PROGRESS OF THE SESSION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19390, 27 July 1926, Page 8

PROGRESS OF THE SESSION.

Good progress has been made by Parliament for the time it has been in session. ' The actual results in finished legislation may not be great, but at least much of the formal business preceding the attack on the real programme has been* disposed of without undue delay. With, a Licensing Bill to come, some alteration to the dairy control' system required, the vexed question of the motor omnibus regulations to be considered, and perhaps some argument over the proposed board to control local body borrowing, there are enough contentious subjects in hand for the easy disposal of the Address-in-Reply and Budget debates to be welcome. Speculation is bound to centre round the influence on Parliament's course of the impending departure of the Prime Minister to attend the Imperial Conference. Even if the opening of the conference is delayed for the convenience of Canada, Mr. Coates may not be able to vary his sailing .arrangements. This is a feature which should not' be allowed to bear too directly on the course of the s.es-

sion. Naturally the Prime Minister would like to see the more important items on his programme dealt with before he left. If that can b* l achieved without too much haste or pressure, it may very well be doneBut there is no reason why any undue effort should be made to close, the session before he leaves. The idea that Parliament should not sit because the Prime Minister is absent ■at an Imperial Conference is peculiar to New Zealand. There is no more reason for its prevailing here than in Australia, Canada, or South Africa. Certainly Mr. Coates should go to the conference. It is his duty, and New Zealand's duty to send him ; but Parliament should also continue its work, making, the end of the programme, not the departure of the Prime Minister, the signal for the session to close.