REMARKABLE SCENES

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11047, 2 November 1921, Page 5

REMARKABLE SCENES

MR LLOYD GEORGE SPEAKS WITH EMOTION. TERRIBLE SEQUEL OF WAR. (Received November 1, 8.10 p.m.) LONDON, November 1. _ It is a long time since the scene in the House of Commons has been so animated. Every seat was filled, the gangways, were packed, and members were sitting on the steps. Even the Attorney-General had to take refuge in the gallery as. the Treasury bench was overcrowded. The Duke of York was present. There were a number of interruptions during Mr ,Lloyd George’s speech, especially regarding the _ Government’s .alleged negotiations with a murder gang, but he generally carried the House with him. There was an angry scene later while Earl Winterton was speaking. Mr .Tack Jones addressed’ the chair, asking, “Why don’t you pull up some of these bounders?’’ The Deputy-Speaker asked Mr Jones to withdraw the expression. Mr Jones refused, and was told to leave the House. After a protest he did so, crying, “I am sorry I ever entered it.” Mr Lloyd George’s speech was of an emotional oharaoter. Several times he spoke with great emphasis, raising both clenched hands ever his head, particularly when he asked for the confidence of the House of Commons as their negotiators. Tho speech is interpreted in the lobby as a. warning to the Sinn Fein that a critical point in . the negotiations has been reached. The gloomy tone is believed- to be intended to prepare .the

public for a possible breakdown with the terrible sequel of civil war. The Ulster members are generally satisfied. It is believed that Mr _ Lloyd George will not ask Ulster to give up Tyrone and Fermanagh as the Sinn Fein is demanding, or give the Southern Parliament a superior status to the Northern. The general feeling is that the secession of forty odd “Die-hards" will strengthen rather than weaken the Coalition, as the Government needs a stronger Opposition.