The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1921. WORK FOR PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 1, 26 September 1921, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1921. WORK FOR PARLIAMENT

The Government is to bo complimented upon the promptitude it has shown in placing a number of very important Bills before Parliament. Members are thus offered every opportunity of making good use of their working time even in th® earliest stages of th® session. With the Mortgages and Deposits ExtenSamoa, Forests, Motor Vehicles, and other Bills already in circulation, tire excuses which have been offered in other years for timewasting in the opening weeks if the session evidently will not hold water. While it is tp ba commended upon this ground? the early beginning made upon the real work of the session will enable important Bills to receive fuller and more careful consideration outside as well as inside Parliament than if they "were introduced at a later stage. Several of the measures now submitted call for very careful examination. It is evidently desirable, for instance, that before the (Bill providing .a constitution for Samoa is placed upon the Statute Book every effort should be made to remove iany legitimate grievance or causf of friction with- either the native' inhabitants or white residents of the islands. The' Forests Bill, though it involves less complex problems, is not a measure to be dealt with in perfunctory fashion. The Motor Vehicles Bill, which is likely to provoke animated discussion throughout the country, has to be considered not only in its im-. mediate effect as a measure fixing license fees and providing for the much-needed regulation of motor traffic, but in its relation to the' Arterial Roads Bill, which is to provide for the State construction and maintenance of arterial ' highways. Of the draft legislation thus far introduced, however, the items which most obviously calls for careful consideration in and outside Parliament is the Mortgages and Deposits Extension Bill. As this measure is drawn, it seems possible that in some respects it may not only inflict serious injustice, but defeat its intended purpose. Before it is proceeded with a full opportunity ought to be given to chambers of commerce and other bodies throughout the Dominion to consider it and make representations on its probable effects and the particulars in which it might with advantage bo varied from the. standpoint of public policy. If this step has not been taken, copies of tho Bill ought to be circulated with6ut delay to chambers of commerce and other interested bodies which are in a- position to bring expert knowledge to bear upon its proposals. • ■ ( The early introduction of Bills which may be expected to figure prominently in the total output of the session of course lends itself to Careful and thorough work as well as to the attainment, of a good rate of working progress. These facts will appeal to all members who are capable of/ taking a serious view of -their responsibilities to tho people who sent them to Parliament. That some sections in the House of Representatives fall below this standard is already apparent, however, in tho tabling of amendments to' the Address-in-Reply which can only serve to delay a beginning upon the serious work of the session. In recent sessions these Opposition amendments have moved down a - " descending scale of triviality, and in tho circumstances of the present session they promise to touch a new depth of time-wasting futility. Tho leader of tho Holland Party’ has gone so far as to include in a longwinded amendment some references to the “wasteful policy of heavy coal importations instead of local production.” The people of this country know very -well whom they have to thank for tho necessity of importing coal at great cost from abroad ’ which might easily have been produced from the local mines, and will not thank Mm. Holland for wasting the time of Parliament, and public money in a vain attempt to explain away the facts. Some questions of genuine importance are, of course, likely to be raised when Onposition amendments are before tho House, but not in such a wav as to carjy tblem nearer to a solution. The working programme of the session, as it will afford ample opportunities for the discussion from a practical standpoint of all important questions affecting the prosperity and welfare of the country. If the Opposition factions are sincerely of opinion that tho Government is unworthy of confidence, their most effective course obviously is to forward the work of the session and show specifically where the Government proposals fall short of what is necessary or might be undertaken’. In the United Kingdom tho Parliamentary guillotine has been adopted as a means of expediting the passage of business. It is open to objection, but there is to be said for its adoption in this country as a means of cutting short debates which serve Only to delay a beginning upon tho actual work of Parliament.