WILL THEY BE PASSED?

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 956, 25 October 1910, Page 4

WILL THEY BE PASSED?

In Parliamentary circles there are signs that tho end of the session is regarded as being within measurablo distance. Notice has been'given that the House will be asked to sit for tho remainder of tho session on Mondays and now that the Estimates are out of the way the more hopeful section of members, talk of getting away to their homes-in about thiree weeks' time. To do this cither one of two things must happen. There must be an unusually neavy slaughter of Government Bills or.the House must rush through the business at a rate that will certainly ensure that tho public interest will receive scant consideration. The, proof Order Paper for to-day's sitting of the House contains between thirty and forty Government Bills; some 20 'private members' Bills, and 23 Local Bills. In addition there are the Public Works and tho Supplementary Estimates to be dealt with; the' Prime Minister has promised to set aside,a day for the consideration' and discussion of Imperial questions, mOrc especially those to comb before the Imperial Conference next year; and there are a large number- of questions before Committees of the House which will take up-time when tho.reports of the Committees.are presented to Parliament. ' ■-'■'■■■ '•'■■"'■;■

Turning to the .'Bills and taking them in the order.in which they appear >on the Order Paper, it is only, necessary to name,a small number of them to show how. impossible it is that the House can hope to give them proper 'consideration, ; within; three weeks or a month., j First there is the Commercial Trusts Bill, which has reached its Committee stage and which requires' very;• careful attention if it ,is to be made a workable measure on safe lines. Then there is the Land Tax and Income.Tax Bill providing for an increase of income l-tax for which there has not been the faintest shadow of a reason given. Evon : those who support,the, principleof this Bill have, in many cases,objected to the proposed scale of increases,, and'in Committee .there- is certain to,be a good, dear of 'time spent, in discussing' amendments. The National Provident Fund Bill, and the Legislature Act Amendment Bill, the latter making alterations in connection with the conduct of Parliamentary, elections, are both measures to which, .ithev Governmorits;att'a'oh importance., The Licensing Act Amendment, as everyone will realise, is not going to be disposed.of hastily. The-attitude -of "the ' two;*-'extreme-parties: towards this measure has not yet ,becn made clear, 'but' it'is safe to assume that jshould the Bill lever get into' Committee it will not have an easy passage. ■ Tho.Harbours Act Amendment; Hospitals and Charitable Institutions, and the Beet Boot Sugar Bill, aro all warmly advocated by the Government as embodying desirable and necessary proposals, but there is a.good .deal .of .controversial matter in each.. Then there : is.. the Land .Bill. Who' would'venture to say that this Bill can be disposed of in less- than a week 1 Unless the Opposition are placated by amendments meeting their wishes they may be expected to fight; to a finish on every clause of the Bill. And ~if they are placated it/is 'equally certain the extreme Radicals' will fight just as hard to upset the concessions thus made. ' Amongst the remaining Bills is the Gaming_Bill. 'What is going to happen to it? ...■.:- So far as the general public are concerned chiof interest will centre in the fate of tho Licensing Bill,' the Land Bill and the: Gaming 'Bill. It' can be'taken-' for : granted' that these three Bills will not be passed within the next-threo weeks. It is possible, if the session is Spun out long enough, that they may all pass, but the general impression in- political circles appears to be' that..one, ■ or. more will bo. jettisoned. And_ it is not an easy question to say which of tho number 'it will be.•-• One would think, after the emphatic.nature of the vote given by the Houso earlier in the session, that there would; be no hope of tho Gaming -Bill being hung up, yet there- is a 'very strong feeling abroad that it will, not pass this session. The chances of- the Licensing Bill are more favoured in some quarters. In fact tho Licensing Bill may possibly slip through while the others are carried over to tho succeeding session.' Much,' of course, will depend on the,mood of members. If they are prepared to stay in Wellington until December, and the Government are in earnest about.these Bills,, it should bo possible to place them all on tho Statute Book this year in more or less modified form. The House has-been so badly handled during the present session, however, that there is prospect of serious trouble for the Government if it attempts to compel members to stay here and work under the forcing conditions which would be necessary. Probably the House will sit for another month, at the end of which'time thore will have been a heavy mortality amongst the' Bills now on the Order Paper.