PARLIAMENT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXXI, Issue 5595, 4 July 1930, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

OPENING OF THE SESSION. ‘ THE HOUSE DAY BY DAY. ECONOMY, THE WATCHWORD. (Our Parliamentary Reporter.) . WELLINGTON, Thursday. Accompanied by something of the Old World pageantry which marks State. functions at Home, the third session of the twenty-third Parliament of New Zealand was opened by the Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe) on Thursday afternoon of last week, beneath a brilliant winter’s sky. The grounds of Parliament House took on a garish air for a short space, the green of the lawns being offset by the splashes of colour given by the full-dress uniforms of the leading actors in one of the Dominion’s most im- , pressive ceremonies. The Speech from the Throne occupied twenty minutes in the .reading, and then the members of the Lower House adjourned to their own Chamber. The Slogan : “Economy.” The slogan contained in the Speech can be expressed in one pregnant word: “Economy.” The loyalty of the new Prime' Minister to his old leader, Sir Joseph Ward, was always beyond reproach, but now: it is apparent that with, a free hand and with an opportunity at the door, he is going to play . his own game. “Cabinet,” he had told his admiring constituents at Cheviot a few nights before, “had been thoroughly looking over the Public Departments to see how--expenses could be cut down. I daresay that means a good deal of unpopularity, but when you have figures, and when you know what they mean, then it is the duty of whomever is in charge to,face the position, whether it is unpopular or i not, and I intend to do so.” The new Administration has not been slow to translate their ideas into practice. It is. common knowledge that constellation reigns in the Government departments, which have been told to reduce their expenditure by some hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is a foregone conclusion that the Defence system is to be jettisoned; the census is to be postponed, saving prob- ' bably £40,000 this year alone ; the costly Bluff-Melbourne service is to go by the board; while a sensation has been created by the wholesale abandonment, of unpayable railway services— and Wednesday’s announcement in that respect is regarded merely as the forerunner of many others. Labour, naturally, i§ very restive, while the Reformers are in a cleft stick—Mr Forbes is giving them the very economy which their newspapers have been so ardently demanding and supporting.

The Elsie Walker, Case. On Friday in the House of Representatives, several Bills v/ere introduce ed and read a first time, among them being the Coroners’ Amendment Bill introduced by Mr C. E. Macmillan. The Elsie Walker case is, of course, directly responsible for the-introduc- , tion of'the Bill, which is similar to that brought down by Mr Macmillan towards the end of last session, but, as he remarked, when introducing it this year, it was then “one of .the slaughtered.” Mr Macmillan said a favourable rcommendation had been made last year to the largely-signed petitions seeking to give the Coroner the right, under certain conditions, to re-open inquests. • The second reading of the Bill is set down for July 9th, and this session has a good chance of passing as the Attorney-General some time ago intimated the intention of the Government to pass legislation on the lines suggested in this Bill. A Surprise Movement'. The election of a Chairman of Committees in the place of the Hon. S. G. Smith, elevated to Ministerial rank, . occasioned a surprising contrempts. As soon as Mr Bodkin (United member for Otago Central) had been nominated by his party as Chairman of Comjnittees, Mr Kyle (Reform member for Riccarton) nominated Mr Macpherson, who ,is also a member of the Government,. and made the position somewhat epibarassing for both him and for the ■ Government. The Prime Minister immediately made it clear that if,Mr Macpherson’s nomination were persisted in he would accept it as a no-confidence motion. The matter was debated for over an hdut, before Mr Macpherson’s nomination was withdrawn, Mr'Bodkin was appointed, and the House settled down to the business of the evening. The incident is taken generally as a gesture by the Opposition (and some of the Government members too, it is rumoured) that the appointment of Mr Bodkin does not please them. • Unemployment.

As was expected Unemployment was the main theme of members when speaking on the Imprest Bill. Mr Savage pointed out very forcibly that all that c\>uld be gleaned on the subject from the Governor-General’s Speech was that fresh legislation was to be brought down. That he maintained was quite unnecessary as there was already plenty of legislative power to deal with the matter. The position, ( he said, ‘ had become intolerable and must that at once. But no magic stroke of the pen will end it, and - that being 7 the case one is left to wonder what the Labour Party and the, Oppostion, not the Government, . intend ;io do about it. At midnight the Hon. Mr Ransom, formerly Min- . ister for Public Works, was speaking, and he took his full time. Later came the present/ Minister, the Hon. Mr Taverner,, and at two-o'clock the Prime Minister. Shortly' afterwards the Bill went through all its stages, but the night’s work was not complete. The Local Authorities Empowering (Relief of Unemployment) Act, had to be extended again, as the Extension Act of last year was expiring on the last day Of June. The Bill extending Act was brought down by Governor’s message, and was passed

through aIL its stages, the House adjourning at ten minutes past three.

Railway Dismissals. The “cut” in the railway services is being widely debated, and will yet lead to heated discussion in the House. The Minister of Railways (Hon. W. A. Veitch), himself an old railway servant, when questioned on the subject of the dismissal of men—so far over 200 in all parts of New Zealand have ■received notice—replied:— “It is not the policy of the Government to dispense with the services of men in the. Railway Department • or in any other Department when there is really useful work for them to do, but the stage has been reached when it is imperative that the services of some men should be dispensed with. We all regret it, but those are the facts that impose themselves on me at the present time.” Address-iri-Reply.

The Address-in-Reply debate commenced last evening, being moved by Mr. C. H .Clinkard, and seconded by Mr. R. W. Hawkes. The speeches were colourless, and the adjournment made at an early hour on the motion of the Right Honourable J. G. Coates, who will speak to-day (Thursday). Virtually the whole sitting was devoted to' a debate on the motion by Mr. D. G. Sullivan (Labour) to introduce “The Workers’ Annual Leave Bill.” The debate was a trifle acriminous, but had no value, except that the Bill was read a first time and its second reading fixed for July 16th. Incidentally, the Labour members dubbed the Prime Minister “Saint George,” an appellation that is likely to stick jn Parliamentary circles.