THE STATE OF THE SESSION.
In accordance with his promise, the Prime Minister last night olitlincd thn intentions 'of the Government with, respect to the remainder of the. sr-viai, Most of the measures now upon the <. i Paper, it appears, are to be prorv Jci with, but this does not mean, as if •. ev.k! have meant in the days of Me. that there is a colossal programme of Parliament. Mr. Seddon k>- <■ load the Order Paper with multiti •!..« ! Bills concerning which nobody !>ui self knew more than the iinnatisiV:ery fact that only a small proportion ■••ru to become law. Sir Joseph . announced in the Governor's Speech a ;;rogramme that oven Mn. Seddon might, have considered a trifle bloated, but lie has refrained from puzzling members with an overloaded Order Paper. Tlicro arc therefore a mere handful of " slaughtered innocents " this year. Of these the most important arc the Land Settlement Finance Bill and the Government Advances to Workers Bill. The measure dealing with the national annuities scheme is to be circulated only, and other important proposals that arc to be postponed are those relating to hospitals and charitablc aid, and to the auditing of the public accounts. The Priue Minister road a list of too moßsum of tot importance,, &ad otbora of scccmd irn.-
portance, which he hopes to deal with beforo the session is closed, so that on the whole, despite the non-appearance of many of the measures promised in tho Governor's Spcech, the programme beforo tho House is far greater than Parliament can properly transact within tho timo suggested by the Prime Minister. Sir Joseph Ward sot down Friday week as the possible date of prorogation. Tho J performance of Parliament has not so far been such as to produce any public desire that it should occupy the: stago much longer. In hoping that the session will end at the earliest possible moment, we hope, of course, that the. work which it will do will have a bulk proportionately small. Instead of struggling with'all tho preferred measures listed by the Prime Minister, tho House v.ould better serve the public interest and its own reputation if it confined itself only to the really urgent and necessary It ini'ss beforo it. Tho Arbitration Amend :;v,nt Bill and tho Education Amendment are the only contentious measures thai, need be considered. The increased n.l subsidy and tho reports on the Parj'.un'iii:- Buildings site must also be dealt *vi '•:! There is in addition the Second I'ljiot Bill, whjch wo even yet hope f.c> killed. These matters, when added to Public Works Statement and Estimate, :.:id the Supplementary Estimates, should give tho House a full week's work in themselves. The Prime Minister disclaimed any Intention of rushing business through, and ho is entitled to some credit therefor, but in view of his estimate of what the House can do in just over a week his disclaimer must be received with a little caution. It is fortunate that there are no measures of great importance in danger of maltreatment by a reckless and worn-out. House. • Whatever may happen, it appears certain that the Statute Book will be smaller than usual, and as matters have reached such a point that the less legislation enacted' the better for the nation, this is a welcome fact. At tho back of most people's minds there is now a feeling, unexpressed perhaps, that it is far better that our legislators should do nothing at all than that they should strive to earn their salaries in the last few days of their labours.
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 310, 24 September 1908, Page 6
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592THE STATE OF THE SESSION. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 310, 24 September 1908, Page 6
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