RAPID PROGRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22433, 1 June 1936, Page 11

RAPID PROGRESS

WOEK OF SESSION CONSTANT PRESSURE ANOTHER important week the STATE advances bill r«T telegraph— special reporter] TV "WELLINGTON, Sunday y o t least arhong the achievements rftew, Zealand's first Labour GovernI went is th® manner in which it has "pceeded in accelerating the usually w moving Parliamentary machine. Tbe sessioh of the new Parliament has been in progress for only nine "eeks and to date 11 Government bills, the majority of thern embodying important policy questions, have been put through the House of Ilepresentalives, it has been legislation under high and constant pressure and the Prime Jiinister. Mr. Savage, has every reason to feel gratified with the progress so far made. , The business of the House for the T eek just past was in itself indicative of the rapidity with which Parliament "is working. The final stages of the Transport Licensing Amendment Bill were completed, the Shops and Offices Amendment Bill ' was put through all its stages and passed and surprising pro-

gress was made even with so moment- / ous a measure; as the State Advances Corporation Bill. Nor has the routine business of Parliament been neglected ftot a day passes without the transaction of priv'ate business, the presentation of petitions and the consideration of reports from Select Committees. No Desire lor Brakes

With its commanding majority the Government, of course, has power to take the brakes off in some aspects of legislative procedure. Indeed, the only fray it could apply the brakes would be by encouraging its own back bench members to speak. Bmt in the words of Jlr. Savage the Government does not

want to stonewall it:? own bills. There are many who criticise the Government on the grounds that it is •>Vbeing too precipitate and that it is ' not allowing sufficient time for a full understanding of its proposals, but one of the Labour Party's election promised was for rapidity in legislation and whatever the Mr. Savage and his colleagues are certainly sticking to their word. At one stage during the week it

appeared tha£ the Government was momentarily losing its desire for speed. / This was on Tuesday afternoon, when the House was engaged on the third reading of the Transport Licensing Amendment Bill. The measure had been thoroughly discussed earlier during the (lecond reading debate and also in the committee stage and in normal circumstances an hour or so should have been sufficient for the third reading. A Temporary Truce . However, both Government and Opposition members showed a curious desire to keep the debate going. Probably it had been, discovered by then that the State Advances Corporation Bill was likely to be delayed and the result was one of those strange Parliamentary truces which are so puzzling to the uninitiated..

.The Shops and Offices Amendment Bill was given a fairly essy passage, although discussion ranged over three dsyj. However, there was much broken tune and the' bill did not occupy the attention of the House for 'more than e/ght hours all told. Several amendments were introduced by the Minister of Labour, Hon. H. T. Armstrong, dealing chiefly witlii employment in lawyers' offices and banks. For these amendments the Minister received the thanks of the Opposition, but Mr. Armstrong promptly turned round and accused some Opposition members of /holding up the bill in order to alJow certain employers to dismiss their staffs and defeat, the purpose or the minimum wage provisions. The allegation was indignantly denied by the Opposition, but this did not prevent the Minister from taking the matter up again on Friday in a lengthy reply to an urgent, question couched in almost departmental language. Rapid Actiion Again

The introduction of the State Advances Corporation Bill was the most important single event of the week and here agdin there was proof of the rapidity with which the Government is transacting business. The bill *•l3 introduced by Governor-General's Message shortly before 11 o'clock on Wednesday night. four broadcast speeches in the second reading debate were taken on Thursday night, and the debate itself completed on Friday half an hour before the norma] time for the adjournment of the House. The bill itsielf has been handled in masterly fashion by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, whose pre-election reputation for brilliance in debate has been even enhanced by Cabinet responsibilities. Mr. Nash does not merely set a high standard in Bpeech-uiaking. His amazing command of detail, as exemplified in his piloting of the Reserve Bank Amendment Bill, the Primary Products Marketing Bill and now this latest measure makes him an outstanding figure in the Government.

Perhaps the absence from the House of the Rt Hon. J. G. Coates (Oppo-sition—-Kaipara) and Mr. W. J. Poison (Opposition—Stratford) may have had something to do with the curtailment of the second reading debate on the State Advances Corjwration Bill. Mi Coates had an engagement to speak at Waiuku on Friday night and Mr. Poison has been carrying on a sort of guerilla warfare against the Government for several days by making frequent addresses at Farmers' Union meetings. Both could have been existed to make interesting contributing to the debate in the House. Plana lor To-morrow Night

Mr. (joates, of course, put the original Mortgage Corporation Bill through the House and has better understanding than most of the intricacies of the position with which toe new measure is hoped to deal. His Request to Mr. Nash on Wednesday jught to explain the provisions of the "ill was perfectly done. "What's in a D *me."' was the burden of his remarks t+u fceoniCf ' to l>ring the bill down . •he level of a change of name and "Qthmy more , committee stage of the bdl will J® Commenced on Tuesday night, when *{J e first two hours of discussion on "0 short title will he broadcast. I'his ' likely to provide a novelty item on Se wireless programmes. When the s*9 u,^e is in Committee on a bill the ''je« of debate are generally somewhat Blasied. Members air e entitled to speak minutes, and with opportunities . r ]t2 speeches of that duration there cat 1 <!Cn c " om petition to • tc 'i the Chairman's eye. Any order , ?! arranged in advance would *V j 8 destr °y the atmosphere of a a'i may be the first real Parliamenv debate to be broadcast.