30 a.m. The bill passed without amendment at 5 a.m

In sharp contrast to. the flood of oratory •which, had swamped the earlier proceedings was the dispatch with "which the Public Works Estimates were then disposed of. In five minutes to the second the wide-eyed and jaded House had approved appropriations aftiounting to over £7,000,000, and although important and contentious subjects were involved, there was not a murmur ofdiscussion. The performance was surely a record of its kind. ,

During the committee stages of the Customs Bill, Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour party, endeavoured to have the 3 per cent primage removed, but the effort was defeated by 41 votes to 22, and an attempt by Mr. M. J. Savage (Labour, Auckland West) to repeal the increased duty on tea Avas rejected by 36 votes to 20. By 39 votes to 20 the committee declined the proposal by Mr. H. M. Bushworth (Independent, Bay of Islands) to apply to other commodities besides wheat and flour, the special provisions relative to importations from countries whose currency is appreciated in relation to New Zealand currency.

Prospects of the session ending on Saturday have now disappeared, and it is expected that business will not be completed until Wednesday next.

, The House adjourned at 5.10 a.m. until 7.30 to-night.