IMPERIAL POLITICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 27

IMPERIAL POLITICS.

THE FINANCIAL POSITION. INFORMATION REFUSED. LONDON, March 21. Many questions have been asked in the House of Commons upon various phases of the financial position, but Mr Asquith has refused all information, except that at present the Government did not intend to have two Budgets. rolled into one. It still intended to pass the Budget before the House went into recess for the spring. , Those who anticipate a change of Government shortly, involving the Prime Minister's leaving his official residence in Downing street, have noticed that bis former residence in Cavendish square is being cleaned and prepared for occupation, THE INCOME TAX. ;: V LONDON, March 21. The Bank of England, in view of the decision of the Government not to secure legislative sanction for the collection of income tax, has nformed the London County Council that the bank intends, on the application of the owners, to refund the amount, deducted. The above announcement refers to millions of London stock, whereon the income tax totals £120.000. The •council" has hitherto held this money at the disposal of the Government, but the Treasury never" applied for it. The County Council has agreed to the decision of the bank.

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIONALISTS it/QNBON. March 21. The newspapers report that Mr William O'Brien and Mr T. M Healy recently paid a visit to Mr Lloyd-George. Mr O'Brien write* that there is good reason to hope the extra spirit duties, the burdens on land, and the proposed general revaluation will bs dropped; otherwise the Budget and its authors and accomplices are doomed.

The Star asks why the Prime Minister and Mr Redmond do not come to an arrangement immediately.

The Westminster Gazette 'G.) is unsympathetic towards* a,nv arrangement by the Ministry with the Nationalists.

REFORM OF THE LORDS.

LORD ROSEBERY'S PROPOSALS

LONDON. March 22.

The House of Lords has agreed to the committee sta«»e of ' two of : Lord Rosebecry's resolutions.

A lively discussion followed Lord Killanins proposal to limit the application of the third resolution to future peer-

Lord Rosebery, the Duke of Northumberland, and Lord urged Lord; Killanin to withdraw his amendment on the ground that it was open to the criticism that the Peers desired to preserve thsir own interests.

Lord Killanin agreed, and the debate was adjourned.

LONDON, March 23

The House of Lords, by 175 votes to 17, agreed to Lord Rosebery's resolution. Lord FTalsburv and Lord Wemyss acted as tellers for the non-contents.

Lord Crewe stated that some such motion -was secessarv as a-preliminary to anv reform of +he House of Lord's, constitntion. Although the Government intended to deaJ flrst with the relations between the two Houses, it had never abandoned the Question of reform. Lord Rosebery susrcested that the House of Lords should consider further resolutions after Easter, with a view to lavinc down a broad principle unon which reform could oroceed, but it was the business of the Government to introduce a bill. At a meeting of the Labour members of the House of Commons it was decided move an amendment to the Prime Minister's resolutions in favour of the abolition of the House of Lords. Lord Rosebery's third resolution was as follows: —That a necessary preliminary to reconstruction of the House of Lords is an acceptance of the principle that the posssession_ of a peerage no longer of itself gives a right to sit or vote in the House of Lords." MINISTERIALIST;?! AND NATIONALISTS CONFER.. LONDON, March 22. Mr Lloyd-George, Mr Birrell, the Master of E'libank, Mr Redmond, and Mr Dillon had an hour's conference/ yesterday. The result is unknown.

Ministerialists are hopeful that, a modus vivendi will be arranged.

THE VETO RESOLUTIONS

BEFORE THE HOUSE OF COMMONS LONDON, March 22.

In tiie House oT Commons Mr Asqudth detailed the veto resolutions. In the first place, he said, it was expedient 'that the House of Lords should be disabled by law from rejecting or amending money bills. These were defined as bills which the Speaker considered contained only provisions for dealing with the imposition, repeal, remission, alteration, or regulation of taxation, also charges on the Consolidated Fund, or the provision for money by Parliament, also supply and appropriation, the control or regulation of public money, and also the raking or guaranteeing repayment loans or matters incidental to these subjects. The ~econd resolution was that it was expedient that the House of Lords' powers • respecting bills other than money bills should be legally restricted so that • when a' bill had passed the House of Commons in three successive sessions and had been sent to the House of Lords at least a month before the. end of the session and rejected in each of three sessions it should become law without the Lords' consent upon the Royal assent being given, provided that at leas* two years should elapse between the first introduction of the bill to the House; of Commons and the date when it passed the House of Commons the third time. Bills shall be treated as rejected if not passed by the House of Lords without amendment or only with amendments which were agreed to by both Houses. The third - resolution limits the duration of Parliament to five years.

LONDON, March 23. According to lobby rumours, the Prime Minister has given the Nationalists ground for the belief that the Government intends to resign upon the rejection by the Lords of his resolutions directed against their power of veto. If Mr Balfour y takes, office, the present House, in which the Liberals have a majority, will then refuse Supply, and Mr Asquith will thereupon decline to take office again without receiving an assurance that the Veto Bill will be passed.

RADICALS' VIEWS. LONDON, March 23

Sir Charles Dilke, on being interviewed after presiding at a- meeting of advanced Radical members of the House of Commons, declared 'that the- production of the veto resolutions had made an extraordinary difference, adding that " the sky is blue as blue can be."

Sir Henry Dalziel stated that the veto resolutions were a distinct score for the Radical section of the Liberal party, because they made no mentiou of reform of the Lords. Sir Henry has given notice of an amendment providing that a bill shall become law after its second rejection by the Lords.

Other Radical members commend the appointment of the Speaker as interpreter of what constitutes an infringement of the. rights of the House of Commons, instead of delegating such an important duty to a tribunal like the Judical Committee of the Privy Council. The Daily News states . that Mr Asquith's resolutions will create' profound satisfaction throughout the countrj*. They are not complicated by questions of the reform of the Second Chamber. The Chronicle eays that any serious disunion would be fatal, as the passage of the Budget is essential.' The Times complains that the resolutions make the Speaker the sole judge of tacking. It says that the resolutions are a shade less objectionable with a quinquennial than with a septennial Parliament.

Radical lobby opinion criticises the provision whereby two years must elapse between the first introduction of a bill and its third rejection, as this will have the effect of sterilising the closing years of a Parliament's existence.

The Unionist party will meet on Tuesday to .consider Mr Asauifch's veto resolutions. Mr Balfour will then have returned from Cannes. . Mr TJedmond states that his interview with Mi- Llovd-George left the position absolutely unchanged. CHARGE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT. ' LONDON, March 22. Mr Butcher, M.P., is urging the Government to take immediate steps to legalise the collection of income tax, because many millions are in the hands of banks and companies throughout the country, some of which companies may possibly go into liquidation. In the House of Commons Mr A. D. Steel-Maitland (U.) accused the Government of creating financial chaos. Mr Austen Chamberlain asked how the Government justifies deducting income tax from the salaries of public officials if it were.illegal to .collect it from unofficial persons. Mr Lloyd-George, -in replying, ridiculed; the supposition that the Treasury should beg payment of income tax when unabie to enforce a demand for it. PREPARING FOR ANOTHER ELECTION. LONDON, March 22. The Conservatives have determined to

fight every constituency which they contested' in the last campaign. Mr Joseph King, M.P., has introduced a bill providing for holding all elections on one day. Mr Ku.mber, M.P., has introduced am, Electoral Reform and Redistribution Bill. The issue of Exchequer bonds was twice subscribed. The Times states that many people subscribed believing that the bonds would be covered sixfold: consequently they now possess much more than they wanted. The bonds are quoted at £ per cent, discount. ESTIMATES INCREASED. LONDON, March 23. The Telegraph states "that the Army, Navy, and Civil Service Estimates have been increased by £9,000,000, necessitating the imposition of another 2d in income tax and the reimposition of the full sugar duty in the next Budget. DEFECTIVE DRAFTING. LONDON. March 24. The Unionists are gleeful at the discovery of a singular defect in the drafting of the first veto resolution. No provision bas been made for forbidding the House • of Lords from referring the Budget to the people instead of actually rejecting it. Moreover the second reso- . lution does not provide against the Peers continually postponing bills until ' the end of the sessions, when the Government be forced to abandon them. , It b> officially explained that the three successive sessions mentioned in the second resolution may extend from one Parliament to the next. The Daily Chronicle statesv, that the passage of th 6 Budget through the House of Commons is oractically assured, notwithstanding that no compact has yet j been made with the Nationalists.

Speaking at Glasgow, Mr T. P. O'Connor said that, instead of increasing Irish taxation by two millions sterling, the new Budget would not add half a million. There was not the slightest doubt that the whisky tax would be removed.

EXPORT DUTY ON COAL. LONDON, March 23

In reply to a question by Mr N. Griffiths (member for WednesburyJ, Mr 0- F- Hobhouse (Financial -Secretary to the Treasury), admitted that had the export duty on coal been retained, and if the exports, had hot decreased in consequence, the revenue of 1909 "would have benefited to the extent of three millions sterling. The Treasury has received £170.000 by way of income tax during the past week, as compared with £1,427,000 during the corresponding week of last year.

WORKING MEN CANDIDATES. LONDON, March 23.

The member* of the Constitutional Club subscribed £SOO to inaugurate a Unionist' Working Men Candidates' Fund. - Sir William Bull and Captain Morri* <a have each subscribed £IOOO (query £100).

LANDLORDS DENOUNCED. LOiNTDON, March 14

. Mr Lloyd-George, speaking at a mass meeting of the Gladstone League in the Queen's Hall, denounced the Tory landlords for intimidation and interference with the rural voters at the last election. He said the Liberals would never secure the economic independence of the workman while a feudalism remained. Two thousand five hundred landlords owned two-thirds of the soil, and thus exercised - complete sway over the livelihood of millions.

A Voice interrupted : Tax them out of existence.

Mr Lloyd-George retorted : I have made a start. Several of the Unionist papers are denouncing Mr Lloyd-George's violent language upon the subject of interference by landlords in the elections, and they lay stress on the fact that no such complaints were made during the election of 1906.

Mr Thomas. Labour member for Derby, speaking- at Glamorgan on behalf of Mr Hartshorn, said that never before had he seen a party descend to tne level which the Liberals had reached in the literature which they were circulating. He hoped that the Liberal headquarters in London would make themselves acquainted with it.

THE GLADSTONE LEAGUE. LONDON, March 24

Mr Lloyd-George describes the Gladstone League as a city of refuge for persecuted voters. He states that he will employ an avenger of blood and will prosecute the intimidators.

BOTH HOUSES ADJOURNED. LONDON, March 24,

The House- of Commons has adjourned till Tuesday, and the House of Lords till Thursday.

QUESTION OF ANOTHER ELECTION.

LONDON, March 25. J The newly-formed Centre party of. the Union of which Lord Cromer, Mr Harold Cox, Sir E. Strachey, and Mr St. Loe Strachey are leading members, has issued a manifesto protesting against another election. The document declares that though the last election was inconclusive,

regarding eome questions, it is incumbent on the Government 10 safeguard the financial interests of the country and national defence. Practically all the banks are following the example of the Bank of England and refunding income tax. March 28. Mr Haldane, speaking at North Berwick, said a general election was not far off. There were discordant voices in the House of Commons. He would De a bold nan who would be certain whether there would be a majority foioi' against the Budget, and therefore it was impossible tor the Government to take a bold ancLdecisive course. The best thing to do was to stake their lives on the oassing of the whole Budget. The veto legislation was a stepping-stone to something bigger—the reform of the Second Chamber. The Liberals must not stop at the veto,, otherwise when tha Conservatives were returned to power they would repeal the veto legislation.

Mr Balfour has returned to London greatly improved in health.

Professor Dicey, in a letter to The Times, says Mr Redmond's attitude shows that the real issue at the elections will be . the repeal of the Act of Union. Moreover, if a Home Rule Bill is passed it will be certain to include the retention of Irishmen at Westminster.