THE COMING SESSION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1188, 25 July 1911, Page 4

THE COMING SESSION.

BILLS TO BE INTRODUCED. , Parliament meets on Thursday nest, and already many of tlio members' nrn establishing themselves in lodgings . m Wellington. The .Ministers, who, during tlie recess, have been occupying rooms in tho Government Building, arc »» s .v transferring to their quarters in the Parliumentarv Buildings- The icd, heavy carpets have again been laid on the floors of the Bouse, and preparations generally are in full swing. .Messengers and ollicials, whom the habitues ul' the House see only during session, have again foregathered'and will soon be donning their uniforms. They come from all (juarters of the Dominion. The Government, according to a. statement recently made by Sir..lames Carroll, has sufficient Bills in a forward state to enable the work of the session to be proceeded with without delay. Others have yet to bo prepared by tho Ministers.

A Local Government Bill will be introduced during the session proposing to reduce the number of existing local bodies, and giving extended powers of finance. These proposals, by tho way, are by no means new.

A measure dealing with the patent laws of the Dominion, the elfoct of which will be to bring our laws into lino with those in Britain, lias been framed. The Mental Diseases Bill will seek to incorporate in the present legislation on this subject many of the ideas that modern research has given to the world. The measure was presented by the lieu. G. Fowlds last year, but has since received additions. Its promoter holds that it will bo (lie most advanced Bill of its hind in the Empire. It will be in conformity with the report of the Royal Commission which obtained data in England. A Town-Planning Bill will be submitted, which will bo applicable to the whole of New Zealand. It will be based largely on the English law, though one difficulty in the way of a complete assimilation will be the greater powers given to local government in Great Britain.

Amendments which tlio Pharmacy Board have asked for will be included in a Bill which is being prepared. It will deal largely with the sale of poisons. A Seeds Bill, to regulate the sale of seeds, will bo introduced by the Hon T. Mackenzie.

One important measure, which has been held over from session to session for the past three years— the Public Service Classification Board—is not, it- is currently rumoured, to bo proceeded with this session, because of difficulties that have arisen. A delinite pronouncement on this matter will bo eagerly awaited by the members of the Public Service. A number of smaller measures held over from last session arc also to be reintroduced.