PARLIAMENT

Nelson Evening Mail, 22 July 1916, Page 6

PARLIAMENT

MILITARY SERVICE BILL RELIGIOUS OBJECTORS QUESTION (By Telegraph. — Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, This Day. In the Legislative Council yesterday the report of the Conference on the Religious Objectors' Clause of the Milita.-y Service Bill was adopted. In. the House of Representatives the Prime Minister brought up a report of the conference regarding religious ob jectors, and moved that it be agreed to. He pointed out that under the clause as proposed to be amended, religions objectors would be required to render noucombatant service, either in or beyond New Zealand, instead of in. the Dominion only, as proposed in the Legislative Council's original clause. Mr WHford: That over-rules the resolution of the House. M Massey: I do not know that it does. The clause has been modified a great deal-

Mr Wilford : They are both obnoxious. Mr Massey: We do not expect to please the" honourable gentleman. We are only trying to do what is righr, : (Laughter). There -was no possibility of the shirker escaping-. The man need not go into the firing line or the trenches, ibnt- he must give service. Mr Wilford: Suppose he is ordered io construct barbed wire entanglements be tween- our lines aud the enemy's trench es?

Mr Massey : That is an extreme case, but it does "not mean taking up a riHs. He can be compelled to join the Arnry Service or Ambulance Corps. Mr Wilford : That means that he may have a safer job than the other man. Mr Massev said he did not know where safety came in. The man would have to -d*? liie work in the danger zone, in cold blood without any excitement, such as micht come from a bayonet charge.' This was the best arrangement they%vere able to make with the other House.

Mr WUford: Thei-eforo we gave in. Mr Massey : We have made the cla'i •<> harmless from our point of view. Mr Wflford urged that the House which, -was directly representative of the people, should not be made subservient to the dictates of the nominative Chamber. The representatives of the H°ise should not have given in. lvii. should have insisted -upon the excisso.i of the clause altogether. The Hon. J. Allen said that the report of the conference was a fair compromise and there were" good reasons why "t should lie accepted. It left no rhance for the shirker, and as for evading- danger, experience had shown- that there •were nearly as many casualties in Army Service 'and Ambulance Corps as in the fighting: T!nits. The Hon. W. Herries •urged that the compromise should be accepted in order to get the Bill through. The report of the conference waq agreed to by 44 to 18. Mr Wilford calling for a division.

PUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES. The remainder of the Sitting was devoted to discussion on the Public Works Estimates. This was not such an important debate as usual, owing to the fact that so.little new money is available.. Discussion was confined chiefly to subjects of railways aud road 3. Sevei-al North Island members urged that the East Coast Railway should "be-, pushed on. more rapidly. They criticised the Government for spending- so much on the Otira Tunnel. Some members urged that the Tunnel works should be stopped, but this evoked a. chorus f<i protest? from, the Southern members. The Minister said that so much had been spent on the Tunnel that it must to finished. Mr Colvm .said he had not supported starting the Otira Tunnel. It would not heln his district, but- now that the work Had proceeded so far it should be completed.. He-said that the Nelson goldfields had done a great deal in the past for-the Dominion, and lie believed th-jc gold in this district | would save tna country again after the war.

NELSON MEMBERS. Mr T. Field complained of the great reduction in the -rote for the Nelson end of the Midland Railway . Tf all districts ■were beinsj treated alike there wonld ba no cause for eomplaint. bub this was not so. He hoped that the whole, and no* merely a portion of the £BOOO voted ■would be spent this year. Mr Colvin spoke to similar effect. Mr Hudson urged that greater attention should be ■paid*to the construction of roads in the baekblocks. In many of these districts children were unable f.o get to schools during the winter. The whole of the Estimates passed without alteration, and the House adjourned at- 12.55 a.m. until Tuesday.