THE FINAL ADJOURNMENT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 41, 12 November 1920, Page 8

THE FINAL ADJOURNMENT

5 J VALEDICTORY SPEECHES AN EXCHANGE OF GOOD WISHES 3 The first session of tho twentieth New [ Zealand Parliament closed at 11.10 last 5 night. The concluding scenes were quiet. Many of the southern members had left j by the evening boat, but there was a . fairly .largo Houso when at 10.30 tho _ Speaker resumed tho chair and announc- , ed that tho Appropriation Bill had re--1 ceived the Govornor-Gonoral's signature, r A littlo formal business was done, and , thon the usual valedictory speeches were 1 made and good wishes exchanged. r The Primo Minister said that they had readied the end of nnothor session in i which he believed' good work had been 1' done. The tact and courtesy .with which . the Speaker liad controlled tho proceed--3 ings had had tho result that nothing I had happened which members would - have occasion tb regret. The name apt plied in a high degree to tho Chairman j of Committees (Mr. A. S. Malcolm). Ho i paid a tribute to the work of the' officers 1 of Parliament and montioned particut larly the work done by the Law Drafts--1 man and his assistant. The members ,• had had their differences, but they bad 1 agreed to differ, and vory littlo had han--1 pened with which members or the public ) could find fault. A very great deal of ) tho country's business which was often 1 left to the second session had, on this r occasion been accomplished in the first ) session. Mr. Massey paid a brief tribute- to tho memory of tho lato Lender of the Oppos sition, the Hori.-W. D. S. Mac Donald. i He offered good wishes' to members for tho recess, and concluded* with renewed ! congratulations r to the Speaker. In the absence of the Leader -of the 1 Opposition, Mr. T. K. Sidoy (Dunedin . South) spoke on behalf of the Opposil tion. Ho added his tribute to that paid by the Primo Minister tb tho memory ot t his late leader. Tho session had bfien ' a memorable one, and would, he believed, > l>e followed by an even more important ) cession. He also paid a tribute to the ■ manner in which the Speaker had obn- • ducted the business, to the work of the Chairman of Committees, and all' the : officers of Parliament, concluding with i nu expression of good wishes for tho I recess. ( i Mr. H. E. Holland (Duller), speaking • on behalf of the official Labour members, endorsed what had been said, nnd ex- ■ pressed special thanks for the treatment they had received from the Speaker nnd the Chairman of Committer, Ho paid a 1 special tribute to the work of tho officials of the House, concluding with an ■ offer of good will. Mr. Sneaker, responding, offered thanks i for the congratulations tendered to him. He said that this Parliament had lived up to the high reputation of the New Zealaaid Legislative Assembly, for which tho credit belonged largely to the members themselves. The Chairman of Committees (Mr. A. S.,Malcolm) replied in similar terniß. / On the motion to adjourn the usual mnck division, was taken. It was quite apparent that tho motion was being negatived. On tho return of the lists the Sneaker announced:—"The Aye? nre 22, the Noes 27. tho Noes have it. (Laugh ter.) There being no business before the House. I leave it in the hands of the Noes." (Laughter.) He then left the Chair, the National Anthem was sung, nnd the session closed. SPEECHES IN THE COUNCIL In tho Council, Sir Francis Bell said that after a session devoted as far as was possible to the reconstruction of the country after the war, it was not inappropriate that the labours of Parliament should end on tho anniversary of Armistice Day. Parliament had passed such important measures as the Counties Bill and the Municipal Corporations Bill, consolidating the law with reference to, counties and municipalities. It had passed the Immigration Bill and the Health Bill, together with, other measures amending very many Acts. He wished to thank the Speaker, tho Chairman of Committees, the officers, and tho members of tho Council for the consideration they had shown him, and the care tho.v bail given to tho business brought Worn thorn. If present arrangements wore, carried out ho would not be present at tho opening of the next session, but he hoped that he would later in tho session be able to resume his seat in the Council. '■ Tho Hon. O. Samuel (Chairman of Committees) said that the Council had in important matters legislated, in the interests of the community. He. sharad tho Leader's feelings towards the members and the'officer*: of tho Council. The important work, that, the - Council had done had been due mainly to Sir Francis Bell. Many a time the Council might have omitted to notice important points had not the Leader of the Council directed members' attention to them. As years had passed, the esteem and affection of the Council for its Speaker had steadily grown. In the work of tho Statutes Revision Committee he had been er'eatly assisted by tho work of the clerk (Mr. Bothomley, jun.), and he did not WMiiTEafhe should miss tho opportunity of _exnressing his thanks for that assistance. The Speaker (the Hon. W. C. F. Carncross) thanked the Council for its. kindness to him. He suspected a conspiracy on "ffio part of . members to make his position pleasant. He wished the Leader of the Council a pleasant journey to the Old Land nnd a safe return. Ho thanked the staff for what it had done. The ' ouncil adiourned. WAIKAREMOANA SCHEME DR. NEWMAN SUGGESTS A DOUBT. A vote of .675,000 appears on the Supplementary Estimates for tho development of hydro-electric power at Waikareinoana. When this vote was reached in the House of Representatives, Mr. G. Hunter (Waipawa)'said that ho regarded it as an indication that the Government intended to concentrate effort: on tho scheme. He had repeatedly emphasised in the House the importance of tho scheme to the district he represented. Thto development of power at 'YVaikai'omoana was of vital importance to th's Hawke's Bay district, and he trusted that the. Government would push the work energetically. It ought to be put in hand and completed at tho earliest possible date. Dr. A. K. Newman (Wellington East) asked the Minister to make further In- j qnirv regarding the flow of water at! AVaiknremonnii before he spent, largu sums of Micney on development work. There was no doubt that in. normal times an enormous volume of water ran down the stream that the Department was proposing (o harness. But hj had been informed that in very dry seasons the amount of water was very small indeed. The Minister ought to leave no room for mistake before he embarked on . heavy expenditure. The Minister of Public Works (Mr. Contes) rose to reply, but the House was voting money at high spejd, and the Chairman got to the next item without noticing the Minister. REVISION OF THE TARIFF ' Replying to a question by Mr, J. P. Luke (Wellington North) regarding the revision of the tariff, the Minister of Customs said a Departmental inquiry would be made during the recess. The commission would receive evidence in the various centres from anyone dnsirini to give it. The desire wns to find out generally the wishes of tho people. MONTHLY CUSTOMS RETURNS Reference to the cessation of publication of monthly Cnsloms returns was made- 111 the House yesterday morning bv Mr. S. G. Smith (Tnranaki). who asked the Minister of Customs whether ho yet had anv explanation of the matter. Sir William Hcrries said that instructions were goinc out Hint Hie information was to be given. He did not know why the practice had been discontinued. There had been no instructions to that'effect from him.