BRITISH POLITICS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9437, 6 May 1909, Page 5

BRITISH POLITICS.

Press Association— By Blee irio Telegsaphrr-Oopyngnt. i - London, May 5.

The by-eleotion at Atteroliffe, Sheffield, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr Langley on *the ground of ill-health, resulted Power (Labour) 8531, King Barlow (official -Unionist)' 3880, Lambert *(Liberal) 3175, *Muir Wilson pendent Unionist), who objected to rthe selection of an outsider, 2803. _ The, Labourites attribute # their yic- , tory, apart from the Tory split, to -the large number of unemployed at ..Atteroliffeand to the consistent .Labour advocacy of the Right to Work Bill. The Liberals are deeply disappointed at the result,. the budget debate.

In the House of Commons Mr Asquith annonuoedthat a Customs duty will be imposed on foreign beer. The general debate on the Budget closes to-night. The leading proposals are. being vigorously discussed. The Government are accpsed of.ntilising the Budget to carry Socialistic measures which 1 they would, otherwise be unable to secure. Mr Lloyd George in reply pointed to examples abroad and in some of the colonies, where high license duties and taxation of land values resulted in a sdrplus of which part was hypothecated. He remarked that . the needs of the Navy in 1910 must be met first, and enough would then be left to relieve the local ratepayer.^ He claimed that’he bad striven to distribute £the taxation justly and fairly, and he declared that the naval expenditure would 1 be very much higher in 1910 than in 1909. He foreshadowed a change in the tax on licenses according to the quantity of liquor sold instead of the amount of .rent. INDIAN COUNCILS. The House of' Lords passed the .Indian Councils Bill, embodying With Clause 3 Viscount Morley’s conciliatory provision ensuring Parliamentary control over the. creation of any provincial executive Councils outside of)Bengal. MINORITY REPRESENTATION." Received May 6, 8.15 a.m. London, May 5. The Chronicle describes the result of the Atteroliffe election as an absurdity. Mr Power.was chosen by little more than a fourth of the voters. » MR OHURO^ILL’S^SALARY. The Standing Committee of the House of Commons, by 15 to 13, has •decided to refuse the proposition that Parliament and not the Treasury shall] fix] the future salary of the Presiuent of the Board of Trade, and the Bill as amended has been reported to the House. THE CONTROL OF THE FLEET. Received May 6, 8,15 a.m. London, May 5. Mr Lyttelton, speaking at the Primrose League meeting in London,, in referring to Mr Asquith’s invitation to the Conference, hoped that colonial ships would be made part of the'system and united under one supreme control in wartime, 'rendering the Empire’s sea power irresistible.