PARLIAMENT.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20028, 9 September 1930, Page 7

PARLIAMENT.

WORK OF THE SESSION. BND DRAWING NEAR. [*m »UH l»eeW aerrlu.} ... WELLINGTON, September 8. The shadow of the end of the session is already falling across.the work of Parliament, and the Government is unofficially working to the plan of completing the remaining business by the end of the month. The Order Paper received an overhaul at thf; hands of Cabinet this evening, but no announcement of the amount of business curtailment proposed will be made for a day or two, as the Acting-Prime Minister, the Hon. E. A. Hansom, intends first to consult with the Leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, and the Leader of the Labour Party, Mr H. E Holland. It is highly probable that any remaining legislation which promises to be unduly contentious will not be proceeded with. ! Unemployment Bill. The Unemployment Bill will be further considered to-morrow, and while Air Ransom hopes to see the measure finally disposed of then, there is scope for much further discussion in the nature of the functions proposed for the Unemployment Board and the authority sought for the payment of sustenance allowances. The Labour members have talked at great length on the flat tax levy, and the exclusion of women from the scheme, but it is probable that Reform members will largely take up the running when the question of the allowance comes under consideration. Should the Bill be passed to-morrow it is probable that private members will be given Wednesaav .for the further consideration of their Bills. In any event, they have been promised one further opportunity. However, one of these Bills, the Gaming Amendment Bill, will probably require a day to itself, and that may be allocated later. In any case, in the words of the Prime Minister, spoken shortly before he left New Zealand, ''The Gaming Amendment Bill will be given a run." Hallway Matters. While the forward order of business for the week is still tentative, it is likely that the Railway Estimates will be considered next Friday. By so arranging the order of business, the Government is hopeful of shortening the discussion on the Railway Statement which was- tabled last week. The Railway Commission, which was recently granted an extension until the end of the month for the lodging of its report, is expected to complete its work in about a week. Mr Ransom safo this evening that the Government desired the report to be tabled in time to permit a discussion this session. Questioned further about his proposal to set up a special Select Committee of the House to consider the statement recently tabled showing, the estimated cost of the railways under construction, and the estimated revenue they would produce, Mr Ransom said there was no inten- | tion that the question should thereby be shelved for "session. On the J contrary, the order of reference for the I Committee' waa now being drafted by the Minister for Railways, the Hon. W. A. Veitch, and he hoped to be in a position in a few days to call for nominations for members of .the Committee from the various Parties. While he could not yet give the precise terms of the order of reference, he could say that the Committee would have power to make recommendations regarding the policy that should be pursued in connexion" with the lines under construction. It will be remembered that { the tabled statement conveyed the disquieting information that the annual loss on these lines when brought into operation will be £737,653. It would appear that the Committee has a big "task ahead of it, but Mr Ransom said the idea was that it should report in time to enable the position to be discussed before the session ends. Public Works Statement. It is said that the Public Works Statement is now virtually ready, but owing to the absence of the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. W. B Taverner, at Arapuni, no information ia yet available as to when the statement will be tabled. ASCENT IN A BALL. - ■■■♦ — r SCIENTISTS HOPE TO REACH GREAT HEIGHT. (toitbb p&isfl ASsoouTioir—bt sizctsic | TBtXOBAPB— COPtBXOBT.) (Received September 9th, 12.15 a.m.) LONDON, September 8. The Berlin correspondent of "The Times" says that dangling in a hermetically sealed aluminium ball, "just large enough to contain himself, an assistant, and an array of complicated instruments, the Swiss, Professor Peccard, plans to attempt a voyage to heights unknown to man. He is at present awaiting favourable wind and weather at Augsburg. The greatest height hitherto reached is over 4$ miles by the American, Captain Grey, who was killed while attempting higher altitudes. j Professor Peccard aims at reaching , six to eight miles. He hopes to defy the cold by regulating the internal temperature. By revolving the ball by means of an air screw to a small electric motor, he plans to turn that part of the ball coloured black to the sun for the purpose of utilising its superior powers of absorption, while if the heat becomes too great, the unpainted aluminium surface will be turned to the sun. The ball is fitted with a physical laboratory wherein the explorers intend to study cosmic radiation, electric c«» entß »f tn, ° B P he . ric ' electric elements. The ball is fitted with stout glass windows to facilitate observation. Two parachutes f'or the occupants will be. provided, while the third will assist to retard the ball s descent in the event of an emergency. INTER-STATE GOLF. ♦ —— MISS KAY AND MORPETH WIN. (vwTtm raws associate*-m blbcwjc (Received September 9th. 12.15 a.m.) MELBOURNE. September 8. InterXe professional golfers 78 T^ 71 the 49 mixed foursomes for the I winners, with the scores at 7 g_77—lSA.