NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 10, 7 October 1919, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

It is rather difficult at the moment to base opinimi upon what is reported of the agitation in United States for and against the ratification of the Peace Treaty and the League of Nations Covenant substantially as they stand. Evidently, however, although President Wilson is laid aside bv illness, powerful forces on the Republican as well" as the Democratic side in politics are rallying -in support of the first-mentioned alternative. I its fact is illustrated, not withouti d touch of humour, in the news that 1 a Republican convention at Boston unanimously, and in. spite of the protests of Senator Lodge, the liepublican 'leader in .the Senate, adopted a resolution in favour ot the prompt ratification of the Treaty in its unamended form. As the principal advocate of the material amendment of the Treaty, Senator 'Lodge has thus been very emphatically repudiated by a convention of his own party in the capital of his own State. In such circumstances his accustomed nose of loftv self-assurance must have been rather rudely disturbed. Presumably if the representative character of the convention ■ at Boston had been at all in question,'the fact would have been mentioned.

A satisfactory announcement is made by the Hon. J. G Coates in regard to the Point Halswcll and Terrace prisons. Meeting recent representations, the Minister has vetoed the proposed erection nf u new prison building on Point Halswell. At the same time, he is giving attention to the long standing promise of .past Governments to make the fine 'Terrace site available for educational purposes. Women prisoners are to bp removed from the Terrace Gaol and accommodated temporarily in existing buildings at Point Halswoll. The Prisons Department is seeking out new sites in country districts, in pursuance, of its policy of establishing permanent prisons away from the centre's of population. On the whole the Minister's statement brings the complete evacuation of the Terrace site into comparatively near prospect. Everything possible certainly ought to be done to "xnodite progress on these lines, for the Terdace site, which is so illsuited to the purposes of a prison, is (iiv! of the lie.sh schcol sites in New Zealand, and is located in a thicklypopulated area where a new and up-to-date school is ve>y badly needed. 1 to**

The action taken by I lie French Prime Minister, with the backing! of the Senate, in urging that a meeting of the Lea trim of Nation should lie held at Washington next month is well limed, nnd nudit *n produce excellent results In America nnd elsewhere it "-ill set ail possible emphasis' on Hi" fact that the League is 'warded bv the most severely practical of the i'-eafc

Allied not as winy« aspiration, but as an essential aid

to re-establishing conditions of world peace. M. Clemlbnceau could have adopted no better method of discrediting an opinion which has gained some currency that France sets little store by the League of Nations and relies chiefly upon a guarantee from Britain and America that she will be promptly assisted if Germany again makes her the objcct of an unprovoked attack. ' His proposal ought to quicken and strengthen the demand in the United States for early ratification of the Treaty. At the same time its' adoption offers a means of dealing with problems which hardly admit of treatment in any other way, notably D'Anxunzio's theatrical adventure on the- Adriatic seaboard, and the Shantung dispute. Indeed the proposal holds such useful possibilities that failure to carry it into effect would create serious grounds for misgiving. ,

The tender solicitude for its privileges displayed by the Legislative Council in. the matter of the measure conferring on women the right to sit in both Houses of Parliament does not appear to have impressed the popular Chamber. Instead of ciuietly submitting to. the cxcisisn of that portion of the Bill enabling to sit in the Upper House the Prime Minister has decided to contest the amendment, and the House of Representatives has supported his action. The procedure now will be that, having disagreed with the action of the Legislative Council, a conference between representatives lof both Houses will be. asked for. As a matter of courtesy the Council presumably will agree, and the representatives of the two bodies will meet and discuss the mutter. The representatives of the Lower Chamber may be able to suggest acouVse by means of which the Council may preserve its sacred privileges and at the same time enable women to secure the right to a place within the hallowed precincts of the Upper Chamber. But the probability is a deadlock so far as the existing measure is concerned. This, _of course, docs not mean that the original intention of giving women the. right to sit in both Houses of Parliament canmifc be carried through this session. All that, is required is to pass the'present Bill as amended, and to introduce a. new Bill in the Legislative Council i giving women -the right to sit in that Chamber. This indeed is the lino of least resistance. It should satisfy the sensitive regard of the Council for its privileges and meet the'wishes of the House of Representatives in compelling the Council to vote on the merits of the question. It may be that even .then the Council may' vote against>the admission, of women to the. Upper Chamber, but we doubt it.