General, opening Parliament today, described the extensive preparations of the civil and military authorities to enable the country to be placed, without any unnecessary confusion, on a war basis. A further programme of naval development, he declared, had been inaugurated. Reserves of fuel oil had been increased, and the land forces were being raised from 9,500 to 16,000. The New Zealand Air Force also was being enlarged.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.