I move—

1. (1) Government business shall have precedence on Tuesdays and Fridays after notices of Questions have been disposed of;
2. (2) On each sitting day the House shall meet at half past ten o’clock a.m.; and business shall be suspended at a quarter to one o’clock p.m., and resumed at a quarter past two o’clock p.m. and again suspended at six o’clock p.m. and resumed at eight o’clock p.m.; and
3. (3) Saturdays shall be included as sitting days, Government business to have precedence, but on such days the House (if not sooner adjourned) shall be adjourned at six o’clock p.m. instead of eleven o’clock p.m., and the provisions of Standing Order No. 26 (eleven o’clock rule) shall mutatis mutandis apply.

The contents of this motion speak for themselves. The motion asks that Government business shall have precedence on Tuesdays and Fridays after questions on the Order Paper have been replied to. It is also proposed that Saturdays shall be taken for Government business. So far as hours are concerned it is proposed that we shall also sit in the mornings. It may appear that the effect of this motion will be to add considerably to the hours of sitting of this House, but as hon. members know, the House during the first few weeks can sit right through from 6 to 11 o’clock. It is now proposed in this motion that we should sit in the mornings as there are no Select Committee carrying on their work during this particular session. It is proposed that instead of sitting from 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock in the evening, we should sit a few hours during the mornings so that the working hours of the House in this particular case are not being extended to any great extent.

What about my motion which appears in my name for to-morrow?

I should like to reply to the hon. member at once on that point. If my motion is passed as it stands here now the Government obtains control of the time of the House which would have been available for private members tomorrow, and then apparently the motion of the hon. the Leader of the Opposition would not come up to-morrow. What the Government is now proposing is this. The Government is anxious to dispose of certain Government business during the first few days of this week, but later on in the week to give adequate and reasonable time for the disposal of the motion of the Leader of the Opposition.

Can you tell we when?

Very probably on Wednesday, but certainly on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

For certain?

There are certain matters which we wish to dispose of, but the hon. member may take it that his motion will come on possibly on Wednesday, but certainly on Thursday, and the rest of the week can then be spent in the discussion of that motion. I am pleased the Leader of the Opposition put that question so that I may clear up the position at once. There is no intention not to deal with his motion.

But so far as the contents of the motion now before the House is concerned, the object of the motion is clear: the Government is very anxious not to delay the business of the short session which is now starting. Hon. members will realise that we are in a state of war, the most serious position in which a country can find itself, and that it is practically impossible to conduct the war from Pretoria as the centre of the Administration, and keep the Government occupied in Parliament 1,000 miles away from that centre of Administration. That is the position and I therefore hope we shall take those special circumstances into account, and that we shall not delay this extraordinary session by private business. It is true that this session has been called as an ordinary session of Parliament, but it is not the Government’s intention to do anything more than to deal with the business indicated in the speech from the Throne which was read out here on Saturday. We only want to make further provision for the carrying on of the war, and to take measures which will enable us to maintain peace and order more intensively than is the case to-day. It is not the Government’s intention on this occasion to introduce further legislation, with the exception only of special financial provisions and the legislation which is required in order to strengthen the Government’s hand for the conduct of the war. Although formally therefore this is an ordinary session, actually it is not an ordinary session but a special interim session.

Why did you not make this a special session?

It is difficult to do so. There are technical difficulties which are fairly considerable. I do not propose entering into any details now, but the hon. member may take it that this is a question which was considered; as a matter of fact on a previous occasion we were faced with similar difficulties. I take for instance the case of the special session of 1931, the Gold Standard Session, which lasted only one week. That session was called as an ordinary session for the convenience of members and in order to overcome certain technical difficulties. During that session certain steps were taken, similar to the steps which are now proposed. The Government on that occasion, practically from the very first day, also took Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays for Government business in order to expedite the proceedings of the House. Certain steps were taken. An export tax for instance was introduced, there were a few amendments in the customs duties, and a motion was agreed to to maintain the Gold Standard in the country. As soon as the work was disposed of — it took a week or a few days more — the session was prorogued and the ordinary session thereafter started at the ordinary time. We are now proposing to follow that precedent. We are taking up the time of the House in order to shorten the session, and not to lengthen it unduly, and in order to dispose of only a few matters referred to in the speech from the Throne. After that we shall prorogue until the ordinary time when Parliament will meet again. Hon. members will admit that after the long session which will be ahead of us shortly, it would not be right to have a long session now. In the circumstances of the country we are obliged to have this session, particularly in order to provide for the Government’s financial requirements, and we have to have this session at a very inconvenient time, but I hope it will be as short as possible, and that we shall be able to get through the work which we want to dispose of within a month.

Can you tell us what the Government business is which you want to dispose of to-morrow or the day after tomorrow?

To-day I take it we shall be engaged with this motion for most of the time. To-morrow the guillotine motion of which I have given notice will come under discussion, and on Wednesday the Minister of Finance will introduce his additional estimates, but it is not the intention then of at once proceeding with the debate on those Estimates. The Minister will only make his opening statement. After that I hope it will be possible to proceed with the motion of the Leader of the Opposition, and the rest of the week may be devoted to that. The Government is therefore doing its best to meet the convenience of members and to give the Leader of the Opposition an opportunity of placing before this House the matters which he is concerned with. We can then start next week with the business for which this session has actually been called, namely the measures referred to in the speech from the Throne, and that business will then occupy the rest of the session.

I second.

Motion put and agreed to.