NEARLY OVER

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 October 1928, Page 12

NEARLY OVER

END-OF-SESSION RUSH.

(Special to "Star.”)

WELLINGTON, October 6. “Merrily wo roll along, roll along, roll along.’’ The words of the old ditty are very applicable to Parliament just now as it is in a most “talkmanlike” mood, but still ready to work. It. is fast approaching the end of its tether and one-third of it’s component parts will soon be at the end of their political tether, too. Some of them, may be fastened on to the legislative leash again in the dim and distant future, but for the sake of Hansard, the Great British Public, and the Ser-geant-at-Arms, who must often have to observe a sense of restraint when i perambulating about with his Mace, it is to be hoped that there will be a heavy casualty list on November 22 — if that turns out to be the actual date of the General Election. The ’ Election has been tentatively fixed and definitely fixed, then something seems to crop up by way of amendment, and the date has to be pushed back a bit more. Sir Joseph Ward has been numbered among the valiants who have tried to induce the Prime Minister to say when the Political Handicap will be run, but as Mr Coates apparently wants to make sure that he can get a good flying start he contents himself with dallying about at the barrier, and 'no one is any the wiser. As the session lias gone on for so long, however, it seems to be pretty certain that the vicinity of November 22 will be the time for all good men to come to the aid of the parties, but it is fervently hoped that many of the present occupants of the House will be numbered among the dear departed. There has been full evidence this week, and especially in the last fortyeight hours, that the end-of-session rush has started. Bills are introduced one minute and become law the next, while the stewards at Bellamy’s are floating in perspiration trying to cope with the heavy volume of business that has piled up as the result of members talking themselves to exhaustion over the little things that did not matter in the early and' third-of-the-way through stage of the session. As an instance of how things have . been flying through, the Auckland Transport Amendment Bill might be quoted. In the ordinary course of events this must surely have been regarded as a Local Bill and been sent to the Local Bills Committee, which would have taken great pains to. call evidence and examine the Standing Orders to see whether it had been duly advertised for 42 days before the commencement of the session. But, oh dear no. Not at this stage of the session. Standing Orders, apparently sometimes serve the purpose of letting Bills through instead of holding them up. The Prime Minister introduced the Bill late yesterday afternoon and in the early hours of this morning it was “joshed” through to the accompaniment of a lot of snores and a few benedictions. It was a shining example of what Parliament can do when it likes, Standing’ Orders or no Standing Orders. Mr Wilford mentioned that if he only raised a point of order the Speaker would of necessity have to rule the Bill out of order, but he frankly admitted that it would be churlish of him to do so. Mr Speaker observed that Mr Wilford might at the same time feel that it was his duty to do so, and the laugh which followed was as eagerly enjoyed by Mr Wilford as anyone else. The calm manner in which the crack of the party whip brought members of the Reform Party to heel over the one-time controversial topic of day-light-saving was illuminating at 2 o’clock this morning. It is very doubtful whether, following on the fate of the Summer Time (Local Empowering) Bill introduced by Mr Sidey, anything more would have been heard of daylight-saving this sessionf but towards the end of this week some of the newspapers began writing inquiring and suggestive paragraphs about the subject. Hints were made that the Reform Party should remember that such a thing as the General Election is going to happen within a few weeks, and that it might therefore be expedient to bring in some measure of daylight-saving, even if only for half-an-hour. A hastily summoned caucus of the Reform Party met on Friday morning and discussed the question at great length, but it was decided that a Bill had better be brought in. Accordingly it made its appearance Very late in the evening and was read a first time and a second time in less time almost than it takes to repeat its short title. On I the third reading one or two of the | Reform “diehards,” Messrs J. C. Rolleston and J. G. Elliott, in particular, said that they had always been opposed to summer time and always would be, and next year if they were here and an attempt was made to re-enact the law they would fight it. They did not take the question tn division, however, and they may; not be here next year to carry out their minatory designs. Mr Elliott, by the way, is the member who was going to do such terrible things to the Arbitration Act this session,—at least he inferred that when the Arbitration Amendment was going through in 1927, but preference to unionists is still the law of the country. So thanks to public opinion cracking its whip successfully against the Government in election year, the Reform Party in turn cracked its members into compliance, and the result is that Mi* Sidey feels that some appreciable good has been done by his long fight in the interests of the health of the people. He beamed and smiled when he saw a Government Bill going through designed to do partially what he has long striven for, and he went home at twenty minutes to three this morning a proud and happy man.

When he returned to the House at 11 a.m. he listened to Sir Apirana Ngata, his benchmate say something about the Native Lands “Washing-up” Bill, and then went off to sleep and dream of the land of eternal sunshine where they don’t make clocks and where this is no Greenwich meridian. To-day the session is in its dying hours. There will be a flicker of life left on Monday, but a state of coma will set in on Tuesday, and the official decease is scheduled to take place some time that day. The ob-

sequies will consist of the customary funereal dirges about the jolly good fellows on the other side of the House whom it is hoped not to see again (in the House) after the end of November, there will be the usual congratulations, the Auld Lang Syne feeling will be much in evidence, and those who intend to stand for reelection will be able to depart in the sure and certain hope that the electors will give them some sort of reward.