The Waikato Times MONDAY, JULY 26, 1937. THE COMING SESSION.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20255, 26 July 1937, Page 6

The Waikato Times MONDAY, JULY 26, 1937. THE COMING SESSION.

Circumstances may prevent the head of the Administration following a course that would have appealed to him strongly, the delivery of a pre-sessional address that would have outlined the programme that he expected would constitute the chief work of the session. Mr Savage will return to the Dominion in a few days’ time, and his friends and supporters are organising a fitting reception. The Prime Minister may, when replying to speeches of welcome, give his impression of the work done at the Imperial Conference and, doubtless, after the rest afforded by the sea journey, will be anxious to get to grips with the problems that await, but it could not be expected that, after a fairly long absence from the country, he would be able to make more than a general reference to prospective legislation. There are some measures ready for consideration, and more than one important policy Bill has been mentioned among the matters to be dealt with at a later stage. The revision of the education system was one of them, and the national health insurance scheme another.

It would be interesting to have a general review made by the head of the Administration, prior to the assembling of Parliament for the second stage, but it would be unreasonable to expect Mr Savage to give it this year. If Parliament is to meet on August 12 there will be very little time for Cabinet to consider the policy Bills, although possibly much of the preparatory work has been done by the remaining members of the Ministry. Probably never before have four members of a Government been abroad during recess, and in those circumstances the work of preparation for the coming session must have been more difficult. One statement for which the dairyfarmers are waiting is that relating to the prices to be paid for butter and cheese during the year commencing on August 1. Some of those interested have expressed the opinion that the figures will not be made public until Mr Nash returns. Last year they were contained in the Budget, but that course could not be followed this year, because the new schedule will apply from August 1, and the Budget could hardly be ready for presentation until well into September at the earliest. No one would expect a large industry to be content to work away not knowing what return would be made for the labour involved.

There are, however, some interesting returns that should be available for presentation early in the session, such as the Railways and Public Works statements. The responsible Ministers have been able to attend to that part which outlines their plans for the current year, and the remainder is the work of the officers of the Departments, so that the statements, with their interesting tables and comparisons, should be produced much earlier than usual. If Mr Fraser has drafted his legislation regarding the education system then that, too, may be early on the Order Paper. The report of the Reserve Bank, and of the State Advances Corporation should also be ready for presentation. The first report and statement of accounts in connection with the Marketing Act must be prepared within three months of July 31 and be presented to Parliament within fourteen days of receipt by the Minister, so that, unless there should be some reference to the matter in the Governor-General’s Speech or the Government gives the information in reply to a question, the use to which any surplus in the Dairy Industry Account is to be put may not be known for some time. In view of the exceptional conditions and the absence of any pre-sessional outline of the Government’s intentions it would serve a useful purpose if the official speech at the opening of the session were made a little more informative than usual.