SESSION OPENED

Southland Times, Issue 18859, 26 June 1920, Page 5

SESSION OPENED

GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH. OUTLINE OF LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMME SOME IMPORTANT MEASURES. (By Telegraph.) ) 1 WELLINGTON, June 25. j Parliament was opened with the accus--1 tomed ceremonial this afternoon. The Gov-ernor-General’s Speech was as follows: Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:—I am glad that the extension of iny term of office as Governor-General has enabled me to meet you at the opening of the first session of the twentieth Parliament of New Zealand. The visit of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales to the dominion has happily provided an occasion for a demonstration of loyalty to (he Crown, and of personal regard for the j Sovereign and the Royal Family from the 1 whole of the people of the dominion. My I Ministers desire to record that while arrangeI nients were necessarily made for gatherings ] of school children at every point of His | Royal Highness’ stay, no such nrrangc--1 ments were made for the assembly of the ! people generally. The great anti orderly I assemblies of the people at every place were j entirely spontaneous, and their welcome ! everywhere to the heir of the throne was ! marked by an enthusiaaiasm far beyond j anything we are accustomed to witness in New Zealand. The Maori gathering at Rotorua afforded an equal opportunity for our fellow subjects of the Native race to again demonstrate their loyalty' to the Sovereign in a manner consonant with their customs and usages, and to repeat to the Prince the loyal welcome to which they had given exI pression on the occasion of the visit of the present Fling nineteen years ago. Much of the undoubted success of the visit is duo to his Royal Highness himself. From the moment of his landing at Auckland his response to the great popular welcome won for him a personal regard and affection , which will continue during the lives of all those who were privileged to meet him. Our soldiers, whom he claimed as his comrades of tiie war, the crowds of children whom he delighted by' his unaffected kindness and consideration to them, and the whole of the people whose loyal greetings he never failed to recognise, will long bear in mind the visit which he himself has done so much to make memorable. The common alliance of all parts of the Empire to the Grown is- the strong bond of the union of its peoples, and it is fortunate that his ! Majesty' and his heir have won a persona! regard and respect through and by means of which our loyalty is strengthened ami the union of the Empire cemented and assured. Mr Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives— The conditions created by the war continue to give great anxiety to my Government, and demand your careful consideration Many of those conditions it is beyond our power to alter. We cannot to any appreciable extent control the landed prices of imported articles, or the rates of foreign exchange, nor can we materially’ reduce our public debt or the burden of the greatly increased interest and sinking fund which drains our revenue and coiiqiels the levy of taxation at rates above anything in our experience before the war. Nor can we obtain from (ho English money market the loan moneys, to meet the demands for works of all kinds, many of which arc abso-' lutely necessary. The Government is facer! with demands for expenditure far beyond anything which the revenues of the Consolidated Fund can meet, and our only resource is to borrow within our own borders. Each section of the public regards as most urgent the class of work in which it is specially interested. The requirements of our returned soldiers must be met- to (he utmost limit of the possible finance, but (he acquisition of land for (heir set dement alone necessitates the provision of money’s many times in excess of the normal borrowing in years when the London market was open. The singular success of the Repatriation Boards in establishing our soldiers in business occupations, and the honourable performance by the men of their engagements ■ for the refund of loans in regular instalj ments, encourage my Ministers to anticipate a larger provision for the purposes of that class of repatriation advances. The demands for schools and housing, the extension of telegraphs and post offices, and the installation of works to provide electrical power are only some examples of the pressure of public opinion for an increase of expenditure of capital moneys. The j revenues can- barely provide the great increase in salaries, wages, and charges, which J cannot he avoided. It may justly be eonI tended that increases in the salaries,, wages. and charges of services such as the railways j am! the Post and Telegraph Department | may he provided by' increases in the charges | upon those who use their services, but it i must bp remembered that all such increases j involve corresponding increments throughout the whole public service, which can only be met out of general taxation. It is necessary to bear in mind that in the [ present year other conditions over which the dominion has no control may gravely' 1 affect (he receipts of the people from our | industries, am! indirectly affect our revenue. | Tile deficiency of ships, combined with the j congestion in British ports, has caused much delay and inconvenience which cannot he obviated by any direct effort of our own. though no opportunity has been lost of impressing the position upon the Imperial Ministers; and at the .same time (he excess of supply of our meat in Great Britain above tlie demand has been (he cause of the gravest anxiety' to my- Ministers. On the other hand, the supply of wheat for the world’s use is computed to be consul--ernbly short of the requirements, ynd my Government has found it necessary to’ make provision for an increased production of wheat in New Zealand by guarantees of prices the farmer, and at the same time to prevent a substantial rise in the cod of bread by a large subvention to the millers. You will have before you in the financial proposals- of (he Budget an indication of the measures which my Ministers propose to enable the dominion to meet the difficulties here briefly outlined In many respects they are such as to demand the co-opera-,tion of all parties in Parliament, and my Ministers hope to have the benefit of the advice as well as of the assistance of your House in the effort to meet the emergency and overcome the difficulties. Hon. Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of R epresentatites— The legislation of the two preceding sessions of Parliament relating to the control of trade and the prevention of undue profits has proved in some respects to be defective, and proposals will be laid before you for- amendments of the law in this respect, though there is substantial evidence that abnormal increases of prices have been prevented by the existing legislation, and that under its influence trade is gradually becoming established on a more reasonable basis. There are strong indications that if the existing prosperity is to be continued extravagance must be avoided, and industry and economy must be encouraged by every- possible means. The date of the coming into operation of the Legislative Council Act, 1914, has been fixed by proclamation since the last session of Parliament. The Act will come into force on January 31, 1921, and you will in accordance with the promise of my Ministers have an opportunity of reconsidering its provisions during your present session, when some amendments will be submitted in the form of a bill by my Government. Since the consolidation of our Statute law in the year 1908, many amendments of the various Statutes have been passed, and my Ministers think it desirable that compilations of the more important Acts, especially those relating to local government, should be effected to enable those interested to have in their hands the whole law on the subject in one Act, in lieu of the

present necessity for correction of the original by the various amerfding provisions. During the recess compilations of the Municipal Corporations Act and the Counties Act have been prepared, and an opportunity of amendment of the existing law on both subjects, and of extending the powers, of municipal corporations and of county councils is also thereby provided. The Public Trustee at present has charge of numerous trusts of Native lands and moneys in addition to his duties as a trustee of public and private European trust estates. My Ministers consider it desirable that a complete separation of the Native from the European trusts should be effected, and that the Native trusts held by the Public Trustee, and also the trust moneys held by Maori Land Boards should be vested in a special Native Trustee, with a separate Board. A Bill will be submitted to you with this object, and with the further object of enabling Native trust moneys to be utilised for the benefit of the Natives in a manner which is not at present possible under the statutory powers of the Public Trustee. Under powers conferred by the mandate of the Treaty o"f Peace with Germany, and by our legislation of last session, the Government of Western Samoa has been initiated in succession to the military rule which has controlled those islands since the occupation by the New Zealand troops in the early months of the war. The Orders-in-Council which have been issued providing a basis of law for their government under New Zealand will be placed before you. Bills amending the laws relating to land, education, local government, pensions, taxation, undesirable immigrants, the public service, and other matters have been prepared or are in course of preparation and will be suhmited to you during your present session. My Ministers invite your serious consideration of methods to obviate a recurrence of industrial unrest. It is becoming apparent that the present provisions of the law for the settlement of industrial disputes are not altogether satisfactory to the unions of workers who refuse in many instances to adopt the settlement proposal. It is the desire of the public and of the Government which holds the public authority, that public employees, whether paid by salary or wage, should be satisfied as far as is posible with the conditions of their service, and in most cases of private employment the employers are equally desirous of the establishment of methods which vrill enable friendly discussion of relations of employer and employed and a better understanding by each party to a dispute of the difficulties of the other. Mr Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives— In acordance with the resolution passed by your House in the last session of the preceding Parliament, proposals will be laid before you for an increase in the payment to members. A Bill consolidating the Civil List, will be submitted, the provision " for the payment of Ministers and members being transferred from the Legislature Act to the Civil List, and thus the annual recurring charge will be met without a further appropriation. It is proposed that the salaries of the Civil List shall not be reducible by taxation or be alienable in any manner. By this means definite sums will be ascertainable as the remuneration of Judges, Ministers and members of Parliament. The effect of the graduation of incomes for taxation purposes adopted since the war has been in the case of the Judges to reduce the salaries which are by the Supreme Court Act declared to be irreducible during their tenure of office. Hon. Gentlemen of the Legislative Council and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives— This will be the last occasion on which I will have the. honour of opening a session of the New Zealand Parliament, and I cannot permit the occasion to pass without expressing mV most, grateful personal thanks to those who, during the years I have represented His Majesty in this Dominion, hate constituted or now form part of the two Houses of the Legislature. I have held office for a longer consecutive period than any of my predecessors, and during that time the Empire has been confronted with the greatest war that has over been waged. By the mercy of Providence the crisis has been successfully met, and we live once again under the blessings of peace. The nation has maintained n united front throughout the years of war, and I am convinced that in'the times which arc before us our peoples will surmount their troubles in a like spirit. I, assure you (hat I am leaving the Dominion with the deepest regret. After so long a soujourn among (he inhabitants of these islands my close association with them has made me feel one of them, ami when I leave I shall never forget them’ and the many kindnesses which I and mine have always received at (heir hands. My earnest prayer is that New Zealand ' will always emerge triumphant from any difficulties’ which may beset her, and that her people will flourish great and true, ever mindful of the traditions which are the heritage and birthright of all who live under the British Flag.