THE COMING SESSION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 235, 27 June 1908, Page 6

THE COMING SESSION.

PREPARING, FOR BUSINESS, OPENINC CEREMONY ON MONDAY. TEE ARR ANGEMENT OP GOVERNMENT ■ ' -HOUSE. •'■ . The fourth session of the sixteenth' Parliament of New Zealand will open on Monday afternoon ,at 2.30 o'clock. The Government buildings yesterday presented a more conifortablo 'appearance; warm red carpets had .replaced tho, bare "floors' of both chambers,, and in the Upper House voluptuous scarlet hangings, were suspended along the walls, whilo over tho. whole building generally, save for a carpet layer hero and thero and an electric light expert busy with wire and pincers, and many men . with brooms, there j seemed little to provent immediate occupa-1 tiori. All 'arrangements ,will be completed to-day.

: - THE GOVERNOR. His Excellency the Governor will arrive from Palmerston North by. the midday train to-day, and will opon the last session of the present Parliament on Monday. It is customary for the guns to announce to the people that Parliament is about to begin business,- and tradition dictates, that the first gun should be fired at the very moment His Excellency leaves tho vice-regal residence. . But' fire, tho destroyer, practically brought about'tho obliteration of Govern-ment-House when it demolished the talking part of Parliamentary, Buildings,, as the Governor's residence has. now been substituted' for Parliament House, to the utter destruction'of the comfort that dwelt in the soft upholstery_of past sessions. The Governor will, on this occasion, reside, at the Wei- ' lington Club,' but'it 'is' more than likely that lie will use the apartments prepared for him in tho Government- Building in Molesworth Street (the residence of the late Premier), as the official point from which he will leave on- Monday; afternoon to set the guns roaring'and to open Parliament. • -

• THE MILITARY. 1 • , The Heretaunga Rifles will form liis ■ Excellency's Guard-of-Honour in bis passage to . the Parliament Buildings. The permanent forces .will also turn out, but no", volunteer pageant will be arranged./ . .;. A. CURTAILED . ATTENDANCE. * : The limited accommodation in .the galleries will necessary curtail the attendance on Monday afternoon. Practically no invitations, , said the Clerk of Parliaments (Mr. Leonard Stowe) yesterday have been issued. Tho usual invitations to the foreign Consuls have also had. to be withheld. : The attendance will practically be limited to Ministers, Members, and: their, wives. : A few applications for privilege tickets had been received from members,' but' they. had had to bo Tefused. In the Legislative Council, where the members will first assemble, sixteen chairs on either .side'of the room hare been arranged for the, members 'of the Upper House, and the re^t/'of the .'floor, will be available |or mombers, of. the .Lower House.' ■ i THE SPEAKER'S QUARTERS. The Speaker of the House of Representatives (the Hon. A. R. Guinness)," on taking up his . quarters in tho Government House on /Thursday,' found the" floor .of' his' room,'; which is immediately ovrir -the House of Representative?,"'insufficiently: strong to be'ar'tho ■weight of his books and papers. The shelves had hurriedly to be depleted and thebooks rushed out into the. passage. The Speaker is not very pleased with the accommodation for Mrs. Guinness and himself, and since lie assumes charge of the buildings' when ones Parliament opens, changed are in the air. ', ' HANSARD. Arrangements aro now being-made to accommodate Hansard on the floor of tho House. A small table'will be placed'at the end of the " table," and the arrangements will be such that the Hansard staff will be able to face tho member who at the time has the floor. Tho removal of Hansard from the eido gallery suggests', the utilisation of that quarter for further gallery accommodation. f ; DIVISION LOBBIES. By an ingenious arrangement, green baize doors have been erected in the main passage to provide "aye" and "no" lobbies.' On the. cessation of .the, division bell these doors will be swung to, and all avenues leading to the compartments thus formed will be blocked. To bo strictly correct, tho Speaker's injunctions will now need to be " bolt tho doors instead of lock tho doors." MEMBERS IN TOWN. - Tho Hons. S. Thome George, T. Thomp- , son, and B. Harris, "members of the Legislative. Council, arrived in Wellington from the North last evening. Members of the Lower House who were in town yesterday were Messrs. 'R. M. Houston,, A. T. Ngata, R. 8.. Ross, ;A.,E. Remington, A. W. Hogg, C. W. Gray, R. H. Rhodes, W. WV Tanner, Poole, and tho Speaker, the. Hon. A. R. Guinness. HOPES AND FEARS. "I think it will be a' distinct blessing to be without a public gallery," said Mr. W. W. Tanner, M.P., after looking, at the temporary legislativo halls. '"The tendency to' evening oratory, which is, generally indulged in more for tlio-sake of the gallery than "for the information of the House, will receive" a wholesome check. ; Tho distance from • the Library-will also tend to shorten debates, as members will not be ablo to obtain material for their speeches so readily.' I am afraid that owing to the.disposition to shorten tho : session," 'some of tho legislation will get ■through without having tho ordinary, amount ; of care bestowed unon it." ' ■ !

- !' BIEJG TfiE BELL!" When a debate arrives at that point when there can be no moro debate, and an issuo is wanted, the Speaker orders the Clerk of the llouso to "King the Bell!" Whereupon the clerk prpsses an electric button which sets ,a loud-tongued bell going, and at tho sanio time turns an hour-glass. This hourglass takes precisely two minutes to pour its. contents from one bulb to the other, which is the time allowed for members, wherever they may be, to assemble ia tho House if they wish to record their votes. In the recent fire the hour-glass, which had bo faithfully measured tho time.for innumerable' divisions, was destroyed. ' It was imperatives\that another hour-glass should be obtained, but two-miriute hour-glasses are as' rare as'white kiwis in New Zealand; and the search for just tho thing was without result. Scorning. to resort to a vulgar clock or a three-mmute egg-boiler, tho Government was in a quandary; when Professor Easterfield, in conference . with Mr. Leonard Stowe (Clerk of Parliaments) hit upon a clever device calculated to supply what was wanted. Professor.Easterfield.obtained two small electric bulbs, and. with a fine sample of sand carefully, .sifted through a.piece of blanket, » two-minute glass was mado that is calculated/ to stand tho heat of the warmest debate of the session. . . THE IRON TUBE. Now that the sand-glass is fixed up, is it too late to suggest,-out of consideration for thoso members of Parliament who do not play football, that the. time allowed before tho locking of the doors previous to taking .tho vote at divisions be extended. Thoso members who may bo looking up authorities in the library. or .delving into newspapers in the cellar below, will have all their work cut out to roach the chamber within two minutes after the bell commences ■ ringing. Things are not as they were. The library is where it was,'but the Chamber is in the next block a hundred yards away, the only connection being tho long corrugatediron, elevated tube that bridges Sydney

Street. Imagine the plight of the mombcr for Eden, being caught in the library when tho bell rings, and having to sprint "at top through " tho tubo" in order to record his,vote. If tho Government docs not oxtend the time as .suggested, it may rue it before tho session is -far-sped. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES INTERESTED. The contemplated passage during tho coming session of legislation dealing with friendly societies, as-well as tho national annuities scheme promisod by the Premier, has aroused a good deal of interest among tho members of friendly societies. A confcrenco of delegates from these bodies will be held in .Wellington within the next few days, and several of them linvo takon advantage of the fact that tlie.v have members of Parliament on their rolls, and liavo appointed these gentlemen to represent, them at the conference. Mr. W. W. Tanner, who has been for some.forty years a momber of the Ancient Order of Foresters, has been nominated ..to,,represent tho Canterbury United, South Canterbury; and Taranaki branches of the order.

1 THE EGMONT SEAT. : (BY. TEIEOKAPIfr-PRESS' ASSOCIATION.) Eltham, June 26. Mr.. Gallichan, Government organiser, was at Eltham yesterday with a view of selecting for official recognition one of three candidates out for Egmont in the Government'interests. Ho failed to get'the candidates 'to pledge themselves to stand down if desired, and consequently will make no recommendation regarding a choice of candidates. Mr. Gallichan says that a candidate who will not submit his name for consideration and agree to abide by the party's decision, has no right to expect nomination. .. ' '

THE MENACE OF SOCIALISM. (BY TELEGRAI>H—FEESS, ASSOCIATION.) - 1 . . Duned/n, June 26. : At a meeting of the Provincial Executive of the Otago Branch of the New Zealand I'armers' Union, the following resolutions were passed, and will be forwarded to the Colonial Executive . _ (I) That ( in ■ the ■ opinion of this meeting, Socialism is .rapidly, becoming a menace to the welfare of the community. : (2) That the continuance of the relations between the dominant political party and tho uocialistic section, of'the Labour party is detrimental to individual enterprise, on which the progress, of .the country, mainly depends, and as there,is no longer any essential difference in principle between non-Socialistic Liberals of the present Government and the Opposition, the interests of the farming community'.would be greatly benefited could the cohesion- of the two parties be arranged on a satisfactory basis. ;