IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3396, 16 April 1919, Page 20

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

THE TRANSPORT 81LL... . .. ■ :L ■'.■■;/ Cable.) .'LONDON,. March 28. In the House of Gammons Mr -Shortt, Home Secretary, replying to Mr Qretton's amendment to the Transport Bill seeking that no undertaking be established by the Ministry until the estimate is approved, said that existing circumstances made reliable estimiies'impossible. He hoped the House would trust the Treasury. Sir E. Carson stated that the Bill established the most gigantic" department ever known, and it "would prove the most expensive experiment in history. Sir Eric Geddes had carte" blanche' to spend what he liked for two years. This was, gambling gone mad. No estimates- were required to limit the expenditure by Sir Eric Geddes. The debate was adjourned. ".- ~ '■' ,.■-•■' April 2. In the discussion i on the Transport Bill in the House of Commons Mr Boriar Law said, that the Government would submit to the House any scheme involving an expenditure of a 'million sterling. - Sir E. Carson welcomed the concession, but suggested that a million was possibly • too high. April 10. The Standing Committee on the Transport Bill excluded municipal tramways, but rejected an amendment to exclude harbours, and docks. THE SERVICES BILL. LONDON, March 31. The House of Commons carried the third reading of the Services Bill after Mr Bonar Law had moved the closure. Labourites (including Mr Clynes) and some Liberals bitterly attacked the Bill, and described it as an attempt to continue a _ war army. The League of Nations might as well decree the number required lor future eventualities. Mr Newbould, in his maiden speech, pointed to the West Leyton result as an indication of the country's opinion of the Government's breach of faith. Sir E. Carson deprecated the opposition, which was the finest tonic for Austria and Germaay. Mr Churchill said jt was impossible to secure voluntarily before peace was ratified more than a quarter of the number required. They had secured only 70,000 troops by re-enlistment. Six thousand soldiers on the Rhine had signed for another year. The cost of the army of occupation was £203,000,000 yearly, and we were entitjed to deduct £70,000,000 for its upkeep. Mr Churchill said : " We are maintaining in Germany 264,000 soldiers, in Italy 10,000, in India 60,000 to 70,000, in the Middle East and the Caucasus 75,000, in Mesopotamia 30,000, In Egypt and Palestine 60,000), In Northern Siberia and Russia 20,000, and in France 120,000 noncombatants are clearing- up the battlefields. It was contemplated to keen- in Britain 176,000 and fri Ireland 40,000. This was not a formidable army to maintain Jhe security of the Empire, uphold our position in Europe, and win victory.

Mr Thome's motion for rejection was negatived. April 3. Mr Winston Churchill said in the House of Commons that in consequence of vigorous criticism all parties agreed to withdraw from the Army Bill the clause under which statements or acts likely to prejudice recruiting ? and training administration involve a liability to six months' imprisonment. Several newspapers claim that this climb down is a triumph for liberty of speech. , . ■- April 8. The House of Lords read a second time the Services Bill, after Lord Buckmaster had moved its rejection. Lord Curzon (Leader of the House) pointed out that the war was not yet over. War conditions might revive, and the clouds might burst at any moment in an even more sinister form than in the past. It was absolutely certain that our troops in Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine must be maintained intact ..but the small British force in Russia would be withdrawn at the earliest moment. The present army of 860,000, of which "208,000. are non-combat-ants, is necessary, to protect the Empire and the conquered territories. We hold the latter in order to secure fulfilment of the Peace Treaty.: - 'IA . The position in Vienna, said Lord Curzon, was serious, as the people feared an outbreak of Bolshevism similar to that in Budapest, and our assistance might be required. To similar appeals from various quarters during the past four or five months we had not responded witbavidity, but our power to respond was the guarantee of the peace of the world. ALIENS BILL. LONDON, April 1. The new Aliens Bill is to operate for two years. It continues the 1914 Aliens Restriction Act, and empowers the authorities to exclude undesirables, particularly those seeking to foment industrial strife. In the Commons, Mr Shortt (Home Secretary) announced that 6000 alien enemies were now in Britain. Forty-one have been released since the armistice, and 20,986 have been repatriated. ABOLISHING WOMEN'S DISABILITIES. LONDON, April 4. The House of Commons unanimously read a second time the Labour Party's Bill abolishing all disabilities regarding women in respect to civil and judicial offices, conferring the franchise on women equally with men, and enabling peeresses in their own right to sit in the House of Lords. Dr Addison, on behalf of the Government, intimated that they would propose the deletion of the equal franchise clause in committee, but the other principle they accepted. | In the House of Commons, Dr Addison moved the second reading of the Housing Bill. He stated that over three millions of people were living in an overcrowded condition, of whom 758,000 were in London. The Bill imposed the duty on the local authorities to undertake housing with a Government subsidy on the basjs that the local authority is not required to contribute more than would

be produced by the levy of a penny rate. It is estimated that 70,000 houses are unfit for habitation, and an additional 3000 are seriously defective. A typical slum street in Shoreditch contained 29 houses, making 168 tenements, in which 733 persons were living. The Health Officer at Finsbury reported that out of 438 sufferers from tuberculosis 353 were compelled to share a bed or bedroom 'with others. Uninhabitable houses would be condemned without compensation. The local authorities already t contemplated building 100,000 houses. NEED FOR ECONOMY. LONDON, April 2. The House of Lords accepted Lord Farringdon's motion demanding the strictest economy, in view of the financial outlook. Lord Lansdowne urged Labour to take sober views. He questioned, whether the war was really over. He saw unpleasant indications of a new war, involving huge Continental operations in many different theatres, in pursuit of a policy which hitherto had not been declared. Lord Middleton suggested the establishment of a committee of public safety, in order to stop the bureaucratic autonomy which was ruining the country. Mr Austen Chamberlain, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced in the House of Commons that the bread subsidy was costing the Government £50,000,000 a year; the payments under the railway agreement were £50,000,000 a year; and the unemployment donations totalled £1,350,000 a week. INDEMNITIES FROM GERMANY. LONDON, April 3. A full House eagerly awaited Mr Bonar Law's reply in the indemnities debate. He said that two things must be borne in mind—the amount Germany can pay and the amount transferable to the Allies. It was impracticable to secure large sums by means of labour from devastated areas, and it was obviously proper for the Allies to secure German shipping estimated at a value of 100 millions. Gold and securities do not exist in Germany in any great quantity. Another method of payment was the transference of goods by means of surplus exports over imports; but before the war German imports exceeded the exports, the latter amounting to only 500 millions. Further, Britain had no desire to receive goods to compete with her own industries. Germany could pay largely in credits extending over a long period if the amounts were kept within her power to meet them. OVERTURES TO BOLSHEVISTS. LONDON, April 10. Mr Clement Ward, in the House of Commons, moved the adjournment to discuss the Bussian Bolshevist overtures to the Peace Conference. He and other speakers strongly condemned our having any dealings with the Bolshevists. Mr Shortt (Secretary of State for the Home Department), in* replying, said that the Government w r ould not refuse to confer with the Russian Government, but no representatives of that Government worthy of the name existed, and they could not have any truck with the bloodthirsty ruffians who were terrorising Russia.

Lenin had emissaries in Britain, and others were coming. He believed that those emissaries were receiving very little support in Britain. He understood that Lenin's proposals had not reached the British representatives in Paris. He believed that the Germans manufactured the whole story of the negotiations in order to make other nations believe that the Bolshevists were practical, civilised, and reasonable.

Mr Shortt added that he promised to convey to Mr Lloyd George the House's unanimous feeling against negotiating with Bolshevists.

The Huiise of Lords has passed the first reading of a Bill enabling English courts to deal with matrimonial proceedings in cases of soldiers domiciled abroad.