THE WEEK.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 67, 19 March 1910, Page 10

THE WEEK.

.ZS. Z c - ix : ; ißU'SKiaj... . .;-■.., " ;". The House of Lords, taking."time fby : the forelock, is discussing Lord-Rose^ iery's scheme of reform of the Chamber as -contained in the following resolution.: ; |1) That a strong and efficient secoml chamber as an integral part, of the ■Constitution is necessary ior the well--ibeing of the State and the balance 'Parliament. (2) That such alcnaftiber can. "best he-obtained by the reforin^ani ; reconstruction of the House of Lords. : -{3) That a necessary preliminary to ■'each reconstruction is the acceptance •€i -the principle that the possession, -of 36- peerage should no longer of itself give the right to sit and .vote-in the -House of Lords. The debate, which is stall" proceeding, •ehgwsffcbat tke.jmajprity of the Peers are imfavc-ur of some system of reform. Mr. Reginald McKenna, (First Lord of "the Admiralty), speaking in .committee on-the-2Javy Estimates, said that these were "neither excessive .nor insufficient. ■ Two~ot the five additional Dreadnoughts would 'be built in the Admiralty's dockvardsVand be laid down in January. The - remainder would be constructed .by contract, and be- laid ilown in January. He expressed the Government's 'gratis.ea.tion. at the action that had been taken -by. the two great Australasian dominions with respect to the Imperial navy., (Cheers.) Mr. JieKenna added: "By MaTch, 1913, there will be 20 Dreadnoughts, and thus throughout 1912, till March, 1913, our absolute superiority in Dreadnoughts is secure, and respecting other classes our position is incomparable." ■ In reply to a question by Lord Hugh Cecil..Sir* Asquith said that the Government; could nSt^rl?^^thirrdßrtaking/ ; but intended to pass the Budget before the spring recess. This intention was not contingent upon anything that might happen elsewhere. .. — At the Colonial Institute's banquet to Sir Geo. H. Reid, the Colonial Secretary, ■fee Earl of Crewe, announced that present arrangements whereby the Secretary of -State,for the Colonies looked after 'business connected with the overseas dominions" and Crown colonies -would ibe permanent. A separation of duties was probable within the near future. -The idea of an Imperial Council could. T>sst be" promoted .by taking the oversea dominions intpjeonference, and whenever the interests; of the dominions were concerned with-any diplomatic problem, placing the utmost confidence in, the statesmen ol tha • dominions. ~ ~~ : ' ". " ; A dam in the Rhondda Valley, in Gla■morganshire, Wales, burst and occasioned heavy loss. The houses in CJyti daeh«yale, a coal mining village in 'the valley, - were flooded, and several." col .-I lapsed.! By the collapse of"bneTipuse-a : mother' and her infant jverfe' polled. .&"' bed:; Six others, mostlychildren; ■__ weredrowned in the; roaring torrents, and many had narrow > escapes.- • The flood • swept -huge botilaWs -on--to -the .railway, blocking the traffic. <- -"-". .'"_". . ."..'--"-.'.. •--» . tsrrs" coMS«:o3o^Hi&£TS.-; : "HVjir i:" The Federal .election.' campaign is. in full swing in all thelStates.. L The parties are working harji,".: and:,-strenuous-con-tests;are promised:' '-;. ;.""';-*' *is~, ~*"j Bertram Armyiage,' who—was a member.of Sir E. Shackleton's: Antarctic "expedition, committed suicide in.a~i>edroom at the •Melbourne Club. - He j was - found lying; dressed in his-evening clothes, with his Antarctic medals, on breast, clutching a Colt's, revolver in his < left hand. '.,'. He was 'shot through the. lore--hfSajgHis suicide was due todisappointmerit at failing to obtaiit. a- War- Office appointment. ■*'■ ■—-:-. - »_. - A brother and sister named: Noalk, aged: respectively height and "twelve, were fo<zn.d- dead in a paddock near Perth., each with a-ballet in the "forehead. A-broken pea.rifie-which the-boy carryingwss- i dimd near. It is surmised that the boy. shot his sister accidentally, and took Ins-own life in remorse; ;_■■■". 'jS.J*i jj;.* •. The British Postal- Departmentis con-" sider-ing a colonial office dispatch.;dealing with, the question of the openingCof the Iransandine railway, and; suggesting a. shorter- mail route between r-Australia ■and England- It is estimated -mails - from England-tould be -landed jiCSydneyJ ■■iniaTTaays. ' " -__..-- - -. The .Newcastle- strike "is ■ now definitely over, all the Ties having resumed. A l ' million -in wages was lost by the Newcastle 'strike. The Victorian Government trade, which practically represents 300-5000' tons yearly, ■ has been lost through, the-opening of the Powlett River TTTJue. ■ Trade to the PlrHippines ' has received a .setback, from which the.indus-iryr-wiljfctake sometime to recover. .1 hsi~V;3noasiGar AEEAIBS. ' ~ *■ .Henry of Prussia (brother of tfie Kaiser), who has returned from a jTisif; "to England, said they-nad left JBrrtaiiL with, grateful hearts. Hospiiality. affection, and frankness were'the -fcnmdstiens- on -which the life of their cousins Tested. He had been to •Britain in an absolutely-unofficial capa- . city, but had Bpokßn to many influential •people, ; and assured his hearers that ißrrfcain j offered Germany honourable and sincere friendship. The idea of aggres-jSive--action was completely absent from minds Of Government circles in Britain, but that could only remain so while Gfiffrrnny gave evidence of a desire to reciprocate the friendly feeling that prevailed,- and nothing must be omitted Berying to strengthen-it:«"' ■-- -'-■-^.■.-v■■• -.-■:■■■.' A Tariff war is threatened between Canada and the "United States. President Tuft remarked, that there ;was;little cuiince of reaching-an.; agreement' with Canada, but pibgress been; made towards a setQemeiat^pf::. the; difficulty •witli France, whereby--the: latter would lave the advantage'of. ,t]ie". : 25 peir cent reduction xuideir-th&'-'PaySie fciiiflt..,"BresiAeni Taft considers that the" Canadian treaty with France involves undue ; discrimination against America. Possibly fSiiv Wilfrid Laurier will make concessions to. avoid a" tariff war. '- ' ; -- *■ *F|rstfLieutenant Filchner, - of the German - General Staff, who is to lead a German Antarctic expedition, 'starting in' October, . stated when- interviewed that leVSid:'not wish to jump. the''claims of the English and American explorers. He .intended to leave the discovery of the -South. Pole to his rivals, the" object of . _ tEe German expedition being, to verify tie /theory that the Antarctic land consisxs_isf~two islands ■ divided by an arm of tlse -sea. —~»-—— _;... „ E.sichstag has adopted Herr Ledefeoiif's resolution in favour of '-'matin the--Imperial Chancellor .responsible to the-Eeichstag, such responsibility to ex.-j tend n to ' all _ the Kaiser's l - political - acts ' ••:• and" -omissions, 5 and declaring i tliat ' the Chancellor's responsibility should be regelated by State tribunal. -•'J'.*-.-- ---... . . >---. n'H n-i , DO]firNlOS t *'. .Crider-'t'he new defence scheme volunteers who are still attached to their compass n cajusemaw- 11Ilier ..ffe, new. and imTj^oyed ;55t Tetire 1in "l"J -regiment «f-th^tem

permanent iastrnefcor. Efficient volunI teers are to be exempt' from the compulsory -training, but the young man -who hasiiot gone m for volunteering- will now "oe obliged to do a. certain minimum • amount- of military training. Boys between the ages.of .12 anfl 14 will :be attached to the junior cadets; from 14 to IS their place will be and upon attaining -fche--age of 18 the youth will be faced with an important problem, iwMeh ie, will be free to solve as suits his sense of- ■patriotismor his disinclination to share- -the turdens as well as the privileges -of citizenship: One of three alternatives .may be selected —viz.,- - (1) j refuse • military duty - and suffer-the penalties- imposed 'by "ai>court ■of law," (2) join the territorials (otherwise the volunteers under a new jname) and train with them for tnree years in his own locality, or (3) await the summons to the general training camp and put in 14 days annually under miliary instructors and camp discipline, and 12 .at the nearest..territorial centre. A proclamation will shortly foe issued calling upon all eligible persons to register their na-mes with the .prescribed officer, according to the Act. The enrolment upon the register of a .school attended toy the individual is a'sufficient registration, but -failure to enrol under other circumstances -renders the, defaulter" liable to a fine.' "As a man who serves in the territorials will not be required to put in time at the training camp, it is anticipated that a great impetus will ■be given to the volunteer side of the defence movement. The Australian cricketers played their first test match against a New Zealand team at Christchurch on Ma-rch 11, 12, and 15, play being suspended on one day owing to rain. The New Zealanders had the misfortune of 'being sent to bat first on a bad wicket, and they only succeeded in scoring 155 runs. The visitors put" up a score of 30G, and New Zealand's second innings produced 25S runs, leaving Australia to get 109 runs to win, and these were recorded with the loss of one wicket, Mayne (75) being the principal contributor. The best scores of New Zealand's second innings were made by Lpsk (39), Siedeberg (35), Hadden (47), Midlane (47). Th-e Australians played a match against Manawafu at Palmerston on Wednesday and Thursday, and won by an innings and 104 runs.

Particulars of the prison reform scheme have been announced by the Minister for Justice (Dr., Findlay). The provisions of the indeterminate sentence are extended, and mude applicable to all cases, though the determinate sentence will 'be retained in all proper cases. The following institutions are provided for male •prisoners, institutions for sexual perverts and criminals of unsound mind, institution for incorrigible drunkaTds, prison camps, reformatory farm, penitentiary, and reformatory for women. "Provision is made for an extension of tUe probation system and for dealing with occasional and habitual diunkarda. Prisoners are to be classified on the double foasu, firstly as to type, and secondly as to ;conduct and improvement., The case of every prisoner sentenced for an indeterminate period will !be renewed every three .months. Every prisoner, by performing his task, will earn credit marka, having definite .monetary value. The relief "of the dependents of a prisoner will be a, first charge on his earnings. All physically capable prisoners will be employed on remunerative works, such as stonemasonry, iron .moulding, tinware, making book covers, and bootmaking. Education will be provided for illiterates, enabling fourth standard requirements in reading, writing, , and arithmetic to be passed. A-n extension of the prison camp system is proposed, taking in occupation other than tree-planting. Special provisions are made for the classification of drunkards. A sad boating fatality occurred at Greymouth on Sunday evening last, when three young men named William Winterburn, John Early, and John de Bakker, were drowned while trying to cross tne Grey 'bar in an oil launch. The men became alarmed at the high.seas and rollers while crossing the bar and turned around to -make port. In doing so one roller caught' the vessel 'by the stern and placed' her broadside on to the next breaker, •which swamped the launch and she immediately sank. One of the men disappeared in an instant, whilst the two others clung.to an_.oar. One shortly after let go; bilt the other clung to it and drifted shprewards:. He was seen for nearly three-quarters of an hour, but no assistance could be rendered. The -North-Island Brass Band Association's contest -was held at Wanganui during the present week. The first-grade contest between the Wanganui Garrison and Petone proved a very easy thing for the champions, who, in the language of the judge, put up a very fine performance, while Petone came in for rather unfavourable criticism. Wanganni scored 120 points and Petone 76. The test piece was "Liszt." Twelve band 3 competed in the quick-step competition. The Wanganui Garrison Band carried off first place, with, a total of 235f points; of which 130 were for music Blenheim was second-, with 283 points, 122 feeing for mmsie; Petone came thiid, with 265 points, 126 being for •music Other bands finished as follows: Nelson, 261J; Wanganui .City 3 253; Manaia, 247 i; Gisborne, 247J; Camlbridge, 243; Wellington Tramways, 233*; Waitara, 232J; Fcilding, 223 i; Opunake. 217. In the final test Wanganui defeated Petone, and won the Besson Shield.