The New Parliament.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 503, 10 January 1906, Page 5

The New Parliament.

The professions and callings of the newly-elected Parliament are certified as follows:—Farmers, or persons connected directly or indirectly with agricultural or pastoral pursuits, 22; lawyers, 10 ; newspaper proprietors, 5 ; merchants, 5; journalists, 4; Storekeepers, 2 ; general mechanics, 2; mechanical engineers, 2; contractors, 2 ; bootmakers. 2 ; and one each of the following: Timber merchant, saw* miller, hotel proprietor, native interpreter, insurance canvasser, company promoter, land broker, clerk, dyer, compositor, mercer, stationer's assistant, carpenter, surveyor, mariner, mining engineer, school teacher, tin* smith, company director, and butcher. From, the biographical sketches published, it appears ' that 33 of the members were born in New Zealand t or arrived in the colony at a very early age, 15 in England, 12 in Scotland, 6 in Ireland, 2 in India, 2 in Victoria, 2 in Tasmania, and one in each of the following countries: Germany, South Australia, Samoa and Wales. Sixty* three members of the last Parliament secured reelection, whilst of the 13 new members 11 enter Parliament for the first time. The electors of the North Island were evidently more desirous of changes in their representatives than those in the South, as they returned 9 new members agaiust 4 by the latter. There was not a single representative of the Opposition elected in the four provincial districts of Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Nelson and Marlborough, and West Coast; 6 are from Auckland, 3 from Canterbury, 3 from Obago, 2 from Wellington, and 1 from Southland, The Government have a majority of 18 over all parties in the North Island, and the same. in the South Island, A peculiar feature of the elections is that the Government have the same number of followers in the North and South Islands—2B in each; while the Oppositionists and Independent Liberals together number 10 in each case.