PARLIAMENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1021, 25 July 1911, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

THE COMING SESSION. BIEESTO BE INTRODUCED. Parliament meets on Thursday next, and already many of the members are establishing themselves in lodgings in Wellington. The Ministers, who, during the recess, have been occupying rooms in the Government Buildings, are busy transferring to their quarters in the Parliamentary Buildings. The red, heavy carpets have again been laid on the floors of the House, and preparations generally are in full swing. Messengers and officials, whom the habitues of the House see only during session, have again foregathered and will soon be donning their uniforms. They come from all quarters of the Dominion. The Government, according to a statement recently made by Sir James Carroll, has sufficient Bills in a forward state to enable the work of the session to be proceeded with without delay. Others have yet to be prepared by the Ministers.

A Local Government Bill will be introduced during the session proposing to reduce the number of existing local bodies, and giving extended powers of finance. These proposals, by the way, are by no means new. A measure dealing with the patent laws of the Dominion, the effect of which will be to bring our laws into line with those in Britain, has been framed. The Mental Diseases Bill will seek to incorporate in the present legislation on this subject many of the ideas that modern research has given to the world. The measure was presented by the Hon. G. Fowlds last year, but has since received additions. Its promoter holds that it will be the most advanced Bill of its kind in the Empire. It will be in conformity with the report of the Royal Commission which obtained data 111 England. A Town-Planning Bill will be submitted, which will be applicable to the whole ol New Zealand. It will be based largely on the English law, though one difficulty in the way of a complete assimilation will be the greater powers given to local government in Great Britain. Amendments which the Pharmacy Board have asked lor will be included in a Bill which is being prepared. It will deal largely with the sale of poisons. A Seeds Bill, to regulate the sale of seeds, will be introduced by the Hon. T. Mackenzie. One important measure which has been held over from session to session for the past three years — the Public Service Classification Board —is not, it is currently rumoured, to be proceeded with this session, because of difficulties that have arisen. A definite pronouncement on this matter will be eagerly awaited by the members of the Public Service. A number of smaller measures held over from last session are also to be re-introduced.

His Excellency will have the pleasure ot announcing that the past year’s revenue has been the most satisfactory in the country’s history, and that the surplus amounted to ,£954,167, enabling ,£BOO,OOO to be transferred to the Public Works Fund, and still leaving a substantial balance with which to commence the year. Finance will take its usual important place, as the allocation of a large surplus ou the railway revenue will have to be made. The sum of £50,000 will be spent upon increases in the salaries and wages of railway servants, and a still larger sum in providing concessions to the railway users, notably second-class passengers. The cost of the new defence scheme will be discussed, with more definite information than has hitherto been at the disposal of the House.

Among other interesting matters to be discussed are the designs for the new Parliament Buildings, the progress of tbe hydro-electric power scheme, and the trend of population to the north, with its consequent dislocation of electoral boundaries. Mr Massey may be expected to introduce a request for inquiry into the Mokau lands transaction. The House will receive a report upon the inquiry into the Cook Islands administration, which was asked for last session by the Opposition.