THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1921. PARLIAMENT'S TASKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17894, 23 September 1921, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1921. PARLIAMENT'S TASKS.

These was no breach yesterday of the convention which makes the Speech of the Governor-General in opening Parliament a formal and colourless document. By long custom the first detailed statement of the legislative programme is now given in the Budget, and as so much depends this session upon a careful examination of the national finances it may be hoped that the Budget will be presented early, in which case the lack of substance in the Speech will not mean delay to the business of the session. In its customary review of the affairs of the nation the Speech makes a timely appeal for public and private economy, touches on the economic difficulties under which the Dominion is labouring, and strikes a justifiable note of optimism, in holding out hopes for the recovery of the frozen meat and wool markets The Imperial Conference is the subject of a paragraph which promises members fuller information as to the results of the conference. It may be hoped that the House will feel sufficiently interested in Imperial questions to digest and debate this information. Whether through indifference or sheer incapacity the House has usually taken up the attitude that Imperial questions are the peculiar province of the Prime Minister, and left them to his discretion. Such an attitude is unworthy. Parliament is ultimately responsible for accepting or reject ing the resolutions of the conference, and it is its duty to form an opinion on matters of Imperial concern and not leave Mr. Massey to gather New Zealand sentiment wholly from the newspapers. Samoa may be linked with the Imperial Conference as a subject whhh should receive consideration early in the session. Both are worthy of debate at the highest level of Parliamentary oratory and without the intrusion of party spirit, but if they are deferred till time is short and tempers are shorter they will receive scant justice. Although the number of Bills mentioned in the Governor-Genera!'* Speech is not large, a very formidable programme is already before Parliament. The revision of the tariff is itself klmost the work of a i session, and the Land and Income Tax Act is coming up for amendments which may be presumed to be of sufficient importance to warrant their mention in a GovernorGeneral s Speech. The Highways Bill will almost certainly consume a great deal of time, and if this highlyimportant measure is to be passed in the best form' it is necessary that tne House should not be hurried over it. Provision for the gradual lifting of the moratorium is indicated, very much on the lines suggested by Sir Francis Bell several weeks ago, the Minister's opinion then being that deposits should be repaid by instalments before the end of next year, and that the responsibility should be placed upon mortgagors of applying for an extension of their mortgages and, if necessary, satisfying the Supreme Court that both the ground for extension and the rate of interest offered are reasonable. A Forestry Bill is also promised. If it involves even a small expenditure which can reasonably be postponed Parliament should hesitate to pass it, but if, as officers of the department suggest, it is a measure required for the proper functioning of the Forestry Depart-! ment, which will thereby be made I self-supporting at an earlier date, its I passage should be facilitated. A, number of consolidations and compilations are included in the sessional programme, and legislation is | required to give effect to the j statesmanlike arrangements recently | entered into <«with the Urewera natives. The public will hope that! this measure is but the beginning! of a more vigorous land settlement! policy, and in this connection will' regret the strange silence of the * Speech in regard to settlement and works. If times are bad: there, is all the more reason for de veloping the natural wealth of the Dominion. A slackening of public works activities would not, be economy, but would give permanence to what is but a temporary I check to the Dominion's prosperity I There is no surer way to perpetuate : I high taxation and financial strin- i gency than to stop public works, and the duty of Parliament will be ; to combine administrative economy with a higher standard of develop-j mental enterprise. The Government is to be congratulated upon giving economy two paragraphs in the Speech. It would have; been better if economy had been ' the main theme and Parliament had been asked, with as much force as: courtesy permits, to bring the ex-; penditure within tlm limits of the] national income. If tho worst comes! to the worst the tariff can wait, the' Main Roads Bill can wait, but ad- j ministrat ive economy cannot. It may be hoped, therefore, that tin ' Government and Parliament will I i vie with each other in taking a very j

strong stand for economy m. m the first day of the session. The Governor-General's Speech last yean foreshadowed an increase in the salaries of members. The Speech delivered yesterday would have been all the more acceptable 5f it had foreshadowed a reduction, ITiere is a very strong public opinion that members cannot consider retrenchment, in the Public Service with a clear conscience until they have applied the knife to their own salaries. To put it bluntly, they treated themselves very generously last year, and now, in the crisis inevitable after a war, is the time to make amends.' When, in the eighties, Sir H. Atkinson found retrenchment necessary he started with his own and members' salaries and passed a measure to reduce the number of members of the House. When the present Government makes a move along some of these lines the public will begin to realise that the economy campaign is under way.