THE TARIFF REPORT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 623, 30 August 1933, Page 4

THE TARIFF REPORT

It is extremely doubtful whei ther the report' of the Tariff Commission will be available until December. The commission has yet to hold its South Island sittings and it is expected that it will be at least six weeks in Christchurch and Dunedin. On its return to Wellington it may be occupied for at least two weeks hearing further evidence which has just come to hand from the United Kingdom. On top of that it is expected that the commission will take about a month deliberating over the representations which have been plaeed before it. This means that the report will not reach Parliament "until December. The last customs division was before Parliament in 1927, and the bill was before the House for 17 sitting days before it was finaliy passed. This fact has given rise to the opinion that Parliament may not fiiiish its de- e:

1 . . ^I" ■L"*"— liberations before Ghristipas. , The putting through of the schedule'of a customs bill is practically as formidable a job as disposing of the estimates. It is the praetiee to take the schedule as is done with the estimates, "and as there.may be as many aV 500 items in the schedule ,"one can judge that the procedure is a lengthy one. If past experience is any guide, the Government will be hard pressed to wind up before the holidays. On the other hand it might defe'r the Customs legisiation to the foliowing session, but such a move would hardly be in keep- 1 ing with the Ottawa agreement as it would mean that two years would have elapsed before the pact was put into force. After all the agreement has duration of only three years.