POLITICS AND POLITICIANS. OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 26, 29 June 1899, Page 3

POLITICS AND POLITICIANS. OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

(From our Special Correspondent.) Tin; last session of the thirteenth Parliament of New Zealand was opened by his Excellency Lord Ranfurly on Friday afternoon. The weather w:i« perfect- mid this, coupled with the fact that the workers in the biggest wooden structure in the world, to wit the (Juvtiuibcnt Building, had a half holiday, made the attendance of sightseers a record one. Of course only a traction of those assembled could got mt>) the galleries, but this did not trouble them, as their purpose was to have a look at the Governor and his party on their arrival and departure. The scene in«ide the comfortable littlV thamb<r, where the New Zealand • Louis' legislate and doze, when the Governor :uTi\td, \\a«, if not impre-sive, at least pioturiMjiN- and lull of colour. Lord RanturJy, in his Windsor uniform, does not look as commanding a figure us Lord Glasgow used to in his naval dross, for the latter always comported himself as if he were on his own quarter deck. Lord Ranturly gives oue the idea of being rather bashful, and that he would feel more at home as a host than in taking part in state functions. But I am digressing. His Excellency was accompanied by the Countess Ranfurly, the Lady Constance Knox, and members ot his staff, the latter being in uniform. To his right were the foreign consuls, some in uniforms, the whole making a pretty group. The limited space in the public galleries was packed with the wives, daughters, and lady friends of members, and was a blaze of warm colours. Here and there amongst the ladies was to be seen a forlorn representative of the male sex, looking for all the world like a jackdaw among a flock of richly plumaged tropical birds. The ' Lorda ' scarcely mustered a score ; some attired and looking uncomfortable in evening dreas, the majority content with Sunday-go-to-meeting raiment. The representatives of 'another place,' to the number of four dozen or so, trooped in like a flock of sheep after their leader, the leader in this case being the Sergeant-at-arms. Xext to the bearer of the mace came the Speaker— the first 111 that line of busines-i at this side of the equator, and a credit to the Rojal house of Breffni When the Sergeant-at-arms got as far as the bar— not Bellamy s— of the House, beyond which was tajju, he stopped, and the members of the House ot Representatives ranged themselves as best they could in the limited [space at thendisposal. Notwithstanding the exertion incidental to the recent pre-sessional campaign, and his late illness, the Premier looked as if he had only just returned from a sis months' holiday trip. Two well-known figures were absent from the House of Representatives' muster. I missed the plaid vest— always worn on state occasions of the Hon. J MeKeime. and the prominent personality of the Hon. J. G. Ward was not in eviden-e. The Premier mignt have felt mote at ease had he those faithful knights to support him, bat he did net show it. The Speech— called by courtesy the Governor's, but in reality the production of the Cabinet, and licked into shape by one or other ot the private secretaries -contained little that was new or very startling, sull v was listened to with marked attention by the Members, and by none mores,) than the Premier, who appeared as interested in the nading ot the document as it it had been the first lie Lad heard of it. It is not necessary to inflict the whole of it on your readers, as m the first place it was made up ot scraps of ancient history treating ot the tours of the Governor for the past six months, the success ot tbe Auckland Exhibition, the inaugurations of the Victoria College at Wellington, the Ilakaia railway disaster, and such like items of intelligence The principal points of interest were contained in the tail ci.d— like the postscript to a lady s letter— 111 which the Hills to be lnticlueul during the >cssion were foreshadowed. The iollow ing wete the lumeipal aieahuics referred to — A Bill for ensuring fair wagis and r.a-onyble working hours in connection with contracts for public woiks rhteied ihto by the (jovernment or by local bodies . measures dealing with compensation of workiren and accident insurance ;re 111. 'dial proposals with regard to the operation of the Industii.il Conciliation »nd Arbitration Act ; proposals dealing with Native land generally, and giving local control to the Natives by their hupus ; a Bill amending the Advance to Settlers Act in the direction ot reducing the rate ot interest, and extending the operation of the Act to urban and suburban Lmds ; a measure for removit g existing detects 111 the electoral Jaws, and with oh r amendments making provisions to ensure correct returns in respect to the questions to be submitted to the ballot, and removing disabilities on persons temporarily absent from the eokny ; BillT, providing for a bare majoiity ot voters at polls relating to local loans and rating on unimproved values, and providing also tor a direct vote of the people on questions of colonial importance . ako Bills dealing with local government, agriculture, technical education mining, and trade, and amendments and extensions of the law a^ regards several question affecting the social and industrial pro- re-'* ot the Colony. ° At the conclusion of the speech the Serjeant-at-arms took charge of the' taithful Commons and led them saiely back throu-h a labyrinth of passages to their own Chamber, when business cuinmenct d in real earnest No sooner had the House settled down to work than several old friends, who were popularly supposed to have perished in the slaughter of the innocents,' towards ihe close of last session appeared on the scene These included the Elective Executive Bill the Absolute Majority Bill, Young Persons' Protection Bill Usury Irevention Bill, Colonial Option Bill, it hoc ijciui.s oiiiu, many of which had been read a first time in the past, and after hVurinjr for months on the order paper, had been sacrificed in spite of the v.iv protests of their introducers.