WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3321, 28 October 1919, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS

WELLINGTON, Oct. 24.

" The faint. Praise avith which Sir Francis Bell moved the second, reading of ithe Women’s Parliamentary Rights Bill in the Legislative Council yesterday, it it did not exactly d.-a.l,nn -the measure, encouraged many of its hesitating opponents to vote against. it. Of course, the Leader of the Couneil followed quite the orthodox course in making 2!. judici-al analysis of the Bill, s'ta"t-ing The pros and cons with ‘an adxniuable. assumption of impartiality, but it was obvious enough before the hall proceeded very far that his heart was not in his task, and that his sympathies lay rather with the majority which contended, in effect, that what was good for the representative goose might be— very bad for the nominatedi gander. The women found eloquent and logieal ehampions in the Hon. George .J\on-es.’ and the ‘How. J. T. Paul, but the‘ weight of nominated opinion was against them, and the Bill was rejected'by 18 votes to 8. THE ELECTIVE COUNCIL.

A very *inipol'ta.n’t and significaiik. 5-taltement. was made by the Prime Minister iu the course of his reply to a deputation from womc-n’s organisations throughout the Tjominion, which Waited upon him in support of the VVomen’s Parlianlental"y Rights Bill yesterday, almost. at the Very moment that the measure was being slaughtered by_ the Lords. His own opinion was, he said, that the Bill making the -Council elective would come into operation next year, but it must first come before the House, and he thought the Bill might be amended by Parliament. It still would remain -an Elective Bill, but it was just possible—for the feeling was growing in this direction-ethat provision would be made for the nomination of at certain proportion of the menfibers. Mr Massey bv‘i(len‘!‘ly is preparing fo[‘.‘3, modification -of the measure. A wholly elective -Council _which would drprive the House of -the means itat present possesses of asserting its sup'r»3m'acy, inevitably would lead to an-agitation fol' the a.bolit.'i-on of the Second Chamber, and that is a de'velopmen't the Prime Minister and his colleagues a‘se anxious to avoid. - CLOSE OF 1.:.E5.-‘SION, In re,r:lj: t.e_‘i'lm Leader of ‘Elise Opposition. 11'' )las:~:e_v stated yesterday that he hoped ‘to close the session on Saturday week. “I shall be very glad Whenthe session comes to an end,” he added, “not because there has heen any unpleasantness. but because the work. has been much more strenuous than usual. I don’t think we can finish before Saturday week, but I expect to close down then.” As a matter of fact the session has been exce'ptionall_y'free from "the disagreeable incidents which help in making The lot of a Minister dgisagreeablle. This is all. the more creditable to the House from the fact that it was called together in _extremely trying circumstances, and under con-. 3 diticns that ‘might have made for much bickering and bittern.-ess. Members on both sides, with very rare exceptions, have dam: their best ‘to facilita.t.e business, and probably nlever before has 9. session been so free fron'i"'6bstl-nctive, talk. ‘

IMZHIGRATION. '

The Dominion fiiis morning takes the Minister of Public Works sevenely to task for not propouncling; 9. comprehensive immigration policy. “Over and over again,” it says, “Sir William Fraser has emphasised. the fact that the «slow progress of essential public works is due to ‘a shortage of labour. The shortage is aclniified and indis—putable; and it is admitted also by all who have addressiod themseives seriously to the question that the only remedy is to be found in immigration. The extmord:lnar_v thing is that the Government has Keen content to go so far without definitely laying down the lines of an orderly immigration Igolicy, to be brough't into operatiozi ‘ifs soon ~35 coiiklifiolls will permit.” The truth of“;thle Inatter is that members of the Cabinet are sll—:lrply ¢liv'id('.-cl on ‘thisiquerstion of immigratio-n, -and as a, whole are disposed to postpone -‘the p:'o‘blem to 21 mere uonveniieni‘ season. =