POLITICAL DEADLOCK.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1160, 30 October 1917, Page 6

POLITICAL DEADLOCK.

A SECOND CONFERENCE. QUESTIONS TO MINISTER OF DEFENCE. , Pre** Atioetation. WELLINGTON, October 30. The Legislative Council met at 11 . a.m. and appointed new managers' to . confer with the House of Representa- . tives on the amendments to the Expeditionary Forces Amendment Bill as fol- . low: Sir Francis Bell, Sir William Buchanan, the Hons. J. G. W. Aitken and J. Fisher. The House met at 11 a.m. Replying to Mr Mandcr, the Minister of Defence said that the question of utilising the services of Jugo-Slavs had . been under consideration several times. . These people had held a meeting at Auckland to decide what course they would pursue, and the Government was waiting for a full report of that meeting before coming to a decision. He . hoped it would be possible to make ar- . rangements to use the services of Jugo- , Slavs in a corps that was being raised in - Australia, or in some war work in New . Zealand. The only question was to be . sure of their loyalty. Replying to Mr Wright,, the Minister . of Defence said that the Government made provision fop men who joined the Motor Patrol Service so far as pensions , and provision for their wives and chil- . dren were concerned, but it could not . see its way to go so far as to raise the , . pay of single men to the New Zealand level, nor could they go so far as to ' extend financial assistance to the men . of that service. > , Replying to Mr Wilford, the Minister i . of Defence said that as a general rule ' , the men who had final leave, but who , were not ready to depart, had been al- '< lowed to return to their homes without i pay to participate in farm work. Replying to Mr Poole, the Minister of , Defence said that the position of New i , Zealanders who joined the Imperial 1 Navy would be considered by the Go- ' vcrnment, but he desired to poiut "out that these men were not on the same footing as men who joined the motor < patrol, they having joined the Navy without the knowledge or consent of the , Government. „ Replying to Mr Field (Otaki), the Minister said that so far as he knew \ the casualty lists published were com- • plete up to the date of publication, i [ Sometimes cables were delayed, but as , a general rule the lists were complete. The Speaker at this stage aunounced : that the Legislative Council had agreed : to hold a second conference with the ' . House on the subject of the Expedition. 1 ary Forces Bill, and the House ad- \ journed at 11.15 for that purpose. THIRD CONFERENCE NECESSARY. Press Association. WELLINGTON, October :;0. The Legislative Council appointed as , managers for the third conference Sir • Francis Bell, the Hons. Samuel, Morgan, and Earnshnw. ! The Statute law Amendment Bill 1 passed its third reading. The Hon. J. ' Barr explained that the clause pro- . viding for the employment of discharged soldiers was not dropped at the " instance of the Labour members who ' were willing to make such provision in ! proper form, The House resumed at 12.40. • Sir .las. Allen submitted the man- . ager'a report to the effect that the ■ second conference between the repre- • sentatives of the Council and the House ' had been unable to epme to an agreement. He moved that the council be asked for another conference, and that the Hon. A. M. Myers, Sir -las. Carroll, Mr Parr and the mover, be appointed t managers to confer with the council representatives. 1 Mr Jennings asked if this farce was to bo continued. Two conferences

already had been held on a question which was a simple request of a majority of the House. Dr. Newman asked if members could attend the conference, the Speaker having ruled that any member could attend the conference. He quoted authorities. The question never had been previously raised in the House, but that was the position. Mr Massey .said he considered better work could be done if the conference were confined to a few members. Mr Buick asked how long the farce was going on. Mr Wilford said there could not be many more conferences as there were only 15 members in the Council. Sir Joseph Ward took the opportunity to deny that there had been .friction and verbal fighting in Cabinet over the question. The report was absolutely untrue. Ministers had been united in their effort to overcome a difficult position. The motion was agreed to.