POLICY & LAW

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 May 1939, Page 6

POLICY & LAW

AMENDMENTS VERY OFTEN NECESSARY. 1 PRIME MINISTER ON IMPORT LEGISLATION. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The contention that legislation was introduced every session of Parliament to amend laws that had been found not to express correctly the intention of the Government of the day was made by the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, when his attention was called last evening to the resolution passed'*"' by Auckland importers protesting against the administration of the import regulations when they had been declared by the Supreme Court to be ultra vires. All the Court was asked to do. said Mr Savage, was to say whether the administrative policy that was being carried out was in keeping with the law. Everybody knew what the policy of the Government was, and if it were found that there had been any omission or weakness in the drafting of the law or the regulations then the position would have to be made good. That had been done every session since he had been in Parliament because it had been found that the administration of a statute giving effect to the Government’s intentions was not in the strict keep with the law. “I don’t suppose there is an Act of Parliament that has not been amended at some time or other because the intentions of the Government have not been properly expressed in the statute,” said Mr Savage. “Every Finance Bill introduced into Parliament contains clauses similar to the clause that will be necessary to put this position right. It is generally found that the men looking on think they see most of the game, but very often they are talking about something they know nothing of.” Asked if he had received any official advice that the British Board of Trade was investigating the system of deferred payment, as mentioned in a message from Auckland, Mr Savage said that one of the objects of the visit to London by the Minister of Finance. Mr Nash, was to see what could be done to make better arrangements than at present.