WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 29 February 1932, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS

SPEECH mOM THE THRONE. BRIEF AND UNCOMMITTAL. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, February 25. The speech .from the. Throne placed in the hands of IHis Excellency the Governor-General by his political, advisers a.t the opening of .Parliament on Wednesday at least had the virtue of brevity. It told the two or three hundred people who gained access to the chamber of the Legislative Council that a General Disarmament Conference under the auspices of the League of Nations was sitting in Geneva;,, that His Excellency’s Government , deeply regretted the recent disturbance of peaceful relations between China i and Japan; that the Imperial Economic iConference wa s to meet at Ottawa in iJuly next ; that the commercial relations between Canada and .New Zealand had been for some time receiving the earnest consideration of the Government, and that a. trade agreement with Belgium had been brought about. Of icour.se Jail this has been, recorded in the newspapers weeks before, ana its reiteration, it would seem, was merely intended to lend additional dignity to the occasion and the proceedi|ngs. -■ DOWN -TO FACTS/ The real pith of the speech committed to the .Governor-General was addiessed, in accordance with the custom of (many years,. to ‘‘Mri Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,” the Honourable Gentlemen ct the Legislative 'Council,” nominally at any rate, having- nothing to ■with the public purse beyond - the collection of tlheir honorariums.. Hence Mr Speaker and Gentlemen of the House were told that "•the. economic difficulties which still beset the whole of the civilised world .continue to affect the well being of this Don-juUon, and unfortunately the hopes which were freely expressed last year .that an .improvement might be expected have .not been realised His Excellency, who happily talyr-s an 1’: oiring .view of the econuin.c- situation, /was not required to dwell, at .auy length upop this part of 'he-..Speech, ;Ue recited the facts as th'y stood and passed on cheerily to./an,'epitome of the needs besetting - the.., count y.

HOW LONG? • . : - v ■ . 30 v.r When it was first anpounped that a special meeting of Parliament would be held for the purpose of dealing with matters of immediate ..consequence, and that a second session would be sum n.'oned,-,.-at. usualstimß in Jusn, it was generally assumed that Hie first session would not/-,, qepupy nvue than or three': weeke./all the mo»t. Since ■then the Prime Minister has accepted five or .six w©eks as the likely duration of. the special >sitting and less- sanguine ftflk are expecting it to run into at least two months. It is being taken fpf granted-, that the Labour Party, consisting for ft he most part of ardent patriots'who, would .he glad enough to give their services -to-the country the whole year round, will" take an early opportunity to table a ’ motion of no confidence and hold up the House a: long as it may. What it has done before it may dh again.

THE COST. r:

There, hag. been much talk'.'outside Parliament, and beyond the cons.deration of its members, during the-' last year or two, of reducing -the rolls .of the Legislative Council and 'the House of Representatives by one half or more. At present there are thirty-six members 0 f /the Council, "twelvel'of them due to retire during the current year," and eighty members of |House‘ r just •elected for a Item of three'- years. Four pr five years ago .the-New Zealand Taxpayers’ Federation obtained the assistance of a highly qualified expert in asaei'taining the cost of this lievy of politicians' to Hflie The figures obtained were- carefully checked and finally referred to a retired public officer 'of high -standing. The -tina] decision of the two authorities was that the cost of each member of tlm Gmimil to : the Dominion, including his, c h<m'"' arinni, wn s £1,250 a year, and ti> *<>,*■, of 'each member of the House £ISOO a year!