MONDAY SITTINGS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1872, 4 October 1913, Page 6

MONDAY SITTINGS.

THE OPPOSITION PROTEST; —— '" , 1 SESSION PROSPECTB. , j The PRIME MINISTER moved: i "That on and after Monday, October 6, and for the remainder of the session, this Houße do meet on Mondays at 7.30 p.m. for tho transaction of Government business." SIR JOSEPH WARD (Leader of the ■ Opposition) asked tho Prime Minister to give his reasons for moving as lie had done. • The Prime Minister said that the j reasons were so obvious as to bo scarcely worth mentioning. He was not moving this motion for his own pleasure or convenience or for the pleasure or convenience, of the Government. He was moving it simply with a view to expediting the business of the session. He had looked up" the-records of provious sessions, and had found that quite frequently Mondays held been taken during October. On more than one occasion both Mondays and Saturdays had been taken during October. Ho hoped that it would not be necessary to take Saturdays during the present session. As he had already indicated, •ho intended to give the first Monday sitting to Local Sills. If necessary he would devote several sittings to theso measures, in order to do away with the procedure which had obtained in past years of delaying their consideration until the end of tho session. The motion was moved in the interest, and for the convenience, of members generally. Sir Joseph Ward saicl that ho could nofc recall an occasion on which Monday sittings had commenoed at an equally early stage in the session. There were members of the Government party who were [going away that night and would not be back before Tuesday or Wednesday. A number of Opposition--■ists wero also going away who could not be back before Tuesday. Theso men wore going ..to be deprived of tho opportunity of doing their duty by their constituents becauso Monday sittings 1 ' wero to begin long before the end of tho session. Tho House was already , sitting for very long hours and beforo : the end of tho session ' some of tho weaker ones would bo incapacitated. Ho ' enumerated a number of important policy measures which had been' announced but not yet introduced. Ho objected to members' being required to work on tho ono night of tho week which they , required to recuperate after a week of 'hard work. There were many v«ry important Bills to como lip which woujd require a great deal of time. The Bill providing for electoral reform might easily occupy the House for weeks, or even for three months. Tho House did not know what tho proposed electoral Teform was. ■ It had been, said that it was abolition of the second ballot and proportional representation in the cities. Ho could assure tho' Primo Minister they would not get that proposal through this Parliament.if they stayed ill session for threo or;four, months. The House- ought- to know what; the Government wero' proposing to do'before members woro asked to give up Mondays. Every member of tho Houso could bo 'expected to liavo vory strong views on electoral reform. It had been stated even that members of the Government party had refused to support a section of tho' legislative programmo that tho Prime Minister had announced. Mr. Massoy: What is thatp Sir Joseph Ward: Proportional representation for this Houso. , Mr. Massoy: I nover announced that. I challenge you to produce ' any announcement of that. Sir Joseph Ward said he had understood that something of the, kind was proposed. He went on! to discuss other coming measures. Where, ho asked, was the Native Land Bill?

Mr. Herries: It will bo produced at tho_ beginning of next'week:- "-' '

Sir Joseph Ward protested in contusion that before tho House had seen the Public Works Statement, tho Licensing Bill, - and tho- Electoral Bill, tho sxtra day of rest that members needed to keep themselves in condition ought not to bo taken from them.

Mr. L. M. ISITT (Christohurch North) said that tho taking of Monday night gave the Prime Minister an enormous party advantago. Mr. E. LAURENSON (Lyttelton) said the present sitting hours of Parliament i wero simply barbaric, and he prophe-1 sied that in seven years, 'when the Democracy took chargo, thoy would revolutionise' 1 tho Parliament. It ought j to be the rule that tho House adjourn I automatically at ten o'clock every night, and -he bolieved there ougfht to bo some form of closure. The will of the majority must prevail. Ho protested against the unnatural hours in which Parliament was required to sit, and he maintained that the Standing Order's ought to bo revised by a committee. Mr. G. W. RUSSELL (Avon) said that suoli a'motion as this pas usually proposed when the end of the session was in sight, but the real work of this session had hardly begun. Ho protested against Monday sittings, bomg convinced that the health of members would not stand the strain of lato sittings on five nights of the week. Mr. G. FORBES (Hurunui) protested against members losing thoir week-end rest. He thoujht tho Priiuo Minister

would bo well advised to postpone his motion to take Mondays. Mr.; T. K. SIDEY (Dunedin South) said it had never before been customary to take Mondays until it was within three or four weeks of the end of tho session. Mr. R. M'CALLUM (Wairau) opposed t'ho motion. The Hon. A. T. NGATA'did not agree with other speakers that tho business of the House could not go on with the Standing Orders as they Houso was to rise early every 'higfifc. Somo members would talk in the afternoon.and early evening, and the House rarely settled to business in earnest before 11 p.m., and the bulk of tho business was really done between that hour and 2 a.m. He thought the Standing Orders ought to bo remodelled. He opposed tho motion. Unprecedented Time-wasting. Mr. E. NEWMAN (Rangitikei) said that in all his experience of Parliament he bad never soon such consistent time-wasting as the Opposition had indulged in during the present session; Tho policy of the ; Opposition was to quote "Hansard." Mr. W.D.-S. MACDONALD (Bay of Plenty) contended that the tactics of tho Opposition had boon justified. If the House was to sit on Monday evenings at least tho Prime Minister Should give an assurance that, there should be no all-night sittings on Mondays. The Prime Minister: I give that assurance willingly. I doirt want to have any all-night sittings that can possibly be avoided. Messrs. J. Hanan (Invercargill), D. Buddo (Kaiapoi), G. Witty (Riccarton), and H. Atmoro (Nelson), also spoke against the motion. PRIME MINIBTER IN REPLY. AN INNOCENT PROPOSAL. . Tho PRIME MINISTER said that thero had been a very long disoussion upon his very innocent • proposal. For one thing he was not asking that the House should sit all day on Mondays, but only that it should meet at 7.30 p.m. Tho practice in past years had been that Monday sittings • Bhould com-' mence at 2.30 p.m. In 1901 Monday sittings started on Octobor 7, and in succeeding years as follows: —1002, September 15, 1903; September 21 Mr. Russell: The sessions were shorter then.' Mr. Massoy: I am not quite sure that they were. In 1904, he continued, Monday sittings started on- Octobor 10; 'in 190-5, on September 25'; in 190G, on October 27 (the session did not commence until August 21 that year); in 1907, on October 14; in 1008," on September 28. He was proposing nothing unusual and'nothing that should not be agreed to. The member for Christcliurch North had said that tho South Island represented tho political sanity of tho oountry, but judging by the opposition fihown to the motion that day the South Island members were guilty of political laziness.

Waste of Time. "Before going further," continued the Prime Minister, "I wish to protest against the awful waste of time that has taken place this afternoon, although the discussion was no exception, to the rule. I have never seen a session when so much time was wasted _ by members sitting on the Opposition benches." Sir J. Ward: I used to say the same sort of thing. ' [ The Prime Minister said that honourable members opposite had no originality., The best th«y could do was to turn up some of his old speeches and quote them. Tip to the present, ho continued, four Bills had received the Governor's assont, 22 Bills had passed the House and gone, to the Legislative Council. Three Bills were at the third reading stage in tho Lower House. All these Bills had been got through in spite of stupid obstruction by the Opposition. There were seven important Bills 'before Seleot Committees, and 17 Bills were at their second reading stage. There were other Bills which would make their appearance in due_ courso. An opportunity would be given: on a Monday night for a second reading debata upon Mr. Hunter's Gaming Amendment Bill. The Government intended to take i\p the Distress Limitation Bill, which had como down as a private Bill in charge of Mr. Hindmarsh. Hon. members opposite objected to'long liours,'and yet they had sat out from Friday night until Wednesday morning. Mr. Witty: Waiting for reports.

Opposition Threats. Mr. Massey said that the Opposition had talked for twelve hours after the reports,came along. Ho was sorry that tho Leader of the Opposition had indulged in what appeared to be a threat. Throats would have not the very slightest effect upon him or upon members on the Government side of the House. If hon; members thought that tho Government was to be deterred by threats from bringing down any of tiio Bills thoy intonded to bring down, thoy novel 1 made a bigger mistake in their lives. If tho Leader of the Opposition and his friends chase to go in for .obstruction, they could have as much obstruction as ever they liked. He honestly believed that tho people of tho country objected strongly stonewalling, and had long memories for peoplo who wasted time. Ho hoped that Jiis friends on the other side of the House would be wavnod in time, and take tho' advico he was giving them. Tho Prime Ministor remarked that he had regretted hearing tho member for Lyttelton recomniending'the adoption of the closure. If he wont on in this way Mr. Laurenson would become a confirmed Tory. South Island members, Mr. Massey remarked, could journey to and from their homes by steamer much more comfortably than North Island members could do it by rail. Tho session would come to an end just as soon as the business was done, he stated in conclusion, and if members settled down to work thoy could get through the,business in six weoks, and bring tho session to a cpnciusion in the middle of November. If thore was obstruction, be could not say when the session would end.

Thero was a brief discussion by way of personal explanations, between tho Leader of tho Opposition and tho Ministor regarding events of the recent obstruction debato. Th« House Trent to a divijion on th«

motion at 5.8 p.m., and it was carried by 38 votes to 28. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. Two weeks' leave of absonoe was granted to Sir Jas. Carroll and two days' to Mr. J. G. Coatos. . MR. PETER HEYES. Mr. J. H. BRADNEY (Chairman of the Ato L Petitions Committee) brought in an interim report on the petition of Peter Heyes. The report was to tho effect "that tho committeo requests tho Houso to direct that tho evidence required by tho committee for tho petition bo produced by tho Department of Internal Affairs." He moved that tho report do lie on the table. He explained that tho committee had made application for the papers to the Department, and tlio Undor-Secrotary (Mr. J. Hislop) had replied: "I have to inform you that I am unablo to furnish any papers or make any report on the subject matter of the petition, as all the papers aro treated as confidential." Mr. SPEAKER informed Mr. Bradney that such a report was usually followed by a motion. The Hon. W. F. MASSEY (Prime Minister) moved that the report _bo tojeen into consideration next sitting day. DEFAMATION BILL. The Hon. A. L. HERDMAN (At-torney-General) asked for leave to move the second reading pro forma of tho Defamation Bill, and to movo- also that the Bill be referred to tho Statutes Revision Committee. Tho Bill, he . said, was a highly , technical one, and it was therefore desirable that it should bo referred to the committeo. SIR JOSEPH WARD (Awarua) said he objected to the Bill going to tho oommitteo. It should rather be considered by tho House. It was a most important Bill, and the fact of its going to the. committee would not stop considerable discussion upon it. Why a Bill of this kind should ba referred to the Statutes Revision Committee he did not know. The committee consisted entirely of legal members, and the Bill affected tb? people of the country as a wholo. Mr. Herdman: Why, tho House is always complaining about Bills of this kind not going to tho Statutes Revision Committee. Sir Joseph Ward said he was not aware' af any complaints of the kind about. Bills of this class: He was interrupted by the dinner adjournment, and after the adjournment Mr. Herdman announced that he did not propose to go on with his request for leave to movo his motion. Tho Hon. W. F. MASSEY (Prime Minister) explained, in reply to a query, that Mr. Herdman would now either move tho second reading in tho ordinary way, or give notice of his intention to move tho second reading pro forma.