IMPERIAL POLITICS

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13846, 6 March 1909, Page 5

IMPERIAL POLITICS

.-, CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. i?ross Association-By-. tilcgrapUrCopjright LONDON, March 4. In -tlio House, of Commons, Mr ;Asqiiith.' replying to Sir Albert Parkes, iaid that Canada lia;d; founded, a Foreign --Affairs '-Departnient, like, the corresponding Department of External Affairs in the , Commonwealth'.' There was no suggestion that Canada was increasing her powers to deal with affairs.

TARIFF QUESTIONS. . ' LONDON, 3larcli ■!, Mr Churchill, President of the Board ot Trade, speaking /; at the .Chamber of Connnbrcc banquetV said thie revision, of the French tariff was a flatter; of the gravest. conceru to the. trading-' community/ The Board of Trade was- fully prepared to take steps to : safeguard the interests of - the country. America's revisions appeared to partake of. the nature of a reduction of duties. Dealing with tariffs generally. Mr Churchill repeated in substance,* the declaration he made in a recent speeoh to the effect that retaliation as ah occasional weapon may - possibly *he used. He added that while responsible for the Board of Trade, no utterance of his should tie-the hands of the country in taking any steps for the permanent advantage of trade. Mr A. Bonar Law, Conservative member'for Camber well, said that Mr Churchill's speech not long ago would have been absolutely impossible from a Liberal:" It was a- refreshing contrast to l the old dogma that the only way to fight a hostile tariff was by free imports. . . • INDIAN COUNCILS BILL. DEBATE IN THE LORDS.. Received 9.40 p."H ' M ar ?h oth. ■ LONDON, March 5. For South Edinburgh Mr Dewar was re-elected by 8185, Mr Cox . (Conservative) 696' i. *An important debate which took place oh the Indian Councils Bill resulted an the rejection- by -59 votes to IS • of • clause 3, empowering the Governor-General 'to create an exccu-tiv-o council in any province under , a lieutenant-general despite Lord Morley's appeal of the urgency of the measure'.

' Loi-d Chii-zOn, Lord' Laiisdowne, and feir A. MacDonnell 'opposed Lord Morley's scheme, tiipilfeh tliey , were sj;mpatlietie towards the difficulties of: the situation. Lord -Northeotc said the Bill would take power from the .British representing a hundred million.''agriculturists, and give- control to councils, of middleclass politicians renrescntiiit: insignificant minorities. THE AH.\n ruS 11 M \'l I'S. ■ Received ll.'lo o.in.. March yth. ; . LONDON. March 5. : Mr Haldane, Minister lor AVar, in a/ long detailed speech introducing the army estimates, said that recruiting for the year Jiad been singularly good. The special reserve now ; numbered 70,000 men, e<|iui! to the. old nnlitia. He paid generous - f tribute to the ". .Daily Mail," arid,tli'c 'employers of labour, iu connection with the Territorials, .which tribute aroused the violent disapprobation of the members on the Labour benches. Mr Haldane retorted that owing to the breakdown of the auxiliary services the nation "was never nearer conscription. The recent movement had established a' stronger bulwark against conscription than ever before.' A total of 83:000' men nad been added to the Territorials in the ■last seven weeks,: and'rtho- total Mas now 240,000. The root of the idea of an Inmeiiul organisation was that where'-possible the oversea dominions should work. on a similar pattern of organisation to that at. Home, aiiordinjr the possibility of o6»opci'ation in a case of great necessity. lhe last thing the Government would dream of would be even to suggest to the oversea dominions what they could .do. Tlic staff colleges had been enlarged, antl it was now possible to receive;, any; oversea officers. General Sir V. G. Nicholson, chief of the Imperial Staff, had completed the plans lor .Home Defence, ntakiiiir a successful invasion even less likely than it had appeared in the, past. Sir C. Dilke, criticised 'the Germanic trend of Mr Haldane's mind. The llight Hoii. Arnold Forst or riditiuled' »tlie training o;&. ii . special reserve, and' said that Mr Haldane had clealt more in names 'than in things. Mr Forster commented on the reduction :of 100,000 men,, yet a. smaller armv was to cost more than iu prereform, da vs.. The reduction of £24,000 was nominal; there was really an increase of £75,000, as £300,000 was transferred to liidian account.