THE SESSION

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 3 December 1927, Page 10

THE SESSION

RECORDS ESTABLISHED LONGEST IN HISTORY. NUMBER OF SITTING DAYS. (Special to “Tribune.”) Parlt. Buildings, Dec. 2. At to-day’s sitting the present session ot Parliament equals in length in point of the number of sitting days, of the longest session in tile history of New Zealand. When the House meets to-morrow a new record will be established by members, the staff and the press gallery. The session will be remem bei'ed as one of the most exhausting on record, though the average number of hours per sitting day may not be as long as in previous yeais The present session was opened on June 23, so that to-day is the 163rd day of its duration, or 102nd sitting day. The session of 1913 was the longest recorded in the journals of the House. It occupied a total nf 173 days, or 102 sitting days. The introduction of Monday sittings somewhat earlier this year than in 1913 has resulted in the previous record number of sitting days being equalled in 11 days less than the spun of the 1913 session.

If the present session tnny be regarded as the second of the Coates administration—the first year of his leadership of the House being looked upon as the continuation of the Massey administration, after the death of the late Prime Minister—it is of interest to recall that, the long session of 1913 was the second of Mr. Massey’s regime.