PARLIAMENT RESUMES.

Evening Star, Issue 15909, 15 September 1915, Page 8

PARLIAMENT RESUMES.

PRIME MINISTER RETICENT CONCERNING NATIONAL SERVICE. LONDON," September 14. (Received 5 September 15, at 9.40 a.m.) In the House of Commons Mr Asquith. said he was not prepared at present to make a statement regarding national service. QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT. ANXIETY OVER CONSCRIPTION. POLITICIANS AND DISCIPLINE. Press Association--By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, September 14. Received September 15, at 12.10 p.m.) In the House of Commons MrM'Kenna (Chancellor of the Exchequer) promised to deliver the Budget Statement early next week. Mr Asquith said the Government would move a credit vote to-morrow, when he would review the military situation. The Government proposed that the House of Commons should sit only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. a P r - M '^ amar a (Under-Secretary to the Admiralty) refused to discuss whether the methods adopted in Paris against Zeppelins should be tried in London. _ On the motion for the adjournment Mr iJiilon referred to a manifesto which members of both the Lords and Commons now serving with the colors were extensively signing, urging the Government to take up national sen-ice... Mr Dillon urged that it was contrary to practice for officers on active service to address a manifesto to newspapers dealing with matters of political controversy. If this were tolerated he would ask for similar facilities for other officers and men to object to conscription. The Government 'should be trusted, and their discretion left unfettered in this matter. (Received September 15, at 12.35 p.m.) -Mr Hodge (Labor) hoped the Government would not give way to clamor, which was doing great disservice to the country. Sir H. Dalzie.ll (Liberal) thought the present situation, was due to the Lick of information sfiven to the public. Six F. G. Banbury (U.) said it was evident discussion was absolutely necessarv. Captam Guest. (U.), on behalf of'the conscnptiomsts, said he intended to insist on a day for discu-sion. He had things to say which he had left unsaid too long? Mr Asquith deprecated a sporadic, desultory debate. Replying to suggestions for a secret session, he said he had no indication that .nembers desired this. Replying _to Mr J Dillon (Nat,), the Prime -Minister said "that he thought it would be unfair and contrary to tho public interest to silence members who were serving gallantly at the front, and who had resumed their seats in Parliament when they had short leave from the front. Mr Asquith concluded by saving that this matter had > not escaped the Government's attention. (Cheers and laughter.) When the Government, without undue delay and with the due deliberation which the gravity of,the subject demanded, had arrived at their conclusions, they would be presented to the House, and would then become a subject for parliamentary discission. QUIBBLE OVER HESPERIAN. BERLIN, September 14. (Received September 15, at 12.50 p.m.) _ Semi-official : It was practically impossible for a German submarine to have been responsible for the sinking of the Hesperian. According to the German wax plans there was no submarine in the locality on September 4. Moreover, the ship was hit close to her stern, and the inference is that the explosion was due to a mine, and not to a torpedo. , ZEPPELIN VICTIMS. LONDON, September 14. (Received September 15, at 12.30 p.m.) The Press Bureau states that the Kentish air raid yesterday resulted in a man and six women being wounded, two of the women being seriously wounded. AUSTRALIAN MUNITIONS, LEARNING FROM INDIA. MELBOURNE, .September 15. (Received September 15, at 8.25 a.m.) The Federal authorities have decided to send a committee to India to inspect the arsenals and make recommendations for similar establishments here. MAY IT CONTINUE. SYDNEY, September 15. *" (Received September 15, at 9.30 a.m.) Speaking at Broken Hill, Sir R. MunroFerguson (Governor-General) congratulated the workmen of Australia on having had no strikes interfering with the manu° facture of munitions such as those in England. UNIVERSAL SERVICE. NEW SOUTH WALES PRESBYTERY'S ATTITUDE. SYDNEY, September 15. (Received September 15, at 9.30 a.m.) The name of the Rev. Scott West, with tlie title of Moderator of the Presbyterian, Assembly, appeared on a manifesto issued* by the Universal Service League. A meeting of the Presbytery- passed a motion declaring that, though tie Moderator's name had so appeared, it in no way committed the Presbyterian Church to a policy of conscription. Rev. Mr Burgess upheld the voluntary system, contending that it had not received a fair chance, owing to general bungling and lack of business methods. FRANCE NEEDS RECRUITS. SYDNEY,' September -15. (Received September 15, at 9.30 a.m.) All Frenchmen of military ago in Australia, including those previously rejected as unfit, have been called up for a second examination. THE RABAUL PLOT FRUSTRATED NEAR FRUITION. . MELBOURNE, September 15. (Received September 15, afc_9.3o a.m.) Private-advices received show that the German attempt to recapture Rabaul was more formidable than has been supposed. _ All the Germans were allowed their liberty on parole, which, appears to have been deliberately violated. Most careful preparations for a rebellion were made. Stores of rifles and Immunition and large quantities of dynamite were discovered, and the Germans' houses were secretly connected by telephone. Systematic attempts were made to stir" up the natives against the BritishThe plot was discovered only just in time to prevent a general rising. All the Germans were yarded up, and proofs of their treachery disclosed. The authorities appear to have acted with" promptitude and efficiency.

WELSH COAL MINERS GET WHAT THEY ASK. LONDON, September 14. {Received September 15, at 9.15 a.m.) Viscount St. Aldwyn has awarded the South Wales coal miners the 12£ per cent increase in their wages. [The colliery owners offered a 5 per cent, increase, but the men demanded 12i per cent. Lord St. Aldwyn was arbi* trator.j

MEDICAL ASPECTS OF THE WAR. Mr Emest' Poole, an anti-militarist' spent some weeks in the firing line in France, and in «Everybody's' he mves an account of what he saw in a hospital in one of the larger towns which was used as a base for a whole army corps. He had a conversation with one of the surgeons from whom he gleaned some curious iniormation. He quotes the surceon as saying : Here you see only the verv worst, the most desperate, cases of them all And even here, out of a thousand mon in the last few months, wo have lost only 80. A hundred more will be maimed for life, but at least 800 will S l do ; i ' t W 4 t( > make hgnt of theliorrors of war. God knows it can be horrible.' I'll never forget what we had to do in August and September, but the kind of war wo have had since then has cost little in life in this army corps of 50.000 the killed anc wounded average now only 30 or 40 a day. And in spite of the rains, the deep water and mud in the trenches there is almost no disease.. This is partly due to our system, for war i s like the traditional pig-it need not be 1 a ♦V V; 'T, cc a n often kee P ifc dean of death And that's what our medical men by thousands have been organised ♦?J?° : i }°\ l - find ex P erts on cholera, typhoid, lockjaw, gas, bacillus infection aiwavs travelling up and down our lines. And that is only a part. Men have better food than in former wars and stricter sanitation, and they are given the rest they need. But there is something still deeper here-something iitSiT* < ri ,nd m P eace ~ a mysterious r„t P' ™ SeemS aS , thou £ hj men c °u'ld ?£™n f ey nd > knees in ice-cold water and mud and get no pneumonia or rheumatism. A hundred men are shot through the lungs, and all but one or two get well. It's a new, strange ally we surgeons have here—a power we can count on m every operation performed. I have known it now l for months but I never get over being surprised. And let me repeat, it b e longs to war. I have never known this force m peace. PERSONAL. Mr F. 0 Bridgeman has received advice by cable from London that his son Sergeant ,Guy Bridgeman, who W as ™ U im£ A m th ! a a^ d hjm S Galiipoli on 11 10 v 1 August, is m England, and doin«r shot *arnham Hospital, near Alder* W S" F - J u, Bell< ° f 60 ° Cast, ° str eet, received a cable yesterday .reporting that his son Sergeant C. I?. Bell, had been wounded in the face. There are no fur ther particulars. A Sydney cable states that F. K Dickson, reported killed; was a grandson of Mr James Dickson, of Auckland "~ Corporal Colston, of the Samoan Relief SnTi' W »° 1S on , leave ' will reMh D,,nedm by the second express this evening. PATRIOTISM IN MOSCIEL. Yesterday afternoon in the Coronation Hall, Mosgiel, a meeting of ladies was a.* ~l here. v ' as a S ood attendance. Alter discussion it was decided that all existing societies form themselves into a Woman s Patriotic Association, and that funds be raised by house to house visitation. Ihe following ladies accepted o . mce = Mrs Quelch, president; Mesdames A Ai Leod and W. Johnson, vice-pre-sidents; Mrs Moir, secretary; and Miss Allan, treasurer. SALE OF WORK. A concert and sale of work to procure additional comforts for our soldiers at the front attracted a good attendance at the Caversham Presbyterian Hall on Saturday night. The sale was held from 7 to 8 The remaining goods being auctioned during the interval. Some very .good songs and recitations were given by a number of children who had to respond to encores. The proceeds, together with the monev collected at a bazaar held by some young ladies of St. Andrew's College, amounting to £24 5s are to be handed over to the Caversham Nursing Division of the St. John Ambulance Association. At the conclusion of the entertainment, Mr R. Todd chairman, returned thanks to Mrs Ford for organising the concert and to all those_ who had assisted in making the function' a success. . BRITISH SOLDIERS' BABIES. On behalf of the Society for the Promotion of Health of Women and Children, -Mrs R. W. Gibbs, 33 Manor place, acknowledges with thanks parcels from the following ladies in response to Lady French's appeal for assistance to British soldiers' babies:—Mrs Millar and Mrs Purves (Kaka Point), the pupils of St Hilda's College per Miss Dons Preston, and Misses Osborne, E. Dunsford, and' Davis per Mrs Dawson. MEDICALLY FIT. Tho following men were passed as fit for service last evening at the medical examination at the Defence Office:— William James Jack, warehouseman, Ravensbourne. John Donald Ross Munro (4th Regiment), student, Knox College. Lin ford George Stenhouse (Coast Defence), ironmonger. St. Kilda. Edwin Tanner Sheriff (4th Regiment), farm laborer, Leith Valley. George Ashcroft Wadsworth, farmer. David King Taylor (4th Regiment), paper ruler. Green Island. William John Maben, carter. Kaikorai Valley. Thomas Joseph Williams, bootmaker, Dunedin. William M'Donald (4th Regiment), carpenter, Abbotsford. Boss Duncan, auctioneer, Roslyn, Daniel James Sutherland, blacksmith's striker, Dunedin. Thomas Jeffrey M'Queen, cheesemaker, Ravensbourne. Thomas Gordon Drabble (Railway Engineers), laborer, Dunedin. James Devenie (4th Regiment), carpenter, Caversham. Alex. Williamson Crichton, waggoner, Kaikorai Valley. Robert Thomas Beveridge, baker, Caversham. "Mornington" sends us is for the Belgian fund. A report was received by the Education Board, at this morning's meeting, from the Normal School and College giving details of the donations to the patriotic funds, as follows:—School pupils' penny subscriptions, £2B 10s 7d; college and school 6taff monthly contributions, £95 9s 6d; otherwise collected, £2O 16s 6d. Material provided and" ma 3© up: 60 pairs hand-knitted socks, 12 ditto bed socks, 12 ditto cuffs, 6 mufflers, 50 handkerchiefs, 123 service bags, 140 button bags, 50 facecloths, one dozen pillow elips, ono dozen soap bags. The report stated that a scarcity of wool interfered somewhat with the work. At the meeting of the Education Boajrd this morning an intimation wag received from the Education Department that the sum of £2,283 had been raised by the school children in the Dominion for ambulance equipment for our troops abroad, and that five motor ambulances, costing £450 each, were purchased and despatched to Egypt.