The Press. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25,1907. THE SESSION.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12970, 25 November 1907, Page 6

The Press. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25,1907. THE SESSION.

pl^iihln:.*.few, hours frora.the timo tWe tfoo hands of our readers, toet" division', -bell of tho ;■ Parifa- & T&O7 will bavo~riing, H a^tt^hV'lcw ', mwnibdre, who.'. have stayed ||ip;*he Wtt»r end will have loft for their '>hnV;as; regards ; tlwro,'ie mo-doubt '■"that •; it H|»^]^rii»\ ; conveyed in SPpfl^' •P^ 1 and ■ h«. ;.b«en .the/nwet' important wo have lied IKllll'/Wi'liiVßibof of yoanh-probftbly ■■ niuoh : -iiiniwten.t ; than ; many.'people;yete ?||j|^i^. : ;'.j;Thythreo'-tand'.A<jte.ttrid the ll Pss^^AtebVere,',. oroouieo, tho ©utii 'jrtandiug f'eaturoa of tho' five montira' hll ; A<?te '■. represent in 1 Wihioh waa * fwvture of tho Goto tho Socialist section of,the V. ■ Tlio' erbi'trary 'limitation of ©K^eteii'which' was featurce of the Go.Imul.;. proposals losfe. yeai , ■Ml^nd'no place in ; iheir'poUcy'this jeaf. &p-Jfcbey dovieod instead iv eyetom of penal of tho landholder, by means a; licavy incrpaso in tho graduated and tho non-recognition, of in laud, with the object of last.- penny oirt of leiidw foroing them, as c* the point 'bayonet, to i>art with, thei r. hrcid. the Land Laws Amendmeni Act K|||&« leoso-in-porpetuity disappears, ep cc the future disposal of Crown [M'prlttnds ia ooncorned, but tho offer I |;|'of ! tho freehold 'to leaseholders I rondered farcical fey the terms under I p|?wliieh-- it ia obtainable." Tho trould-be I has nothing to hope for from I *t tho Socialists, whose prejudice against I ||!Ciliat form of tenure inspired the Go- | ffis$ r,nnen t l ' c Last year tho Go--1 trernment proposed to sot apart thir- j K|jteen end a half million acres of Crown WOMdB as national endowments. T9n"s Pp-jear they first reduced tho amount to million, and eubsequently to coven P|iinUlion acrce. WatJTtho general policy gjS; -"joi setting<aekle c rcdeonoblo amount of KfclaJid as nm> «n*km7n«<nt for nationni wo havo 310 quarrel, but it is fj^< ! i'diffo«nt tbing jiltogothor when nnta-p|-"fireeJjcWo™ eed«wvowr to prevent the d-ittposal of any Crown to. settlers. The new -tariff severe! important concespt'Jji^W* l .t° householders, but also a considerable amount of taxa* k<?»l?? * a other directions, to an, extent |||gffr|iich does not neem to have heen gUpaoraMy. wscognisod. Another measure is tJn> Nativo liand Act, pi|^ ioll e' TC<5 * ffcct to th® recommendafe'fione of the Nativo Land Commieeion 11';,,/' Sβ" to the lease and «ak» of a largo area -f |.;:,;{'ofvM*ori with'th'i* object of pro^ ''te ; Sirhil«' : tho welfam of tho in it.' It »> Talu.-' meaeuro so far as it goes, and it oharncterifltic of the Govern«ip»'ntV inetbode that it ■hould/oot have

been introduced until the laet daye of tho eeeeion. Among other measures of noto are tho Flour Duty Act, providing that flour shall be admitted free of duty if tho Court of Arbitration to which the question, shall be submitted decides that the price in the Dominion is "unreasonably high." The Act ie an attempt to interfere with Laws that ere quite beyond the Governments conrtrol, but it will probeWy prove co oumbroue to be unworkable. The Pure Food Act is a step in tho direction of ensuring that the public shall get what it paye for when it buys food, and shall get it pure and -wholesome. The amendment of the Divorco Act makes divorce less easy of attainment in one respect, by preventing a divorce being secured for disobedience of an order for their restitution of conjugal rights, until tho lapse of five years. On the other hand, for tho first time, insanity U recognised as sufficient ground for divorce, if it lias continued over ten years. Further efforts to protect the purity of tho race by legislation are made in the Chinese Immigrants Act, which imposes an educational test on Chineso wishing to enter New Zealand. Superannuation schemes for the Post and Telegraph service and tho Civil Service have been adopted, and tho classification of the railway service and the public service has been carried out. Tho Gaming end Lotteries Act, another end-oM:he-session measure, in spite of its drastic provisions, and the amendment, by a new Act, of the abortive Fire Brigades Act of last year, closed the long list of enactments of the session. Long as it is, several of the nwflsurea promised in ihe> CSovernor's speech find no place in it—among them amendments of tho Arbitration and Conciliation Aot, and of the Shipping and Seamen's Act, «i measure dealing with secret commiseione, and some new mail proposals. Hut considering that tho real work of the session hardly began until Parliament ihad been sitting for two months, and that much of the most important legislation has been crammed into tho last cix -weeks most people will agree that the record of work is quite long enough. As to its quality, that will bo better realised, if not appreciated, when the measures begin to tako effect.