THE SESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1921, Page 7

THE SESSION.

MUCH WORK FOR PARLIAMENT, THE TARIFF BILL. TOTALISATOR AND LICENSING a QUESTIONS. MANY BILLS IN HAND. The Parliamentary session that will open on Thursday, September 22, will be a very important one, and from the point of view of Dominion legislation it is unfortunate that the absence of the Prime Minister at the Imperial Conference has compelled Ministers and members to make a late start. The middle session of a three-year Parliament is always regarded as the working session, and members will have to work very hard indeed if they are to deal with this year’s programme of legislation without carrying the session far into the New Year.

The amendment of the Customs tariff is to be the big task of the session. The Tariff Bill, which is being drafted by the Departmental Tariff Commission, is expected to be ready for presentation to the House of Representatives before the end of October. Its provisions will be an official secret until the resolutions bringing the new tariff into operation have been passed. If the Bill had to be placed on the Statute Book during the coming session there would be small chance of finishing the session before the end of February or even of March, but it is anticipated that the Government will follow the Australian precedent and carry the Bill forward to another session, the draft provisions op-, erating in the meantime on the authority of the Legislature’s resolutions. This will allow time for the full discussion of details inside and outside Parliament. Ministers and members will navs much to do on the financial side. The Financial Statement covering the. year ended March 31 last is belated, but the outstanding facts about last year’s public finance have been disclosed. Attention will be given chiefly to the problems of the present and the future. Mr. Massey stated during the short session in March that he hoped to be able to reduce taxation for next year, but that was before financial stringency had become as severe as it is to-day. The tendency of the new Customs tariff is expected to be towards increase of protective duties, but the increases in the rates are not in the least likely to balance the production of imports from the high level reached in 1920. The Acting-Minister of Finance has indicated that the moratorium is to be continued with provision for its gradrial disappearance. It is anticipated that there will be legislation dealing with the question of deposit money. Firms and local bodies doing banking business by receiving money on deposit are likely to be required to hold a reasonable proportion of the money in liquid form. The legislation making notes legal tender will expire at the end of this year, and Parliament will be required to renew it. The time when gold will circulate again without restriction is still far away. A Land Laws Consolidation Bill is to be among the measures placed before members during the session. Some amendments that are deemed to be necessary or desirable in the land laws may be embodied in this Bill, and in any case the measure is likely £0 hold the attention of members for some time. Land legislation usually raises the free-hold-versus-leasehold issue in the House of Representatives, and although the freeholders have won all along the line in recent years the leaseholders still make their protests. The big scheme of consolidation that is being put through in connection with the Urewera 1; nds will be reported to Parliament, and it may require some legislation. This consolidation will be an important step towards the settlement of the native land problem, but finality will not be reached until the old vexed question of rating has been adjusted on a fair basis. The report of the Gaming Commission on the distribution of totalisator permits may occupy a good deal of the time of the House. Members are predicting fairly confidently that the recommendations of the commission will not be adopted by Parliament, but the mere rejection of the report will not settle the matter. Members will find themselves back where they were in 1920, with rising districts making a strong demand for the totalisator permits that they claim their population entitles them to receive. An attempt to amend the recommendations would involve a big fight in the House. The Government may ask a committee *0 tackle the problem. Another exceedingly difficult question that may have to be faced during the session is the amendment of the licensing law. The Prime Minister indicated last year that he would ask the House of Representatives this session to appoint a committee to go thoroughly into the matter and report. The prohibitionists will not willingly face the next licensing poll, at the end of next year, with the three-issue ballot, in the form in which it was used in 1919. The Prime Minister has said that he wants to reach finality on the liquor issue as far as Parliament is concerned, by providing legislation that will not give rise to recurrent demands from one side or the other for amendment.

An amending Education Bill is expected. The Minister of Education is being handicapped in his schemes of improvement by shortage 6f funds, but he has made it clear that he has many plans in hand. The report of the Hospitals Commission, dealing with hospital control and subsidies, will come before Parliament, and presumably will be made the basis of legislation. A dozen minor Bills, including measures dealing with land agents, sale of poisons, and inspection of machinery, have been promised. It has been indicated that members may be asked to consider the film censorship and the picture business generally. Possibly the tariff will be used to give a stimulus to the circulation of British films.

Anotb'v nf the important Bills will be the Highways Bill, of which the Minister of Public Works has already given an outline. The details of this Bill have been receiving much attention and many suggestions have been reaching the Minister and the Department. Whether or not this Bill can reach the Statute Book is likely to depend upon the progress made with other legislation. Members can scarcely hope to finish before Christmas, unless they are prepared to pass Bills almost unread, but they will be loth to sit far into the new year. They may prefer an early session next year, especially in view of the general election that will be looming