PARLIAMENTARY VISIT.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 15113, 23 December 1921, Page 4

PARLIAMENTARY VISIT.

The fact that Parliament has adjourned until Wednesday, January 11, makes the proposed visit of Ministers and members to the Hauraki Plains a little more indefinite. Had the House finished its legislative programme before the adjournment, the members would have been free to make the journey early in the New Year. But, as it is, they will assemble again for the consideration of public business, and there can be no definite indication when . the sitting of Parliament will finish. The passing of a Bill carrying on expiring laws until February 28 is not altogether a cheering sign. has stated that many things needing attention must stand over until after the adjournment, and it looks as though Parliament will be confronted with a heavy order paper when it reassembles. .Matters in . -connection with the retrenchment policy have to be examined and discussed/ and the meat pool is an eleventh-hour addition, involving financial responsibilities that will probably be debated. difficulty confronting the committee that is making the necessary arrangements lies in the fact that until there is some clear indication of when the session will end, final arrangements for the visit cannot very well be made. It is hoped that early in February will be found. suitable, but if the session should last a month —and that is by no means improbable—the House will not have been prorogued then. While tentative arrangements with regard to transport and entertainment can be made, there can be nothing definitely fixed until the session ends, or the end is actually in sight. It is to be regretted that this development should .have occurred, but it lay quite outside the province of the committee, and cannot be helped. It is noticeable that, of the invitations accepted, only one. came from a member representing a South Island constituency. And it is, the Southern members whom we are anxious should see the district, and gain a first-hand knowledge of its .potentialities. Several members hope to come, and, if the visit is to be of the maximum value, every effort must be made, to" ensure their presence in the party. The local members and the representatives of many Auckland constituencies have some knowledge of the district, but the. work that has been undertaken- on the Plains is of a character quite unknown in the South, and, therefore, probably not as fully appreciated as it should be. If the session should last through February, then the prospects of obtaining a visit from a representative party of Parliamentarians will vanish. The thing must be done properly, and, rather than lessen its value by a hurried visit from a mere handful of members, it would be better to wait and stake out a claim -for the very best time —the conclusion of the first session of a new Parliament.