THE FINAL STAGES

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 34, 4 November 1929, Page 10

THE FINAL STAGES

SESSION TO END THIS WEEK A MODIFIED TRANSPORT BILL The present session of Parliament is to end on Wednesday or Thursday next Considerable progress was made last week, and the Government is now ready to finalse the outstanding business on its programme. To-day the House will deal with the Railway Authorisation Bill and the report of the Select Committee on the Transport Amendment Bill. In reply to a question in the House on Saturday the Minister of Transport (Hon. W. A. Veitch) said it was intended to proceed with the Bill this week, but the contentious clauses would be eliminated from the measure. From what can be gathered in the lobbies, the Government will have no difficulty in securing the passage of the Bill if it is amended in the direction proposed. There is, however, likely to be some debate on the report of the Select Committee. A Week of Progress. Apart from the Transport Bill other items still to be disposed of include the Supplementary Estimates, and the Finance Bill. Urgency will be claimed for each day’s business this week, and late sittings may be the rule. With the end in .sight, members are not objecting to the late hours. Their main concern now is to put the remaining business through and return to their electorates. This was shown by the way the work was accelerated last week. The result was the passage of ten Bills. These were the Customs Amendment, Arms Amendment, Pacific Cable Sale Authorisation, Native Trustee Amendment, Hospital and Charitable Institutions Amendment, Law Practitioners (Solicitors’ Fidelity Guarantee Fund), Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland Empowering,' and the European, Native, and Lands “Washingup’ Bills. The three last-named measures were put through their final stages at a brief sitting on Saturday. In addition to the passage of Bills during the week, the House disposed of the Public Works Statement and Estimates, and several reports, including that of the special Select Committee which inquired into the duties affecting and flour. A Stalemate. The outstanding incident of the week was the passage of the measure which confirmed the doubling of the primage duty on imports. The Opposition endeavoured to prevent the additional impost being placed on articles affecting the cost of living and production, but the plea was not heeded. Labour to a man voted with the Government. Mr. Holland’s declaration that he would not vote the United Government out of office until he could put his own party in, has produced a position of stalemate as far as adverse motions are concerned. Any amendment, however necessary, moved by the Opposition, will not have Labour’s support—that is the effect of Mr. Holland’s announcement. There Is not likely, therefore, to be any startling result from the debate this week on the decision of the Government not to restore the Civil Service salary “cuts.”