THE SESSION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 914, 6 September 1910, Page 5

THE SESSION.

PROGRESS OF BUSINESS.. GOVERNMENT'S "UNWORTHY TACTICS," REMARKS BY MR. MASSEY. Speaking to a Dominion reporter yesterday Mr. Massey, Leader of the Opposition, said' that he was very glad to be able to say that tho.House was at last settling down to the real business of the session, though up to. the present very little of the important work of Parliament had been dealt with. Why tha Estimates, for instance, should not bo considered on the Friday of each week, as had been customary for years past, he could not understand. With our rapidly increasing expenditure a thorough and systematic exa. .ation of the. Estimates ot/each Department was to his way of thinking even more necessary than legislation, and he trusted that there would be ho attempt on the part of the Gov-' ernmeut to prevent -their administration being so closely looked into as the country required and as its importance deserved. In the meantime he was somewhat suspicious l of the tactics which the Prime Minister and his .colleagues seemed' to have adopted. , And talking of tactics, continued Mr. Massey, another very objectionable piece of tactics which the Government seemed to have revived was' that of. forcing a •division on the House on questions or tsills whioh might be right, in principle but wrong in detail, or might contain something good, along with, a great, deal that was improper. .In such, cases .with many members'thero ,wa& a difficulty in voting "Yes" or "No" on tho thiri reading. : Take for instance, he said, the I Public Debt Extinction Bill. Many rneniI bers believed in the principle of sinking funds even while we continued to. borrow and were willing to give.the proposed legislation a -trial, but some of the details of the Bill were strongly objected to, especially .the jugglery 'and interference with the sinking funds belonging to the war loans and those'set apart-for local bodies' loans.. Personally he thought that the latter was sufficient reason for the rejection of the Bill. But because it. was nominally a Bill for' providing sinking funds'many members were notinclined to vote against it; mi the final stages. To place such mfembers ,in a difficulty two .Government supporters—one Maori member and .one European, mem-, ber—allowed themselves to.be made use '..of by calling for'a'division,'and.later on no doubt the Prime Minister would bedenouncing the political iniquity of those members. who were forced into the lobby by-, his own somewhat unworthy tactics'. ; - - In the course of some further remarks M.r.. Mas"sey said . that ha would admit that more progress was made last week than in any week since the session began, .but that was not saying very much, ! and he was bound 1 ., to say, that for.sqme .reason or other/there .appeared to be this session more, carelessness, and indifference on-the part.of:the:Government as to whetlier any. progress..was made or not than he had noticed on any previous occasion. : •''■-'- ;■_■'■'.'■ .'.,■'•''.■

NO BILLS THROUGH BOTH HOUSES. ; WHEN '' WILL THE .SESSION END?': ; Although Parliament has been, in session for nine weeks,'the legislative machine is only just.beginning to work freely.. The record of work done is;'.consequently, ■very disappointing. -In - the. Legislative Council only ono measure, the Crimes Act Amendment Bill; has /passed, through all its stages. The,-House has, however, done a ;little better, it having completed the consideration .of'the. Public DebtExtinction Bill, Eangitaiki Laud Drainage Bill, Phosphorus Matches Bill, Companies- Amendment Bill,' Exhibitions Bill, and Foreign ' Insurance" Companies' Deposits Amendment Bill. With tho.exception of three Imprest Bills, no-measure has/therefore,; passed.' both Houses. :As a further evidence.of the paucity .of"real work to date,-.the delay which has r taken place in connection with' tho consideration'of the Estimates.may be cited, 'Not: only. has. the first item of the Estimates not been discussed,. but the Premier- has threatened to put off its, consideration for some Weeks. Usually by i this stage of the session.tho Estimates aro'.well advanced. As-the session last year was a short one at the end of.'tho year, it can hardly be "quoted as an instance. . In 100S,- however, Parliament met on Juno 29, and the first item of the Estimates was dealt with' on July 24. Then, again; in 1907,' Parliament opened on Juno. 27, and the first item was disposed of on ; August 2. : The session'of 190G 'may also be cited, for in that year Parliament met on' August 21,' and .the first item was discussed on September 5. ir the heavy programme, which, has.heen laid down is to -be carried -through in anything like its entirety, it. is impossible, therefore, to see how the ' session, can end before the end'- of •; November.

'..' OFI.NTEREST TO WORKERS. ; Originally the maximum amount whioh could be obtained by a worker; by way of an advance, from the. St'a,te for. building . purposes was £350. \ The amount was subsequently increased to ,£450. A number of applicants .who received the' sum of .£350 are now, however, anxious toobtain lip to r :the, increased 'amount; biit the Department lias replied . that it /has no power to; grant l their, request. -In' reply to . a query put by Mr.: Wright; M.P. for Wellington South, the Prime Minister, now states that/it is . intended' to bring down legislation.to meet the difficulty. \ A PENDING "BATTLE."/ ' Among Auckland members it is felt that the fight over Government House at Auckland should take place before the Hon. G. Powlds leaves; on his visit to South Africa. 'It is- the opinion of Mr. Myers, M.P.,- that the Government has not so far expressed any valid reason for taking away the vice-regal. residence in Auckland. The petitions sented show that the people of the north are earnest in the attitude taken. up ovf* the matter, and expect the Government to act in accordance'with the- promise of the Prime Minister when he said at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce banquet that the people of the north had the matter in their own; hands. It was clearly shown that a most desirable site for a university could be obtained on the old rifle range grounds at Mount Eden, so : that • there, was no need for : ■tampering with.Government House, while the Metropolitan Grounds could remain intact as a breathing" space for the people of Auckland.. ,He and the other representatives, of Auckland. city are. strongly in favour of the subject being thrashed out without any delay.

M'UEAN MEMORIAL PARK. Tho Local Bills.Committee has reported upon the Napier Recreation Ground and the Sir Donahl M'Lcan Memorial Park Bill. The object of tho Bill is to enable the trustees of the park to vest it in tho corporation and; to enable tho tion to uso a municipal reserve for. the purposes of a. public recreation ground, tt is pi-oposed by the committee that tho recreation ground shall be held by the corporation under tho provisions of the Domains Act, 1908. The provisions in the Bill for tho laying out of the ground and to givo leasing powers, etc., have therefore, been deleted. These are the only material alterations in. the proposals of the Bill. The recommendation that the Bill bo allowed to proceed, with amend-ments,-was agreed .to.:"