WASTING TIME.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 170, 20 July 1908, Page 4

WASTING TIME.

Hopes were entertained when Parliament opened that the final session would be cnaracterised by deeds rather than words. A very good commencement was rl certainly made. The Legislative--Council has been kept at work de'alMg with measures usually introduced'into the other branch of the legislature, and these are now ready^ for the Assembly. But in the latter chamber there seems to1 be very little disposition to settle down to the real business of the session. The Prime' Minister set an excellent example by making ,his" budget speech much earlier in the session than usual, but this, instead of inducing members to get'to work in earnest,'has only served to let loose the^flood gates of talk, and the stream1 promises to meander along for at least another ,-week. AH this la sheer waste of time, and/is "Certainly not the business for; which the country' pays, and for which' ;l legislators' ard seeking greater 'remuneration. There is much work of the" highest importance awaits ing attention,, but members appear to imagine tnat'the-sound of their own sweet voices'is preferable to tackling subjects which require the exercise of a certain amount of intelligence. The Arbitration' ' Act is crying out for amendment^' but that must wait while Mr Massey'voices his grievance that the "roadleSs North" is being bribed by votes .fdr roads he has always hitherto been demanding; Mr Allen may complain of omissions from the country's balance-sheet of figures which are plainly there, or Mr T. Wilford may express his objections to the entertainment of our American visitors. The debate on the Address-in-Reply was mercifully cut short, but members :&re making up for it by inconsequential babblings ' and unintelligent drivellings, nominally upon, the budget, but really about everything in general and nothing at all in particular. In view of the urgent measures requiring attention, and the short time at the disposal of Parliament for all the work outlined in the vice-regal 'speech, members might surely restrain their desire to talk for mere talking's sake, .and reserve their eloquence until there is .something definite before them. The press, as the mouthpiece of the public, cannot too strongly protest against the waste of time in aimless speeches remarkable only for their sheer inanity, for which the present Parliament has become notorious.