The Hawera Star. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1931. PARLIAMENT TO MEET.

Hawera Star, Volume L, 10 February 1931, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1931. PARLIAMENT TO MEET.

Delivered every evening by 5 o’olook in Hawera, Manaia, Kaupokonui, Otakeho, Oeo, Pihama, Opunake, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Ngaere, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Te Kiri, Mahoe, Lowgarth, Manutabi, Kakaramca, Alton, llurlcyvillc, l’atea, Whenuakura, Waverley, Mokoia, Wbakamara, Ohangai, Meremerc, Fraser Road, and Ararata.

Though Mr Forbes has not yet made his promised pronouncement regarding the measures he proposes to adopt to meet the economic depression—and the earthquake has provided good reason for the delay-;—the Prime Minister last night made a statement almost equally important when he announced that he was calling Parliament together for a special session beginning on March. 11th. In the light of Mr Forbes’s recent utterances, this announcement should mean that he intends to submit 1 a programme of strict economies to the House and, if not accorded sufficient support to enable him to carry out that programme, that he is prepared to go to the eountiy on the issues raised. If this is the Prime Minister’s intention, tho coming session should prove how much sincerity there has been in recent declarations in Government and Opposition quarters to the effect that “country will be placed before party.’’ It should be possible for Parliament to avoid an election. Mr Coates has laid down the lines which he considers the country should follow, and he has said, moreover, that he is prepared to assist the Government to carry out that policy. The Reform programme advocates the tapering off of borrowing, the overhaul of the railway system, tho placing of defence on a proper basis and dealing with the costs or production through tho Arbitration Court and unemployment relief. Mr Coates’s two recent statements on these points have been plain and straightforward and are calculated to appeal to a majority of moderate-minded people. The Leader of the Opposition cannot be said to have attempted to. make political capital out of the Government’s troubles, some of which arc due to causes outside the Government’s control and. some to the extravagant notions entertained by the Government when it came into office. On the contrary, the Reform Party, through its leader, has indl :ated very clearly that it is willing to sink its own just claims to office so long as the Government is prepared to work along the lines indicated to it. Mr Forbes’s statements since his return from Great Britain suggest that he has been impressed with tho necessity of carrying on along lines more modest than those his Government first adopted. If that is the case, he should find little difficulty in accepting Mr Coates’s offer to assist in putting the affairs of the country on a sounder basis. If the programme to be submitted by the Government to the forthcoming special ses-, sion is designed on the right lines, there will be jio need for the 1 Government to appeal to the country by means of a General Election.