PRESENTING BATTLESHIPS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 140, 15 June 1909, Page 7

PRESENTING BATTLESHIPS.

SIR WILLIAM LYNE'S OPINION. By Telegraph.— Press Absociation.— Copyright SYDNEY, 14th June. Sir William. Lyne, replying to a request by the Tumut Municipal Council, that he should vote for the presentation of a Dreadnought to Britain, says he thinks the gift of a Dreadnought "wouldbe simply absurd, because it would bo old iron in seven or eight years' time." "The question of expense," Sir William adds, "is not worth consideration, but the money would be much better spent in carrying out what the ImperialGovernment wants us to do for our pro- , ., tection here, and not simply by holding up a blanket."

For Children's Hacking Cough at night, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. Is 6d And 2a 6d.— Adyt,

PARLIAMENT. v LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. THE DREADNOUGHT OFFER. MR. EIGG MOVES HIS MOTION OF DISAPPROVAL, When the Legislative Council met at 10.30 a.m. to-day the Speaker read tho message from the House, asking the Council's concurrence in the resolution i of the House approving the aSfcion of | the Government in offering a Dread- . nought to the British Government, I B> was agreed to consider the motion forthwith. The Attorney-General, in speaking to>. the question, pointed out that the mat- " ,ter was one of adding to the charges, •of uhe country, and that was a question .for the peopled representatives. It was not essential to ask ths Council's /concurrence, but it had been asked t& concur as a matter of courtesy. The Hon. Mr. Trask Bcconded ttn_ motion. 7 THE AMENDMENT. The- Hon. J. Rigg moved the followv ing motion, of which '>he had given n«^ tice,' as an amendment : "> That the Council disapproves of Ihe offer to the British Government of a fully-equipped battleship -of the Dreadnought type, or two if 'necessary, made by the Government of New Zeav land, for the following reasons : 1. That it is unjustifiable extrava- ■■ ganco. *i 2. That, so long as we,, ara in deb* and depending on bommed money forT the development of our own country M ' is an immoral act v 3. That we become ridiculous when it ,w necessary for us to from those to. whom we maka the, gift a i oan of th ' money necessary tr/ pay f o r it. 4. That Great Britain can well afford to pay for all tfe battleships that sha requires. 5. That Ihgr. proposal is the outcome' ot a newapr^er sax*, organised f£r un, worthy natives., "» The on. Gjj. Smith raiaeS a point ot oryler as to/ whether the /amendment was/ not a dii.-ect negatory.. ' ' THE iffif OVEß'S. REASONS. v; Ml ' xSty 2 said be was <l uite within ins right rii moving a, direct negative if he sap fi*,. He took exception X :=|iSe^^f fc mX^ ■ the Unionist press-tfce same press that was responsible for the Boer war V$ ' itf'T' - had bßan acquainted* than a rmscWous one, but it could nofc well decline the gift, aud , therefor? ' f>f?^ fU "I acce P<*d it- He domed that toe offer had had-any znoralTfK' New Zealand had not a shilling tc , S p ar »" for her own requirements. I n S his o l p £ ion, the offer had had a distinctly in> moral effect. It was the jingoism of tha music halls of London. A good deal had been made of the fact tl JS Tthe Government had been congou ated on' what it had done. There wa 5t oomuch toadyism, the hope of personal benSta being at the bottom of it. SomThS been genuine ,n their congratulations, but there ware fanatics in patriotism as well as in -other things. He S of years .'thai injured the Government morj hi theses of the people than this offe* had- r . / ofAi member: Tlie °PP° sition approves Mr. Rigg asked if anyone seriously beJieved that the - Opposition represented ■the true feeling of the country on .tha r question? The Opposition had been rdragged at the chariot wheels of the Government in this sham imperialism 4or years. tfe said the newspapeis had been 'captured" by a confidential telegram, and he did not believe that there was now one editor in the country who would not give his private opinion against the offer. He agreed that Sir Joseph Wa/d had acted in good faith and with no intention to mislead, but the effect of the confidential teiegran? was misleading. He (Mr. Rjgg) believed' that if the , Government went to "th« country now the lesult would show fcliat the people had lost confidence in it. On. 29th March Sir Edward Grey made a, speech on a censure motion, whj v h was the "only utterance to be found that could lend Lolour to the idea that there was a crisis. Yet the only danger apprehended in that speech was that Germany wa* crediting her naval construction. Nor Sid it appear horn ,Mr. Runciinan'g speech at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 3rd April tiiat any crisis was impending, and a letter written to the press by Mi*. Lloyd-George was of the 'same tenor. Mr. 'Chuiehill also had pointed out that it was absurd to measure the strength of a navy by Dreadnoughts only, and that tho British Navy was more* lisa rly three times than twice that of Germany. From what Mr. Asquitk had said, it would appear that the Naval Conference had not, been called by reason of any necessities on tho part of Great Britain, but in order to put some check on overmuch zeal on the part of some of the oversea 1 dominions. Mr. Rigg also quoted Mr. Fisher, the ex-Prims Minister oi the Commonwealth, who, he said, had spoken in rather contemptuous way of our proceeding. An hon. member • He is not in power now. Mr. Eigg replied that it was not aU over yet. He concluded by hoping, that in the future a saner view would be tak'cn of such matters, and that it would " not be necessary for members of eithei branch of the Legislature to undertake the unpleasant duty of opposiag a proposal which they knew would be earned. The Hon. H. Scotland ?ec.onaed thr amendment. AMENDMENT LOST. On a division the amendment wo* defeated by 26 votes to 2, the divisior list being as follows: — , Against the amendment (26) : Hona. Findlay, Sinclair, Paul, Trask, Jenkinson, Jones., Beehan, Carncross, Barilla Wi Pere, Marshall. O'Rorke. Holmes, Johnston, Smith, Baldey, Loughnan, M'Lean, M'Cardle, George, Kelly, Aa» stey, Harris, Thomson, Wigram, airf" Mills. In favour of the amendment (2) : Hons. Rigg and Scotland. The Hon. H. F. Wigram, "on. the motion of approval being put, dealt witk .some of the observations of the Hon. J. Rigg. He might, Mr. Wigram said, b* a genius, and be perfectly right in what he said ; on the other hand, he might be the very opposite. The motion was carried on the voices^ j and the Council adjourned at 11.45 a.m, ' till 10.30 to-morrow morning. \

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ;' The House met at 11.30 a m. - ! .• PRELIMINARY BUSINESS. ! Mr T. E. Taylor was swom-in, and j took' his seat. .' Free immigration of domestic servants . | ,was the subject of another petition. , ; Notice was given by Mr. Field 'to ask ■ I the 'Minister of Finance if he will amend ' j the operation of the Civil Service Super- ; annuation Act so as. to give greater ox. •j tension in regard to broken service. . ; ,*• . Jennin S s gave notice to ask the j Minister of Labour if he will next ses- *| *\? n bnn g in an amendment of the < , .Workers' Compensation for Accidents * ' Apt- providing for the payment of comt pfensation to relatives of deceased work-,-I e F s - irrespective of whether they are dej pendeift. on the deceased or not. i 1 - 06 was given by Mt - Field to ask the Minister of Railways if he will, before next summer, consider the question of placing Plimmerton in the suburban •I area. *"1 ■ rt Mr «. T : 4E4 E - Ta^ or -? ave n °tice to ask ; the Minister of Railways if, ifc i s true v -i t?? 1 th e report of the Addington Com"'l • "J'^ 10 " 1S to the eff ect that the charges . ! f* the general manager were true, and if I that explains the reason of the report •-j not being ma.de public. " i 'Notice was given by Mr., Wilford to .1 the Minister for Education if he 7" 11 provide a sum of money to enlarge the Muritai schoolroom. '/ , NEW BILLS. j The National Sick and Accident InBnrance Bill (Hon. A. R. Guinness), was read U first time. The Johnsonville Town Itoard Lighting Empowering Bill (Mr. J- P. Luke) was dropped. FINANCIAL PROPOSALS. •Th c House then proceeded to discuss the finannal proposals of the Governj ment. The debate is reported under a separate heading.