SESSION CONCLUDES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 303, 23 December 1933, Page 10

SESSION CONCLUDES

VALEDICTORY SPEECHES TRIBUTES BY LEADER MANY BILLS PASSED. [ Per Press Association. 1 WELLINGTON, Dec. 22. The third session of the twentyfourth Parliament concluded at 12.40 p.m. to-day with the usual valedictory speeches. , Compared with the momentous meetings of Parliament in recent years, the session just concluded was comparatively uneventful, but a very large number of Bills were passed. During the session the House met on fifty-seven days and sat for 382 hours 13 minutes, representing a daily averave of 6 hours 42 minutes. The House of Representatives met at 11 o ’clock this morning to receive the Appropriation Bill back from the Legislative Council, and immediately adjourned to enable Mr. Speaker to wait upon Lord Bledisloe to receive the Royal assent to the Bill. The House resumed at 11.45. when the Speaker formally announced that the Royal assent had been given. Speaking on the motion to adjourn, Mr. Forbes said that members had had a particularly busy session in which an amount of solid work had been done that would compare favourably with the effort of any other institution or business organisation in the country. The session had been completed with the best feeling among members that he could remember. In spite of- divergent views on many subject, there had been no element of Mr. Forbes referred to the gap left in the House’s ranks by the death of the late Leader of the Opposition (Mr. H. E. Holland), whose passing had been so deeply regretted by members. He also paid tribute to Mr. Savage, stating that in the short time Mr. Savage had held office as Leader of the Opposition, he had earned the respect of every member of the House. “The bulk of the session’s work,” Mr. Forbes said, “has fallen on my colleague the Minister of Finance, who has come through a trying period ■with no loss of prestige and with every good humour.” In conclusion, the Prime Minster paid tributes to the Speaker. Chairman of Committees, and officers of of the House, and extended the season’s greetings to all members. Mr. P. Fraser, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, said that he joined in the tributes paid by Mr. Forbes and also in wishing the members a very good New Year, which he hoped would be shared by the whole country. There was no doubt that the session which had just concluded had been a heavy one, and in regard to the number of Bills passed it must have established something like a record for the time occupied. In regard to quality—the present is not the time to refer to that.”