THE NEXT SESSION

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 618, 24 August 1933, Page 6

THE NEXT SESSION

("Post" Special Commissioner.)

PREPARATION IN HAND DEFINITE FORECAST DIFFICULT PENDING MR. FORBES' RETURN QUESTIONS AT ISSUE .

Wellington, Wednesday Signs are not wanting that the session is approaching. For the first time since the Parliament Buildings were erected the interior walls are being given a coat of paint, and the contractors on the job are working against time. It is not known yet, however, whether the painting aetivities portend anything in the nature of a new broom as far as the outlook is concerned. That may depend on the impressions of the Prime Minister after his hurried investigation of the Roosevelt plan. During the eoming session .the law d ealing with the control of poisons will be brought up to date. It is twenty-five years since the present Poisons Act was passed, and .the legislation is hopelessly inadequate. In the last twenty years or so, and especially during the war period, many new poisons have come on to the market, and .they are not covjered in the schedules of the present act;

Checks Neeessary For instance there is no check on the sale of veronal, and this fact alone is causing grave concern. The Bill has already been drafted and approved by Cabinet, and the Minister of Health (the Hon. J. A. Young) is hopeful of getting it through the House without any difficulty. Another bill which Mr. Young may handle and on which there is likely to be some difference of opinion is a measure to provide for the hospital l^reatment of relief workers who are transferred from oue town to another.. For instance, a large number of single men have been transferred from the centres to camps in the country districts. If they happen to . fall ill, they become a charge on the local hospital and charitable aSd board. Country hospital boards are objecting strongly to this. They point out that they receive no rates in respect of the men from the cities, and it is hardly fair that they should ■ be expected to keep them when they 1 become ill. The Government recognis- ] es the force of .this argument, and at ^

present is endeavouring to reach a solution of the difficulty. Legalising Lotteries Although the Government has no intention at present of running a State lottery, it is more than likely that Parliament will be asked this session to give consideration to a private bill, providing for the institution of such a lottery. There is sta.ted to be fairly wide support for such a measure, but unless it has the backing of the Government, it is not likely to get past the preliminary stages. Bills dealing with . gambling of any sort are always provocative of lengthy discussions, and for that reason alone the Government is hardly likely to give the Bill special facilities. About thirty members of the Coalition are said to have approved of the idea of a State lottery, but the viewpoint of the Opposition has not been obtained. Questions to Settle Several questions will face .the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes) when he returns from the World 'Economic Conference. It is an open secret that the leaders of the Coalition Party were not able to agree by cablegram on the appointment of a judge to succeed Mr. Justice Adams, who retired on August 3. Cabinet recently agreed to hold the matter over pending Mr. Forbes' return. It is believed the Reform section of Cabinet favoured the appointment of Mr. H. F. Johnston, K.C., of Wellington, but that the United section had other ideas on the matter. Cabinet took the line of least

resistance ana posiponea tne aeeision. Two members of the Government Railways Board, Messrs G. W. Reid (Dunedin) and Edward Newman (Marton) retired through effluxion of time on June 7 last, and no steps have yet .been taken to fill the vacancies. It is believed that Mr. Coates has expressed the desire for a change in the personnel of the board, which he believed, should be the strongest possible. Here again, it has been impossible for the Coalition leaders to agree by cablegram, and no appointments will be made to the board until Mr. Forbes returns.