PARLIAMENT HOUSES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14257, 4 July 1908, Page 8

PARLIAMENT HOUSES.

Thebb can be no doubt, we think, that the course which the Prime Minister proposes to adopt with reference to his scheme for the re-erection of Parliament Buildings—that of referring the matter to % select committee for consideration—is, in present circumstances, the sensible one to adopt. The Government has displayed a good deal of energy in the altering and equipping of Government House for. the uses of Parliament during the .present session, but it, is questionable if 'that energy would not have been better directed towards the provision of temporary accommodation on the old site of Parliament Buildings. Had this course been adopted the sittings of the Legislature could have been held with some degre; of comfort in the Parliamentary Library, which was unscathed by fire, and the temporary premises utilised. But, consequent on the arrangements that were made by the Government, we must take the position as we find it; and dispassionately consider what is the best to be done for the future. The Prime Minister's own proposal is one which affects not the housing of Parliament alone, but that also of the Governor, and which covers, as well, the question of the provision of accommodation for the Civil Service in Wellington. According to his view, the Houses of Parliament should be erected not on ■the 4 site, where the library remains, a substantial relic of the former pile, but on the site occupied by Government House, the official residence of the Governor—the building in which the sittings of Parliament are now being held. He explains that it would cost £115,000 to rebuild Parliament Buildings on the old site, whereas if Government House should be utilised as it at present exists for the purposes of Parliament the additional premises requisite for the accommodation of the Legislature can be erected on the Government House site for £90,000. it is not clear whether this latter total includes provision for the erection of a new library. As they stand, however, these figures suggest that a saving of £20,000 may be effected by the erection of Parliament Buildings on the Government House site instead of on the old site. But Government House ig dccay-

Ing with age, and it is estimated that its life is limited to six or eight years, and at the expiry of that time, presumably, it would have to bo pulled down and replaced by other buildings which should complete the Houses of Parliament. The cost of these buildings would apparently bo a further sum of £90,000, increasing, at tlio end of six or eight years, the expense of erecting the Houses of Parliament on the Government House site to £180,000, as compared with an estimated cost of £115,000 on the old site. And as the amount which the Prime Minister says would be required for the re-erection, of the Governor's house is set down at £25,000, it is evident that, if the point at issue were confined to the- provision of accommodation for his Excellency aiul for Parliament, the interests of economy would certainly ha served by the re-erection of Parliament Buildings on tho old site. But Sir Joseph Ward urges, and undoubtedly with a great deal of force, that the present Government Building.?—tho great wooden structure in which many, but not all, of the departments of State have their head offices—do not provide Bafe housing for the valuable records that arc necessarily kept in them. They are, indeed, a collection of matchwood boxes, in which a fire, if once started, ■would work great havoc- before it could be extinguished. And the Prime Minister evidently contemplates the erection of a fresh .structure of brick and stone on the old site of Parliament Buildings. This would probably be a highly costly undertaking, but it is estimated that the present site of Government Buildings possesses a capital valuo of £260,000, and that the State would derive a handsome revenue if it were disposed of to business firms. Beyond this, it is suggested that the tiireo residences provided in Wellington for the use of Ministers should be sold to provide funds for the erection of the new Government House. Sir Joseph Ward says there are several sites in and around Wellington suitable for this purpose. It will, we fear, not be so easy to find one that will be readily accessible in Wellington itself; but this is a matter upon which 'the joint Committee that is to bo set up will have to satisfy itself. Tho arithmetic of the scheme seems rather unfavourable to the Government, and we are certain that the country will set. its face resolutely against any proposal involving a heavy expenditure that can be avoided. We are, however, not disposed to prejudge the Prime Minister's scheme, which may possess elements of attractiveness that have not so far presented themselves. The subject is. one that apparently merits careful investigation.