BRITISH PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18941, 12 February 1925, Page 9

BRITISH PARLIAMENT.

OPENING OB' SESSION. CHURCH OF SCOTLAND BILL. SECOND READING CARRIED. ARMY AND NAVY ESTIMATES. By Telegraph—Press Association Copyright (Received 0.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z- —Renter. LONDON. Feb. 10 Parliament reassembled to-day without ceremony. The main business of tho House of Commons was tho second reading of tho Church of Scotland Bill, dealing with the union of the two great Presbyterian bodies. The bill had previously been introduced by the Conservatives and was reintroduced by Sir John Gilmour, Conservative member for tho Pollok division of Glasgow. In moving the second reading, Sir John said the bill aimed at increasing the control of tho church over its properties and endowments. He said he believed tho measure would open the way at an early date to the union desired between the Established Church and the United Free Church. It held out a prospect of an infinitely better Christian service to the Scottish people. The second reading was carried. The House of Commons will be chiefly occupied until March 31 with finance. First, it will take the Supplementary Estimates (£7,500.000) and then the Estimates (£25,000,000 to £26,000,000). In regard to the Navy Estimates it is believed that Mr. Winston Churchill, Chancellor of tho Exchequer, will not give the Admiralty the full number of ships for which it is asking. The Parliamentary correspondent of the Daily Express states that as a result of Mr. Churchill's effort, the Army Estimates will be reduced by £500,000, and the Air Force Estimates by £3,000,000, but the Admiralty's Estimates will still show an enormous increase. In reply to Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald, Leader of the Labour Party, and Mr. Lloyd George, Leader in the House of the Liberal Party, the Prime Minister, Mr. Stanley Baldwin, promised to give an opportunity for the discussion of the Government's policy in regard to the safeguarding of industries before Easter. He said he would welcome a discussion in order to allay the misconceptions which had apparently arisen.