MAN-POWER MEASURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16823, 13 April 1918, Page 7

MAN-POWER MEASURE.

HASTENING THE PASSAGE STRONG IRISH PROTEST. GOVERNMENT STANDS FIRM. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 7.15 m.) LONDON, April 11When discussion of the Man-Power Bill was resumed to-day Mr. John Dillon, Leader of the Nationalists, protested against the Government's plan to dispose of the Irish clauses of the Bill on Friday. U was outrageous, he said, to confine the debate to a single day. He charged the Government with deliberately withholding the report of the Convention until after the Irish debate. Mr. Bonar Law denied that the Government was delaying publication. The delay was due to the printers in Dublin. Mr. T. M. Healy, Independent Nationalist member for Cork, suggesting allotting another day with a secret session, added: "Wo can tell you something of the truth you have not yet heard regarding the consequences of conscription in Ireland." Mr. Bonar Law moved the guillotine mirtion allotting three days to the Committee stage of the Bill and another day for the report and third reading ■ stages, and also prohibiting dilatory motions. He said this was the first occasion the Government had so acted since the war. The urgency of the measure was its justification. The military authorities had urged the Government to summon Parliament for this special purpose. Mr. R. D. Holt. Liberal member for Hexham, moved an amendment giving four days to the committee stage. Mr. Bonar Law accepted it. but proposed to sit on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The amendment and proposals were carried.

The ever increasing seriousness of the news from the front disclosed in the communiques strongly influenced the House of Commons over the second reading %l the Man-Power Bill. It was evident that no one wanted a change of government, still less a general election, so the firmness of Mr. Bonar Law in standing by the letter of the Bill provided a source of strength to the Government. His direct challenge to the Houso to throw out the Government if it disapproved of the extension of conscription to Ireland was so bold and uncompromising that it took everybody aback and touched the imagination of the majority of members of the House of Commons. Sir George Cave was also loudly cheered for saying: "It is said resistance will be offered by Ireland; if so, that resistance will be overcome." Mr. Dillon's speech included an intensely bitter attack* on General Sir Hubert Gough, whom he accused of involving the Irish divisions on three separate occasions in disaster. He concluded that Irishmen no longer trusted the British Government. If conscription were imposed the Government would have to hold Ireland for the remainder of the war under strict military laws. Dublin telegrams state that conscription is the only topic of discussion. It is understood that the Sinn 'Fein has issued orders to all sections of Irish volunteers regarding action in the event of conscription. Fiery speeches were made at many meetings of public bodies against applying the Man-power Bill to Ireland. Home Rule was not discussed at all. The recruiting authorities are hampered by the fact that no register exists in Ireland. An organised effort will be necessary to weed out many Englishmen, Scotsmen, and Welshmen who went to Ireland to escape military service. Paris advices state that the Military Service Bill made an excellent impression in France. The Temps s,iys that Britain, like France, has her existence at stake. British patriotism was never more tenacious than in times of trial. The Journal de Debats says that if the Irish were not possessed by a spirit of madness they ought to accept Home Rule and conscription, and thus enjoy autonomous regime and fulfil their Imperial obligation, giving the allied army 300,000 men. Renter. LONDON, April 11. The new ballot of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers favoured the Government's comb-out by 58,650 votes to 46,632.