IMPERIAL POLITICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3101, 20 August 1913, Page 27

IMPERIAL POLITICS.

THE REVENUE BILL

LONDON, August 13. In the House of Commons the Revenue Bill was abandoned

Clause 11 provided for a method of valuation showing the site value of hind after deductions for improvements or the expenditure of capital of the nature incurred during the past 30 years. The Unionists offered to allow the Bill to pass subject to the omission of a time limit. ,

The Radicals objected to any modification, relying on Mr Lloyd George’s announcement that the measure would be dropped. a Mr Pretyman said the Government must take the blame for the loss of the Bill, which was due solely to the late period of the session when it was introduced. APPELLATE JURISDICTION BILL. LONDON, August 15. The Prorogation Speech stated that the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, which received the Royal assent to-day ensures the supreme tribunal of the Empire being adequately constituted to meet the growing requirements of India and the oversea dominions. SYDNEY, August 18. A private cablegram states that Sir S. Griffith has been offered a scat on. the Imperial Appellate Court, but he has not given his decision. THE FINANCE BILL. LONDON, August 13. Discussing the Finance Bill in the House of Commons Mr Lloyd George said there was not the slightest prospect at present of any reduction in armaments, but rather the reverse. However, he did not despair of international co-operation arresting this expenditure after the events of the last 12 months. Few people, however, realised how near to disaster we had been in that time. Mr Lloyd George added that the growth of armaments had genuinely alarmed him. Countries were scaring each other into great expenditure There was no great public opinion in any country having the courage to tell those who were responsible for the expenditure that it was time this was stopped. He was confident that it would lead to disaster, not perhaps to England, but the inevitable result would be a situation goading the people to a sort of revolutionary protest. One country alone dared not stop the expenditure. It would be perilous because once Uiey jiassed the point 4tl danger and some-

thing happened then disaster would b© inevitable. With international co-opera-tion they might do something, especially when, after recent events, it was fresh in the minds of the people what a horrible thing war could be. Mr Lloyd George added that increased armaments meant increased taxation. They were due to a mad rumour which was eating into the vitality of nations and creating an atmosphere in which people could not judge the situation rationally. War could only end in a terrible disaster’. The expenditure on armaments had paralysed the very force that created wealth. Nothing had done more to create the money stringency and arrest trade than this wasteful expenditure. Not merely th© war in the Balkans had done these things, but the feverish expenditure on armaments by France, Germany, and Russia. No doubt these things terrified the people and chilled their hearts and paralysed trade. The Finance Bill was read a third time. CHANGE OF CONSTITUENCY. LONDON, August 15. Sir J. Simon, in a letter to his constituents, announces that he will quit Walthamstowe at the next general election in order to contest North-west Manchester. He adds that the campaign will be a critical one for many Liberal causes. Amongst them the question of Free-trad© will undergo an important test. Sir J. Simon states that he accepted the invitation to contest the Manchester seat after consultation with and the approval of the Prime Minister. August 17. The Scotsman interprets the decision of the Solicitor-general (Sir J. Simon) to change his constituency as indicative of the fact that the Government is maturing plans for a general election.

APPROPRIATION BILL,

LONDON, August 15. In the House of Commons the Appropriation Bill was read a third time.

Mr Lloyd George declared that Britain was expending on the navy a sum exceeding the cost of all the" navies of the world in 1886. This was a striking indication of the alarming growth of armaments. It was a matter which the whole civilised world should consider. The Concert of Europe might very well use that spirit of harmony, good feeling, and common-sense which had settled the Balkans trouble to unravel the tangle in connection with' armaments. Instead of a spirit of rivalry in expenditure there might be substituted a spirit of co-operation and goodwill. Tha £400,000,000 which the great industrial countries were spending on armaments could be better spent in increasing resources and developing trade. The House of Lords has passed tha Appropriation Bill. PARLIAMENT PROROGUED. LONDON, August 15. Parliament has been prorogued until November 3. The Speech from the Throne expressed satisfaction with the Bucharest treaty, and gratification with, the Concert of the Powers. _. THE CHESTERFIELD SEAT. LONDON, August 15. The executive of the Miners’ Federation has repudiated Mr Kenyon, but he is strongly supported by the district lodges. Mr Ramsay Macdonald describee Mr Kenyon as more of a Liberal than the Labour candidate. MR ASQUITH S CHOICE. LONDON, August 16. The Prime Minister has sent a message to Mr Kenyon wishing him success. Now that Mr Asquith’s letter constitutes Mr Kenyon the Liberal candidate the dispute between the Miners’ Federation and the Labour party lias been referred to the Federation Conference at Scarborough. The incident tends to loosen the Labour party’s support of the Government. THE LAND PROBLEM. LONDON, August 18. Mr Lloyd George will open his land campaign at Bedford on October 11.