WORK OF SESSION.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19176, 6 December 1927, Page 12

WORK OF SESSION.

+ much legislation.

BULKY, statute BOOK-

[THE PRESS Special Service.]

WELLINGTON, December 5. ' The session of Parliament which ended to-dav will be notable becu.se ot its length and the variety and imporV ,1,,, legislation discussed, in w .lrouued or otherwise disposed ot. l f oll Bills which were ot j u 4- i--! Hnnk of a provision 6iiablin & | the Government to '"''""Jyf j'sfnmZenhincf gootls, or *l.o» walk are considered to be too lii 0 . _ The Insurance Bill, passed late in the session, was designed to place outsi associations of underwriter on piacti callv the same looting as othor coiiutries operating in, New Zealand, l competing lor the insurance business of tll The°Petroleum Bill, which was introduced and postponed until" next session, had as its principal object the facilitating of prospecting lor commercial deposits. Another postponed measure, the Cinema togi aph Films Bill, sreks encourage the production and exhibition of Empire-made films. Other measures, the effects of which will be felt outside the Dominion were the petrol tax, fertilisers and seeds importation. and the Introduction ol Plants Bills. . . , Students of social legislation in other countries looking to New Zealand far a lead in humanitarian legislation will find in the extension of the National Provident Fund an attempt to provide the means for the payment in old ago of high retiring pensions, by reason or voluntary payments on behalf of the prospective beneficiaries. _ Of academic interest is the legislation relating to farmers' finance, contained in the Rural Intermediate Credits Bill, the Dangerous Drugs Amendment Bill, and the discussion on the licensing legislation, and also or New Zealand's administration of its mandate over Samoa. Taxation loomed large during the session, an amending Bill of a few clauses to the Land and Income Tax Act providing the subject matter of prolonged and animated debate in the House and in the country. It was the contention of the Minister for Finance (Mr Downie Stewart) that it was necessary to place the sliding scale of incometax assessment on a scientific basis before any general revision of the incidence of income taxation could bemade There was also the petrol tax, the imposition of which was a fulfilment of the | Government policy that users should pav for the roads of the country. The session saw the removal of many of the difficulties which confronted tlie successful establishment of higher education in the farming industry. The status of Lincoln College in Canterbury was defined, and the (passing of another Bill paved the. way for the creation of the Massey Agricultural College at Palmerston North. The removal of some of the barriers which have hitherto made the various Departments of State closo corporations for public servants, who entered the respective services in their youth and the creation of greater uniformity in procedure, were the chief objects of a few measures dealt with during the session. There is now power to transfer officers from one Department to another under the Public Service Commissioner, and to appoint to the services specialists from outside. The measures passed during the sesI sion were: Public Acts Passed. Apiaries., Apprentices' Amendment, Appropriation, Ashley River Improvement Amendment, Bankruptcy Amendment, Canterbury College and the Canterbury Agricultural College Amendment, Child Welfare Amendment, Coal Mines Amendment, Counties Amendment, Customs Amendment, Dangerous Drugs. Education Reserves Amendment, Egmont National Park Amendment, Electoral, Electric Power Boards Amendment, Fertilisers, Finance, Finance (No. 2), Fungicides and Insecticides, Government Railways Amendment, Guardianship of Infants Amendment, Howard Estate Amendment, Hutfc Valley Lands Settlement Amendment, Imprest Supply (6), Industrial i Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment, Inspection of Machinery Amendment, Insurance Companies Deposits Amendment, Introduction . of Plants, Justices of the Peace, Kauri Gum Industry Amendment, Land and Income Tax Amendment, Land and Incomo Tax (Annual), Land for Settlements Amendment, Land Laws Amendment, Legislature Amendment,. Local Authorities Empowering (Relief of Unemployment Extension), Local Legislation, Magistrate's Courts Amendment, Main Highways Amendment, Marriage Amendment, Massey Agricultural College, Mining Amendment, Mortgagees Indemnity (Workers' Charges), Motor Spirits Taxation, Motor Vehicles Amendment, Native Land Amendment and Native Land! Claims Adjustment, New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, Noxious Weeds Amendment, Orchard Tax, Peel Forest Amendment, police Offences, Post and Telegraph Amendment, Property Law Amencfnient, Public Service Amendment, Public Service Superannuation, Public Works Amendment, Rent Restriction Continuance, Reserves and Other Lands Disposal, Rural Intermediate Credit, Samoa Amendment, Savings Banks Amendment, Seeds Importation, Shops and Offices Amendment, Slaughtering and Inspection Amendment, Stamp Duties Amendment, Stock Amendment, Summer Time, Tongariro National Park Amendment, Valuation of Land Amendment, Waimakariri River _ _ Improvement Amendment, War Disabilities Removal, War Funds Amendment. Local Acts Passed.

Auckland Harbour Board Empowering, Cliristchurch City Sanitation Empowering Amendment, Christchurch District Drainage Amendment, Christchurch Tramway District Amendment, Dunedin City Corporation Empowering Amendment, Greytown Trust Lands Trustees Empowering, Hukarere Native .Girls' Schools Amendment, Hutt River Board (Gear Island) Empowering, Lower Hutt Borough Council Empowering, Makerua Drainage Board Loan Empowering, Napier Foreshore, Napier Harbour Board Empowering Loan and Constitution Amendment, Napier Harbour Boaxd Loans Enabling Act, 1918, Extension, " Newmarket Borough Council Vesting and _ Empowering, Palmerston North Library Empowering, Petone and Lower Hutt Gas Lighting Amendment, Te Matai Road Water-race District. Wellington City and Suburban Ambulance Transport Service, Wellington City and Suburban Highways Construction and Hutt Road Amendment, Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply, Wellington City Empowering and Amendment, Wellington-City Exhibition Grounds, Whakatane County Council Empowering and Loan Moneys Diversion, Whangarei Harbour Board Vesting and Empowering. Private Acts Passed. Church Property Trust (Canterbury) Amendment, St. Peter's Parish Endowment Fund. Bills Dropped. Advertisements Regulation. Agricultural Bank, Animals Protection and

Game Amendment, British Nationality and Status of Aliens (in New Zealand) Amendment, Building Trades Employees Tools of Trade Insurance, Captive Birds Shooting Prohibition, Cinematograph Films, Compulsory Military Service Repeal, Contributory Negligence, Crimes Amendment, Dairy Produce Export Control Amendment, Daylight Baiting, Divorce and Matrimonial Clauses Amendment, Education Amendment, Expiring Laws Continuance, Fnir Rents, Family Allowances Amendment, Gaming Amendment, Judicial Proceedings (regulation of reports), Juries Amendment, Juries Amendment (No. 2), Legislature Amendment (No. 2), Licensing Amendment, Local Electionp and Polls Amendment Minimum Wage, Motor-Omnibus Tramc Amendment. Music Teachers' Registration, Opticians. Petroleum, Preferential Voting. Religious Exercises in Schools, Right to Work, Unemployed Workers. Workers' Compensation Amendment, Christchurch Hospital Amendment, Napier Harbour Board Empowering and Loan. Timaru Harbour Board Loan, Waimairi County Council Empowering and Acquisition..