The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1912. THE END OF THE SESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 148, 11 November 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1912. THE END OF THE SESSION.

As was only to be expected, the end of {the session saw the usual bustle and I scurry to get the washing-up done before midnight on-Friday. This spectacle is never a seemly one, and it is one which* has been continually decried by Mr. Massey and his colleagues. After his own experience we may not unfairly look to him in future to display more generosity when his opponents are concerned, and to realise that the processes of legislation by exhaustion are the fault of our legislative system and not the invention of any particular party. Apart from this the Government has to be congratulated upon the orderly way in which the session has been conducted and the good work that has been done. Coming green to office, Mr. Massey had naturally no easy task before him, but he has shown very considerable ability as a leader, and has handled the House, with the assistance of Mr. Speaker, in a tactful and able manner. There has been a commendable absence of acerbity in the debates, although there have been the inevitable passages at arms from time to time that are inseparable from a system of party politics. The Government has not placed one tithe of its promised measures upon the Statute Book, but there will be no disappointment at this, as experienced politicians have all along been perfectly satisfied that its programme was much too ambitious for what was practically the first session of a new administration. It has placed several useful policy measures upon the Statute Book, including a section of its Land Bill, the amending Land and Income Tax Bill, the Government Railways Bill, the Public Service Bill, the Public Reserve Bill, and the Valuation of Land Bill, whilst the Reserves Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Bill was also put through in the closing hours of the session. The main portion of the Land Bill has been withheld until next session, and the Government wisely, we believe, held over the Civil Service Amendment Bill, Defence Act Amendment Bill, Elective Executive Bill, Public Service Reform Bill, Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill, and other important measures of a more or less contentious nature. [Apart from the policy measures already referred to, the general legislation passed has not been of any exceptional importance, and the Government has left over quite sufficient to occupy the attention of Parliament for a full session next year, without any further additions. The Departmental reports have come down in good order and with exceptional promptness, and for this the Cabinet is deserving of every praise. The general

administration, in fact, has left little to be desired, and we can look forward confidently to a quiet recess, during which the Government will be enabled to mature its proposals at leisure. The real test of its ability to maintain its tenure of office will come next year.