PARLIAMENT OPENS TO-DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 854, 28 June 1910, Page 6

PARLIAMENT OPENS TO-DAY.

©ATI OF ALLEGIANCE TO BE. TAKEN. ' NEWS,-NOTES, AND OPINIONS.'

Tke Territorial Forces will not be called ; upon to attend the opening of Parlia- ; ment, which is to take place this afternoon, the guard of honour and the cs- , cort being supplied by 'the Permanent Force. Considerable interest attaches to the ceremony and the proceedings will be slightly different from those which ! usually prevail at the opening. As a result of the death of King Edward mem- : bers will be required to tako an oath >: of allegiance to King George V, and' ■ they will meet for this purpose at 2.30 o'clock. The House will assemble in the ; Legislative Council Chambers at 3.30 when his Excellency the Governor will read the Speech from the Throne. Owing to the limited accommodation in the Council. .. Chamber practically only persons having , official business will be able to secure < admittance whilst the Speech is being i read. ' < There was no statutory obligation upon members of the Legislature to retake the : oath of allegiance .upon the accession of : a new Sovereign prior to 1901, when ' after the death of her Majesty Queen : Victoria, the Demise of the Crown Act ! was amended by the addition of a clause . to the following effect: "At the first meeting of the Gen- ( eral Assembly afteY any demise of*the , Crcwli members of the General As- ! sembly shall take fresh oaths of allegiance to the. Sovereign for the timo being. ..." This new clause is to be read, together : with Section 46 of the Constitution Act, ■ which reads: ' "No member of the Legislative < Council or the House of Represchta- ! tives shall be permitted to sit or i vote therein until he shall havo taken and subscribed to the oath-of .allegi- : ance before the Governor or before i some person authorised by him to ; administer it." ■ . • i Upon this occasion it is probable that ' his Excellency will depute the clerks : of the respective Houses to administei : the oath to members. The oath reads ' as follows:— . I, —-, do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and > bear true allegiance to his Majesty : King George V. According to the- Prime Minister, the majority • of the Bills and the annual Departmental : Teports are practically ready for presentation to'.the House, and tho Government "■ will be able to com- , menco legislative ■ work immediately tho Address-in-Eeply debate is concluded. It is probable that the Financial Statement will be brought down before the session has proceeded very far. "I anticipate that it will bo a strenuous session," remarked Mr. \Herdnian, M.P., to a "Southland Times" reporter whilst on his recent visit to Invercargill. He proceeded to add that as a member of the Opposition party, he,'naturally was unawaro of the legislation which would bo brought "down, but everything would be watched with the closest attention. Departmental, administration was certain to come in for considerable criticism, 'especially as several matters requiring strict .-investigation bad during the vacation como- into publicity. The Government's proposals in regard to the land were obscure, and tho attitude of tho Opposition party naturally depended upon what these would be. The Government's difficulties were not improved by the strength of the leasehold faction amongst their uwn supporters,, and they had to face the fact that any freehold concessions would receive stringent fight from that quarter; Sneaking in regard to the proposed Anti-Trust Bill, the Prime Minister has indicated that he has clear evidence in his possession that a very powerful company, controlled in America, is exercising a dominating and restrictive influ- : enco in New Zealand, to the prejudice of : both traders and consumers.. The company hi question had created a monopoly ' of the worst kind, and this, in the interests of the public, would havo to bo : stopped. The Anti-Trust Bill would need j to be approached with a considerable amount of care, tho objects to be aimed at should be to • give freedom of opportunity, and at the same timo restrict ; and prevent combines from imposing conditions upon the public that would place ' . them at the mercy of unscrupulous tra- ' ders. ; It is understood that the AttorneyGeneral (Hon. Br. Findlay) will to-day make a proposal to meet tho difficulty which has arisen in connection with the ; ensuing election of Speaker of the Legis- i lalive Council, owing to tho death of the Chairman of Committees, who was the only member who could legally pro- ■ side at tho election which must take " place before another Speaker can be ap- ' pointed. v ~-■ . : With regard to the Government's scheme j to spend .£500,000 per annum in develop- I , ing tho water powers of the Dominion, the Prime Minister is of opinion that the expenditure would bo interest-bear-ing. He is satisfied that the State alone I could give a cheaper and more effective 1 service than! could be secured by any < other means. For instance, the Govern- i inent would not require to charge higher i rates than ivore sufficient to pay labour, I interest, and sinking fund in connection f with tho supplies to the State Depart- i ments, and where power was supplied to i individuals, a sealo of charges could bo 1 imposed sufficient to provide for interest, I sinking fund, and cost of superintending, ' together with a reasonable amount for 1 tho right to uso the power. In compuri- I son with America, which had utilised Niagara Falls, New Zealand, was in a superior position, for the reason that in the Dominion thero are" rivers and lakes ! within a comparatively short distance of j all the important centres which can pro- ' vido sufficient power for almost every ' portion of the country. It was impossiblo to estimate tho value of this asset twenty-five years hence. , To a DoamjioN reporter yesterday the ' Hon. E. MiCenzio (Minister for Public Works) stated that there are at present only half as many men employed on load and railway construction works as was the case last winter. Ho went on to ] say that'there wern a few applicants for such work lit Auckland and Dunedin, but, generally speaking,'there was plonly ! of other work offering in tho various ■ districts. As the winter progressed it ' would probably be found necessary to ' find employment for larger numbers on [ public works. It was very unlikely (lie added) that provision would require to ; be made to nnything like tho snmo extent as was necessary last year. j Mr. W-. T. Jennings, M.P., writing in ' the "Wt.ngnnm Herald," after a re- ' trospect of the notablo deaths of the past ' few years, says:—"Summarising tho posi- ' tiou of the Parliament of 1892-3, out of 70 members of the Houso 28 nro dead, and for tlu> same period out of .42 members of tho Legislative Council 32 arc dead, thus making a total of GO deaths out of 118 members in both branches of the Legislature of 1892-3." Mr. Jennings thinks that it is pertinent to ask: What is tlin contributory cause of this great marUWx. and he affirms that the. ansivor

is the long hours which members havo to sit. "Time after time," he continues, "members have sat from 10.30 a.m. one day until breakfast time on the following day. Tho heating of Parliament Buildings, ranging up to 70 degrees, is productivo of influenza, as members leave a warm building at all hours of the night and go homo in blustering cold weather." Tho present Parliament, Mr. Jennings thinks, could, well spend a day or two in amending the Standing Orders in the direction of regulating tho hours of sitting in some direction more in conformity with civilised beings than tho present abominable system of legislating when members are worn out for want of sleep. Mr. Arnold, M.P. for Dnneflin Central, who arrived in Wellington on Sunday is interesting himself in obtaining a Government grant for the Hockcn Library at Dunedin, and will probably arrange a deputation to the Prime. Minister on the subject. It is proposed that Auckland members should combine to present a united front on matters in which party differences may be sunk in the interests of the province. In a few days a meeting of Auckland members of all parties will be held, with a view to arriving at a basis on which concerted action.may bo taken for the promotion of the interests of Auckland. The conveners of the gathering will be Messrs. Lawry, Myers, Lang, and Phillipps. The suggestion to form a North Island Railways League is not regarded by Mr. L. K. Phillipps, M.P., as going far enough. Iα view of the fact that for many- years the allocation, of railway expenditure has been in favour of the South Island, Mr. Phillipps thinks that a North Island League should be formed to bring pressure to bear on- members, and to take steps to secure a fair expenditure on railway construction in the North Island. Mr. Phillipps 'suggests that tho league should be formed of chambers of commerce, railway league.", agricultural associations, faiinerft' unions, and trades and labour councils. i The proposal that the Houso should adjourn for a whole week as a mark of respect to the.memory of King Edward VIl and legislators who have passed away .during the recess, came as a surprise to some of the more distant members, who would not have hurried to Wellington in face of important private business had they been aware that such a lengthy adjournment was likely. .Whilst not desiring to oppose tho suggestion, some members point out that the Federal Parliament did not adjourn for such a long timo, ami that if was stated at tho time of King Edward's death that it was desired that as little public inconvenience nhould be occasioned as possible. Such an adjournment will, however, only be possible if tho Houso is willing to treat the Imprest Supply Bill as iv matter of urgoncy. The Bill must be passed by Thursday n«st, and if tho House does not ileal with it to-day it may adjourn till Wednesday or Thursday. Tho proposal to adjourn for a week is not regarded as a proper one by Mr. W. V. Massey, Leader of the Opposition. What should be doho was that a short sitting should bo held after the reading of the Governor's Speech in tho Legislative Council Chamber, when u suitable .motion would be proposed by the Prime Minister and agreed to by the ' House, which would then adjourn till the next day. On the second day of the session, the motions with regard to the deaths of members during the i recess would be brought forward, and another, adjournment take place. ■ Then on tho third day tho Government might bring down its Imprest Supply Bill, and go on with the ordinary business of (a*; session. It is understood that the Prime Minister will confer with the Leader of the Opposition as _to the order of business before a definite decision is come to. Tho opinion is expressed by Mr. Massey, Leader of tho Opposition, that the Auckland members and the friends of exCaptain Knyvett should agree upon a day on which they will lay his case before Parliament. . This is considered by Mr. llassey preferable to members bringing the subject up spasmodically, when it occurs to then). With regard to the abolition or retention of , Government House, Auckland, Mr. Massey says it is for the Government to bring down its proposals, but if this is not done within a reasonable time, members will doubtless take an opportun- . ity to bring the matter forward, probably, in the discussion on the General Estimates. The Hon.- A. Guinness, Speaker of tho Hcuse, will reach Wellington this morning, i . At a public meeting held at Rotorua on , Friday last it was decided to bring under tho notice of Cabinet the claims of ! Mr. D. Lundon to a seat in. the Upper \ House to represent the Bay of Plenty district. Messrs., Eaw, Sloane, and Gardner were appointed a committee to further tho movement. The census of tho Dominion,- which will take placo early next year, will necessitate a further readjustment of the boun- ' daries of the electrical districts. The last ! readjustment following the census of 1300 resulted in a loss of three members to ' tho South Island and a corresponding gain to the North Island; Next year the South Island may be expected to suffer a further loss in the number of members. In view of tho uncertainty as to the boundaries several prospective candi- *, dates are in doubt as to which district they will offer their services to at the general election next year. . : According to Mr. A. E. Glover, the un- ', employment trouble is very acute indeed in Auckland just now. from inquiries : he had made ho could say thero were ' over 300 out of work to his knowledge. : Referring to the Hospital Bill, during ■ the course of his Dargaville speech, Mr. 1 Stallworthy suggested that boards should ' appoint district nurses for service in the : back-blocks when required. At tho opening of Parliament this ' afternoon the Royal New Z«aland Art.il- ' lery will furnish a mounted escort for" i tho Governor. The escort will consist of ono officer, one sergeant, and fivo privates. The Koyal New Zealand Artillery will also supply his Excellency's ' guard of honour, and will fire a Boyal saluto from this battery at Pipitcn Point, : when the Governor leaves tho official : residence to go to Parliament House. ' The Gavrisou Band will be in attend- ' ance. The same guard of. honour, will be on duty in coiiiicction with the Governor's leveo after tho opening of Parliament, and tho Garrison Band will also parade. The officer commanding tho district (Colonel Bauchop)- has issued a district order requesting all officers of tho Garrison to attend the lovce.