TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1787, 27 June 1913, Page 8

TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.

high, and honourable position, and also upon being elected unanimously. Speaking for himself, he felt confident that the honour and dignity of the House and its very highest traditions were absolutely safe in Mr. Lang's, hands., Tno latter had had tho opportunity' of seeing theHouse of Representatives controlled and conducted by two very eminent Speakers, Sir Arthur Guinness and Sir Maurice O'Rorke, and ho felt certain that the lessons thus learned had not been wasted. Sir Arthur Guinness lmd expressed a desire to see the Parliament of New Zealand retain its reputation as a model Parliament, and had worked to that end. He knew that Mr. Lang intended to fol- ' low in tho footsteps of his predecessor. If he did he would have the support of the House and of every member of tho House, and liis record as president of tho Chamber would bo one of which both Mr. Lang and his-friends and supporters would be proud. The Standing Orders provided, tho Prime Minister remarked 111 conclusion, that when n member congratulated Mr. Speaker'upon his election as he hacl done, he must move the adjournment. V Ho moved accordingly. Mr. \V. D. S. Macdonald (Bay of Plenty), on behalf of the Liberal Party,' extended/his congratulations to Mr. Lang. AVhat the Prime Minister had said was justified. For many years members on both, sides of the House had honoured and respected the member for Manuknu, 1 and he (Mr. Macdonald) was confident that the new Speaker would display the same impartiality, judgment, and dignity as had been exercised by. his predecessors. He would have the assistance of members on both sides of the House in discharging the duties of his onerous position. Members of the Opposition felt' confident that if Mr. Lang made any mistakes it would not bo done intentionally, but that ho would endeavour to do what was right. Mr. Speaker brielly thanked the mem- ' bers who had congratulated him. Mr. J. A. Young (Waikato) said that, as representative .of the' electorate which first returned Mr. Lang to Parliament, /-he desired, on behalf of the people of that electorate, to congratulate him. Mr. Speaker here intervened with the remark: "I am sorry. to ■ interrupt the hon. gentleman, but he must confine himself to the question of the adjournment. ' There was good-natured laughter as Mr. Young resumed his seat. The House adjourned at 3 p.m., having spent less than twenty minutes in electing its new ■ Speaker.

THE NEW SPEAKER. A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY. Mr. I'. W. Lang,; the new; Speaker of the House of Representatives, is a nativo of Kent. He came to Now Zealand in his youth in 1872. Ho made up his mind to settle in. the Auckland'province, and after looking around for ft . time lie purchased a farm at Tuhikaramea, in the. Waikato district, where lie remained until after his election as member for Manukau. From the time lie took up his residence. at Tuhikaramea, Mr. Lang took an active interest in public matters. He occupied seats at different times on the Tuhikaramea Bond Board, the Waipa County Council (of which lie was chairman), tho Waikato Hospital' and Charitable Aid Board, and other bodies. He has also been a member of various agricultural societies in the Auckland district. Mr. Lang first entered Parliament in 1893, when lib was elected for Waipa, his opponent being Mr. Gerald Peacockc. In 1890, when the name of the electorate 'was changed to Waikato, Mr. Lang was re-elected practically without-opposition, the Rev. E. Walker being nominated against liim by the New Zealand Alliance at the last moment, in order to secure a poll on the licensing question. In 1899 ■Mr. Lang defeated tho Rev. Dr. Hosking, and in 1903 Mr. H. J. Greenslade unsuccessfully contested the seat. In 1905 the position was reversed, Mr. Lang being defeated by Mr. Greenslade. The present Speaker was then out of Parliament for one year. In 1906, on the death of the late Mr.' Kirkbride (M.P. '.for Manukau) Mr. Lang contested the seat at the byelection, and -won it by a largo majority. Ho was re-elected for tho same constituency in 1908, and again in 1911, when' his majority over the second candidate was one of the largest in the (Dominion. Mr. Lang was elected Chairman of Committees last year, that position carrying with it the office of Deputy-Speaker. As aheady shoyn, with the exception of an interval of one year, he has occupied a seat in the House of Representatives for nearly twenty years. : :

I NEW LEGISLATIVE COUNCILLORS. !' TO BE SWORN-IN. ! To-day's proceedings, in both Houses of Parliament, are likely to be almost ;as ; brief as those of yesterday. His' Excel-* ! 'lency the Governor,- accompanied by the! Countess of Liverpool and attended by his staff, will arrive at' the Legislative J Council Chamber at 2.30 p.m., and the I Speech from the Throne "will be read to : assembled members of both Houses.- Tlje | Speech will be found to be brie£ and businesslike, and'very much to the, point.. I Numerous important policy measures' will j- be foreshadowed, but the Speech, will .bo I short. ' . i One very interesting event will follow ! the reading of the Speech. The first ; business in the Legislative Council will ! bo the swearing-in of five new Council- ■ lors, four Europeans, and one member of the Native race. The secret of some I at least of the prospective appointments ' has been well' kept, and the first formal intimation on the subject will be to-day s swearing-in ceremony. . In the House the first business claiming attention will be the passage of the Imprest Supply Bill. It is anticipated that i it will be allowed to go through- withoutdiscussion. If this expectation is borne out, the only remaining business will be ■ the passage of a motion expressing appreciation of the services rendered-by the late . Sir Arthur Guinness, and condolence with his relatives. , Similar action will bo taken m .the Legislative Council, and both Houses, will then probably adjourn until Wednesday next. On resuming, both House and Council will procecd with the' Address? in-Reply debates. SESSION PROSPECTS. Asked last evening how long he thought the session would be, the Prime Minister said that the position was quite simple. "We have four months' work in hand, he remarked, "and if theTC is 110 obstruction and no unnecessary delay- wo can get through it in four months. If there is obstruction or delay, very well, tho session will bo so nvuchlonger. That is the whole thing." To a suggestion that ho would no doubt be prepared to go'on until Christmas .if.necessary. Mr. Massey smilingly: assented.

PRESENTING THE SPEAKER. it 11 a.m. to-day, tlie Hon. F; W. Lang, tile newly-elected Speaker of . the House of Representatives, will bo formally presented to his Excellency the Governor at Government House. To this end the Speaker, accompanied by his proposer and seconder in jesterday s- election, and other members of the House, will leave Parliament Buildings for Government House, by motor-car, at 10.15 a.m. . CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES. The position of Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives will remain vacant in all likelihood for a week or two. Time will not permit ot tho Chairman being elected. to control the Hou c e in Committee, whilo tho first Imprest Supply Bill of.the session is being considered, and afterwards there will bo no immediate call upon his services. Amongst candidates for tho vacant position, Mr. A. S. Malcolm, member for Clutha, seems to occupy the position of favourite, but there are other possibilities, notably Mr. F. Mander, member for Marsden. PASTORAL LICENSES. ■ Tho Prime Minister has received the following telegram from a Soutli Island farmer in reference to his to introduce a better system of dealing with pastoral licenses. "With forty years experience of highest back-country in the South Island your proposals re burning, "rassing, rabbits, and tree-planting are the sanest proposals we have ever had. I hope they will be carried out." ■ j * IMMIGRATION. It is very unlikely that an Immigration Bill will be brought down this year. As was recently announced by the Minister for Internal Affairs some.extended anti'vitira h tha field of immigration are.!

in train, but the Prime Minister stated Inst evening, in reply to a question, that fc.e did not think legislation on tho subject would be necessary tbis session. UPPER HOUSE REFORMS. Reform of the Upper House is a topic that lins already aroused a good deal of speculation in the Parliamentary lobbies, and members of both Houses seem to be universally of opinion that the Government Bill is destined to pass this year. Even members of the Council who oro absolutely opposed to the principle of election so far as their Chamber is concerned admit that further opposition is usoless,* because it can be readily overcome. , , , , , The Frimo Minister stated last evening that tllo Reform Bill would probably be introduced in the House this session, and not in the Council as was the case last year, but he added that the point had not yet been definitely settled. THE HON. J. A. MILLAR. Tho Hon. J. A. Millar was in his plaeo in the Honso yesterday for the first tima since tho night of the division which decided the fate of the Mackenzie Ministry. Mr. Millar's health is evidently very much improved, and ho looks fit and well.