PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 1 (Supplement)

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

A RAMBLE THROUGH THE CORRIDORS

WHEN you tliink of Parliament Buildings what mental pictures do you conjure? Do you think of two large assembly halls within a large building, a few offices, some corridors, and not much more? If that is your impression, after reading the previous articles regarding the New Zealand Parliament, perhaps this, the final story of the series, will correct the impression. It would be possible to spend an hour in Parliament Buildings without seeing either the chamber of the House of Representatives or the smaller, but much more ornate, hall in which the Legislative Council assembles. Considered on New Zealand standards, the buildings are large, with long corridors, and it is not uncommon for new M.P.'s, during their first days in Parliament, to become confused and lose their way in the system of passages around the two chambers. The corridors are all carpeted in red, and on the walls are large portraits of great politicians of tiie past. Out in front of the buildings stands an extra life size statue of the great Richard John Seddon, whose name to-day is held in the highest ".'egard by all New Zealandcrs. His right arm is upraised in a vigorous gesture, typifying the sweep and range of the humanitarian legislation which he fostered. That he was a truly great statesman is shown by the fact that it is the fashion among politicians of to-day, a quarter of a century after his death, to declare that upon them has fallen the mantle of Seddon. Old age pensions were one of the benefits which the Sjddon Government bestowed, this measure, and others in favour of the ordinary working people, placing New Zealand in the forefront of the world in matters of advanced social laws. Away on his left hand is a smaller statue of John Ballance, another statesman who wrote his name indelibly in the political history of our young country. These statues are set amid carefully tended lawns and flower beds, which provide a beautiful approach to the buildings. Should you visit Parliament Buildings you would, in all probability, ascend the broad flight of steps to the main doors, although this entrance is seldom used by the hundreds of people who frequent the building from day to day. As you swung through the revolving doors you would be detected at once as a stranger, and a tall, uniformed messenger, with peaked cap and a row of medals, would ask your business. If it were merely a matter of "having a look round," you would be disappointed if your call was made on a sitting day, for tiie messenger would turn you away, but, if you looked in on a non-sitting day, you might be fortunate enough to enjoy a prolonged ramble through the buildings. Even without someone to pilot you there would be a good deal to sec, but with a wellinformed guide you would learn more in an hour than in a whole afternoon of reading.

Suppose we go up that flight of steps and have a peep inside? Just within the revolving doors we find a beautiful vestibule, finished in marble. There are busts of distinguished politicians on pedestals, Hanking a double doorway, but through that door we are not allowed to pass. It gives entrance to the big lobby, exclusive to members. There they have their billiard tables and other club amenities. A long corridor stretches away to the right, and another to the left. If we go to the left, we find ourselves in an old wooden building which, in the long ago, was Government House. This tumbledown relic of the early days will be demolished at some future time, so that the main concrete building may be extended. Its corridors are dingy, but behind the doors are large, comfortably furnished rooms, in which Ministers of the Crown, their private secretaries, typistes and messengers are accommodated. In this old building to-day are the offices of the l'ostmaster-General (Mr. .Tones), the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry), the Minister of Railways (Mr. Sullivan), and the Minister of Education (Mr. Frascr). Each Minister requires four or five rooms for himself and staff. The offices of the Postmaster-General are on the ground floor, and those of the last three mentioned are upstairs. A ery comfortable they are, too, with open fireplaces, in which fires blaze cheerily 011 bleak winter days. There are few fireplaces in the modern concrete building, which is centrally heated. A great part of the ground floor of the old wooden wing is taken up by Bellamy's. What is that? In a word, the dining room of Parliament. All insignificant doorway gives access to the big room for members only, in which waiters in brown livery and lobster vests serve meals at attractively set tables. Strangers would never find their way, but there is a dark little corridor which leads to other, much smaller dining rooms for such lesser (but indispensable) folk as secretaries, typistes, newspaper reporters, Hansard reporters, cooks, messengers and waiters. A spotlessly clean kitchen gives forth appetising odours long before you find it, hidden away behind a sharp turn ill the dark and narrow passage. The hotel-like atmosphere of this section of the building is completed with a series of little bars, each of which is exclusive to one or other of the list of privileged people already given. Many of the bar patrons want nothing more than beef tea or steaming drinks made from New Zealand lemons, and morning or afternoon tea, attractive in a silver-plated service, is also in demand. Now let us go back to the main vestibule and pass along that big corridor to the right of the entrance. On each wall we notice large framed photographs of all the Prime Ministers, from William Fox to Mr. Coates, unless the photograph of Mr. Forlves has been hung since the writer was in Wellington a few weeks ago. Ou the right is another Ministerial suite, and, just past it, are the spacious rooms provided for Mr. Speaker and his family. Mr. Speaker is required to live within the buildings, and his suite is like a well furnished flat, with bed and dining rooms and a large reception room. It is Mr. Speaker's custom to entertain throughout the session, and many pleasant social gatherings take place in the reception room. If we continue on along the corridor we pass into the old wing which accommodates the Parliamentary library, concerning which a complete article could be written. (To be concluded.)