SUMMER TIME BULL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19742, 15 September 1927, Page 13

SUMMER TIME BULL.

NO COMPROMISE REACHED.

OPPONENTS FIGHT MEASURE

DIFFICULTY WITH RAILWAYS

POSITION IN VARIOUS DISTRICTS

[BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Proclaiming in the lobbies, "No Surrender." and in the chamber of the House their regret that it had been found impossible to arrange a settlement of the difficulties in the way of the passage of Mr. T. K. Sidey's Summer Time Bill, the opponents of the measure renewed the stonewall when the committee stage of the bill was resumed in the House this evening,. When the debate was adjourned after breakfast a fortnight ago it was suggested attempts should be made to reach a compromise. The failure to reach a settlement found the opposition to the bill ready to-night with a prepared scheme for blocking progress by taking full advantage of their right to talk four times for ten minutes on each clause of the bill, and any amendments that might be moved. The galleries were crowded when the House resumed.

The Exemption Aspect. Mr. J. R. Hamilton (Awarua) said no compromise had been arrived at. The farmer opponents of the bill felt they had not been treated fairly by Mr. Sidey, who had accepted amendments from other sections of the House, but had not attempted to meet the farmers, who were the most important section of the community. They felt he had not exhausted all means of arriving at an understanding and so they were compelled to , oppose the bill. Mr. Sidey protested against the suggestion that he had made a bargain with another section of the House in accepting the amendments to which he agreed. Those amendments simply conformed to awards of the Arbitration Court, and he was prepared to extend the scope of the amendments so that any section of workers who felt they were adversely affected could appeal to the Arbitration Court for exemption.

Farmers and Trains. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. H. E. Holland, said he recognised that while the towns were anxious for the bill, it would inflict hardship on farmers, and he was prepared to support any amendment which would give relief to farmers. The Leader of the Nationalist Party 2 Mr. G. W. Forbes, said since the bill was last before the House he had visited his district and had found the opposition to the bill was much stronger. The Prime Minister, Mr. Coates, said there had been a good deal of negotiation and an effort had been made to make arrangements with the- railway authorities with a view to meeting the difficulty which might arise between tho railways and their customers. He read reports from various districts to give an idea how the bill was viewed locally. In the Kaihu section the settlers were adverse to any change In the Kaikohe section there was little difficulty. On the Opua-Whangarei line there was little difficulty until the train reached Hikurangi, where suppliers were opposed to the bill. Just north of Auckland city there„was no difficulty. South Island Support. , There would be no difficulty on the Auckland-Frankton section. On the Frankton-Bay of Plenty-ROtorua sections there would be some oases of hardship, but on ' the Frankton-Marton section there would be no particular hardship, and on the Wanganui section there would be no individual cases of hardship. On the Wellington section there would be little hardship, and similar conditions prevailed on the Gisborne section. On the Picton section and in southern districts there would be no difficulty. At Little River there might be some objections, but further south there was general support for the bill. The agents in Christchurch were generally in favour of the bill, and on the Otago sections - the feeling generally was in favour of the bill.

Mr. A. M. Samuel (Ohinemuri) commented on the number of times the bill had been brought before the House, and he suggested Mr. Sidey sk. ild let it go until its 21st year, when " it will have a vote for itself." At the supper adjournment the Chairman of Committees said the short title had now been debated for 13J hours. It was his duty to prevent the forms of the House from being abused, and to that end he would take steps to prevent tedious repetition. •< The debate was continued until a late hour.