WORK FOR THE HOUSE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20960, 25 August 1931, Page 8

WORK FOR THE HOUSE.

A provisional programme has been drafted by the Committee of Ten, subject to the approval of the House of Representatives, since it proposes that the committee should sit in the mornings and the afternoons, and the House in the evenings only on three days of this week. A full day will be required by the House 011 Friday presumably to deal with the monthly Imprest Supply Bill. This appears to be a reasonable arrangement, until the committee is able to decide whether a complete adjournment of the House is either necessary or advisable. The business to be submitted to the House will require discreet selection. Strict adherence to routine would apparently require it to proceed with the debate on the Financial Statement, but recognition of the realities of the situation would make such a proceeding ludicrous. Nothing would be gained by discussing proposals which may be profoundly modified by the committee's decisions, and only nominal progress would be made by carrying the debate to its formal conclusion, which is that the House go into Committee of Ways and Means to consider the Estimates, for they are also suspended until the committee has completed its review of the proposed appropriations for expenditure. The present situation virtually represents a political truce, and if the harmony which characterised the opening meeting of the committee is to be preserved, care must be taken to avoid the conflict that would be revived by any attempt to press highly contentious legislation upon the attention of Parliament. Within that category are the Transport Licensing Bill and the Building Construction Bill, which, apart from other objectionable features, contemplate fresh additions to State expenditure and heavy taxation. In the circumstances, the activities of Parliament may be severely restricted, but it should be possiblo to find useful occupation for members at the evening sittings without inviting them to encroach upon the sphere of the committee's inquiries.