PARLIAMENT.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7717, 9 May 1916, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

GOVERNOR’S SPEECH. A RECORD IN BREVITY. (By Telegraph). WELLINGTON, This day. The second session of the 19th Parliament of New Zealand was opened to-day by the Governor, when His Excellency was pleased to make the following speech:— Honorable gentlemen of the Legislative Council and gentlemen of the House of Representatives,— It has been found necessary to submit to you proposals for the extension of the powers of my Government in matters relating to the war, and 1 have therefore found it necessary to convene Parliament at a somewhat earlier date than usual. It was my privilege, at the opening of the session of 1915, to read a message from His Majesty the King congratulating the people of this Dominion upon the bravery displayed by the New Zealand troops at the Dardanelles. The landing of our soldiers with their comrades of the Australian troops, and of the British and Indian forces at the Anzac beach, and at Helles on the 25th of April, 1915, was the historic occasion of that message. Though all the land forces of the Allies have since been withdrawn from the Dardanelles, history will record that our men throughout the occupation faced the dangers of battle and disease and endured privation and suffering, while the Governments and peoples of New Zealand and of the Commonwealth, quietly and without demur acquiesced in and accepted the necessity of retirement from the battlefield where so much honor had been won. My Ministers hope that when the terms of peace are considered it may be possible to reserve for New Zealand and Australia the ground where our men fought and so many fell in the service of the Empire. Mr Speaker and gentlemen of the House of Representatives,— In the Estimates prepared for your consideration you will be asked to make full provision for the prosecution of the war, in addition to the ordinary expenditure of the public services of the Dominion. Honorable gentlemen of the Legislative Council and gentlemen of the House of Representatives,— Until the warfare in which New Zealand has claimed to take her full part with the Empire is terminated by a peace ensuring world freedom from the tyranny of German military methods, all political parties have agreed to abstain from controversy of a party character. You will, therefore, he invited to direct the whole of your energies to the settlement of some of the difficult problems which have arisen in consequence of the war and owing to the war, and to the consideration of measures which have direct relation to the existing exceptional conditions. I earnestly commend those matters to your consideration, and I pray that Divine Providence may guide you in your deliberations. BILLS OUTLINED. ANOTHER WAR LOAN. (Special to “Mail”). WELLINGTON, This day. After Parliament had been opened to-day and the formal preliminaries gone through) an adjournment was made till Thursday out of respect to the memory of the Hon. J. A. Millar, the Hon. J. Duthie, and Mr Moss. The Address-in-Reply in the House of Representatives will he moved by Mr D. IT. Guthrie (Senior Government Whip), and seconded by Mr G. \Y. Forbes (who was Opposition Whip before the National Government was formed). . One of the first measures introduced will be the Military Service Bill. Ministers are reticent as to the terms of the measure, but it would appear that it will seek to conserve the voluntary spirit to the very last limit, and only institute compulsion when a district has been proved entirely unwilling to fulfil its national obligations. That problem settled, the Government will go on with the Military Pension Bill, which is designed (though the details have not yet been made public) to ensure that everyone who offers his services in the cause of the Empire shall not unduly suffer from the penalty that his self-sacrifice entails. The Soldiers Land Settlement Bill will probably evoke considerable debate. As its title implies, it is designed to facilitate to the last degree the settlement on the land in various methods of those men who have returned from tlie front incapacitated for further service. It will not be the subject of controversy except, perhaps, in regard to detail. There is also to be a War Regulations Bill, which is likely to be of considerable importance. Among other things it will deal with the control of the liquor traffic during the continuance of the war. Authority will he taken during the session for the raising of money required for the carrying out of the war as far as it concerns New Zealand; and it is likely that a Loan Bill will be brought down. Last session the Government took authority to borrow £10,000,000. The whole of that sum has not been raised, and it is well known that the New Zealand financial year has closed with a very large surplus. On the other hand, as the war lias proceeded the cost of the operations to New Zealand has increased, and it is not likely that the requirements of the Government will he less than those of last year. Present indications arc that there will he no proposal for the raising of a local loan.