* FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1907. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13461, 28 June 1907, Page 4

FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1907. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

The Governor's Speech at the | opening of Parliament was of the \ usual stereotyped order, containing, with one exception, nothing that might, not have been anticipated weeks a&o. The exception, of course, was the item which Sir Joseph Ward referred to the previous night as ' one which would give g*reat pleasure to every political class in New Zealand — the announcement that the British Government -^ is| prepared to advise his Majesty, io raise the status of New Zealand by changing . its designation jfTom "Colony" to I "Dominion,^* upon being re- 1 quested ,s9 dp so. by resolution of j JBarlian|ent. v Apparently there j is rmsrer msre in. at name than ihe fair Juliet would have' it.' *With its Agent-General styled a High Commissioner, its Premier a Prime Minister, and its official designation a, dominion instead of a Colony, New Zealand will, indeed, ! be entitled to take a leading posi- j tion at' gatherings of the Imperial ! family. But tjiese honours ought ! to be bestowed^ by degrees, lest they beget too much pride in colonial breasts; therefore, Sir Joseph Ward should have rested satis- j fied for the present with exhibiting the one sitrprise packet which he has brouglit from Home in his car-pet-bag, and have withheld till some future occasion the dazzling prospect of the leading citizen of each of the four chief centres of the "Dominion 5 ' being dubbed 4 ' Lord Mayor and their good ladies "Lady Mayoress." One other step and our cup of gratification would indeed be full. Australia has several Governors and a Governor-General, while the " Dominion ' y has. ,to be . satisfied with just one ordinary Governor. Why not have a Viceroy, and so put Australia's light out once for all. To return, however, to a serious* analysis] of the Governor's Speech. There are the usual references to the prosperity of the colony and to the leading events the last . meeting of Parliament — the Imperial Conferences, the International Exhibition, and so forth. But it' is to the references to the future that most interest attaches, and when 1 "the speech is shorn of its redundant verbiage we find that Ministers intend, or express their intention, which, unfortunately, is not necessarily the Same thing, to institute an experimental dairy school and other methods of instruction under the Department of Agriculture rto fpster the mining' industry ; and to make further provision ,for workmen's homes. They will submit a measure to amend the Shipping and Seamen's Act, in order to give effect to resolutions passed at the Maritime/ Conference. The land legislation is only briefly touched upon, but Mr. McNab has stated the Cabinet's intentions in" that regard pretty fully. A reciprocal tarifftreaty has, it is announced, already been entered into with South Africa, and will be submitted to Parliament for confirmation, while negotiations are in progress for a similar- treaty with Canada. The Custom's tariff is to be revised in the direction of lightening taxa-.

tion on - the necessaries .of life* ' iCivil Service classification and

superannuation schemes are to.be brought forward. Defects in the labour laws are to l?e remedied; new mail arrangements are to be proposed: new markets sought, uid cheaper and more expeditious transit discussed. Local government law is to receive attention, ilso the gambling evil, secret commissions, mental hospitals, fire? brigades, shops arid offices, pure foods, and *' other important matters." The pioneering settlers will learn with satisfaction tiuvfc liberal provision is to be made for roads, telephones, and other conveniences for them. Of course this is a stereotyped paragraph, and the hopes founded upon it in past years have not always been realised. There is matter enough here to engage the attention of Parliament for more than one ,ses-

sion, and it is too mucli to tope that all the promises will be fulfiJled. When the necessary work of rectifying blunders in previous legislation has been attended to, and the ordinary, routine gone through, such as the debate on the Address-in-Eeply, the Financial Statement, and so. on, the House will do very well if it manages before November to dispose of satisfactorily the land question and tariff revision. It is a fault of nearly all Ministers that they burden the Order Paper with masses of measures which cannot, by any possibility be intelligently dealt with in one session, with the result that in attempting too much nothing is done thoroughly, and. time which ought to be devoted to consideration of administration — the expenditure especially — is wasted over futile debates upon measures which are either unimportant or which have no hope of being finally dealt with. The Speech put into the Governor's mouth ODk ( Thursday is no exception to the rule that too much altogether is attempted by Ministers.