OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1895, 26 October 1918, Page 1

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH. LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMME FORESHADOWED. Wellington, Oct. 2L The fifth session of the Nineteenth Parliament of New Zealand was opened hy the Governor-Gen-eral this afternoon, His Excellency delivering the following speech:--Honourable gentlemen of the Legislative Council and gentlemen of the. House of Representatives; When I addressed you on the oth April of the present year, at the opening of the last session, the position of the Allied armies on the’ western front was such as to give ! grave cause for anxiety. In that speech, after slating that the then present moment probably marked the crisis of the war, in which the Empire had so long been engaged, I said: “We are well assured that the courage and endurance of our armies, now tried to the uttermost, will not fail in the present or tin 1 future. We have the record of the past three years to justify (hat confidence." Soon after the termination of that session, the strategy of Marshal Eoch, and the splendid valour and endurance of the Allied armies underbids single command, changed the course of the war from defence to continuous attack upon the enemy’s positions, and thenceforward victory has followed victory,, until there has come first the unconditional surrender of Bulgaria, and then urgent proposals for peace from the other enemy countries, while the Allies occupy large parts of Belgium and France, which for four years had been under the domination of Germany. In the operations on the Western front our New Zealand division has. been constantly in action, and has given the Dominion renewed cause to be proud of her soldiers’ record of courage and discipline. In the East, also, our mounted forces have had part in the wonderful series of successes by which the army, under General Allenby’s command, has driven far beyond the bounds of Palestine. The position to-day is one of extreme tension, and there are strong reasons for believing that peace will not be long delayed, but any relaxation of effort on our part could only have the effect of endangering our satisfaction with the Dominion’s war effort. Our enemies must be convinced that there will be no termination of the war until they submit to just and adequate proposals for reparation and give sufficient guarantees against renewed attempts to ignore the Jaw of nations and disturb the peace of the world. The Imperial War Cabinet and the Imperial War Conference, which my Prime Minister and Minister for Finance attended during the recess, together with representatives of all the oversea Dominions and India, mark a great development in the constitutional history of the Empire. Opportunity was thus given for the views of this Dominion on many subjects, to be fully considered from the standpoint of the whole Empire. My two Ministers were also enabled to advance (he interests of New Zealand in many important respects. Measures will be submitted for your consideration granting power to local bodies to initiate hydro-el-ectric schemes for their respective districts; for the prevention of (he aggregation of land; for the prevention of the acquisition of land in New Zealand by persons of enemy origin; for the belter protection of soldiers and (heir wives and dependents; for the. prevention of tratlic in military decorations and the unauthorised use of badges assigned to Soldiers’ Associations: for the necessary preservation of New Zealand forests, and for the limitation of export of timber. It is intended to submit to Par-