THE SESSION.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20620, 9 August 1932, Page 8

THE SESSION.

FRESH TAXATION NOT ANTICIPATED. PRIMB MINISTER'S STATEMENT. [THE PB2S3 Special Service.] WELLINGTON, August 8. "We hope to get through tho coming session of Parliament without having to impose any nioro taxation, and assure you that will be welcomed > tho Government as much as by anyone else," said the Prime Minister (the lit. Hon. G. W. Forbes) in the course of an interview. He said ho was much more confident about the future. There would bo no need for more emergency legislation next session, and Parliament should bo able to return to its normal work. ltcplying to a question as to it niisUit be-found necessaiy to make fiiK readjusting in the ployment relief wages tax, Mr lorbes said he was not in a at the moment what would hato to be clone in that direction. Any would be avoided, it possible, but the State of the unemployment funds would have to be gone into before anything Co ßeplying to a question as to when the ftnal report of the National Lxpendituro Adjustment Commission would bo released for publication, the Prim Minister said that it remained to be seon how far Cabinet was able to get if ite consideration of the document beforo the opening of the Cabinet was at present going into the recommendations which were embodied in art extremely lengthy document. He was unqble to say at present whether it would be possible to release the report before the session. ,

The Emergency I#aws. For the past two years, the Minister sntf, the deprc«Biori had teen reflected in the size of the Statute Books, which were very mucli than thev had been for many years. Parliament had been dealing Jargcb' with emergency laws during the period, and itsTwork during the 6 Wt sessions of this year and 1931 had been 001 fined wholly to legislation designed to meet an extraordinary situation, ine bound volumes of the _ , small, but they contamed legislaiion of a particularly severe type, more than making up in importance what they lacked in Size. Wide powers had been taken by the Government to deal with the unprecedented state of affairs which had arisen, and having passed emergency legislation the Government had completed one part of its programme of economic reconstruction, it ■wag not devoting itself to the administration of the new laws, •which constituted . the second phase of the task. With the bettor outlook there would be no more need to pass emergency laws, as far as could be judged at the moment, and the Government would next session l.ave a chance of bringing down legislation which had been held un owinft to ttie pressure bf more immediately important business. Parliament would be able to settle down to its normal work when it assembled within the next few weeks, and it>w<Mild probaWv he found that there would be a fairly large amount of legislation to bs dealt with. Rational Estimates. One of iho most important things to bo placed before Parliament next session would be the national Estimates, for these would reflect the considerable otonomies the Government had made nrtd give an idea of the extent to which further savings wbtild be tarried out. The national financial position as revealed iit the figures for the June quarter published last week was a source of gratification, for the figures showed that expenditure was being kept under \control and that revenue was in some respects better than w.is oridnallv printed. Althori<sh much had been accomplished in keeping expenditure down, tne Government had received a set-back during the .Tune quarter bv having to pay £300.000 in exchange, which it had not rontemolated hnvin? to spend. The Departmental economies continued, and* thev would be more fully shown in tho Estimates.

Commission. Legislation would probably wise otffc of the recQtfiniepdationß of tho National Hxpfenditur© Adjustment Commissions final report, but this could not be regarded as emergency legislation as was tbat which followed upon the presentation of the Commission's interim report. The interim recommendations were speeded up specially in order that they could be tnade part of the Governemergency policy, but the seovinrt of the report would deal with questions that would be more in the category of. routine administrative matters.