WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taihape Daily Times, 7 December 1918, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS

SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING. COME TO STAY. WELLINGTON, Dec 6. The attempt of the leader of the' Legislative Council to reverse the decision of the House of Representatives in regard to six o'clock closing failed more signally than was generally expected. A report had got ahout that Sir Francis Bell was moving at the instigation of the party leaders in the other Chamber and it was thought a substantial majority of the new coun- j cillors, at any rate, would vote with the Government. But to the surprise of the quidnuncs the Minister "s pro-1 posal to revert to the old closing hour on the termination of the prescribed period—six months after the conclusion of the war—was rejected by the substantial majority of twenty to ten. Sir Francis frankly accepted the division as an indication of the attitude of Parliament towards the question and refused to accept an amendment from Sir Walter Buchanan that would have compelled the House to review its decision. WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT. Mr. J. McOombs, the Labour member for Lyttclton, sprang a surprise upon Ministers last night by moving that women should be eligible to sit in Parliament. Mr. Massey had just got the Legislative Council Amendment Bill through committee and doubtless was congratulating himself upon the completion of a somewhat perilous task, when Mr. McCombs came down with his amendment and in a weary House disinclined for debate got a division of thirty-one to twenty-seven in his favour. The Hon. T. M. Wilford was the only Minister that voted with the majority. The Hon. J. A. Hanan was absent from the House and the rest of the members of the Cabinet voted with the i "Noes." Subsequently the Prime Minister raised a point of order, contending that the amendment was foreign to the purpose of the BTH under discussion, but the Speaker ruled against him and the Bill passed with the provision for women sitting in ! Parliament included. Probably H;he I Legislative Council in the exercise of jits constitutional function will see fit !to delay the reform. ■• •" j MILITARY OBJECTORS. j It has been an open secret for some j weeks past that the report of the:comi mission appointed to enquire into , the j allegations concerning the ill-treat- ! ment of prisoners in the Wanganui j detention barracks was unfavourable I to the staff of the institution, but few | people have been aware of the extent to which the prisoners' corfiplaints were confirmed by Mr. Hewitt's nvestigation. Of course the place was I put in tolerable order before the Com- • missioner commenced his enquiry, and | so far the higher authorities justified j themselves in the eyes of the public, I but how the flagrant abuses were allowed to go on week after week with- , out any official representations reach- . ing the Minister is a disquieting mys- | tery which still requires to be cleared jup . Apparently the outrageous S3 r sItem of "discipline" had been going on j for some months before it received I its first public mention in this column ! and then several weeks elapsed bej fore the authorities could be moved | to action. THE PEACE DELEGATES. j There still is much speculation as ! to the time and means of the peace j delegates' departure from the Domin- ! ion and neither Mr. Massey nor Sir ! Jcseph Ward can be persuaded to | throw a gleam of light upon the prob- ! lem. A fortnight ago it seemed cerI tain that by this time the party leadI ers would be well on their way to ! London, but to-day they bear themj selves as being no nearer to their sail- ! ing than they were then. Evidently i Mr. Massey has made up his mind to ! see the end of the session before j leaving, and yesterday he hinted at a j resolution from Parliament concerning I the Pacific Islands and a statement j regarding tbe future of interned enl emy subjects. Thfer'o if an impression j about, however, that the travellers j will get away some time next week and towards this end Parliament is I lending a hand by remaining on its ! best behaviour.

NEWS OP THE ARMISTICE

ALLEGED SUPPRESSION. * PRIME MINISTER EXPLAINS. WELLINGTON, Dec. 6. A statement regarding the alleged suppression of the news of the signing of the armistice with Germany was made by the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives to-day. Mr. G. Witty (Riccarton) asked why the news had been suppressed here, in view.of the fact that it had been published in Australia? The news was known by the public in Australia at 10 o'clock in the evening, and in New Zealand the announcement was not made until the following morning. The Prime Minister said that a nunfjcr of statements had been made in regard to this matter, which were contrary to fact. The first news came to him personally about midnight. It was unofficial, and in view of the prei vious fiasco, when unofficial news was subsequently contradicted, he decided to wait for the official information. The official news came to His Excellency the Governor-General about 2 o'clock i n the morning, and it was : received by him (the Prime Minister) | about half-an-hour later. The Government had previously decided that if the news came during the night a gun was to be fired in the city at 9 o'clock the following morning. He had arranged to have telegraphed to every office in New Zealand the two words "Armistice signed," and so the news | was given at the same time to all the people in the country. This was exactly what had happened. Of course, he was aware that there was some leakage of the information, A crowd | of people had come up to his house, ] and sung songs outside his gate.