EVE OF SESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 June 1923, Page 5

EVE OF SESSION.

MEETINGS OF PARTIES. ILLNESS OF HON. D. H. GUTHRIE. A PAIR TO BE ARRANGED. (By Wire—Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. The three political parties held caucuses to-day. The Reform meeting extended over several hours and was not concluded till late in the evening. The Liberal caucus was the first to finish and when spoken to by a Times reporter the - leader of the party (Mr. T. M. Wilford) said that the keynote of the whole proceedings was that the party was a happy family. It had been a splendid caucus, he said, and all the members of the party were present or were accounted for. A resolution was passed sympathising with the Hon D. H. Guthrie in his illness, and it was decided that the leader of the party should offer the Prime Minister a pair in respect of Mr. Guthrie during the coming session. This resolution was immediately conveyed by telephone to the Prime Minister’s secretary for communication to Mr. Massey, who was at the time attending the Reform caucus.

Those present at the Labor caucus were Messrs. Bartram, Langstone, O’Brien, Monteith, Savage, Parry, Howard, Armstrong, Sullivan, Lee, Jordan, Mcllvride, Munro, Fraser, McKeen and Holland. Mr. McCombs was the only member of the party who was absenj and an apology was received from him. In addition to the members of Parliament present there were also in attendance Messrs. T. Brindle (president of the National Labor Party) and W. Nash (national secretary). Mr. Holland was in the chair. Mr. Holland was unanimously elected chairman of the Parliamentary Labor Party and the other officers elected were: Vice-chairman, Mr. M. J. Savage;

secretary, Mr. P. Fraser; assistant secretary, Mr. F ,N. Bartram; whips, Messrs. E. J. Howard and D. Sullivan. The question of the party’s policy during the session was discussed.

Various legislation dealing with social questions, such as pensions and workers’ compensation, were considered. A resolution was passed congratulating the Labor members of the Christchurch City Council on “their splendid fight against wages reduction” last Monday evening. Asked if a pair would be accorded to Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Fraser (the secretary of the party) said he thought it could be said that if there was any difficulty in fixing it a pair would be offered. He added that there would be no difficulty in that matter and that the only occasion he knew of in which a pair was refused a sick man was that on which it was refused to members of the Labor Government in Queensland.

THE REFORM PARTY. LEGISLATION WELL FORWARD. PREMIER AND THE CONFERENCE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. It was nearly eleven o’clock when the Reform caucus concluded. The following official statement was made to Press representatives:— The party had a good meeting and a good spirit pervaded the proceedings. Every member was accounted for. The business that was intended to be brought before Parliament was discussed and a number of very valuable suggestions were made, which would be put before the House at the proper time. The Prime Minister reported that preparations for the work of the session were well forward and that by the time the Governor-General’s speech had been dealt with the Fnancial Statement would be ready. . The meeting unanimously expressed the opinion that the Prime Minister should represent New Zealand at the forthcoming Imperial Conference. Any arrangements that might be necessary for the conduct of the country’s business in Parliament the caucus decided should be left to the Prime Minister to deal with.

Resolutions of sympathy with the Hon. D. H. Guthrie and the Hon. Sir William Fraser, both of whom are ill, were passed and the hope was expressed that they would soon be restored to health. A message having been received from the leader of the Opposition that the Liberal-Labor Party were willing to find a pair for Mr. Guthrie during the session, the meeting expressed great gratification at the action of the Opposition Party.