THE H.B. TRIBUNE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1935 PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 298, 3 December 1935, Page 6

THE H.B. TRIBUNE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1935 PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE.

Leaving matters of high policy for notice as they develop more clearly with the change of Government brought about by last week’s .general .election,! .there cannot but be general approval of one of our new Prime Minister’s minor proposals. That is his declared intention to set about some early reform in parliamentary procedure. There can be no doubt that, in these days of rapid transition, when Governments have saddled themselves with functions and duties entirely foreign to them in earlier times, there is urgent need for speeding up the movements of our legislative and administrative machinery. Session after session complaint has to be made of the wasteful leisureliness with which the work of Parliament is carried out. with the result that the close of each session sees an unseemly rush in which ill-considered and in some eases unconsidered legislation is driven through. It cannot be thought for a moment that a great deal of this could not be avoided if only the work of Parliament were run on some more businesslike system. In instance may be quoted the many days, often running into weeks, that are virtually lost in the so-called debate on the Addrcss-in-Reply, which really serves no other purpose than affording talkative members an opportunity to let off steam and perhaps giving a Government unprepared with its measures time for making good its neglect. There are several other directions in which it appears to the layman’s eye that the work of Parliament could be materially expedited. That this is the case has been admitted by many past Governments with pious promises of reform that as yet has never come. Perhaps we may hope that in the vigour of its youth a Labour Government will be able to fulfil the like promise now made by Mr. Savage on its behalf. Among the first things that will have to be considered — and already hinted at by Mr. Savage —is a change in the time of year at which the ordinary session should be held. There seems scant reason now why this should not be moved forward to an earlier date than has been customary hitherto. Tn fact, everything now points to the need for assembling Parliament as early as practicable after the close of tho financial year. The taxpaying community and particularly the business section of it are undoubtedly entitled to know at the earliest possible moment after t’wit -datehow the finances of the country stand and what the obligations in the way of taxation for which they will have to make provision

iii laying out their own plans for the year. With taxation at ita present high level and not very likely, in the aggregate, to be greatly reduced, this is manifestly essential to the orderly conduct of the country’s private affairs. To bring this about it is manifestly necessary that the preparation of the national balance-sheet for the past, year should be very considerably hastened. As things are this is seldom completely ready for laying before Parliament even when its meeting takes place something like three months after the close of the financial year. As has been so often pointed out, this contrasts badly with what we find in the Old Country, where the Treasury has the aggregate accounts all ready for the Chancellor of the Exchequer within a few days of the 31st of March. When faced with this example it has been the custom in the past to explain away the difference by stating that our own Treasury’s methods of accounting do not admit of its being followed. That, however, merely points to the need for those methods being altered to accord with present-day business requirements. It is not, of course, to be expected that these much needed reforms will or can be brought about at short notice, but it is sincerely to be hoped that they will not be entirely lost sight of in the multiplicity of problems which the new Government has set itself to solve.