The Week’s Politics.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXXI, Issue 42, 8 September 1920, Page 2

The Week’s Politics.

THE LIBERAL LEADERSHIP. K—MEMBERS’ SALARIES. t* (Special to “Stratford Post”) The doath of the Leader of the Opposition (Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald) overshadowed the proceedings of Parliament, so far as last week was concerned. Tuesday's sitting passed off without the tragic happening being known. Mr MacDonald was in hist place in the House during the afternoon and again in the evening. Shortly after ton o’clock ho moved across the Chamber and asked the Prime Minister whether he proposed to take anv more business after the War Regulations Bill then under discussion was disposed of Mr Massey said he did not. whereupon Mr MacDonald said ho thought lie would go home. He left the building not long afterwards and within little over an hour had passed away. Hie House did not know of this until after the sitting had concluded. 'The sad news was telephoned through just hefor e the last of the members wore about to leave for their homes, hut those who had gone immediately' after the _ adiournmeuf knew nothing of it until the next day.

Business was necessarily snspenrlor - ! the following dav'out of respect tn the memory of tlm dead man. The House met, passed a, motion of appreciation of his sendees t 0 his country and expressive of sympathy with hi* family, and then adjourned for tlm day. The note’ which ran through the tributes pavl to his memory was a recognition of hisMoyaltv to hi* country and his dde. and of his upright-no*-ar-d steadfastness of pnmnse. Tin late Mr wag obviously onof those men wh 0 never permitted hm political bel-efs to colour In’s personal relations with lr 3 follow members. The references made to him fnm all sides of the House showecT'the high personal esteem in whicli, he was hold by colleagues, and opponents alike. He .will b e sincerely mourned by the whole House. . I >• •» * *

! WHO IS TO LEAD?

“The Kinp; ip dead, lons, live the Kins,” is a savins which, has s me | application to politics. The ques'.io'i | must rise in the imined ate futuie concerning who is to lead thn Libepa party in the House. When Mr Mac-j Do 'aid was absent some week o r -oj ago on account of illness, the party , chose Mr T. M. Wilford to act temporarily, with Mr G, W. 1* orbes tin' party whip and Mr 1. K. Sidey, one of,its oldest members, associated with; him. Now the necessity for making a permanent choce has arisen. On the face of it the lot should naturally fail to Mr Wilford, hut it is stated that i his selection for the position is by n.i means a foregone conclusion. The Hon; A. M. Myers, who stands high in. th 1 councils of the party, is still absent at the other side of the world, and is not likely to bo back for the remainder of the session, dir Forbes who has r been Whip for some time occupies :i position parrying a certain amount of j official standing, but pending a meeting of the Party next week the posit oil can only be described as nebu!j OUS. Despite the universally regretted in ] Corruption, a fair amount of work wa-j accomplished during the week. A cor- j tain space of time was devoted, to the discussion of reports produced by Departmental heads, but the criticisms and suggestions evolved were of an interesting character. On Tuesday afternoon an important and far-reach-ing 13Ti\ consolidating, amending and adding to the Public Health legislation was introduced. It is a fairly formidable document of some 140 clauses and contains a number of significant policy provisions in addition to important nimbinery amendments lt-i policy lines may be defined as the creation of a Board of Health to exercise considerable judicial and administrative functions, and to perform many of the duties at present left to the Chief Health Officer and the Minister, together with the transfer of a considerable amount of the control c.\ ercised heretofore by Hospital Boards to the local bodies in the various district 1 -'. Drastic powers are reserved to the Health authorities in the event of an epidemic. * * * * LABOUR’S “LAST STAND.” Several small bills wh ch came down from the Legislative Con cil with amendments were considered and save jin the case of the Masseurs Bill wore allowed to pans without demur. The jwar Regulations Continuance Bill I rcath-M tine final stages cn I uesd.iy This measure hag been bitterly opposed by the Labour Party at all stages, the members of that wing insisting upon regarding it as a co s tiered attack upon the position of “organ’sjed labour” in th : s country. Nothin ■! much that was new could b-> said about it by this time, but tcore wan j considerable re-iterat ou of tb pro i ,on sly expressed objections to Gi" i- j visions which it contains, ami t ' mo 1 tion for the third rcadi g wa-,

the occasion for a. final dirision forced Holland and liis colleagues. SHORTAGE OF MINERS. The production of the annual report of the Mines Department- on Thursday afternoon was the signal for a considerable debate upon the ever-present coal question. Tire discussion ranged over a fair period of time and the Prime Minister in his capacity as Min. ister for Mines took the opportunity to make a number of important observations upon the difficult situation that obtains. He emphasised that no far as New Zealand was concerned th e ’trouble was not the shortage of coal but the want of miners. The number engaged underground had decreased during the year, and the need for more miners wa s the most pressing problem of the day. The lessened production of native coal wag one of the most distressing aspects of the situation. The-report shows that the Government hope 8 to make considerable effort, financial ami otherwise, in thy encouragement of all branches of the mining industry during the immediate future, ««' » * “HOW MUCH ARE WE WORTH?” A matter which lies very near to the hearts of members was under discussion on Thursday evening when the Prime Minister moved 'the second reading of the Civil List Bill No 2, the measure which proposed to increase the salaries of members to £450 per year. With the country so full of talk about the high cost of living and the inadequacy of pre-war remuneration, the members of the House may perhaps bo pardoned for displaying a certain amount of eagerness in the matter of increasing their own salaries. The consensus of < pinion seemed to ho that the proposed increase wag none too much ami that

£SOO would not be an over-generous honorarium for a member of the House of Representatives. Two other suggestions the Prime Minis lor might well be paid a t least £2OOO a vear and the salaries of the other niinist rs increased proportionately, ind that the Loader of the Opposition should have a special salary and a secretarial allowance. When session a resolution was carried hearing upon this subject the question of a superannuation scheme for past members was also discussed. Thig matter was again referred to on the Bill. The Prime Minister said there wag a certain amount of difficulty over the superannuation question but he thought that provision might ho made for the payment of an allowance -to past members who required monetary assistance. The Bill was eventually read a second time and the Prime Minister promised that a committee of both houses would he set up to consider the various questions that had boon raised for tho variation of the proposals contained in the measure. * * a » HEALTH OF MEMBERS. The House 6f Representatives lias i not always been comfortably since ir. j wa.R transferred to its quarters in the 1 rmw Building. Parliament Hou*» Ifl r r>big to hs> an imposing pile when completed. hi’t it :s far from finphod yet. L ncomplet d buildings arc iot tlm ;d al sort of pl-cy in occupy, and a certain amount of d’seomfort is insrp. arable from the present state of

I chamber. The Prime Minister raised I the question this week in a request to 1 the Speaker that ho should see ;f anything could be done in the matter of the ventilation of the chamber. The atmosphere was apt to become super-heated, and members leaving the chamber had to traverse icy-cold corridors, so that a considerable amount of sickness was occasioned A member had complained only that day of congestion of the lungs, and said Mr Massey, lie had little doubt that the conditions under which they had to work had something to do with the amount of sickness prevailing in the House. Mr Speaker said that he would see what could be done, though ' lie rather thought that any action came within the province of the Mi lister for Public Works.

QPiCKENING THE PACE. Hie production of the Public Health Bill means that one of the more irnjortant' Government measures is on the way, hut the financial proposals are still being awaited, so that members in the coming week will have an opportunity of finding out about some of the most significant .work they will be asked to do this session. And the. Prime Minister has given an in dication that the .session is approaching its last hap, if not actually its close. From next Monday we are to sit five days in the week. It is not usual to take Monday sittings until the session is well within about five weeks of its close, so the Opposition was naturally surprised when Mr Mas tr y made big annourcement in the early hours of Saturday morning. Was the sess : on so near its end as all that? they asked. But the Prime Minister gave his assurance that there was still plenty to do. Hon. members would, ho said, he still in their places would, ho said, he still in their places at the beginning of November H< hoped that the session might be brought to an end in the first week of November, and he thought that that could h e managed ; but he would not mind so very much if it ran a little longer. So now it is to he a matter of real business every week! Tlmrc will certainly be late sittings, and equally certainly there will Be protests from Mr H. E. Holland, who docs not see whv Parliament need sit up half the night to do its business. As a matter of fact, therm is a good deal in that point of view. A few minutes after two o’clock last Saturday morning. Mr Holland threatened that if the sitting wer e continued much longer ho would endeavor to make it spin out. to until 1 after daylight, by 'cussing dvery item of the Estimates being considered. Nobody took the threat very seriously, but the House sat only for the exact round of the clock, rising at 2.30 a.m.