ANOTHER DOSE OF LEGISLATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 170, 20 July 1936, Page 6

ANOTHER DOSE OF LEGISLATION.

After a respite of five and a half weeks •for Parliament and the country, Labour's legislative programme is to be continued in the session which resumes to-morrow. The interval has been full of activity of various kinds, and the Government has allowed little opportunity for mental relaxation. Attention has been alternately. diverted between the consequences of measures passed in the first part of the session and promises of what is to come. Some of the far-reaching effects of the 40-hour week have been brought home to businesses and industries by the Arbitration Court's interpretation of the law, the Rent Restriction Act has been applied in particular instances against landlords, the guaranteed price scheme has begun to assume definite shape, compulsory unionism has resulted in a general recruiting of members by every trades union and the formation of numerous new unions, wage increases have been given to many young workers in shops, offices and factories, and some unfortunate effects of the law upen untrained youths have been apparent. This week two vital and far-reaching measures are to be made known and possibly given the final approval of Parliament —the Finance Bill restoring cuts in salaries and wages, and the Bill for controlling prices. These two measures are linked together in accordance with the Government's promise that the operation of wage restoration will not be nullified by an equivalent general increase in the cost of living, but it is not clear how or to what extent this ])romise can be implemented in practice. Next will follow the mortgage readjustment proposals, which have been associated in Ministerial forecasts with guaranteed prices for dairy produce, but actually the indicated intention of the Government is to deal with all mortgages, urban as well as rural. The Budget will contain the Government's, so far well-concealed proposals to revise taxation. A busy and eventful session appears in prospect.