BRITISH AFFAIRS

Southland Times, Issue 18964, 11 June 1923, Page 5

BRITISH AFFAIRS

PRINCESS CHRISTIAN. DEATH IN LONDON. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright). (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, June 10. (Received June 10, 5.5 p.m.). Princess Christian is dead. [H.R.H. Helena, Princess Christian, was born at Buckingham Palace on May 22, 1846, and in 1866 married Prince Christian, of Schleswig, Holstein. She was Queen Victoria’s third daughter.] IMPERIALISM. SPEECH BY MR BALDWIN. LONDON, June 9. (Received JunelO, 5.5 p.m.) Mr Baldwin, at Oxford, in delivering his first public speech since he became Premier, said that Imperialism was a word which had been ridden rather threadbare, but development of the Empire was simply a recognition of the fact that the economic life of this country had become almost an inverted pryramid. “We must,” he said, “recognise the danger of the situation where a country is maintaining a population far greater than she can feed. We must try to visualise the Empire as one single unit wherein, wherever man may live or work, he may feel a fellow citizen with every other citizen of the Empire living and working to a common end.” NEW DIVORCE LEGISLATION. EQUAL RIGHTS FOR BOTH SEXES. LONDON, June 8. The House of Commons debated on the report from the grand committee on Major Entwistle’s Matrimonial Causes Bill, which makes the sexes equal in relation to divorce, enabling a wife to obtain a decree for her husband’s adultery alone instead of having, as now, to prove desertion or cruelty in addition to misconduct. Mr Barnett proposed a new clause not depriving the husband of the custody of the children solely because guilty of a single act of misconduct. Dr Chapple, in opposing, said that not one woman in a hundred would seek a petition if she was going to lose her children, notwithstanding that it was the husband’s infidelity which caused the proceedings. Mr Rawlinson thought that easy divorce would be a curse to the country and suggested that the Bill would produce thousands of collusive divorces, husband’s willingly supplying the evidence. The new clause was defeated by 172 to 25. Major Entwistle accepted an amendment providing that a husband could not be divorced for misconduct committed, prior to the passage of the Bill, which was closured and then read a third time. THE EMPIRE EXHIBITION. GROWING DEMANDS FOR SPACE. LONDON, June 8, The management committee of the Empire Exhibition, which comprises representatives of Britain, the dominions and colonies, discussed the desirability of cancelling the horticultural section except fruits owing to increasing demands for space. Decision was reserved. British applications fcr space are increasing daily; also applications from Crown colonies, which originally held aloof. The committee is now overwhelmed with applications from all parts of the Empire. The Australian and New Zealand pavilion are not affected by the proposed cancellations. FASHION AT THE RACES. LONDON, June 9. (Received June 10, 5.5 p.m.) Although the frocking at the Oaks, which is ladies’ day, was mostly concealed beneath warm wraps, the coats showed remarkable ingenuity. The smartest were quite short and of dark materials closely embroidered in Russian, Persian and Chinese designs of exquisite colourings, interlaced with gold and silver threads. A striking feature was the length of the skirts, being mostly below the ankle.