THE NEW PARLIAMENTARY BUILDINGS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 73, 19 December 1907, Page 9

THE NEW PARLIAMENTARY BUILDINGS.

; f:< MR/: HORNSBY!S;iSUGGESTIONS. ■■;. : 'vrv;- ! "; ■f f f-' Masterton, "pccomljbr 18:"" Interviewed 'on' his 'MiiTri "from Now Pjy•mouth%£pectirig! the site; for new Parliament BuildmgsjMr/.HqrnsbT/'M.P., liiade.an in-' to a'DomNioN reporter.' It , was' originally:! intended 'by Mr;' Seddon, t ne-fsaia;; to erect new Tarliameiitary;'Build-' injjs,- 'prating house, and other (Joyernriioiit buildings 'on ,Mouhfc"Cook. ' That' was the reason why the late Premier refused to make ft'giff of.,the place to' Victoria College.'-' Mr. EaltJonoS'. had'aerfied with Mr. Soddbn's views Von this subject,' and' Mr. Hornsby that Mount Cook was.-the. bost for the .structure; There was leally fnothing:;however; to'find fault with in Sir',-Joseph; , Ward's proposal to place the buiidiriga on the present Government House gromtds'," except,' perhaps; as to the expense; ?f , y" lli ? ln S. ' gubernatoriar , edifice. Mr..Horjsßy' was' a'g'ains't 'any unnecessary in. this .direction. .There should bo no palace, {No aoubtitwas a good idea of Sip>j6seph'si .and Whole Parliamentary and 1 Government ' building's. might 'be placed in , quadrangle form on theprojected.sito.' Mr; Hornsby -faTourod letting all' the: abandoned sites On' the Glasgow leaso system, which he thought would provido a sinking fund and interest to pay for the loan. He'made a' , point of the'fact that with the purchase of the- Manawatu Railway, and the spending «f--something like; a" million on new Parlia-mentary-Buildings and new post offices at Wenm'gtotf.-'and' Auckland,' there would bo roquired a;largo amount of money; but tho position would have to be faced sooner or -Asked' if he was in favour of the erection of Parliamentary Buildings which would meet the requirements 6f tho next 1200,. years,.Mr. Hornsby said: ."Certainly: »/e;:should ba;vo something which would bo a.credit to the nation. At the present time," he</said/ "there was- riot a Government 'J, from Au ck]and to the Bluff whieh could/be characterised as a State edifico «i//i-tk o n . al ?°.?, n P nOUr of the peoploybf tho Dominion.". / ~; . MR/ROSS'S VIEWS.

T Ci.',■",:■•"': Pahlatua,. December 17. _ Interviewed by a. Dominion reporter on Sir. .Joseph , Ward's proposal to erect new ■rarliamentary Buildings on tho present Government House grounds, Mr." R. B. Ross momber:-for Pahiatua,' said that,' until further/information., was vouchsafed, ho could not* very Wei) express',, an. opinion upon tho virtup-.'of the Premier's proposition. While recognising that tho.now buildings would nave-to be of a substantial nature, he was against, extravoganco. while there wcre : so ™any;,unfulfilled,domands from country districts., Now wa3 the timo, more than airy other—when we .were threatened with falling prices—that the Government should keop jts eyes; open, to open, up new districts, to help struggling and deserving farmers, so that, Wtfne further expansion of our industries wss in..other directions would be minimised Ketemng, again, to the Parliamentary Buildings,. Mr. Ross said that it had boon recognised by mombors of Parliament for some timethat considerable expenditure would bo required.on the buildings, and.nine months ago-a sum forithis purpose was placed proTTtsionally on .the Estimates. It was reallv thq : intention of Parliament to make proTision to renew the wholo wooden portion of the present building. Regarding the proposal to further concentrate the Government one building, possibly on parliament H.ouso grounds,. Mr. Ross was disposed to give it favourable consideration because, he said, tho present distribution of important Government offices practically all was a great inconvenience to country visitors, and, iu addition, was farcical; to a degree ' It is tho Premier's intention to communi-cate.-at once with tho various newspapers of •■the Dominion in regard to tho proposed acheme for reinstating tho Parliament Buildings -;by public subscription. This, ho believes, iwill, be the best, way of obtaining nn wprodsion of public feeling' on the matter I'he .l'renner informed a Dominion renreeentative yesterday that the proposal to erect:, the Parliamentary Buildings on the present Government House site would not mean an extra expense of more than £10,000 or £15,000. The Governor's residence in any case was old, and would require reconstruction at no very distant date.