EMPIRE LABOUR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24802, 27 January 1944, Page 6

EMPIRE LABOUR

DISCUSSIONS PENDING MEETING IN NEW ZEALAND CANBERRA, Jan. 2(1 The Federal Executive of the Australian Labour Party has decided to send two delegates to the Empire Labour Conference to be held in London, probably in August. The question of attending a conference with the New Zealand Labour Party before the delegates left for London was discussed, and the executive decided that its delegates should travel to London by way of New Zealand, where they could confer with Labour leaders on a common policy to be presented at the London conference. The Sydney Morning" Herald says editorially that, following last week's fruitful negotiations between the Australian and New Zealand Governments, the decision of the Australian Labour Party executive to send delegates to the Empire Labour Conference is a further welcome sign of the decay of the party's old isolationism and its awakening to a sense of its responsibilities in world affairs. "The post-war problems affecting labour will be many and varied," says the newspaper, "and most of them will be of the kind that no country can hope to tackle successfully without taking into account its neighbours. Migration is an outstanding example. The Australian Labour Party delegates cannot, of course, claim to speak for the nation, but they can convey to other Empire Labour Parties some useful ideas on the role of this country in the Pacific,

and they themselves will receive in turn a valuable insight into the problems facing other countries." It is understood that the date for the meeting; of Empire Prime Ministers has been fixed, states the New Zealand Press Association correspondent in London. The conference* will be held within a few months, and unless anything unforeseen occurs all of the Dominion Prime Ministers will confer in a series of meetings over which Mr. Churchill will preside. It is unlikely that an' advanced agenda will be available, but obviously a wide range of subjects will be discussed, one of which is Mr. .J. Curtin's proposal for strengthening British Commonwealth associations, including smoother machinery for easy co-opera-tion and consultation between the Dominions. Attention is also expected _to be focused on post-war civil_ aviation and trade. INVITATION REJECTED AMERICAN FEDERATION (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 The American Federation of Labour has rejected an invitation to attend the conference of Labour unions of 37 nations in London on June 5. The executive council of the American Federation of Labour said the conference is untimely. It embraces too many discordant elements, and lacks the sponsorship of the Federation of Trade Unions. DIVORCE PROBLEMS DISCUSSION IN AUSTRALIA CANBERRA, Jan. 'J6 The Commonwealth Government will consider the question of uniform divorce laws for Australia, states the Prime Minister, Mr. J. Curtin. At the Premiers' conference Mr. F. A. Cooper, of Queensland, said that at present a woman deserted in one State had to seek a divorce in the State to which her husband had gone, instead of being able ot institute proceedings in the State in which she was domiciled when deserted. The New South Wales Premier, .Mr. W. J. Mclvell, said the internal domicile problem was accentuated by marriages between Australian girls and American and other Allied servicemen. At present Australian girls deserted by their American husbands could get no redress unless they travelled to the State of their husband's domicile in America. The Attorney-General, Dr. H. V. Evatt, said that even if Australian law provided that Australian wives married to Allied servicemen were able to take divorce proceedings within Australia the divorce might not be recognised outside Australia. However, the rights of wives would be recognised within Australia, which would meet most cases.

ADOPTED AS MASCOT GIRL IN HOSPITAL. ! NAME GIVEN TO PLANE (R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Service) NEW GEORGIA Nineteen-year-old Gloria Lyons lies in Christchurch Public Hospital with tuberculosis of the spine. Patient but cheerful, she faces a stay there for two years. At a forward Pacific base of the R.N.Z.A.F. stands another "Gloria Lyons"—a sleek Warhawk fighter, and in the pilot's cockpit a small typewritten note is pasted: "To the pilot: Gloria Lyons is our 4 S.U. mascot. She is doing, a long term in hospital, and we want both our Glorias to last a long time. 4 S.U., Dec., '43." Four young New Zealand airmen of No. 4 servicing unit, attached to the New Zealand fighter wing, sat in their tent one evening reading the mail which had come in that day. For t\<o it was a lean day. So they got their heads together, and not long afterward an advertisement appeared in a Christchurch paper saying two lonely airmen wished to correspond with two young ladies. Among the replies came one rather diffidently from Gloria Lyons on behalf of herself and a fellow patient. A lew' more letters broke the ice, and now a regular correspondence flows. So, when a Warhawk with the identification letter G was passing through the maintenance area, the idea blossomed of naming the fighter after the sporting bedridden girl and adopting her as the unit's mascot. APPEAL FAILS WATERSIDER FOR ARMY An appellant's desire to hasten the proceedings was not approved by the \'o. 1 Armed Force.-; Appeal Board yesterday, when John Frne.st (Jorrigan, j single, aged 40, a waterside worker, I appealed against military service on the j ground of undue hardship. Completing I the oath which was being dictated to him, appellant said: "There is no need j to swear me on the truth, Mr. Chair-1 I man. Prowl." | The Chairman, Mr. C. 11. On Wal-1 ker, S.M,: We are directing operations; here, thank you. j It was stated that Corrigan had pre- ■ viously appealed on the grounds of con- j scicntious objection and hardship, but had withdrawn his appeal on the former ground. The hardship Appeal had previously been allowed, as his brother was overseas, and appellant was the only one who could look after his partly-bedridden father. His brother had now returned to New Zealand. Appellant said he had been medically graded A in 1941. "I am of 110 use to the Army now," he added. "I have got Hat feet." The appeal was dismissed.