OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13215, 28 June 1906, Page 5

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

;;; | PROCEEDINGS in THE two || ;;'" houses. ; ( TIME-HONOURED CEREMONIES -'i t ' ' 1 I (Kr TEtEGEArTI. — SPECIAL- COKRESrONDEN'T.J '[: '•! , . Wellington, Wednesday. 4 Thk first session of the sixteenth Parliament % .-' of New Zealand, which bids fair to prove one of the shortest on record, was formally .' , opened by Commission this afternoon. There whs * good attendance or members of both branches of the Legislature, but, needless to say. there was one blank of which all old V Parliamentary hands and habitues of the House could not fail to be conscious. It ■''.'' was the palpable void created by the abV sence, of the long familiar figure and domii;* nating personality of the late Premier. This distinguished the ceremony, with its stereotyped formality and repetition of :;> time-worn phrases, from previous similar v ; functions. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.. -The opening ceremony, which was conducted in the Legislative Council Chamber, was of a. dull and uninteresting character. About 20 members of the Council were present. There was onlj a fair sprinkling of " strangers," most/ of the visitors devoting their attention to the proceedings in the popular Chamber. At half-past two the Speaker of the Council (the Hon. C. C. Bowen), who acted as Chief Commissioner, was announced, and the Commissioners (of whom only the Hon. Mahute was absent) quietly and gravely tiled in and took their seats at the head of the Chamber. The usual announcement as to the purpose of the gathering having been made the members of the Lower House were sent for, and they presently arrived in full force. The members- of the Ministry walked in first, headed by the Premier. Mr. Hall-Jones, on whom so much unlooked for responsibility has fallen during the past two or three weeks, looked rather pale and grave, although quite cool and collected. The Spanker having made an announcement of the reason for requesting the pre-, sence of the representatives from "the other place," the Clerk of the Council read the ■', • Commission from the Governor, a very formal and uninteresting document, to which ; neither the "trusty and loving subjects'' present, nor their legislators, listened with any very marked degree of attention. This portion of the ceremony having been i \ completed the Speaker informed members ■:'■■ that the session would be officially opened by the Governor to-morrow, and that His Excellency had requested that .the members • of the House of Representatives should " re- ! pair to the place where you do usually sit,". I and there make choice of " a fit and proper . person to fill the high and important office [•■ of Speaker," the, member elected to be required to be presented io His Excellency for approval en the following morning. V'/ ' The proceedings, which occupied about llf. ten minutes, then terminated. ■<'■ IN, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-" ;;".. TIVES. . .•::■. In the Lower House there was a large atr- r . . tendance of members, and an unusually I ■ Urge attendance of onlookers, tc see the I swearing in. The ordinary galleries weie -■: full, and the ladies' gallery was packed to I :'."': ~ the doors. Women are evidently going to p take a keen interest in the new Parliament. At- half-past two p.m. . the . Sergeant-at- ; Anns announced " a message from His Excellency's Commissioners." Mr. Bothamly, ' 9 the Usher of the Black Rod, then appeared, ;- -: ; and., ...addressing., lion, members,' said: : -,r "Gentleman, the legislative conned, au- • thorised by,virtue of the Governor's Com- |:-- .mission, desires the attendance of the House I forthwith to hear the. Commission read." C ; ; ''Members then trooped out, v listened to the Commission, and in about ten minutes" ■ r time were back in the House. Mr. HallJones was in the seat that used to be occupied by.Mr. Seddon, while Mr. Carroll was in Sir"Joseph Ward's seat. At a-quarter to three Mr. Otters on, the 1" clerk, commenced to swear in the new 'House of Representatives. The members " were called forward in batches of four. They repeated the oath, kissed the Bible, ■■' . 'ahd'theil proceeded to the end of the long table, where they signed the membership roll. The first nam© called was that of an absentee, Mr. .'Ait-ken, of Wellington, who. like Sir Joseph Ward, M'r. Fowlds, !-: ; - and Mr. McNab, is returning from a. visit ,V abroad. In the second quartette Mr. ' Bauble, the only Jew in the House, was ,y noticeable-, from" the fact that he alone of all the members (according to the custom ■ of his religion) kept his hat on while he / was being sworn in. The new members ;; were closely scrutinised os they came forward. Mr. Hogan was amongst one of the s: early batches, and someone remarked as ;" lie came forward, "That's the man who stood up to "Dick" in open meeting, ret ' ferring, no doubt, to an incident in the 'recent election campaign at Wanganui. Apparently Mr. Hogan, in one respect at all events" will be a desirable acquisition. He will have the courage to express his real opinion. Mr. Houston, who was very ill at- '.he close of last session, has returned, • looking very much stronger, and apparetUly jltrtie the worse lor his election campaign. Quite a number of the new men. one could not help noticing, were bald, or becoming bald. The smiling-faecd Ngata, the newMaori member who displaced Wa Peso. ».•■'/■ was a contrast to these, with his thick ;• crop of dark hair. There was one very pathetic figure in the .;:". assemblage Mr Stevens, now blind and ;' somewhat frail, walked the old familiar 'ways without seeing anyone or anything, ' : for since he was last in the House he has lost his eyesight. He was guided to the \ table by 'Mr. Hogg, and groped his way : : back to his seat with the' assistance of !' the same member. fy • THE SPEAKER ELECTED. ■ Members having been duly sworn in, Mr. ■$■ Otterson announced that the House would t proceed to the election of a. Speaker. Mr. Guinness was duly proposed and seconded. ' ' and, after a brief pause, as there was no . other nomination, he lose, and returned ; .. thanks to lion, members for conferring upon • him the highest honour in the gift of the ': House of Representatives. He formally announced that he would submit himself to hou. members' judgment. He was then conducted by his proposer and seconder to- [>■'■ wards the Speaker's chair, and there, 'stands'; ing on the first step of the dais, he again returned thanks for the high honour conferred upon him. He then took his seat in the chair without his robes or wig, and . the Sergeant-of-Arms advanced and laid the . mace on the table. The Premier and the Leader of the Opposition having offered their congratulations, the House, at twentyone minutes to three p.m., adjourned till ; r 3ialf-past two p.m. to-morrow. [by telegraph. PßESS ASSOCIATION'.] ■ ■ ; Wellington, Wednesday. % When the time came for election of •'• } Speaker in the House of Representatives .;'; to-day, Mr. La-wry said he was thankful if; 'f that it had fallen to his lot to move the election of Mr. Guinness, who had won £','• golden opinions from all sides, and had hi- distinguished himself by his affability to all, and especially by the care and atten- | tion he invariably paid to the younger members. . Mr. Buddo seconded. He hoped the House would come to a unanimous decision. This the House did at once. -Mr. Guinness, in returning thanks, de '-, dared his readiness to be always vigjl-i'it and just, and to act ever without fear. favour, or friendship; to maintain always i/ the traditions of the House, and hold the jf' balance even between parties. . The Hon. W. Hall-Jones congratulated Mr. Speaker heartily, and assned him of the continued confidence of the Uou/.e. The Leader of the Opposition (.Mr. MasvV,-.' «y) followed in the same strain. i'-. . > ft ;?e.i;s!.;.i'.-'.;-':.'- , ' i .-;' -'■■.'■ .■:■■■.-■■. ..■■.-■ ■-.■■...■-■-. , - : .