THE COMING SESSION

Taranaki Daily News, 21 September 1921, Page 8

THE COMING SESSION

OPENING TO-MORROW. DISCUSSION IN LOBBIES. HEAVY PROGRAMME AHEAD. Members of Parliament are reaching Wellington in very good time for the session, which opens to-morrow. The prospects of the session are already being discussed in the lobbies. The proposals embodied in the Tariff Bill will not be known to members until the Bill is introduced, and the new scale of duties is authorised. Member:' are anticipating a Bill that will provide material for a vast amount of discussion, and few of them are optimistic enough to believe that the work of the session can be completed before Christmas.

The late start of the session is going to cause much inconvenience to many of New Zealand’s legislators, and may have the effect of providing’ support for the suggestion that an arrangement should be devised to prevent domestic legislation being delayed by Imperial Sonferences which are likely to be held t least every second year in the future. This is one of the matters that members are discussing.

The fate of the Racing Commission’s report is another topic of great interest, to members. It appears that practically every member of the House can find in the report material for both praise and protest. Indications are that the report will fail to secure the approval of the House in its original form, but that an effort will be made by the contending parties to use the report as a basis of a settlement. The mere rejection of the Commission’s recommendations would leave the House still facing the demand of important districts for a fair share o-f sotalisator permits. The Highways Bill, which follows closely the lines of the policy statement recently made by the Minister for Public Works, is ready for presentation to the House. This Bill is expected to be debated very keenly. Members appear to be agreed that provision ought to be made for the construction and maintenance of arterial roads, but they are by no means agreed about the details of the scheme. Lobby discussion indicates that if the Minister listens to all suggestions that will bp made to him in the House, he will be in danger of overloading the scheme to the breaking point, but Mr. Coates is not likely to be turned from his intention of concentrating attention first on a limited number of national highways.