ALL-NIGHT SITTING.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10593, 24 October 1910, Page 2

ALL-NIGHT SITTING.

PARLIAMENT CLEARS DECKS FOR ] A FAST FINISH. ; | TWENTY-TWO HOURS OF ESTI- j MATES. ■■■ I By Telegraph. ! (Special to the Oamaru Mail.) | AVcllington, October 24 The House of Representatives made a record for a long sitting and work by i completing the week with a twenty-two I hours' discussion of the Estimates. - Only a few minutes were spent in, preliminaries when the House met at 2.50 on Friday afternoon, an early start being made on the Defence' Department votes. These were discussed ior nine hours, vet in spite of tliis unpromising start the Estimates /were all, adopted before the long sitting ended,' the amounts voted i aggregating, £2,417,476. I'he twenty-two- hours wasi: singularly free from attempts to report progress, as is • the usual method of securing an adjournment, but at intervals some protest was made; for instance, at 3 a.m., w hen the Valuation Department's vote was reached, Mr Herries moved to report progress. He objected,'he said, to voting away large sums at an; earlyhour of the morning. j Government Members: The old-cry.

Mr Herries: It will be a;very good one on tho iilatforni. Mr Allen, suggested that'there was ino occasion for desperate haste, as the Opposition was quite willing to sit for reasonable hours. j Mr Hardy asked the Chairman to ob-.Ker-vp the large number of sleeping, members. Ho declared that theirsnores annoyed him, and he was so sleepy he could not toll the time. Division bells awakened everyone, and a vote of 33 was recorded in favor of going on. The objectors totalled 17. The disposal of the Agricultural- and Commerce . Department vote was not effected until members had been able to read and re-read their morning papers.', by daylight. It had gone six o'clock when Mr Herries made, another attempt to close up the sitting. His motion to report progress was greeted with vigorous "Noes" from members, who came : refreshed. by brief naps in odd corners, and the tired House at a vote of 31' against 15 determined to clear up tho whole Estimates before adjournment. —Education. — ' At 7.15 a.m., when Mr Guthrie.ad. dressed himself to the question of a, uniform school book, a recumbent member declared with a yawn that this was r indeed the "limit." Nothing daunted, Mr Guthrie said his say, and was t strongly supported by other Opposition I members. , •

:■ Mr Wright, at 7.45 made a few taunts to members who, no said, were anxious to have a flutter at the races instead of a flutter on the Estimates.

Mr Wright was overwhelmed by cries of "Breakfast!" and presently subsided.. At 8 a.m., on the point of an ad-]'j-irnrnent_ for breakfast, ;Mr Massey made a plea for reporting progress. He said that he had come into the House at 7 a.m., and if members could see their dishevelled condition they would swear off late sittings for ever. The Prime Minister said that he was in favor of early never known such wasteful time occupied on Estimates as had been occupied by the Opposition tliis session, and on Tuesday he would move to sit on Saturdays and Mondays for the remainder of the session. 'Hiere had never been a hint that there was anything improper in the Estimates, but Opposition members were continually jumping lip and asking questions on points that had been explained on former days. Leading members of a party should have been ashamed to have acted with such stupidity as some members on the 1 present Estimates. He considered that his consideration for members had been construed as weakness. At this stage the Chairman's bell arrested the Prime Minister, and the Opposition, having tacitly capitulated, the Estimates were gone on with for an" hour and a-lialf. There was some show of fight, but as noon approached the House galloped through the Estimates, and put the last one throught at 12.30, with a round of applause. Mv Speaker's" appearance and the final adjournment of the House were signalised by more applause. . I It is considered by many that the determination of the Government in clearing Estimates out of the way bespeaks an earlier conclusion of the session than has been looked for up till now. However, members still speak of the middlo of November as the, probable elate.

I In reply to Mr Allen. Mr Buddo said that only two research scholarships were provided this year, hence the reduction in the vote. The report of the work done would he laid before the House. • The Premier referred to the University site in Auckland,: which had come up during the debate. ' He said the" Government intended to ask Parliament to pass special legislation to set-aside part of the Go.vernment House grounds as <a site. • ' After further discussion the- whole 'vote (£925,642) was passed. The following items were passed State coal, mines, £297,675; scenery preservation", " £10,350; lands settler ments, £9936. • , On the Public Trustee yote (£1000), Mr Allen moved a reduction _of £1 as a protest against the salary being raised by £l5O while the salaries, of the lower officials liad been reduced. —Lost on the voices, and the vote (£18,712) passed. Government insurance (£65,216), ■ accident insurance (£7120), State guaranteed advances (£412,749) were then passed, and the House rose at p.m.