“WORK FOR PARLIAMENT”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2115, 25 June 1907, Page 1

“WORK FOR PARLIAMENT”

JOME MEASURES FOR DISCUSSION. PROSPECTS OF THE COMING _ SESSION. (SI’IiCIAI, TO THE TIMES.) , WELLINGTON, last night. Parliament House lias been paintd and gilded, scrubbed and decoratjd, and is now practically ready for uir hard-worked legislators to set about earn in" their £3OO honorarium. A small army of men has been it work for weeks, anil nothing has keen forgotten even to the decorating of the tips of innumerable standards in the iron fence with gold paint, , hich would seem to indicate that the L'reasurv can he uiuiecessarly lavish in tlie city while -still allowing t]ie backblocks settler to trudge beside his bullock team up to the knees in mud. However, that is a detail, arid the ii'escnt week will see tlie cumbrous egislative machine in full working icier. Ivor some time past the adiiinistratioii has been slightly out of joint, and especially in view of the ■Hidden collapse in the Acting-Pre-nier’s health. Sir Joseph'■‘Ward will be welcomed hack alike by the counry and tho other members of tho Cabinet. Already tlie usual rumors about a long session, a stormy time, .mil even a dissolution are beginning to circulate. For my own part I do nut anticipate either an unduly prolonged session, nor a dissolution. In tlie first place there is no man now in he Cabinet to “drive” the party or to “bring it to heel” as Mr. Seildan did. Moreover,- the Government party is nut so united as it was, anil here is a decided disposition, especially since tlie introduction of the

Land Bill oil the part of some country supporters to kick over the traces, hut above and beyond all these things by tlie first or second week in November- the health of members will begin to suffer because of the unnaturally late hours kept and the vitiat-

d atmosphere of tho Chamber and the commitoe rooms, while that peculiar and insidious disease known as “home fever” will he calling for the usual remedy. As for a dissolution, well £3OO a year minus tlie expense, worry and uncertainty of a general lection are to lie preferred to that any day. ’ It is true that Parliament will have a sufficient number of Bills placed before it to occupy its serious attention for at least two if not three sessions. That is the mistake the Ministry makes nowadays—instead of do-

ing two or three things well it attempts to do_a hundred tilings, lnit does.only half a hundred and does them very badly. Rumor says that already the law draughtsmen have a pile of 76 Bills before them and'there

will bo others, several of them tho result of tho pernicious habit of atteiupting to (lo too much and doing it it, a slip-shod maniior. In addition tlicro will be several local and private members’ Bills, the latter nnanatinu; mostly from the brains of ■'add'sts who think they have a particular mission to. reform tho universe. Some of these, however, will receive short shrift, Three matters that will claim tho greatest attention in Parliament this session are, tho proposed land legislation, the tariff Bill, and the alterations necessary in consequence of tho breakdown in the Arbitration Act,

for 'even Government supporters now do not attemnt k> conceal tlie fact that the Arbitration Act has broken In regard to the Land Bill it has been said that its division into three separate Bills is a pood tactical move on the part of the Government. Anyone who studied the working of the parliamentary machine must come to a different conclusion. The Government proposals are so unpalatable to a large section of the community and to such a numerous section of their own party that stonewalling tactics are almost certain to lie resorted to with a view to defeating them, and it must he apparent to even a tyro in politics that the facilities for stonewalling have bees greatly increased bv the subdivision of the Bill into tl,first readings, three second read in "S. three committee stages, am] three third readings. Debates can ]><• made to occupy the House tor ~,'aav weeks. One Bill could have been dealt with in half the time, but apart from Mr. McNab s tnpaitite Bill, there is the problem of native land legislation looming larger than ever on the horizon, and any proposed legislation as the result of the reports of the ltoyal Commission now fittiii" is sure to be discussed at considerable length. . -, Ir the Tariff Bill alone there should he work almost for one full session of Parliament. The New Zealand tariff is-sadly in need of revision, hut'will the Government give Parliament the opportunity desired? Some Parliamentarians are of opinion that Government will shirk the full question and bring in onlv what might ho termed a breakfast table Bill with perhaps certain -provisions with a view to reducing the duty on imported raw materials, so as to benefit local industries. Anyhow it is an open secret that the Cabinet lias not yet considered the tariff in detail. Labor legislation now as ever will undoubtedly claim a good deal of the attention of lion, members. It is apparent that the Arbitration Act must have not onlv a patch put on it, hub that the garment, which has become very much the worse for wear, hurt be modelled on an almost entirely new plan. The Minister for Labor, like almost everyone else who has studied the- subject, recognises that some radical changes will have to he made, and lias told the country that he will endeavor to establish Wages Boards somewhat on the Victorian plan. This is probably the best solution o,f the present mpasse, hilt it may meet with y, ood deal of opposition* from the Labor representatives ill Parliament, and is certain to occupy a good deal of time in discussion. We may also expect an amending Bill in connection with thy

Workers’ Compensation for Accidents Act. 1 The Firo Brigades Act* which is one of the notable examples of slipshod legislation, is another pleasure that—ipust he sent to the Parliamentary tailor. ■■ '

I The important questions of national annuities and a superannuation' scheme for the Civil Service, shelved Kro:n last session, may also occupy a j place on the-list for the coming session • There is a general impression that the’former measure is somewhat premature, but that something should bo’done in regard to the latter. I. A Bill with a view to tlie proven-: tion of hotting and gambling was also ,shelved from last session. The anti-gambling crusaders want something more drastic, and early in tho session they will descend upon Wellington anil have a talk with tlie Premier on the subject. Ho has already promised them something, i In addition to all theso measures of great importance there are many others that will lie introduced, but it would he profitless to discuss them at this stage. Enough has, however, been written to show that the legislative rest wliich some people fondly imagined the colony would he able to take after Mr. Seddon’s demise is not yet within sight, and that Sir Joseph Ward and his colleagues, more particularly in tho absence of Mr. Hall-Jones, will have a very hard row to hoe in tlie coming session.