THE SESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 62, 31 July 1912, Page 4

THE SESSION.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. • POSSIBLE LEGISLATION. By Telegraph—Parliamentary Reporter. Wellington, Last Night. At 2.150 10-niorrow afternoon the Massey Government will meet the Mouse for the first time since it defeated the Mackenzie Government three wcks ago. The interval has been spent by the new administration in framing its policy, but it is not likely that that policy will be declared for a few days. To-morrow is the last day of the month, and the first duty of the Government will be to pass an Imprest Supply Bill. "Supply" has always been regarded as, and is constitutionally, tin* opportunity given to the representatives to seek redress of grievances. .Members will probably avail themselves of the chaiu-e ,of discussing various matters. Answers to questions given Ix-fore the adjournment will also be circulated.

Asked by a Post reporter as to what progress had been made in the preparation of measures for discussion during the session, the Prime Minister (the Hon. \V.' F. Massey) said that when the House met the. following Bills among others would be given notice of:—Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Act Amendment, Births and Deaths Registration Act Amendment, Civil Service Act Amendment, New Zealand University Act Amendment, Pharmacy Act Amendment, Shipping and Seamen Act Amendment, State Fire Insurance Act Amendment.

The Civil Service Act Amendment Bill will probably contain the. chief features of the Hon. A. L. Herdman's Bill, placing the service under the control of an independent hoard. The Pharmacy Bill, it is understood, will further restrict the sale 'of poisons. In addition, it is understood that the Government will later bring down a Bill to reform the Legislative Council by making it elective. A Defence Act Amendment Bill is also in course of preparation. The Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. Allen) has already stated that the principle of the, Act is not to be departed from. The amendments are designed to enable the Act to be carried into effect more efficiently than at present. .LAND LEGISLATION.

The Prime Minister has already made it clear that lie will bring down a Land Bill this session, but iJiat-it will not eon-, tain all the essential* that the. Government contemplates. That would entail a measure of work which would effectually preclude consideration of other matters of considerable importance. In view of the Prime. Minister's statement on the subject, it is interesting to refer to what lie said on the want-of-confidenee motion moved by himself during the short session in February., to the Address-in-Reply. In the course of his speech he expressed himself as distinctly opposed ! to free-trade. ;in native lands. ''Xot one member of this party," he said, "has ever advocated or thought of such a thing, and I now, from my place in the House, givclhe statement' an unqualified contradiction., We want to give the. native owner a.-title to the land whiph he occupies. If 'he has more than he is able to make use of then the surplus should be utilised, and. further, we desire to see in such cast* that he gets a good and fair price for it, and that when sold it shall jje disposed of in limited areas." Turning from native to Crown and other lands, he said: "There must be more land settlement than has been the case in the pa.st year. We must j make the conditions of life easiejf for J the settler. We must discriminate between the man who uses his land proper- ! ly and the ma a who does not. It is well known to every settler that the more he improves his land the higher goes his unimproved value. That is one of the most important points to be dealt with." It is expected that the proposed Bill will also make provision for, encouraging small fanning near the 'largo ■ centres. OTHER LEGISLATION-.

Measures affecting the labor laws will also be introduced. In fact, the. Government speakers have predicted that Labor will derive a larger degree of solace from its legislation than it'has enjoyed previously, hut ,~o far no details have been vouchsafed. Mr. Massey has also intimated that he has-a scheme of local government to bring forward. That may be so, but it is not considered likely that any serious attempt will be made to put a Local Government Bill through this session. In the same category is Legislative Council reform.

It is rumoured that several appointments to v the. Council are under con-' sideratipn. It is generally admitted tkat the session will be chiefly devoted to discussion, as i.% usual in the case of the first,session of a Parliament. The Government will gradually develop its policy, put its chief features before the House and the public, and rely on the second .session to put into concrete form the proposals that form the integral part of iU legislative programme. i RACING PERMITS.

As already indicated at recent deputations, a private member will bring in a Bill redistributing racing permits by giving to country clubs a larger share" than they at present enjoy of the 250 racing days granted by Statute. The Government lias promised its sympathetic support, but the prospects of its passage arc regarded as doubtful! Apart from the forms of the House, which give only the slightest chance to a Hill introduced by a private member, it is a matter of general knowledge that a big section of members is quite content to leave racing where it-is. LICENSING/

The same remarks apply to licensing. Mr. A. S. Malcolm (Cliitha) will introduce a Bill abolishing the three-fifths majority, and substituting voting on a 4)5 per cent, basis in licensing polls. The Bill may, if it readies its second reading, provoke an interesting discussion, but it is very doubtful if it will get any further this session. A FEW POSSIBILITIES.

Wellington, Last Night. From now onward the Massey Government is oh its trial. Some three weeks ago it defeated the Mackenzie Government in a fair fight, and was accorded the usual honor due to the conqueror—it. brief period in which to put into concrete form the theories which it has for so many years past been enunciating ti'om the Opposition lunches. The most significant feature of the new Government is its reUceiice individually ami col, lictivrp-. Ta (.Jin ~;,<,. „f tho superseded Gov-rumen! it was apparent to pressmen and pulili- al!kr> ':hat most of the members of the Cabinet were seeking publicity, and with no niggardly hand Giey ladled out theories, and suggestions, and proposals, and policies to an extent iliat no past Prime Mini»ter would have tolerated for a moment. Not so the members of the Mas-ey Government. They are not seeking publicity in the slightest degree. On the contrary they eve only too glad to be left alone, and they have all along pursued a policy of oyster-like silence, which is at once the despair of the pressman ami a tribute to their loyalty. It is not likely, however, that their leader will, in his Financial Statement, divulge (he whole, stivnglh of his hand. Kven on the land question Ik: will probably only propose machinery amendments, intended solely for the purpose of enabling the landseeker to more readily achieve his objeei. :nnl also to remove- 5,,>.;,. of the anomalies existing in the p;:;-cnt land

C laws. In regard to lands for settlement,. J it seems probable that he will aim at * ' system which will enable the Crown to> dispose of the acquired lands on a freehold tenure for cash, or at the least, deferred payment, thus limiting the necessity of recurring loan expenditure t« a minimum. It is not likely that any attempt will be made to amend the electoral law thin.. session. The Government is evidently not anticipating an appeal to the clectorV before the due date, and this being essentially a "talking" as against a '.legislative" session, any steps that may be considered advisable in that direction will be left ove F until next year, when the Government will probably propose to doaway with the Second Ballot Act and bring in some system of proportional representation. During its opposition career the Government made much of the fact that the' particulars of public expenditure were concealed from the public, and H is reasonable to supposo that one of the fust acts of the Massey Administration will bo to devise a system by which full an* complete and detailed information shall be furnished in that connection. Such lV reform may not appeal to the multitude, but to those acquainted with the intricaI cies of Government financial tablws it ' should prove decidedly interesting. As to defence, the Government shows, no sign of retrogression, and its amending Bill will be chiefly of a machinery character, designed to some extent to. frustrate the attempts of the red-raggers. to make it inoperative. The public works policy will chiefly take the form of greater consideration for the dwellers in the backblocks, and' the construction of arterial roads as a. primary plank in the policy. The native land settlement problem isone- not easily solved. The policv outlined will probably be one of employing more surveyors, so as to the more speedily ensure the delimitation of areas, and thus enable the Crown to acquire lands not required for the support of the Maori owners. It is apparent, however, that whatever proposals the Government may make, the new Opposition is prepared to make things lively. Though disintegrated as a party, they are individually capable of making much trouble, and it is not going too far to sav that the chief mischief-maker will be Sir Joseph Ward.

With -twenty-one years' administrative experience behind him. with a full and complete knowhdge of the working of the political departmental machine during the whole of that time, with infinite knowledge at his Anger ends, he cannot fail to l>e a thorn in the flesh of his opponents, and it is safe to assume that, recently deposed from high office, he will not sit silently on the Opposition benches,, but rather will seek to show that those by whom he has been superseded are. to vise !a colloquialism, "not all they are cracked up to be," and that he himself is fully qualified to criticise those whost foraino it is* for the moment to iiandl* the political ribbons. Doubtless the Massey Government will survive, the onslaughts to be directed against it, hut the ensuing three months will he full of trouble, resulting in a small Statute Book and an almost apoplectic Hansard, and if the Massey Government emerge* with nothing worse .than a few scars it will have justified its existence for the full term of Parliament.