DThe Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1913. THE SESSION'S WORK.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1933, 16 December 1913, Page 4

DThe Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1913. THE SESSION'S WORK.

o .The session of Parliament which camc to a close last evening was 're-, murkablo on several grounds.; - It was, for one thing, the- longest, session on record, a circumstance mainly due to the fact that never before has there been witnessed in the Parliament of New Zealand such deliberate and long-sustained periods of obstruction of business, and such_ systematic waste of time over trivial matters. The Opposition, after Sir Joseph Waed assumed the position of Leader, appears to have come to the conclusion that its only chance of discrediting the Government was to prevent it. giving effect to its platform pledges in the way of legislative reforms. With this purpose in view, the members of the Opposition, with their Labour-Socialist allies, laid themselves out on every possible occasion to hinder the progress of business and prevent the passage on to the Statute Book of measures which in the end they themselves had not the courage to vote against. When, despite their opposition, the Bills ultimately came to the stage at which a vote had to be taken, almost invariably the Anti-Reformers performed a volte jace and entered the qeivision lobby with Ministers. The cost to the country of the waste of time for which the Opposition have been entirely responsible is' very great. The two remarkable features of the session so far discussed, that is its length and the abnormal waste of time in deliberate obstruction, are due to the tactics of the Opposition. A third feature of importance is the amount of useful business transacted in spite of the desperate efforts of the opponents of the Government. For this result Ministers and members of the party arc deserving of every credit. The manner in which they have stuck to their programme for the session arid pressed steadily and persistently forward has had a most demoralising effect i on the Opposition. How could it be otherwise? Having planned to obstruct business, and having succeeded to a considerable, extent in delaying tins progress of important measures, the Opposition had some reason to believe that their tactics would not- only embarrass the Government in "Parliament, but would prejudioe Ministers in the eyes of the country. When, however, Ministers made it clear beyond all question that tho business was going to bo put through no matter how long the Opposition chose to obstruct, tho air-castles of Sin Joseph Ward were very rudely shattered, and he and his followers towardsthe close of the session have scon their worst fears realised. They stood doubly discredited: firstly because, of their failure, and secondly because. of the selfish and unworthy means by which they sought to servo their party ends, Turning now to the list of measures passed into law, it will be seen from the record of the session's work that no fewer than 104 Public Bills, 23 Local Bills, and 5 Private Bills were passed. Some of these Bills were of very great importance, and represented the fulfilment of platform pledges given at the last general election. The amendments of the Old Age Pensions Act; the Land Laws Amendment Act, being the second and final Act- completing the enactment of the Ik'form Party's land policy; the Legislature Amend-, ment Act, providing for the repeal, of tho Second Ballot; the Labour' Disputes' Investigation Act, 'which makes it compulsory in the enso-of labour disputes for certain stop? to bo taken with a view to an amicable

. s<it.tlcmcnt%_ete j ; to-'give . cii'ect. to elccti'. n ph jlgos. ; Thi' Xav'nl : Pefeii«;-Act s J , ■ 'of- i.!u!;piiniini!)ii ; .(h<: Loanl of Agricllltiirc "Af:l, ami. th-i Btalj'. A'dvancos i n tbi-csti cl;: ' ill ai n ly s ; f o i ; | t iiti; bcii c I'll of tiie farming coiniriiuiity, - ' .\vhiU: - the' Kducation : Govern-; ment- for-the lis:tieniic'nrof'jJie 161 ofi : the Fcliool teachers. ;. Then Uk-n:'. is .thc'yNativ;cgvLyin^ h. i ch:.f sn a r fi v'l iiiito vi a 1 y ri' ii jsr th u rriki LlioclsS jo f tle'ii lin i s most. y.\y<ul ~.jiu'.stiori/ o! . the Fi'tlemeiit of Xative;lan(is!iK the insorests of; gcncrally>.|STheV.poiicp.J 4F6'rccf'Actii thovP.nbiiq-Trust'OificcCAct;; extending tho; scope, of. institution ; the Bank- of. New: Zealand Act; Judicature.-'Amendment': Act;. Shops and Officca:Amendment ! Act; > :"■ Copy-, right Act', are all useful measures, and thereTare't many'S othel-sv-which will be found ii-; recorded!? 'elsewhere.' Practically the -' only important ■ policy matter^which-it was-hoped to deal with . during tho session* just' ended and . which has had to be postproposed tariff revision.. ; The' Opposition may derive some satisfaction, from.- having by their ' time-wasting '- methods blocked this ■ for . the) "'.time ' being, but the is not likely, to. thank them for having delayed the,.promised revision. On the .whole,''the Government, has. every treason to be pleased, with ;the outcome of the-'session's work. . The . obstructive tactics adopted :by its opponents' made the session an arduous one for ■ Ministers. and members, alike, but the record of /.work done.; will-'compare favourably with'that-of any'previous session.