THE SESSION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1791, 2 July 1913, Page 8

THE SESSION.

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY TO-DAY.

NEWS & PROSPECTS.

To-day Parliament will make a beginning upon tho ordinary work of tho session, and a moderately busy .week is predicted. In the House tho afternoon sitting to-day will probably bo taken up with the discussion of answers to questions and other, matters of minor importance. The • Address-in ; Reply debate will begin in the evening. The mover and seconder'will be Mr. C. A. Wilkinson "(Egmont), and Mr. C. E. Statham (Duiiedin Central) respectively. The intentions of the Opposition are still more or less wrapped in mystery, but it is rumoured that Mr. G. W. Russell (Avon) will lead off in'their behalf. In the Legislative Council tho Addreis-in-Reply will bo moved in the afternoon by tho Hon. John Duthic. and seconde'd by, the Hon. Wm. Earnshaw. Probably the Council will- content itself with afternoon sittings-for some little time, and not commence sittings'in the evenings until tho House of Representatives has provided it with some work to do. THE OPPOSITION. The anticipation that the session will be a lively and bitter one, which lias been freely expressed in Opposition circles, is not shared by all tho members, it is .predicted by some that whilst the session may be productive of' considerable shnrp r shooting, -next year's session, immediately preceding the ..general elections, will seo the greatest tussles in the House so far as the present Parliament is concerned. This was the view expressed by an Opposition, and also an Independent member in the course,of conversation yesterday. Some of / tho Liberals, whilst preserving a policy of reticence as to their actual intentions, continue to drop vaguo hints as to their intentions to "mako .'things warm" for tho occupants of tho Government benches. One of the subjects of attack, it is understood, will be, the alleged delay, of the Government in the issue of the writ for the Grey election,' in order, it is asserted-, to suit the interests of the Reform candidate. . The Primo Minister has already stated . that he has a complete answer to the allegation, and that tho law has been adhered to to the letter. In viow of tho keen fight that is being .waged in Greymouth, the expected skirmish, on tlio subject is expected to prove interesting. THE CHAIRMANSHIP. . Reform party members who were spoken to yesterday without exception agreed ill denying -tho accuracy of a statement which has been published-in some Opposition' newspapers that the allocation of the Chairmanship of Committees is giving riso to some dissatisfaction-amongst Government members. "There is absolutely no feeling over tho matter at nil," one member-declared, "and as a matter of fact .it has .not been discussed to any extent. There arc a number of men in the party eminently qualified to fill the, position; tho appointment of any one of them would satisfy their brother members and as a fact the position is not greatly sought after." There is some expectation that tho House may proceed to elect a Chairman before the end of tho week. Three < possible candidates are named— Mr. A. S. Malcolm, Mr. F. Mander, and Mr. G.-M. Thomson. Thei weight of opinion is that Mr. Malcolm will be elected, but well-informed Government supporters state that this is not a foregone conclusion. UPPER HOUSE REFORM. The Legislative Council Reform Bill will be reintroduced this session in tho Council. Varying opinions are expressed as to tho probable l'ato of tho Bill, but the dominant opinion seems to be that, amended by tho provision of smaller electorates than were proposed in' the Bill of last year, it will have a fairly easy passage. Of the'• Councillors., who - are opposed to the principle' ! of election being applied to their Chamber, some frankly admit that they consider further opposition useless. Others state'that they will still do their utmost to prevent the passage of the Bill. THE LIFE OF PARLIAMENT. ' A proposal which is being discussed in the lobbies • with some interest by, members of tho House of Representatives ,is that of increasing the length of, tho Parliamentary term. Tho proposal has not yet taken any official shape, but a member who is as well qualified as any to form an opinion on tho subject, declared his conviction, in conversation with a reporter yesterday, that if a plebiscite of members on both sides of the House were taken there would be a large majority in favour of increasing the term of Parliament to four years. ■ fcionio members, it is stated, are in favour of a five-year term, but they aro in a minority. By a large number -of' members the four-year term is regarded as likely to be a decided improvement on the present three-year jieriod. "In support of the extension proposal, it is stated that at present, in return for the huge cost of a general election, tho country gets prac-. tically only one full session's work out of members. In the first session young members are serving their apprenticeship, and business lags; in 'the second session the work of Parliament is done; and in the third session members are principally actuated by a desiro to gain tho approval of their constituents, .and there is a goqd deal of electioneering in tho House. Anothor working session, it is claimed, would enable a Parliament to amend its own legislation at leisure, and so come nearer to perfecting it . than ,is now possible, when the work dono by one Parliament is amended by another which contains between twenty and thirty per cent.'of new members. Another point urged is that when the country was less advanced in development than it is now, the interests of its component districts changed more rapidly than they ,do now, and so made the shorter term more desirable than it is at present. Reduced expense to the country and better work in Parliament di'B tho principal .arguments advanced in favour of the proposal, and it. is not unlikely that it may take definite shape before long. . ARRIVING MEMBERS. Sir Walter Buchanan is expected to arrive to-day from Auckland, and Mr. E. H. Clarke, member, for Chalmers, who has so far been' detained in the south by illness, is also .expected to arrive to-day." - ' . It is not yet known when . Sir. Wm. Russell will be able to como to Wellington. to be sworn in as a Legislative Councillor. According to the latest' reports, he is still confined to his home by illness.