The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 5, 1920. WASTING TIME.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 July 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 5, 1920. WASTING TIME.

The protest raised by the member for Manawatu (Mr. E. Newman) in the House' on Thursday, against the waste of time owing to the re-introduction of party tactics, should meet with general approval. The reprehensible custom of frittering away valuable time at the commencement of every session of-Parliament is indefensible in normal periods, but when, as in the present session, there is such a vast amount of business of the most vital importance to transact, the time of the House is taken up for purely factitious purposes—merely to demonstrate which way certain members will vote—the sooner the custom is relegated to obscurity the better it will be for the country. Old customs die hard; those which suited the early Victorian age are certainly not adapted to the busy period of post war reconstruction after an upheaval unparalleled in history. The deplorable waste of time that invariably takes place over the Address-in-Reply, which affords members the opportunity of ventilating their views on any subject they please, directs attention to the ad'visa/ility of dispensing with what, after all, is a mere antiquated formality, serves no useful purpose, but is capable of holding up the business of the country for an indefinite time if members so please. The time is ripe for reviewing- this custom, both as regards the Governor-General's Speech and the reply thereto, by at least eliminating all references to policy or politics. By all means let Parliament be opened in dignified state worthy of the annals of the Empire. At the same time there would be appreciable advantages derived by confining the Speech to matters, outside the range of politics. The proposal may be regarded at somewhat revolutionary, but it is a practical remedy for an evil that results in hasty and ill-considered legislation in the dying hours of every session. The Prime Minister could announce to the House the chief measures the Government proposed to introduce, and the reply to the Speech could be reduced to a mere formal resolution without debate. Members would be able to find plenty of opportunities for airing their views, but Parliament was never intended to be the battleground of parties. It. has a far higher and vastly more important mission than to foster parochialism, and never has there been a time like the present when it is incumbent on every member of the House to put aside all narrowness aad devotg. his intellect

and energy to solving the many problems ivith which the country is faced. These problems are so vital to the future of the Dominion that they admit of no shirking dr temporising with. Concentration is essential: Let there be )an end of party warfare for this session at least. The Government is sufficiently strong to carry out its programme, so that its opponents can only at most retard legislation. It would be far more fitting that they gave all the aid in their power to improve the Bills submitted for their consideration, and their wisdom in this respect should certainly prove their fitness for the position of trust they hold, while their lack of wisdom should be a lesson to the electors. They can but do their best, and it is to be hoped ■they will.