PROCRASTINATION

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 49, 20 October 1931, Page 4

PROCRASTINATION

... t *i ..." ' • - (Post Special Commissioner.)

S -v. PARLIAMENT'S DELA> CAUCUS p,EGISlGN ,TO, DEFER • ELECTlbN KEPT FROM PtJBLlC MEMBERS' SELF-FORGIVENESS

WELLINGTON, Saturday The publie of New Zealand cari hov take it for; granted that the lif e oi the presentv Parixament *wili be extqnded beypiid . .November 20. the dkte tif ihe diSsblutiori in the ordinary..cbjirse of .eyerits, bbcause whether the people likfe it O'r not the.Refbrrix a'iid Uhited Parties have decided! • that they are the ohly fit and proper pbfSdhs t,o chrry 'on the business of the'oduhtry for the next feW mohths at'.lqast. rParliameftt isdts own jiidge and jiiry; a«d ks a result New Zealand will soon be submitting to a political dietatorship. Ap'parehtly the policy followed by members of the Ho'use of Commons at Home is to be ignored. The eolossal egbtism of the "MiniStry of Talents" has been respbnsible for its belief. iri its divihe right to gover n. Its m.embers have cohveniently • p'ardoned their sins of the past, and now expect. the electors . to have faith in ihem -ih .the futurey m . spite of the fhbfc that, Parliament has been sin pes§ipp,tpraQtically, sixteen, week^ and^ the firsfe. . . bills oi any consequence have ^tjet -hefn, ppssed, |lven these mear sures ahe nothing more. than expedients which will make the ppsition ihuch mbre difBcult if the c(epression lasts.for many ihof e fhouths. The delay in the announcement regarding the, General Election is inexplicable. Caucua after caucus has been held by bpth ,the Coalitio'h parties; but it iststated that some of thpse havb been .takbh up.by pariy .recriihihatidiis Sp'bnsored by a feW who' have been. ex;cluded ffom the fruits of offr Hkr NoW comes the news that the two "."parties have praetically decided to agree ,to the postponement of the General Election fpr a yejvr, with the proviso * of earlier appeal to the people shou'Id, the. Government in its wisdom think that they can safely entrust the affairs bf the c'ountry to pther. hands bef ote that date. Truly is the political atmjosphere saturated.

with vanity. ,Had the members oi the presbht Government shown any aptifude for their job, perhaps one would no't have minded, but on top of a display of incompetency they are holding tight to office longer than constitutional prq'cedure will allow. Engfligh Prdcederit In ;England, where the task of rahab-ilitation-is infinitely greater, the National- Government made no bones about appealing to the coUntry for a mandate. The-British House of Commons pass:ed its economy measures and went to the hustings as quickly a's pbssible. The" result will be that a Government will be returned that will have the confidence of the people, and. this is a tremendqus factor, because unless the spirit of the people is bphind Parliament the response to any ■ lead that the legislators may give. will be, sluggish or reluctant. The iamb in New Zealand was npver riper fbr^a vote of the people. The men in power at present haye been tried and f bund 'wanting in fair weather, and it is not likely that they will rise above the fury of an economic blizzard. There was a surprisingly close vote in the House of Representatives on the proposal tq, abolish the graduatqd land tax. When the diyision was takep in, the early hours of Thursday piorning there were. only 59 members in; ±he building, 'and the Government UfCTiqd the day' pj 3,3 votes to 2*6. Ineluded in the opponents of the proposal were no less than nine supporters of the Government, including an ex-Minister of the United Cabinet (Mr. H. Atnrore). There is no doubt that had there been a full attendance of members there would have been at least 35 whb {would have crossed the noor agmnstthe. Goyernment. 'IC^vernimept Whips Needed As the" a^blitibh bf the tax in undoubtedly one of the feature of the Government's policy, .there are indications that the Coalition whips may be kept busy. in the future When furtheil contentious measures are before the pjouse. There has already been one breakaway — Mr. E. F. Healey (Wairau); — who has jo'ihed the Independents; sirice. the, pressufe was applied on the South Island main trUnk vote — and Mr. H. Atmore will very likely , bring the number of Independents up to nine after the education cut has ' been- passed. It is very easy for a 1 big party to disintegrate when the patli- jit is treading is a thorny one, .andl there ,raay be some interesting situatipns b;efore the present Parliameill ;runs its chequerqd' course , It fe. not. expected that the session will .end for at least six.weeks, as the programnse of _ legislation is still a lengthyvone: ■ The amendment to the

InduStrial,- Conciliation and Arbitration j.Court,- Act, providing for compulsory conciliation and optiqnal arbitration, is bound to be( bitterly opposed by.the Labour Party, and a big fight .will be put up against the, bill providing.f or the postponement;of the General Election. Mr. Coafes has indicated that he will have to ask for more. money to. cari-y .out.his unemployment policy, and this will mean a furtheXi, apo.end,ment to th© Unemployment ;Act. It h stated that, owing tfh numerouSi : arpendments, a new Transpqrt Bill-will be introduced, and the Coupons Trading Bill, the Broadcasting Bill,; upon. which a decisiop is eminentpand a.^ew xainor n^easures havb still to besdisposed of, Li uddL tiqn the Hp.use has yet to* consider the whole of .the» . ^timates...,,