THE PRESSURE INCREASING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17346, 29 September 1924, Page 7

THE PRESSURE INCREASING.

PARLIAMENT'S WORK. EVENTS OF THE WEEK. (Special to the “ Star.”) WELLINGTON, September 27. Gently, and almost imperceptibly, the pressure is being put on the House of -Representatives and there is a feelin.r in the legislative atmosphere that nn endeavour is being made to bring what has been truly described as one of the most dull and uninteresting sessions for some years to a close somewhere in the vicinity of the end of October. Of course, there are a few stiles to get over before the last ditch has to be jumped, the taxing Bills and the amendments made bv the Statutes Revision. Committee of the Legislative Council to the Mortgages Final Extension Bill restoring the date for the termination of the moratorium to December 31 next, not being the least difficult to negotiate. When the Mortgages Bill left the House it provided that the moratorium should cease at the end of next July, and the alteration which has been made bj- the Statutes Revision Committee of the Legislative Council came as a surprise, seeing that it threw the. proposal right back to its original form. TROUBLE FOR THE “ LORDS/’ “The Lords,” euphemistically referred to by members of the Lower House as “ another place,” is not by any means a popular institution with all of the elected representatives of the people (whether they are majority representatives or otherwise), and if the amendments made by the council's committee are sustained there will be all sorts of material for explosive arguments when the House of Representatives is asked to concur. The Boy Scouts, Gloaming, and the All Blacks have all come in for honourable mention during the past week, and testimony to their services as suitable advertising agents for the Dominion lias been Hansardised, if not by way of considered ministerial statement, then by way of interjection. Patriotism, horse racing, and tlie good old national pastime of Rugby have kept New Zealand in the forefront of world affairs so many years now that Parliament dare not fail to accord due tribute and homage. One understands, therefore, why there seems to be a general desire, if possible, to clew up the Parliamentary topsails so soon as certain important events in Christchurch early in November appear in the offing. There may be fresh breezes spring up if the Legislature Amendment Bill, the Gaming Amendment Bill, and the Licensing Bill appear over the horizon any way late in the session, in which case it is fair to assume that the winds will increase to gale force and the Ship of State’s Parliamentary lifeboat will run a risk of being blown off the land. The Prime Minister stated on Tuesday that ho had tlie Legislature Amendnient Bill No. 2 in his pocket, and he was somewhat unkindly advised by Mr Holland to keep it there. For the present the Prime Minister seems inclined to act on Mr Holland’s advice. LOCAL BODIES AND PARLIAMENT Local bodies, like wild rabbits and blackberry, are sometimes heard of in Parliament, but reference to these institutions was on somewhat different lines than usual this week. There was a discussion on local body subsides—not entirely a new thing to the House- during which something in the nature of a hint was thrown out by the Minister of Public Works that some good might result if many of the local bodies amalgamated so that one large district council could control a greater area more efficiently than a multiplicity of “hard-up” county

councils and road boards. It was readily admitted that there is room for improvement for local government reform in the Dominion, but as the Prime Minister inquired, is Parliament courageous enough to face the task? Mr Holland made a point of the fact that members of Parliament were too often called upon to perform duties which should be carried out by local bodies. If Mr Holland meant that there arc many members of Parliament who would make excellent members of road boards, then it must be conceded that be expressed a perfectly correct view, but New Zealand’s trouble appears to be that too many members of road boards aspire to become members of Parliament and to the eternal misery of scrilies who struggle to interpret what so often appears to be meaningless mazes of words, get there. That some form of “ closure ” to put an end to “ word-storms ” in Parliament would be a means of saving an immense amount of time was the opinion expressed by the Prime Minister during a debate which Mr Holland bad initiated over the hours Parliament worked. Mr Holland is no lover of late sittings, and it is said that they would be bis worst enemies if ever he occupied the chief position on the Treasury bench and encountered opposition’ strong enough to compel him to observe bad hours if he wanted to get work through. Judging by some of the wrangles which have gone under the pseudonyms of “debates” during the present season, the institution of a “closure” would be a charitable act. THE WEEK’S AMENITIES. Some of the amenities of the week have been Mr Lysnar's condemnation of the Labour Party’s Sunday night political meetings, the suggestion of Mr R. A. Wright that the best way to get plums from the Government is to join the Opposition (lie did not say which one), and the “ breeze ” which occurred when Mr J. R. Corrigan suggested that the Government had bought land from its supporters on which to settle soldiers. Mr Corrigan assured the House that be had not made his charges in any party spirit. Mr Corrigan is known as one of the funny men of the House. The Estimates were put through their final stages at a quarter to one on Saturday morning, and the way is now clear for the really heavy work of the session. Everyone is looking forward with interest to what might be in store for next week, especially to the committee stage of the Land and Income Tax (annual) Bill, on which it is not altogether unexpected that the Government will encounter trouble.